www.iFourWinns.com

So, I'm sitting here down in the cabin checking some e-mail and suddenly start smelling something. Bad. Worse than the leaking waste tank sender too. Bad, like electrical bad. Visions of 'buring to the waterline' start running through my head...

Frantic sniff tests ensue. It's not coming from the engine compartment. But I grab the handy extinguisher in there just in case. I kill power to everything, including the battery switches at the transom.

Further sniffs reveal it's coming from somewhere near the galley cabinets. Given the woes I've been having with the Nova-Kool refrigerator this seaso it's immediately suspect. Then I hear a breaker trip... the one for the fridge's DC circuit. Aha! Seems like the fridge is giving me a sign as to where it's going to spend it's afterlife... in HELL. So I pull the four screws holding it to the cabinet and, pow, the stink is a LOT worse.

When I get it loose from the cabinets I note the power supply on it is blisteringly hot. A check of the DC and AC wires leading to it shows no signs of burning or overheating (thankfully). It would appear the power supply just cooked itself, burning off god knows what from it's circuit board inside the metal cage. I disconnect both DC and AC wires and put it back in the cabinet. Better to have the box in place instead of an ugly gaping hole.

Thankfully it's got a 3 year warranty with a $50 deductable after the first year. So while I'm left without a working refrigerator for the upcoming 4th of July Holiday, I can at least hope it'll be a CHEAP inconvenience.

Now I'll just have to wait the 2 weeks it seems to take for the dealer to figure out how to point me to the right 3rd party repair shop... All this for a problem I pointed out the 1st week it was recommissioned this season (over a month ago). Grrrr....

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Had the same problem with my water heater a few weeks back.

Wow, glad you caught in time before it got worse.

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Wow Bill, Good thing you were there and caught this right away! What a Season for You! You deserve a Break buddy! Let's all Hope this is the last of your boat troubles, and that for rest of the Season, the Boat Gods smile upon You! Best of Luck!

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

No kidding. I think the two of us could write a book on booting woes just from our experiences this season! This one takes the cake, though!

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SOLD! 2006 30th Anniversary Vista 278
"Conch'd Out!"

http://vista278.com

Well, unlike the dealer screwups this one doesn't bug me too much. I mean, I'm less-than-pleased that the breakers didn't trip BEFORE it started overheating and smoking. That seems like a design flaw. Either in the ratings for the breakers or something in the design of the Nova-Kool refrigerator. But it's really just a random failure. Annoying, to be sure, but not something that can get blamed on someone. Hopefully the local distributor can be contacted tomorrow and arrangements made for me to get something working in time for next weekend. We've got some of the admiral's clients coming and I don't want to have them stepping over coolers all day.

And don't you just hate when you sit on the temporary styrofoam cooler you just spent $5 on? Grrr....

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

The good news is it's repairable. It definitely cooked the power supply. When they put a new one in it (Ocean Options, the local distributor) it was also found to have a coolant leak. So they're fixing that too. I may add the optional 12v fan to it just to assist keeping the compressor cool. Roy from Four Winns stepped up and offered to handle any charges for it under warranty. But it appears Nova Kool may be covering it anyway. More on that when I get it back later this week.

The only hassle is getting it in/out of the cabin. The door on the 348 isn't wide enough. I had to really squeeze the sliding door and screen open. That and removing the fridge door frame. So that'll be fun again on Friday.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista