Yacht & Marine Appliance Repairdockside at South Florida's marinas.
The galley of a yacht runs on the same luxury appliances as a fine home — Sub-Zero and U-Line refrigeration, Marvel wine drawers, Scotsman and Hoshizaki ice, Miele laundry, and induction or gimbaled cooktops — but they live in a harder world: salt air, constant humidity, vibration underway, and 12/24-volt DC or shore-power systems that a shoreside tech never touches. We service onboard appliances dockside, coming to the slip in Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, or Palm Beach and working around the captain's and crew's schedule. We repair Vitrifrigo, Isotherm, Frigoboat, Dometic, Norcold, U-Line Marine, Sub-Zero, Marvel, and Fisher & Paykel refrigeration; wine columns and drawers; flake, cube, and seawater-cooled ice makers; galley dishwashers, cooktops and ovens; and compact Miele and Splendide laundry — diagnosing on-site and finishing on the first visit whenever the part is aboard our truck. We coordinate with yacht management and captains, protect the joinery, and keep the work discreet.
- 18Full-time techniciansNot subcontractors
- 4.79From 871 verified reviewsGoogle, Yelp & other platforms
- $59Diagnostic visitCredited to your repair
- 70Cities coveredMiami-Dade · Broward · Palm Beach
- PriorityMost visits booked <1 hourOpen 7 days · 7 AM – 9 PM
- 90-dayWarranty on labor & partsLicensed & insured
A yacht galley is a luxury kitchen that has to survive salt, vibration, and a DC electrical system — I treat it that way.
Most appliance techs won't set foot on a boat. The refrigeration often runs on 12 or 24 volts through a Danfoss BD compressor instead of a wall outlet, the condenser may be water-cooled off a seawater loop rather than a fan, and everything is bolted into tight custom teak joinery you cannot afford to scratch. That's exactly the work my senior guys are built for. The appliance itself — a Sub-Zero drawer, a Vitrifrigo box, a Scotsman ice head — fails the same way it does ashore: a tired compressor, a fouled condenser, a bad thermistor, a clogged drain. What marine adds is the DC power path, the corrosion, and the discipline to work clean in a stateroom. I come to the slip, I confirm whether it's the appliance or the boat's power feeding it, and I give the captain a straight answer and a real number before anyone orders a part.
If your box holds temp, your ice head drops clean cubes, and I leave the joinery the way I found it, I did the job right.
Sound familiar?
We diagnose on the first visit and quote the repair before any work starts.
- Refrigerator or freezer not holding temp / running warm underway or at the dock
- DC fridge won't start or short-cycles (12V/24V Danfoss/Secop BD compressor)
- Ice maker stopped producing, makes soft or hollow cubes, or won't harvest
- Wine cooler drifting off its set temperature or icing up
- Water-cooled condenser fouled or pump not circulating — high-side overheating
- Galley dishwasher won't drain, fill, or heat
- Induction, gas, or gimbaled cooktop / oven not igniting or not heating
- Compact washer/dryer (Miele, Splendide) not draining, spinning, or drying
- Corrosion, salt buildup, or a musty box after time closed up at the dock
From "down" to "done" — in one careful visit.
- 0 minStep 1
Call or text
One number, one minute. We reserve a priority window that fits your schedule.
- BookedStep 2
$59 diagnostic
A factory-trained specialist finds the root cause and quotes the repair. The $59 is credited toward the work.
- First visitStep 3
Repair done right
Trucks carry common parts for the premium platforms we service. Most repairs finish on the first visit, work area left spotless.
- 90 daysStep 4
90-day warranty
Same issue comes back — so do we, no charge. Receipt and warranty emailed before we leave.
How we diagnose & fix marine appliances dockside
An onboard refrigerator or ice maker is the same compressor, condenser, control, and drain you'd find ashore — plus a marine twist: a DC compressor, a seawater-cooled condenser, and a salt-air environment. We test the chain in order with a meter and confirm the boat's power first, so you get a real diagnosis, not a guess and a parts order.
Box runs but won't get cold — refrigerator or freezer stays warm
- Likely cause
- On marine refrigeration the two prime suspects are the sealed system and the condenser. Air-cooled boxes (Vitrifrigo, Isotherm front-vent, U-Line Marine) foul their condenser fins with salt and dust in the confined locker they're built into, so the compressor can't reject heat and the box climbs. Water-cooled units (Frigoboat keel-cooler, Sub-Zero marine, seawater-cooled ice) lose cooling when the seawater pump fails, the strainer clogs, or the condenser coil scales up. Underneath either, the Danfoss/Secop BD compressor itself can lose efficiency after years, or the system can be low on charge from a slow leak.
- What we do
- We check the obvious marine causes first — clean and inspect the condenser, confirm the seawater pump is pulling and the strainer is clear, and verify airflow to the box. We put a clamp meter on the compressor and read its current draw and cut-in behavior against spec, and check the fridge/freezer thermistors. A fouled condenser or a dead cooling pump is a same-visit fix; a genuinely weak compressor or a refrigerant leak we diagnose and quote before any sealed-system work.
DC refrigerator won't start, clicks, or short-cycles
- Likely cause
- Marine DC refrigeration lives or dies on clean voltage. A Danfoss/Secop BD35 or BD50 compressor needs adequate volts at the electronic control module; a low or sagging house bank, a corroded terminal, an undersized or aged wire run, or a loose ground drops the voltage under start load and the module trips on low-voltage cutout — you hear it click and give up. The control module's fan, thermostat, or the module itself can also fail and blink a fault code on its LED.
- What we do
- We measure voltage right at the compressor's control module while it tries to start, not just at the panel — half of these calls are the boat's power, not the fridge. We check the house-bank voltage under load, the terminals and ground, and read the module's blink-code. A wiring or connection fault we clean and correct; a failed control module or compressor we identify by its fault pattern and quote with the exact part. We tell you plainly when the fix is the appliance and when it's the vessel's electrical system.
Ice maker stopped, or makes soft, hollow, or cloudy cubes
- Likely cause
- Onboard ice makers (Scotsman, Hoshizaki, U-Line Marine, Dometic) work hard and scale fast on dock water. A stopped machine is usually a clogged water valve or line, a failed water pump, or a harvest-cycle fault; soft or hollow cubes mean low water flow, a fouled evaporator, or a refrigeration/charge problem; cloudy or slow ice points to scale and a dirty system. Seawater-cooled ice heads add the same condenser-cooling failures as the fridges — a weak pump or a scaled condenser.
- What we do
- We trace the water side first — inlet valve, pump, and lines — then the harvest mechanism and the evaporator, and we descale the water path where dock water has scaled it. On seawater-cooled heads we confirm the cooling loop. Most no-ice and bad-ice calls are water flow, scale, or a harvest fault and finish on the first visit; a sealed-system fault we diagnose and quote.
Wine cooler drifting off temperature or frosting up
- Likely cause
- Onboard wine columns and drawers (Sub-Zero, Marvel, U-Line, EuroCave) fight humidity and door-seal wear in the marine environment. A drifting temperature is usually a failed thermistor feeding the control a false reading, a tired compressor or fan, or a door gasket that no longer seals in the humid saloon so the box works against itself. Frost or ice on the coil points to a defrost fault or, again, a leaking seal pulling humid air in.
- What we do
- We verify the actual cabinet temperature against the setpoint with a probe, test the thermistor and the evaporator fan, and inspect the door seal and hinges. A drifted sensor or a failed fan is swapped and verified; a hardened gasket is replaced so the box holds against the humidity. We confirm the cabinet stays on its setpoint before we close up.
Galley dishwasher won't drain, fill, or heat
- Likely cause
- Compact and full-size galley dishwashers (Miele, Bosch, Fisher & Paykel drawer) fail the same way ashore — a clogged drain pump or filter, a failed inlet valve, a bad heating element or control — but the boat adds two wrinkles: the drain path may run to a sump or overboard pump that's the real clog, and the unit may be fed from the vessel's pressurized water and shore/inverter power. A drawer dishwasher's seal and lid mechanism also wear.
- What we do
- We clear and test the drain pump and filter, confirm the boat's drain path and sump aren't the actual blockage, and check the inlet valve, heater, and control. On Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer units we service the lid seal and motor. We verify a full cycle — fill, heat, wash, drain — before we call it done.
Cooktop or oven won't ignite or heat — induction, gas, or gimbaled range
- Likely cause
- Galley cooking runs the gamut: Miele and Wolf induction, sealed gas burners, and gimbaled marine ranges (Force 10, Kenyon). An induction hob that won't heat is usually a failed power board, a cracked coil, or a pan-detection/sensor fault. A gas burner that won't light is an igniter, a fouled orifice, or a failed valve/safety thermocouple. A gimbaled range that won't swing or a burner safety that won't stay lit is a mechanical or thermocouple issue specific to the marine unit.
- What we do
- For induction we test the board, coil, and sensors and replace the failed stage. For gas we clean or replace the igniter and orifice and verify the safety thermocouple holds the valve open. On gimbaled ranges we free and service the gimbal and the flame-failure device. We confirm every element or burner lights and holds before we leave.
Compact washer or dryer won't drain, spin, or dry
- Likely cause
- Onboard laundry is usually a Miele compact, a Splendide washer-dryer combo, or a stacked pair. A no-drain or no-spin is typically a clogged pump or filter, a drain-path or sump issue on the boat side, a failed pump, or a lid/door-lock fault. A combo unit that washes but won't dry is often a vent or condenser-drying fault, a heater, or a thermostat. Vibration underway also loosens connections and wears the suspension.
- What we do
- We clear and test the drain pump and filter, confirm the vessel's drain path, and check the door lock and control. On Splendide and Miele combo units we test the heater, thermostat, and the condenser-dry circuit. We run a full cycle and confirm it drains, spins, and dries before closing up.
Senior techs, OEM parts, and a careful hand in a fine home.
Related repairs we handle.
One call, one company for the high-end equipment in your home.
The shoreside side of what we do onboard — sealed-system, compressor, and control work on built-in and premium refrigeration for your home.
Column and drawer wine storage — temperature drift, compressor, and seal repair, whether it's in the saloon or the house.
Cube, flake, and nugget ice heads — no-ice, bad-ice, harvest, and scale faults on Scotsman, Hoshizaki, and U-Line units.
All repair services →Luxury repair cost guide & repair-or-replace calculator →
Read before you call.
Yacht Refrigerator Not Cooling? A Marine Tech's Guide Before You CallWhy an onboard refrigerator or freezer runs warm — condenser fouling, seawater-pump failure, DC voltage cutout, and compressor faults on Sub-Zero, Vitrifrigo, Isotherm, and Frigoboat marine units. Specific to South Florida marinas.Read the guideYacht & Marine Appliance Repair — questions we get
Do you come to the boat, or does it have to be hauled out?
We come to the boat. We work dockside at the slip — Miami Beach Marina, the Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas marinas, Bahia Mar, Pier Sixty-Six, and the Palm Beach marinas — so the appliance is repaired in place. There's no need to move the vessel or pull the unit off the boat unless a sealed-system rebuild genuinely requires it, and we tell you that up front.
Which onboard appliances and brands do you service?
Refrigeration and freezers (Sub-Zero, U-Line Marine, Vitrifrigo, Isotherm, Frigoboat, Dometic, Norcold, Marvel, Fisher & Paykel), wine coolers and drawers, ice makers (Scotsman, Hoshizaki, U-Line, Dometic — including seawater-cooled heads), galley dishwashers (Miele, Bosch, Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer), induction and gas cooktops and ovens including gimbaled marine ranges (Wolf, Miele, Force 10, Kenyon), and compact laundry (Miele, Splendide). These are the platforms we see in South Florida's yachts and the parts our trucks and suppliers carry.
Can you work on 12-volt and 24-volt DC marine refrigeration?
Yes. Marine DC refrigeration built on Danfoss/Secop BD compressors and electronic control modules is a core part of this work, and it's exactly what a shoreside appliance tech isn't equipped to diagnose. We measure voltage at the control module under start load, read the module's fault codes, and separate an appliance fault from a house-bank, wiring, or grounding problem on the vessel — so you're not paying to replace a compressor when the real issue is a corroded terminal or a low battery bank.
Do you coordinate with captains and yacht management companies?
Routinely. We schedule around the crew's and charter calendar, coordinate access and scope with the captain or the management company, provide a written diagnosis and quote for their records, and keep the work discreet and clean. For a managed fleet we can invoice and report through the management office.
How much does a dockside diagnostic cost?
Our diagnostic visit is a flat $59, credited to your repair — so you only pay it if you decide not to proceed. You get a firm written quote with parts and labor before any work begins. No diagnostic fee stacked on top, no upsell.
Request a callback — or just call us.
Open 7 days. Priority scheduling — most visits booked within the hour.
- Phone(754) 345-4515
- HoursOpen 7 days · 7 AM – 9 PM
- Service areaMiami-Dade · Broward · Palm Beach
High-end appliance down? $59 brings a factory-trained specialist to your door.
Call, book online, or text us — priority scheduling for Sub-Zero, Wolf, Miele, Thermador and Viking.