No power to Isotherm refrigerator in Sailfish

[Legend]

Lost power to my refrigerator today and spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why. I went through the manual and nothing about a fuse. Every other electric component on the boat is listed. The wiring diagram shows orange wires going to the back of the switch panel. I assume that is referring to the helm switch panel but no indication if it is fused or not. Anyone have a clue where I would look for a fuse or other suggestion on finding the power issue. Thanks

 

[DennisG01]

I don't know your particular boat, but generally speaking, a fridge is a fridge is a fridge. Is it an AC/DC unit? If so, does it work on one of those two power supplies?

-- Did you check your fuse panel... probably under the dash?
-- Sometimes fridges (the AC portion) are piggybacked on the electrical outlet circuit. Usually, the first outlet in the line is a GFCI. Check to see if it's tripped or faulty. And/or, along the same lines, make sure the breaker for the outlets is on.
-- It could be an "accessory" on a switch panel - not specifically labelled "frdige".

 

[Legend]

The frig is a 12 volt only system. I checked all of the fuses under the helm station and they were all good.

 

[seasick]

You may need to pull the fridge to get to the supply wires and check for juice. If none, you will have to work backwards towards the batteries.
It is possible that the fridge itself has died but you cant be sure unless you check for voltage (and a good ground)

 

[DennisG01]

+1 to the above.

I looked at your wiring manual and it does appear it feeds right off the fuse block that's under the helm with a 10g orange wire. Start with that - see if you have 12V+ on the load side of the fuse. If you've got 12V there, then I think you have to pull the fridge and check for both 12V+ and ground at the fridge. Either circuit could be faulty. If that all checks out then either the fridge is kaput or MAYBE there's a circuit breaker on the fridge, itself - check your frdige's manual for that.

 

[Legend]

Yup , pulled the frig and checked power line but no power. This is going to be a tough trouble shoot since no fuse. Thanks for your input!

 

[DennisG01]

Go back to the fuse panel and look for that orange, 10g wire. Check for power on the load side. Let's start there.

What did you use as the ground when you checked for B+ at the fridge? If you only used the ground wire at the fridge, check again using a known, good ground.

 

[Legend]

Go back to the fuse panel and look for that orange, 10g wire. Check for power on the load side. Let's start there.

What did you use as the ground when you checked for B+ at the fridge? If you only used the ground wire at the fridge, check again using a known, good ground.

I used the original ground wire with the tester.

 

[Legend]

Mystery solved. Traced the orange wire from the power block under helm and it connected to a fuse under helm. The fuse was good, the connection not so good. Popped a new one on and now back in business. Thanks for your help

 

[seasick]

As Dennis mentioned, you should verify that the ground wire is good also. To do so, connect your test light (or meter, but I prefer test lights) to a known good 12 would source and then use the fridges ground to see if there is juice.You could also use a test lamp connected to a good ground to test both sides of every fuse in the fuse block. The lamp should work on bothe sides

 

[seasick]

Cool!
pardon the pun

 

[DennisG01]

Mystery solved. Traced the orange wire from the power block under helm and it connected to a fuse under helm. The fuse was good, the connection not so good. Popped a new one on and now back in business. Thanks for your help

Good deal. That's why it's good to always start at the beginning and check for proper power.

So... the orange wire has it's own, inline fuse? The orange wire is not connected to a fuse in the fuse block?

 

[Legend]

No it was connected to a fuse in the block but when I checked the fuses in the fuse block they were all good. It was the corroded connection that caused the iissue - 15 year old boat, guess I should be doing more proactive inspecting of these connections throughout the boat.

 

[seasick]

Eventually, many fuse blocks just wear out. Corrosion on the cable ends or screw studs can be dealt with but when the fuse sockets start to go, it's time for a new block. If the existing block cleans up nicely, a light spray of something like Boeshield T9 will help limit water intrusion and corrosion.