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Hi Everyone;
New to this website. I have a 2005 Four Winns Vista 348 with galley fridge problems. The fridge works fine on 110V and works for about 30 minutes once I switch to 12V and then quits. It starts up again on generator or when I am back on shore power. I have replaced the batteries so the batteries are not the problem. Has someone else ran into the same problem. Looking forward to hearing from someone.

Sands

Have you checked to make sure you have 12v at the plug going into the fridge? Bad fuse?

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2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

It's possible the unit is overheating. I had to add a fan to the back of the fridge to get air circulating better. The fridge as a circuit designed for adding a fan. I just used a computer power supply 12v fan. Keeping the compressor cooler also ends up using less power. The idea being the compressor won't be cycling as much.

Then make sure there's enough air circulation. The shelf leading to the porthole at the galley has a gap back there. That gap allows the warm air from the fridge to move up. Make sure you've not blocked it.

It also helps to keep the freezer compartment full. I fill it with half-liter water bottles. This keeps a reserve of cold material in there and that helps keep the rest of the box cooler. The plastic bottles expand without cracking, but even if they did it'd only be water. Be careful not to put beer or soda on the top shelf right under the freezer, they tend to freeze, split and make a horrendous mess.

I'm not entirely sure but I think my fridge is also running a bit less effectively on 12v than it used to. But I haven't bothered to really debug it. I've read elsewhere about the power supply going up. It can be replaced separately from the rest of the fridge hardware. The fridge draws a LOT of power. And any device that's working too hard will draw a lot more. We tend to avoid opening the fridge at all when we're on battery power. I added extra batteries and have since not had any problems running out.

At one point mine leaked refrigerant. I pulled it out and took it to a shop, turned out to be a crack in the tubing. Simple for them to fix. The hardest part was stripping the frame off the fridge and wedging it out through the companionway door. It's a VERY tight fit.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Bill brings up a lot of good pionts! I have a "07" V258 and what I noticed, that the wiring was about 14 guage. Which I feel is too light and causing a voltage drop. Which could go back to what Bill was saying "running a bit less effectively on 12v than it used to." & "It's possible the unit is overheating". I would take a voltage reading from or as close to the back of the fridge as I could. This needs to be done as the compresser is running and than with it powered off. At off, you should read, about 12.5 volts & on should be about 11.5V. For me, anything less, I would think about replacing it with #10 wire.

An excellent point. I have not tested mine. I can't recall for certain but it might be possible to test it without pulling the fridge out entirely. The AC line was connected on the left side of the fridge, and I think the DC wire was close to it also. It might therefor be possible to pull out the drawers and reach back to grab the wires.

But if not it's pretty easy to pull the fridge. Just unscrew the top door hinge pin, remove the door and then all the screws around the face frame (cordless screwdrivers are you friend here). Put the door back on when you pull the box so the contents don't dump out. Take care, the bottom of the fridge does not go all the way back, it's got a stepped design. You want to be careful not to allow the next step up to hit anything when you pull it out. The cooling coils do not take kindly to being banged into things. As you pull it out only go about 4 inches and then be prepared to pick it up while continuing to pull it out. Might sound complicated but it'll make sense once you see it.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

For me, I just need to remove the cover/rug to the inside cabin steps. The wire was right there, about 6" from the back of the fridge. What I did is installed a D.C. on/off switch to the side of the sink. To make it easy to turn off/on with out opening it & letting the warm air in.

That's handy, but in the 348/358/375 (and whatever the marketing jerkoffs are going to call it next) the fridge is inside the galley cabinet with no easy access beyond removing it. I considered adding some sort of switch or changing the main breaker from a pop-up to a switch type. I just added more batteries instead.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista