Refrigeration problem - any ideas?

[carvendive]

Hopefully this is a DUMB question.

When my Tundra refrigerator is on shore power the freezer plate gets cold enough to freeze the contents in the freezer but when on 12v, it only gets cool ~ 45 degrees.* My meter shows 12.4 volts in the house bank.* Any ideas?

 

[Capn Chuck]

12.4 on the house bank is a little low, but what do you have for voltage going into the fridge and what does the voltage at the fridge read when the compressor kicks on? Chuck

-- Edited by Capn Chuck on Wednesday 8th of July 2009 04:44:41 PM

 

[sunchaser]

Is the cooling fan working on 12V?

 

[Keith]

Is your battery charger on and working? You should see 13V or so on a fully charged system.

 

[carvendive]

The fan is on (I think) at least it makes all the same noises that it makes when on shore power.* And yes, it is TIME TO CHANGE MY HOUSE BATTERIES.* I charge them up to ~14.3 (not sure as I'm typing this while in the car driving to the marina - The admiral is driving so don't worry).* They almost immediately srop to 12.6 - 12.8.

I haven't checked the voltage AT the fridge - I'd have to pull it out to get at it, that's next I guess.

I'm thinking it's the batteries dying * I've known they needed to be replaced for some time now but I want to relocate them and wanted to so the whole job at one time.

 

[carvendive]

As a close We took the boat out*this past weekend and had no problem with the freezer. *The Fridge is back to normal and I did nothing. The voltage at the outlet to the fridge was the same as was reported on the Outback panel (12.4v).

My theory. About a week before this happened, we had some work done on the boat. The mechanic needed to turn off the power and did so at the dock breaker. He never turned it back on (obvious when we opened to door and found the spoiled chicken.) I now believe that all the refrigerant settled and just took a while to get back into the system. (Hopefully I'm right!)