Shore power question
 

My 05 Dominator has the shore power option and the refrigerator but I don't seem to have any books on how it operates. Previous owner told me to flip the switch on the panel by the fridge and plug in the cable the large yellow cable that is under the shifters inn the small storage area. Should the battery switches be in the on position? My wife also wants the use the refrigerator this weekend but I am concerned about draining the batteries. I should mention the boat has 4 batteries two I believe for the engines and the other 2 run a couple amps and other stereo equipment and I assume the refrigerator.

In my SCARAB the fridge runs off 12 volts. ( the batteries ) BUT anytime the shore power is plugged in the built in on board battery charger powers everything that runs on 12 volts. It also has a built in inverter so with a flip of a switch I can power the 120 volt items when the shore power is not available.

Same here on the Nor-Tech. When shore power is plugged in the battery chargers kick on, plus the 110 outlet is then fed. Everything in the boat is 12v.

The microwave and the water heater are 120 volt. They will run off of the inverter but usually let the engine heat the water heater.

That's how my last boat, Formula, was, although they ran off the generator while on water and shore power while docked.. Not sure Sunny has ever put a water heater in a boat. The Sunny F4 I had, had a screen (computer) breaker system. It was very cool until you ran the battery dead. The breakers, one which would turn the battery charger on, ran from the computer screen, which went dead when the batteries were dead. But there was a way to back door the system from behind the electronic breaker screen, so you could get it going. Although cool, a regular breaker box like Formula had was much more practical.

so will running the refrigerator while out on the water 6-7 hours run the batteries down to the point of not starting the engines? that's my concern especially if the stereo running all day as well.

You should be able to set your battery switch to isolate draw off one of your batteries while on the hook. If you run it dead you can change your switch over to the other battery to start your engines.

The refrigerator is both 12 volt and 120 volt. If plugged into shore power you should turn on the breaker in the cabin galley and run it that way. When not connected to shore power it runs 12 volt. Normally there is a battery for each engine and sometimes a house battery or two that runs accessories like stereo,etc so as to not drain the starting batteries. It's a good idea at dockside to charge up all the batteries if you have a charger installed.

JEFF - my fridge is not 120 Volt. It only runs an 12 Volt DC. There isn't even a wire for 120 Volt.

Is it a Norcold brand fridge? Can you post a pic of it and the breaker panel on the galley? Normally we used a Norcold fridge which had both power options 12 volt and 120 volt. The wiring comes off the top of the fridge. You wouldn't be able to see it unless you pull the whole thing out from the galley. (not sure if you have done this or not). It would have 2 wires going to 12 volt system and then a thick black 3 wire cable going to the shore power breaker panel. Let me know what you find out. Feel free to give me a call if you'd like. 810-794-4888.