No power to my radio, cabin lights or refridgerator

[drumbo1969]

Two separate issues . The inverter that has 110 going in , is it putting out 12 volts DC ? . You can verify that by checking the voltage from one of the two wires going to the fridge ( + - wires ) . Your " 6 " volt battery is no doubt cooked . How old is it ? Did you check the water level in it ? I would at least have it tested at a repair shop , don't need the headache of a cruddy battery on a boat .And that can be part of your lighting,radio issues . If those batteries are run in parallel the bad battery will draw from the good battery until they are even in volts ,so now you possibly have two crappy batteries to deal with .
Also good to see you taking this on with apparently little experience !

I'll have to check the voltage. Batteries are brand new. Installed 10 days ago. What would cause battery to discharge and be cooked? I did not check water level. And the other battery has 12 volts in it.
About the inverter I was only getting 1 amp going out unless I wasn't testing it properly.

 

[dubs283]

How many batteries are in the entire system?

 

[drumbo1969]

How many batteries are in the entire system?

2

 

[mr 88]

Possibly battery was running your fridge and was not getting charged as charger was shot . 1 amp out of the inverter means nothing to me and my limited knowledge. I am looking to see if you have 12 volts DC going out and to the fridges motor . You have 110 going in and should have 12+- volts in the red wire going to the motor . If not and you can't clean up the board you can either buy a new inverter, do what I suggested above . Or run it on 12 volts and make sure the on board battery charger you are about to install is working every once in awhile . Not sure how healthy it is for the batteries to be constantly charging and drained at the same time or if that affects them at all .

 

[dubs283]

With two batteries I'm gonna guess you don't have an inverter. I think you may be mistaking an isolator for an inverter

If you have an on-board battery charger, some times known as a converter it most likely is connected to the ac/shore power panel. The converter takes alternating current from the shore panel/cord connected via a circuit breaker and converts it to direct current to charge/maintain the batteries. In your case two batteries. Guessing one main (engine) and one house (accessories)

The output side of the converter/battery charger should be wired directly to the batteries regardless of the battery switch position (on/off)

 

[mr 88]

With two batteries I'm gonna guess you don't have an inverter. I think you may be mistaking an isolator for an inverter

The inverter we're talking about , if you read all the replies , is located at the base of the refrigerator. It turns 110 ( shore power ) into 12 vdc . Not the other way around which I believe is what you're referring to.

 

[dubs283]

The inverter we're talking about , if you read all the replies , is located at the base of the refrigerator. It turns 110 ( shore power ) into 12 vdc .

This describes a converter, not an inverter

An inverter changes (inverts a direct current sine wave) 12 volts dc to 110 volts ac

 

[drumbo1969]

With two batteries I'm gonna guess you don't have an inverter. I think you may be mistaking an isolator for an inverter

If you have an on-board battery charger, some times known as a converter it most likely is connected to the ac/shore power panel. The converter takes alternating current from the shore panel/cord connected via a circuit breaker and converts it to direct current to charge/maintain the batteries. In your case two batteries. Guessing one main (engine) and one house (accessories)

The output side of the converter/battery charger should be wired directly to the batteries regardless of the battery switch position (on/off)

I should also mention the alternator is fried (being underwater) so I didn't know if perhaps that created the drain on the battery. Im replacing the alternator today.

 

[drumbo1969]

The inverter we're talking about , if you read all the replies , is located at the base of the refrigerator. It turns 110 ( shore power ) into 12 vdc . Not the other way around which I believe is what you're referring to.

When I pulled out the fridge I noticed no water entered this area. It was all dry. I removed the little panel with the DC lines going in but there wasn't anything to see. Maybe could be a fuse but I couldn't remove it. I forgot to unplug shore power as you suggested when I was checking the 110 outlet. I also will test the DC wires today.

 

[mr 88]

If you can't get any 12vdc coming out of the box to the fridge that's your problem. You stated it works only on 12 vdc so the motor is not seized up.

 

[drumbo1969]

If you can't get any 12vdc coming out of the box to the fridge that's your problem. You stated it works only on 12 vdc so the motor is not seized up.

So we've determined the isolator is bad. I'm not sure if that will solve my original problem but my new question is until I get a new isolator is there a way to bypass it? In getting approximately 16 volts out of new alternator which goes into faulty isolator and not much current goes out to the batteries. If I could bypass it temporarily I can still use the boat and not worry about batteries dying.
Btw I got a full charge in 2nd battery with a commercial charger.

 

[drumbo1969]

So we've determined the isolator is bad. I'm not sure if that will solve my original problem but my new question is until I get a new isolator is there a way to bypass it? In getting approximately 16 volts out of new alternator which goes into faulty isolator and not much current goes out to the batteries. If I could bypass it temporarily I can still use the boat and not worry about batteries dying.
Btw I got a full charge in 2nd battery with a commercial charger.

And I checked volts at the 12 volts wires going to fridge and it's totally erratic. Jumping all over front 50 to 130

 

[drumbo1969]

And I checked volts at the 12 volts wires going to fridge and it's totally erratic. Jumping all over front 50 to 130

My mistake. I got better connection on the wires now. Reads .8 volts

 

[mr 88]

My mistake. I got better connection on the wires now. Reads .8 volts

And if you run it on 12 vdc what is the voltage reading at the motor . Compare the 2 numbers. My initial thought is not enough volts / amps coming out of the box to power the fridge . But your meter may be off and or that's what the fridge runs on .

 

[dubs283]

It would be good to review how an AC/DC refrigerator works.

At what voltage does the compressor run? Asking for a friend

OP has fundamental battery/dc voltage issues, the reefer is moot at this point