Ever opened up an ARB fridge?

Andy

Andy

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Founding Member
What I thought was a wiring problem causing my fridge to not run on 12v turns out to be internal to the fridge. It's out of warranty so I might open it up to see if it's an easy fix depending on what ARB says tomorrow.

I'm guessing it's just a loose wire internally since it runs on household current. From what I understand the 120v AC gets stepped down to 12v DC and then runs the fridge. My assumption is that if that runs the fridge then there is a connection issue on the 12v DC input.

Anyone have any experience inside the cabinet of an ARB or any diagrams etc?
 
I have no experience with the ARB, but I had this problem with an Edgestar. The way the Edgestar works is how you describe, 120v into a transformer which brings it down to 12v. The problem on mine is that the 12v also routed through the transformer. So the transformer had 120v input 12v input and 12v output. My problem ended up being in the transformer. I did a quick bypass just routing the 12v around the transformer and everything worked. I would have left it that way but I happened to have a spare transformer so I went ahead and replaced it.

Good luck with the arb
 
Tested it according to the FSM and the compressor control unit it bad. A quick Google search show it's a bit over $300!!!!! Going to have to wait a bit before srnding $ off, hoping I can find a cheaper source.
 
UPDATE: ARB USA is sending out parts to test the circuit board first, then they will make the call on replacing the controller. No word yet on if they will just replace the controller or if I will have to cough up the cash for it (about a year out of warranty). Even if I do have to pay for the part, it's still about $100 cheaper through ARB.
 
ARB sent me a new controller but still having the same issue. I checked the voltage on the leads going to the controller, ~13v when disconnected but drops to ~2v when connected to the controller. When it drops below 100 late tonight I will check the resistance across the wires, I'm wondering if there might be a broken wire that won't carry any load?
 
Fixed. Turns out the cord was damaged. Looks like it had been pinched, of course it was under the stupid warning tag so it wasn't obvious. I'm guessing it got stuck under a steel target at some point and broke it enough it would show voltage but couldn't carry a load. If I hadn't cut off the last foot of the cord to do a direct connect-to-the-battery check it would be in a box to get shipped back to ARB right now.

ARB customer service has been awesome. I've called them 3 times for questions (twice before this) and they have always been great.
 
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