Carver Owners Forum

Is the primay supply to the ref from the 12v or 110v when both are on? I have been told not to leave the 12v breaker on when at dock with shore power on or when the gen is running because the 12v is the primary and the ref is running off the battery.
Thanks for your help

It is from the 110vac when both are on. When 110vac is not available the fridge should auto switch to 12vdc....that is if you have the dual voltage fridge.

If you have the original manual there is an explanation of operation for your boat.

it should auto switch over as described above. you could also make sure that it is by switching breakers on and off indepentenly and see when it s running in case you acutally have a problem you dont know about. i always leave both on when on shore power or gen running, if the power goes off at the dock and no 12v back up you may come back to a huge mess or spoiled food. what brand fridge is this would be easy enough to look up the specs.

+1 guys

Also, and there are a couple of schools of thought for when you're away;
- leave both the AC and DC fridge breakers on in case the AC fails for some reason. This way your DC (12 volt) will take over and maintain temps for as long as your 12 volt supply lasts. Hopefully that will be long enough until the AC comes back on. Having said that, some Carvers are such that their main breakers trip when AC is disconnected and must be manually reset.
- only leave your AC on. If AC fails, you have most of your battery reserve for emergencies such as bilge pumps should a leak occur. While the stuff in your fridge might go bad, this will buy you time and hopefully prevent a sinking.

Which ever way you go with, it's a good idea to put a few ice cubes in a little bowl in your freezer. It should be the first thing you check next time you go aboard. If the ice cubes are intact, then everything in the fridge is okay, if the ice cubes are gone and melted, and the water refroze, it's a sign that you lost power long enough for everything to have thawed and you should throw away all the perishable items in your fridge. Then put some more ice cubes in the bowl.

I thought about running the 12VDC feed to the fridge though a VSR, so it's only automatically connected if the engines are running or the shore charger is working. Then have bypass switch if you're going to be on the hook and want the fridge to run on DC. I haven't done it yet but keep toying with the idea.

We leave a zip-lock bag in the freezer with ice cubes. We use them for drinks, but they're always good as an indicator like Viper describes with the bowl.