Fridge problem - where to start?

[Ammonite]

My elderly waeco fridge has decided to play up. It runs off the 12 v domestic battery bank and works fine with the mains battery charger on and I have 13.8v at the batteries and fridge but when the charger is off and the bank drops below 13.1v the compressor starts OK but cuts out as soon as the computer style cooling fan cuts in which suggests to me that its dropping the voltage below the range required by the fridge which from memory is something like 12v to 26v. Last season it worked fine

I am sure I will figure it out eventully but was looking for some guidance about what to check and in what order. I don't have the model to hand but it's one of the smaller models. Many thanks

 

[charles_reed]

My elderly waeco fridge has decided to play up. It runs off the 12 v domestic battery bank and works fine with the mains battery charger on and I have 13.8v at the batteries and fridge but when the charger is off and the bank drops below 13.1v the compressor starts OK but cuts out as soon as the computer style cooling fan cuts in which suggests to me that its dropping the voltage below the range required by the fridge which from memory is something like 12v to 26v. Last season it worked fine

I am sure I will figure it out eventully but was looking for some guidance about what to check and in what order. I don't have the model to hand but it's one of the smaller models. Many thanks

Check and re-make connections, especially earth and look at the in-line fuse - mine burnt badly and exhibited precisely your symptoms.

 

[Tony Cross]

Check and re-make connections, especially earth and look at the in-line fuse - mine burnt badly and exhibited precisely your symptoms.

+1

I had a similar problem some years ago. Put a voltmeter across the fridge 12v input and see what voltage is actually there, in my case it was 11.8v (the batteries were over 12.5v at the time. Rather than try to trace the cable run and find the (probable) corroded connector I just ran two new, suitably sized, cables from the distribution panel to the fridge. All has been fine since.

 

[nigelmercier]

+1 for a bad connection.

I just ran two new, suitably sized, cables from the distribution panel to the fridge...

I used welding cable for my replacement, it's relatively cheap. No need for tinned in this application, I just made sure the ends were well sealed