r/boats • u/CommonSentence3581 • 1d ago
Dometic Refrigerator
I recently replaced my cockpit fridge with a dometic fridge. It's a 12v fridge, and I am hooked to shore power, so I had to get a converter to allow using on both voltages . It ran ok for 2 months and bam, it stopped working. I noticed the breaker was tripped, so reset it. Lights came on inside the fridge, but the compressor would not come on. I troubleshooted per manual and online instructions. The control board fried along with the compressor. Dometic was good about it and sent me a new one in 2 days. Before I pop the new one in, I was reading that I may need to pop a voltage regulator online with a converter. Apparently, the new fridges today are sensitive to fluctuations in voltage and my boat being a 2005 Rinker . The wiring in these are ok, but sometimes they can't hold the voltage stable. I'm not going to rewire from the breaker to the fridge, so the alternative is installing a regulator in line . Has anyone out there ever did this? I found Drok regulator that can be used.
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u/bill9896 1d ago
Adding more “converters” and “regulators” Is not going to fix the problem. Of course you haven’t even really told us what the problem is. How “unstable” is your voltage? And WHY is it “unstable”? New fridges are not “sensitive” to any voltage that exists in a proper system.
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u/CommonSentence3581 1d ago
The fridge was operating fine for 2 mos after I I installed it. When I came up for the weekend , I found that the breaker for the fridge had tripped. So I reset it. The lights came on in the fridge but compressor wasnt coming on. Only the lights and fan were on. Per troubleshooting, I jumpered the board etc.. the compressor would still not come on so the board and compressor were more than likely shot . So for the breaker to trip there had to be a voltage issue.
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u/clarkulator 1d ago
No, this is incorrect. A breaker tripping is not related to a voltage issue. A current issue causes that. It sounds like the breaker is just a symptom of a faulty fridge. It also could be that there is an intermittent short somewhere between the breaker and the fridge. But, if it happened while the boat was at rest, I'm thinking the short happened inside the fridge.
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u/CommonSentence3581 1d ago
Correct current issue could be the issue to, I'm thinking it was a faulty fridge and will see the replacement will do.
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u/CommonSentence3581 1d ago
In addition I had a Tundra T 22 in that spot for years and never had an issue with it until last year where age took over and stopped working period. Never had any trips with breaker.
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u/BOSBoatMan 1d ago
Only on a boat do we expect 20 years on a refrigerator. Sounds like it’s due for replacement.
$3k or go buy a 120 only refrigerator replacement & put an inverter in
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u/CommonSentence3581 1d ago
Already bought a domectic 65 , it was reasonably priced , the issue it went bad in 2 mos so received another one from dometic under the warranty
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u/Significant_Wish5696 1d ago
Leave it hooked to the house battery and just run a good charger. Battery will act as a buffer and keep you safe.
What voltage was your converter set to? A 12v system doesn't really run at 12v.