Fridge cutting out

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Wondering if someone may be able to shed some light on this one.

My Waeco keeps flashing with the red error light (one flash every 5 seconds- meaning it's cutting out due to low voltage). I have the fridge set on low cutout so it should keep running until the battery drains to 10.1v. I checked the auxiliary battery with a multi meter and reads 12.6v, I then checked the power in the lead that goes to the fridge in case it was loosing power somehow on the way and it showed 12.59v so problem doesn't seem to be there. This happens with both of my Waeco fridges. If I unplug the fridge and plug it straight back in it will then operate for another 5 minutes or so until the same thing happens again. It will also sometimes cut in and out every few minutes.

All of this only happens when the car is off, when the car is running it works fine.

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[Scruffy Member Find all posts View Profile Close Scruffy]

Wondering if someone may be able to shed some light on this one.

My Waeco keeps flashing with the red error light (one flash every 5 seconds- meaning it's cutting out due to low voltage). I have the fridge set on low cutout so it should keep running until the battery drains to 10.1v. I checked the auxiliary battery with a multi meter and reads 12.6v, I then checked the power in the lead that goes to the fridge in case it was loosing power somehow on the way and it showed 12.59v so problem doesn't seem to be there. This happens with both of my Waeco fridges. If I unplug the fridge and plug it straight back in it will then operate for another 5 minutes or so until the same thing happens again. It will also sometimes cut in and out every few minutes.

All of this only happens when the car is off, when the car is running it works fine.

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

What size cable are you running? If the issue is with both fridges then this is a car issue - either a poor/loose connection or insufficient cable size. Voltage reading means nothing as it should be under load not static!

[mcfqn Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcfqn]

Is that 12.59v with the fridge running and connected? It sounds like a voltage drop issue or poor earth. Are you powering the fridge from the factory power outlet or an aftermarket one? What size cable has been run if it's aftermarket? Also have you run an earth directly back to the battery or just earthed it to the body?

If you can answer these questions it will help with diagnosing the problem. For what it's worth, I had a similar problem with my ARB fridge because the body earth was overloaded so I made up another earth lead and connected it from the battery to a body earth.

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

I can't remember the size of the cable but I'm using the cable that was supplied with one of the Waeco power outlets.

What would be the best way to test it under load?

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Is that 12.59v with the fridge running and connected? It sounds like a voltage drop issue or poor earth. Are you powering the fridge from the factory power outlet or an aftermarket one? What size cable has been run if it's aftermarket? Also have you run an earth directly back to the battery or just earthed it to the body?

If you can answer these questions it will help with diagnosing the problem. For what it's worth, I had a similar problem with my ARB fridge because the body earth was overloaded so I made up another earth lead and connected it from the battery to a body earth.

I've tried running it from both factory outlets and a Waeco outlet and the same issue from both. I've had the car for about 7 years now with the same setup and never had a problem before, only just started over the last couple of months.

The 12.59 volts is without the fridge running. Should I try testing at the back of the power outlet whilst the fridge is running?

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

I've tried running it from both factory outlets and a Waeco outlet and the same issue from both. I've had the car for about 7 years now with the same setup and never had a problem before, only just started over the last couple of months.

The 12.59 volts is without the fridge running. Should I try testing at the back of the power outlet whilst the fridge is running?

I just tested the voltage at the back of the Waeco power point with the fridge running and it reads 11.91v. It cut out shortly after and read 12.51v at the same testing point. Even at 11.91v it is still well above the suggested 10.1v cutout.

???

[cuda Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close cuda]

I just tested the voltage at the back of the Waeco power point with the fridge running and it reads 11.91v. It cut out shortly after and read 12.51v at the same testing point. Even at 11.91v it is still well above the suggested 10.1v cutout.

???

Bad polyfuse in the the fridge. Connected between pos and neg and create a resistance when they are failing which causes a large voltage drop to occur triggering the low voltage cutout threshold on the fridge. If you measure the current draw of the fridge it will be very high. Common problem on the Waeco.

[Pedro Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pedro]

I can't remember the size of the cable but I'm using the cable that was supplied with one of the Waeco power outlets.

What would be the best way to test it under load?

I think it is the size of the cable that is causing you grief.
I use a 6 B&S cable for my Waeco and this is what 6 B&S looks like

[Justo77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justo77]

Looks like I may have it sorted. I tried installing a new power point and it has been running for the last hour or so without a problem.

Could it be possible that the old power points were a bit worn or dirty and just making poor contact? Just seems unusual that both power points had an issue at the same time.

Cheers to everyone for your help and suggestions.

[Frazzy_goreng Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Frazzy_goreng]

I have a dual battery system in my 150 series, using one of these Projecta IDC25's https://www.projecta.com.au/dual-battery-charger-idc25/.

My auxiliary battery is a 100ah hybrid deep cycle battery and I'm mostly using it to run a 40L Engel and a small led light.

I was wondering if anyone can tell me when I should turn the fridge off? I.e. at what voltage for the auxillary battery should I stop drawing from it?

I've got a 100 watt solar panel that I use to charge the battery while parked at camp.

[Guest Close Guest]

The amount of draw from the aux battery will depend on the manufacturer's recommendations. The deeper you draw, the less number of cycles you can get before the battery dies. Essentially, keep it charged at every opportunity to prolong the life of the battery.
General rule of thumb would be not to go below 50% charge. Most battery charge charts shows 50% to be at 12.06V.

[Pedro Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pedro]

Deleted answered original question