Shore Power question

[captainndiet]

2002 380 Santego. All year long when we would leave the boat at the marina. I would shut my battery switch off. A/C would stay running if I left it on, Refrigerator and freezer would stay on.

Well about 3 weeks ago I get to the boat and the smell about knocked me down. Freezer defrosted.
I didn't think too much about it thought we lost power at the marina that week. I noticed today that when I switch the battery to off I checked the fridge and sure enough its off. Check shore power and both mains are on. I switched power lines thinking that may be it but still the same. Check all breakers in the main and in the back cabinet everything is on
Am I dreaming or do I have a major electrical issue?

Shore power on battery switch off should the refrigerator stay on? I swear I have done this for a year and the fridge stayed on

[waybomb]

Yes the fridge should stay on.

Does the fridge run on battery?

[mjk1040]

Yes it should. Check other outlets on the same side of the boat as the fridge. GFCI may have tripped! The ac to DC converter on the fridge may have gone bad! Not certain what year, but was under the assumption that all fridges were 12V with an AC to DC converter. Mike

[captainndiet]

Thank you Mike. GFCI never crossed my mind. I bet that's it

Yes Fred the fridge will run on the battery when I away from shore power

[mjk1040]

Also, make sure the 12v breaker for the fridge didn't trip too! I lost power on our 32' 1986 Mariner, tore the whole boat apart looking for a problem having no power on one side of the boat for 2 days. My son retraced everything I did, only to find out the GFCI outlet on that side of the boat had been tripped an cut all power to that side of the boat, DAH! Mike

[DanM]

Two schools of thought with the fridge power. Leave both the 110V and the 12V breakers on so the batteries will cover the fridge for some period of time if the shore power goes out. Or, leave the 12 V breaker off. In this manner if the power goes out and stays our for a number of hours or when the shore power comes back on and trips the AC breakers off, you don't drain the batteries to the point of damage. This way also makes sure you have enough battery to maintain the bilge pumps in the event water somehow starts getting into your boat via a leaky hose connection or heavy storm.

I tend to lean towards the latter and leave some ice cubes in a cup int the fridge. If the power was out for a while and the breakers/GFCI didn't trip when it came back on, whole ice cubes tell me it wasn't out that long and all is right with the world. Melted ones tell me to break out the trash bags. Either way the beer will be cold and still good to drink.

[Lyndon670]

+1 Dan, this method has saved me from serious stomach pains on more than one occasion over the last 3 boats!

[Viper]

Yep, the ice cube trick is an absolute must. This has happened to us a couple of times and were it not for melted cubes, who knows what the results would have been. It's the first thing we check when we load up the fridge for the weekend.

[g36]

ice trick works well but its also as important keeping perishables at the correct temp, rather than this feels cold. i use this it shows current temps and also records high and low temps for freezer and fridge useful while away.

[Viper]

Sweet. I like it G