www.iFourWinns.com

My fridge dies when I unplug from shore power but works fine at the dock. Any ideas on where to start? If you think the manufacturer and model are pertinent, I'll go check them out.

Thanks!

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Paul Dauwer
Bunch of Time
Hingham, MA

2004 Vista 268 - VP 5.7iE

Do you have a switch on your DC panel for your fridge? I have a switch on both the AC side and DC side. If I want it to be on without shore power or the generator, the DC switch needs to be on.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

I have the same issue. Do you have a Norcold? I bet you do. I've been told that power "board" that is on top is the culprit. Haven't looked into how much it costs to replace.

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Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

As the other person mentioned "aguyindallas" check the DC panel. My boat is a "07" V258, no DC panel, but I have a DC fuse box. I "think" you might too. If so, check the fuses, even if they look good, try another known good one just to make sure. I have seen the contacts rust up a little. Fuse looks good, but still won't work.

The issue with Norcold fridges cutting out is easy to fix, I had the same issue on our 298 Vista. If you search Norcold low voltage cut-out on google you'll find the fix quickly. Alternately, give me your eamil and I have a technical bulleten of the problem in .pdf form I''ll send you if you can't find it on the web.
When we got our boat this problem came up imediately as we anchor our pretty much every weekend. We have two large group 31 house batteries and our fridge would still die within 12 hours even though we still had lots of life in the batteries.
The problem is two fold, the wiring on our boats feeding the fridge is to small a gauge causing voltage resistance, and thus a lower than actual voltage reading at the fridge itself. The fridge has a low voltage cut-out at 10.4 volts by default, so between the two it shuts down well before your batteries are crying uncle. The fix is simple, larger gauge wire with an in-line fuse directly from the battery to the fridge. Pull the fridge, and on the back of the fridge is a small board where the power feeds into, it has a few exposed terminals with letters, and you add a jumper between the C & T terminals which disables the low voltage shut-off option. Our Norcold fridge now runs very happily while we are on the hook from Friday night to Sunday afternoon without any problems.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

You,ve probably got it sorted by now but had the same issue, pulled the fridge out and 12v cable was disconnected.Hooked it back up and no more issues. Got Lucky