ARB fridge not working on 12VDC?

[zimm17]

New 50qt ARB fridge. Runs fine on 110VAC. I just wired up my rig and installed it. Nothing. I have 14 gauge wire running off a 30amp dedicated circuit (painless wiring trail rocker) and using the ARB socket. I have 12.7 volts all the way to the plug that goes into the fridge. I hold the power button and nothing. Not even an LED. Another weird thing is the 12v plug for the fridge fits super tight and almost doesn't want to wiggle free without pulling the whole socket out of the fridge. Thinking maybe it wasn't making a good connection, I used alligator clips from the fridge prongs to the plug itself and still nothing. I have an email into Northridge4x4 (vendor) and ARB tech support. I'm hope I don't have to mail this thing back across the country. I'm wondering if I should wire direct to the battery just to make sure it's getting enough juice?

 

[dmwhiteman]

Double check your polarity. might sound silly, but I had the same issue. Wired up a hardwire connection to my dual batteries ( red to red, black to black) the entire way. Somewhere along the line the polarity was switched.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[zimm17]

Hmm.... I have the polarity correct at the threaded connector (there's a plus sign), but maybe it's marked wrong. I'll try swapping it.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Yes, go direct to battery.

14 awg is really too small, I use mine at 8 awg about 16 wire feet from the battery in my jku.

the cords are all tight. A little wipe with silicone spray helps, but it will always be tight.

Try starting your rig first, see if the higher alternator voltage powers it up, then you definitely have a wire size issue

 

[zimm17]

Polarity was right. Turns out it was a bum ground. I tried 2 different locations in the back of the Jeep JKU and none of them were grounded, even after going to bare metal. I ended up sandwiching a 12ga loop to the bolt between the tail gate hinge plate and the body (wire brush/dremeled to bare steel) with a smear of electrical grease. That did the trick! She's humming along now.

Now to figure out if I should always keep a 6-pack of beer in there along with the water bottles!

 

[NikonRon]

It's not as efficient with beer in it, due to opening the fridge more. :wings: Ron

 

[krick3tt]

Nice cover, is it stock ARB item?

 

[zimm17]

Yup. Came with it and remote monitor on sale.

 

[Borrego60]

New 50qt ARB fridge. Runs fine on 110VAC. I just wired up my rig and installed it. Nothing. I have 14 gauge wire running off a 30amp dedicated circuit (painless wiring trail rocker) and using the ARB socket. I have 12.7 volts all the way to the plug that goes into the fridge. I hold the power button and nothing. Not even an LED. Another weird thing is the 12v plug for the fridge fits super tight and almost doesn't want to wiggle free without pulling the whole socket out of the fridge. Thinking maybe it wasn't making a good connection, I used alligator clips from the fridge prongs to the plug itself and still nothing. I have an email into Northridge4x4 (vendor) and ARB tech support. I'm hope I don't have to mail this thing back across the country. I'm wondering if I should wire direct to the battery just to make sure it's getting enough juice?

Do yourself a favor run 8G wire no less the fridge will be happy happy. And make sure it is fused as close as you can to the battery!! And go direct to the battery and not the frame unless you go to where the battery is grounded to the frame.

Plug on the back of the fridge is to be tight and a pain to remove.

 

[zimm17]

I'm running a Painless wiring trail rocker setup. Not sure what wire they come with, 14, 12? It's on a 30amp relay direct to battery. 8ga will require rewiring the whole system.

 

[verdesardog]

There is no reason to go larget than the 14 ga wire you already have. That fridge draws considerably less that 5 amps, #14 wire has capacity for 15 amps and has resistance of 2.5 ohm per thousand feet.

 

[haolepinoy]

Polarity was right. Turns out it was a bum ground. I tried 2 different locations in the back of the Jeep JKU and none of them were grounded, even after going to bare metal. I ended up sandwiching a 12ga loop to the bolt between the tail gate hinge plate and the body (wire brush/dremeled to bare steel) with a smear of electrical grease. That did the trick! She's humming along now.

I have a similar problem with mine that's likely a bad ground, but I'm not sure. How did you check for the ground in the rear of the vehicle? With a meter or just by trying different ground spots until it worked? I've been stumped on how to check since the online instructions I've seen all say to check for ground with the negative lead on the negative post of the battery...but then how do I check the outlet all the way in the rear of the vehicle (my leads aren't 10' long)? There's gotta be a different way to test it...?

 

[Borrego60]

That is what ARB stated at their service center. If you buy the 12v kit wire harness it is 8 ga. !0 would work fine to but I think 14 is to small.

 

[Borrego60]

Why not hook up the 8ga to the battery side of the Painless?

 

[zimm17]

Why not hook up the 8ga to the battery side of the Painless?

I could utilize one of the extra unused circuits so I have 2 30 amp relays and 2 runs of positive wire to the socket.

I did find out that the ARB only needs 14 ga up to 19' run. I found out the trail rocker uses TXL rated 12 gauge wire, so I think I'm safe with what I got for 1.3 amps.

ARB manual: Wiring requirements (12V) For cable lengths up to 19ft from battery use 14-gauge automotive cable with a 15 Amp inline fuse

Using this wire calculator- at 5 amps, 13.8amps, and 2% drop, 12 gauge gets you 34' of run. I'm way under that with my short ground wire, more like 25' total.
http://www.wirebarn.com/Wire-Calculator-_ep_41.html