Madrid 35F fridge power issue?

[scr0che]

I've got a Madrid 35F fridge bought from Penguin couple of years ago that's stopped working, struggling to identify the fault.

I've been going through the troubleshooting in the manual and this is what I've found:

The compressor is not starting.
Noticed this on passage, it was intermittent initially, but not starting at all now.
On passage noticed a metallic tapping coming from the unit, had a good look at the time and couldn't see any moving parts, tapped even when compressor off, like something came loose inside?
Control panel voltage 12.62, fused rocker switch, when on 12.62, off 0.0, swapped switch out and same values, switch working OK.
Voltage on fridge end of wires (coming from switch when on) is 12.62, which is ok, its worked fine fine for 2 years, connections clean, wires ok and appropriate size
However, when I connect the wires back on to the control unit and test while connected, voltage is 5.8?
I bridged C and T to eliminate thermostat, with it bridged or disconnected completely, or thermostat connected, same voltage 5.8 when tested with wires connected from switch.

So voltage is good on wires at fridge, but when conneced to controller drops to 5.8, ive no idea why. Can anyone suggest what to test next?

Will get an led tomorrow to try and get an error code from the blinking.

 

[StefanSG]

Had a similar issue, there was a small breakout fusebox near the compressor that the fridge took its power from, I disconnected everything from the fusebox, removed it, and tightened all the connectors especially the + and - obviously, (Which had to be done from the back of the fusebox) Worked fine since. Loose or corroded connection somewhere. Try bridging the power feed to the compressor from the battery with a known good suitable diameter cable.

 

[scr0che]

Can't imagine cable or breaker switch is the issue, voltage at fridge end is perfectly fine at 12.6 and it's worked fine for over 2 years

 

[neilf39]

If there is a dodgy connection you may well get 12.62v at the fridge end if no load other than the voltmeter. Plugging it in so the fridge is trying to draw loads of amps then you could lose the 6 odd volts across that bad connection. Most fridges have an auto cutout so they stop if voltage drops below 11.2v. You could run a couple of wires direct from battery to fridge to check if it is this or some thing else.

 

[scr0che]

Absolutely right guys, ran new cables direct from battery to fridge and it switched on. Looks like a corroded cable between fridge and fuse board - replaced positive and negative cables from fridge to fuse board and it's now all working fine. Thanks again.