ARB 37L fridge help

[Jason911]

Looking for some input from the ExPo community on a ARB fridge freezer problem I'm facing.

For whatever reason the fridge stopped working on 12vdc power about 3 weeks ago, and up until that point its been working flawlessly, serving into its 3rd vehicle. It's been sitting in the boot of a 2014 Jeep grand Cherokee diesel, powered off the 12v socket(and the socket has power all the time). The fridge hasn't been a issue at all and is almost 7 years old. Battery power @ the 12v socket still indicates good, I followed the path of power from the 12v socket through the circuit board into the compressor using a test light - power is going into the compressor but nothing is happening(the digital display on the fridge does not work either). However when I plug the fridge into A/C power - everything works as it should(The Jeep has a built-in inverter so I've been running off that). The battery protection circuit on the fridge is always set to low, and I load tested the battery in the Jeep and that checks out fine. The 12v socket is able to power other items w/o issue. Contacted ARB direct and spoke with one of the service techs at length(thanks Adam!) with ARB even going as far as to send me a new circuit board via FedEx - but the problem remains unchanged. ARB suggested wiring the fridge directly to the battery using one of the ARB 12v socket assemblies, and I'm about to go that route, but I'm reluctant to just throw money at it. I know the fridges are fickle about the AMPs they draw, but its worked fine for the last 3 years - so why the sudden change? I did create a ad-hock 12v male to 12v female set-up and connected to a 12v car battery, but the fridge still wouldn't work. Open to ideas or suggestions at this point.

 

[WOODY2]

If your battery checks fine and it runs on AC the problem would seem to be between the unit and the battery. Sounds like a bad connection, is there anyone close to you that can lend you a factory DC cord to test if your's is good? Some 12v cords have a fuse built into the plug its self?

 

[Jason911]

If your battery checks fine and it runs on AC the problem would seem to be between the unit and the battery. Sounds like a bad connection, is there anyone close to you that can lend you a factory DC cord to test if your's is good? Some 12v cords have a fuse built into the plug its self?

Unlikely I'll find anyone here(Wisconsin) that has a cord I borrow/test with. Mine does have an inline fuse in it, and it checks out. I was able to probe the positive wire of the socket and it shows power running trough it, so?

 

[Lucky j]

You aslo have a fuse in the fridge, but do not know if it is for both 12 volts and 120.

 

[WOODY2]

Some one correct me if I'm wrong here but the unit steps the 120AC down to 12vDC to operate as the system is a 12VDC operation. So that in mind it would point to somehow 12V is not getting from the power source into the unit. Pull cover and check connections, switch fuse in plug and on unit? It has to be in that area

 

[colintrax]

You said you checked the compressor is getting power with a test light however a test light will glow with low voltage. Use a volt meter, I bet you have a corroded wire in there, fridge can't pull the amps it needs.
I had this problem, fridge was getting 12 volts but wouldn't turn on. Ran on 120 ac though. Turned out to be a loose wire.

 

[Cytocycle]

Any update on this, I was just on a 10 day trip in the desert and mine stopped 2nd day out with my 63L that is just over 3 years old. No lights on DC, the fuse in the plug is fine, rewired the plug and it's putting out 13.3 volt from my 155 AmpHr AGM battery directly with a 15amp fuse. But runs of AC with a slight transformer style buzz. Now that I'm back I will contact ARB and my dealer but was still wondering what you ended up doing.

Thanks
Chris

 

[Jason911]

Any update on this, I was just on a 10 day trip in the desert and mine stopped 2nd day out with my 63L that is just over 3 years old. No lights on DC, the fuse in the plug is fine, rewired the plug and it's putting out 13.3 volt from my 155 AmpHr AGM battery directly with a 15amp fuse. But runs of AC with a slight transformer style buzz. Now that I'm back I will contact ARB and my dealer but was still wondering what you ended up doing.

I got no satisfaction from ARB USA. The regional tech that helped me out abruptly left his position after sending me out a new replacement circuit board. I installed that, but I was still left with the same problem - fridge refused to work on DC power(and that was after I tried to direct wire it to a 12v 780amp battery). So I emailed ARB USA again, and waited(for a month). Sometime in early August I got a direct email from a Senior Tech, and then a direct phone call - which was nice, the ability to talk with a real person. Although my fridge was 5 years old, he was going to have it shipped back to Washington State and they were going to diagnose the problem and fix it, or replace my fridge. The last thing the tech told me was that he was going to email me a UPS link/label and that all I had to do was box it up and ship it (to Renton, WA) and they would take care of the rest. That was on August 22. Still waiting for that email. I've been running the fridge on the 115 AC inverter that my Jeep has. Works fine, until I turnoff the ignition.

 

[Stumpalump]

Ditch the cigarette plug and hard wire it. Your greif will never end using that plug. Go to the ARB fridge cords and mods thread to see how to just use your old cord to make a hard wire cord. The wires to a factory cigarette outlet along with the poor connection they provide reduce the voltage and or current enough to cause the problems you are having. Reread this, what was already written in this thread and what ARB suggested and hard wire it.

 

[Cytocycle]

Ditch the cigarette plug and hard wire it. Your greif will never end using that plug. Go to the ARB fridge cords and mods thread to see how to just use your old cord to make a hard wire cord. The wires to a factory cigarette outlet along with the poor connection they provide reduce the voltage and or current enough to cause the problems you are having. Reread this, what was already written in this thread and what ARB suggested and hard wire it.

I think you are missing the point, that we have both built hard wire cables to battery and the fridge is non-responsive, and only runs on AC.
Currently looking for a solution to fix the DC input

 

[Jason911]

Ditch the cigarette plug and hard wire it. Your greif will never end using that plug. Go to the ARB fridge cords and mods thread to see how to just use your old cord to make a hard wire cord. The wires to a factory cigarette outlet along with the poor connection they provide reduce the voltage and or current enough to cause the problems you are having. Reread this, what was already written in this thread and what ARB suggested and hard wire it.

You missed the boat - we both HARD WIRED it directly to a battery and both had the same(lack of) results. That being said, mine worked flawlessly for almost 5 years on the standard 12v cig plug, so I would have to disagree with you.

 

[Umbrarian]

I got no satisfaction from ARB USA. The regional tech that helped me out abruptly left his position after sending me out a new replacement circuit board. I installed that, but I was still left with the same problem - fridge refused to work on DC power(and that was after I tried to direct wire it to a 12v 780amp battery). So I emailed ARB USA again, and waited(for a month). Sometime in early August I got a direct email from a Senior Tech, and then a direct phone call - which was nice, the ability to talk with a real person. Although my fridge was 5 years old, he was going to have it shipped back to Washington State and they were going to diagnose the problem and fix it, or replace my fridge. The last thing the tech told me was that he was going to email me a UPS link/label and that all I had to do was box it up and ship it (to Renton, WA) and they would take care of the rest. That was on August 22. Still waiting for that email. I've been running the fridge on the 115 AC inverter that my Jeep has. Works fine, until I turnoff the ignition.

Sounds like they are willing to help, you just need to follow-up and get the UPS label.

 

[Stumpalump]

On the bottom of the board in the compressor housing is a long line of wires. The top two are black and white.
Black is negative and white is 12V positive. Check voltage and polarity at that point. You probably have but check again and make sure the voltage is not reversed. what is the exact voltage?

The board cover is marked. The upper plug is AC. What's the serial number? Serial number determines what scematic you need.

 

[Runtothehills]

Mine ARB stopped working on 12V after the first week and 1000 miles of highway driving. It still worked on 120V. A solder joint on the back of the 12V terminal on the fridge broke. Really lame soldering from the factory. Anyways, pull the back panel and you should see the white and black wire. One of the solder joints most likely broke.

 

[Cytocycle]

Mine ARB stopped working on 12V after the first week and 1000 miles of highway driving. It still worked on 120V. A solder joint on the back of the 12V terminal on the fridge broke. Really lame soldering from the factory. Anyways, pull the back panel and you should see the white and black wire. One of the solder joints most likely broke.

Thanks I will check that out.. this lead free solder makes all sorts of things really suck