I've recently picked up a 50 qt. ARB fridge/freezer and have been experimenting with it. Trying to figure out it's power consumption and what temperature to keep things at. I had a system down for 3-5 days using an traditional ice chest but realize this fridge is a different ball game. This unit will live in the back of my 4Runner and I'm thinking it will be plugged into the vehicle 12v port while moving. I also have a solar generator I can use and will most likely plug it into that while stationary. The 4Runner has a single battery and stock electrics. The primary solar generator is a 22ah AGM unit with an MPPT controller and 60w panel. I have another solar generator with a 100ah AGM battery and 100w panel but would like to keep that at home because of space. For testing I'm using a combination of all of the above and AC power.
I'll boil it down to my question. Last night the compressor ran for 3 hours and it just seems like that was too long. The draw started at ~5 amps, settled at 4.5 then hovered at 4.1 for about 2 hours. That draw for that amount of time puts quite a strain on a battery and with an AGM the voltage drops while the compressor is on. The fridge was indoors (~75*) and I had it set at 24*. It was half filled with drinks and some assorted other items. The sun was down and the battery went from 12.6v down to 12.2v during the run. Is three hours what I should expect for this to run with these operating parameters? If the sun was out my system would support such a run time but again, three hours just seems so long. I was thinking it would run more often for shorter amounts of time. FWIW my temperature gauge is accurate and calibrated.
Now to some reality. I have no idea what temperature my old ice chest kept my drinks at. As days increased the temperature also increased but my stuff was always cold. My home fridge, after some measuring, keeps my drinks (for example) at 36* and my popsicles at 6* (F). Knowing this I'm thinking it's unnecessary to have my ARB set at 24* for non freezer items. Who knows how long it would run if I had it set to 10*? Today I have it set at 30* with hopes that it will run for shorter periods of time and keep my drinks at a desirable temperature without putting a strain on my battery or the need to carry around a much larger battery.
For fear of asking the same questions others have asked, I have a few additional questions. What do you keep your fridge at if you were using it as a freezer, say for ice cream or popsicles? Does it run for very long times trying to keep it that cold (say 60-70* temperature differential)?
I'll boil it down to my question. Last night the compressor ran for 3 hours and it just seems like that was too long. The draw started at ~5 amps, settled at 4.5 then hovered at 4.1 for about 2 hours. That draw for that amount of time puts quite a strain on a battery and with an AGM the voltage drops while the compressor is on. The fridge was indoors (~75*) and I had it set at 24*. It was half filled with drinks and some assorted other items. The sun was down and the battery went from 12.6v down to 12.2v during the run. Is three hours what I should expect for this to run with these operating parameters? If the sun was out my system would support such a run time but again, three hours just seems so long. I was thinking it would run more often for shorter amounts of time. FWIW my temperature gauge is accurate and calibrated.
Now to some reality. I have no idea what temperature my old ice chest kept my drinks at. As days increased the temperature also increased but my stuff was always cold. My home fridge, after some measuring, keeps my drinks (for example) at 36* and my popsicles at 6* (F). Knowing this I'm thinking it's unnecessary to have my ARB set at 24* for non freezer items. Who knows how long it would run if I had it set to 10*? Today I have it set at 30* with hopes that it will run for shorter periods of time and keep my drinks at a desirable temperature without putting a strain on my battery or the need to carry around a much larger battery.
For fear of asking the same questions others have asked, I have a few additional questions. What do you keep your fridge at if you were using it as a freezer, say for ice cream or popsicles? Does it run for very long times trying to keep it that cold (say 60-70* temperature differential)?