www.iFourWinns.com

When the refrigerator runs on 12v or 110 it makes the radio noisy and loses a lot of the reception. Looking for ideas to limit this interference. This is on my 2000 248 vista, my neighbor has a 2006 268 with the same problem.

Hi Boater1 welcome to the forum. Could you give us a some details like what kind of Vista this is on to know how your system is wired? Thanks

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

My 97 278 Vista does this and drives me nuts, and my old 99 258 Vista did this.

But mine received interference from the fridge only when it was running on DC.

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1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

I had a noisy refrigerator for a long time and ended up pulling it out and replacing the fan that blows across the coils. The one that is in there is really cheap. My son found a high performance computer fan with bearings and low noise. Didn't cost very much and improved the noise level and performance greatly. I think my fan had froze up completely when I pulled it. I'm not saying that's your issue but it's a good cheap place to start. I probably have the fan size and model around if you'd like to try that.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Interesting because once my battery voltage drops to around 12.2volts or lower my stereo cuts out every time my fridge kicks on using DC, but if I switch it over to run on 110v through the inverter it operates fine. This makes me think they share an undersized ground and/or power supply. Maybe running a separate power supply to the fridge or stereo could help remedy the problem.

Also the stereo antenna runs back behind the fridge area so it might be worth it to make sure it isn't to close to the fridge and picking up interference there.

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

When you say noisy is it like a humming sound?

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Thanks for the ideas. I will look into them.

Not a humming sound just noisy like it is not getting good reception and many stations will not be picked up at all. It also effects the cd playing also.

I have seen on this forum numerous times people needing to upgrade the ground wire on the fridge as it tends to not be big enough over time when a little corrosion settles in. If you have isolated it to it happening only when the fridge runs I'm going to guess they are both on the same circuit. If that is all true I will suspect your radio is suffering from voltage drop when the refrigerator runs. One way to know for sure is to put a meter on it and see.

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

My 328's battery charger when on would effect both my VHF radio reception and FM radio reception. If I turn off the battery charger I can pull in many more FM radio stations and my VHF radio has less interference. My battery charger has done this since we have owned our 328 (4 seasons now).

I have issues with my charger right now and will likely have a new charger installed for next season. Our boat is being lifted out for winterizing in about two weeks.

Only mentioning the above in case your battery charger could be playing a role in your interference?

Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation