Frigibar evaporator unit won't stay running

[Mayhemdog75]

The system was working fine until yesterday and now the compressor tries to start up but quickly shuts off. We have plenty of battery power so I don't think the batteries are the issue. Anybody have any ideas to point me in the right direction to get it operating again?


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[Mahaila]

I had a very similar problem. Turned out to be too much resistance or something like that through the breaker or wiring. Didn't trip the breaker but suddenly the compressor wouldn't run more than a few seconds. Hooked power to another 12v source and all was good again.


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[Mayhemdog75]

Did you hook it up to a different breaker or different battery?

[Mahaila]

I simply ran a jumper wire from the power connection at the compressor to the battery bank. Since that worked I ran an independent wire from a 12v distribution lug with a fuse in the line. I haven't replaced the breaker yet so don't know if that was the problem but suspect it was.


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[ColdEH]

Sounds electrical. These little Danfoss compressors draw a great deal of current for a few milliseconds at startup , if during that startup period the control unit senses to much of a voltage drop it will shut down the the compressor.
You may have a bad connection that has corroded somewhere. Get a good piece of over sized wire and run it directly from your battery bank to the compressor + side and make a good ground on the - side bypassing all electrical components and try to start it up again , if it works , you know there is some thing wrong in your electrical hook up .

Regards

[Mayhemdog75]

Thanks guys. I will give it a go and see what happens. It makes the first mate very happy when we don't have to use ice for anything other than drinks!!

[SV THIRD DAY]

You should always run the power for your refrigeration compressor right from the unit to the positive and negative terminals of the battery, preferably battery terminals that DO NOT have anything else connected to them, like alternators, battery chargers, inverters or other heavy loads. The No 1 troubleshooting issue is electrical on these Danfoss units so do everything you can to eliminate it. Also...don't skimp on the electrical wiring in 14 or 16ga wire....ahhh...I wouldn't use anything below 10GA wire even for the shortest of runs. You want to shoot for less than 5% voltage drop when you consult the wiring size vs length chart.

Here is an electrical troubleshooting video and even if you have a different brand of unit, the troubleshooting for electrical is the same. At the 3:35 minute mark the error light discussion starts. At the 11:50 time mark, the 3-flash error code is explained along with troubleshooting for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9FoE1uHzy8

[Australis]

Check your cooling fan. Had similar problem,
small computer like fan was not working and after replacing it all fine.