Cheap Fridge <$400 shipped

[teotwaki]

Just an update. I had email edgestar and told them of my trouble. They called back once and I missed the call. Ive been so busy and distracted i havent called back.

Every day I walk out to the 4runner and the fridge is showing high temps and it not working. I start the truck and a few seconds later I can hear the motor turn on and the fridge cools back to set temps and works for the day. next day same. So it turns off some time in the night i guess. I think ill take the advise and run a 10gauge wire back to the fridge see if it fixes it.

Today when I checked it the yellow low voltage light was on( first time) and the temps were high. I got into the truck and my volt meter was reading 11.7 volts. I started the truck no problem and the fridge kicked on and worked like a charm. Ill run a wire and see how that goes then give edgestar a call and see if they have any advise.

Your car's battery should be well above 12 volts. At 11.7 you have a poor battery or alternator. With any losses in wiring back to your fridge it will get something less than 11.7 volts. I'm betting that the fridge is fine and will work fine if you give it a good power source.

 

[CaliMobber]

calimobber, sounds like a bad battery. 11.7 is not a good voltage at holding. and with the fridge kicking on at start up, its liking the voltage increase from the alternator. it wont hurt to run the 10 ga wire though.

No my battery is good, its a new yellow top. volts were just down since the fridge was running all night, when cars running its over 13v. fridge is supposed to work until 10.5 volts before shutoff and low volts light turns on.

I went on a trip and got some good testing done. fridge always worked off a sine wave inverter and when I used the stock 12v cable plugged directly connected to the battery. when I tired using a 12v extension to get the fridge farther from the truck it had the same problems of shutting off early.

So Im going to run a 10gage wire directly to the back from the battery. Im confident that will solve my issues. Ill update again after.

 

[teotwaki]

No my battery is good, its a new yellow top. volts were just down since the fridge was running all night, when cars running its over 13v. fridge is supposed to work until 10.5 volts before shutoff and low volts light turns on.

I went on a trip and got some good testing done. fridge always worked off a sine wave inverter and when I used the stock 12v cable plugged directly connected to the battery. when I tired using a 12v extension to get the fridge farther from the truck it had the same problems of shutting off early.

So Im going to run a 10gage wire directly to the back from the battery. Im confident that will solve my issues. Ill update again after.

It would be good to take a voltmeter and measure the voltage right at the fridge and then right at the battery when the fridge is running. The other measurement would be either the loss of your wiring in Ohms or the amount of current being drawn when you make the two voltage measurements. Even if your battery is new-ish you may still have too much voltage loss in your current wiring.

Right now with 11.7 -10.5 (shutoff) = 1.2 volts lost on wiring at 4 amps so 0.3 ohms of wire resistance across 15 feet of wire may be very possible with the small gage wires.

 

[kuh]

When I run the 10 ga wire form the battery to the fridge, what do you use for the connector to the fridge itself? Its the end piece that plugs into the fridge.
Thanks

 

[Fish]

Well, after 3-4 months of checking the Scratch and Dents 4x daily I finally got a 60 qt the other day. It was sitting in my living room when I got home from AZ today. I really had a hard time locating the damage. It started and ran fine on 120V. I'll play with the 12V tomorrow after I empty the truck from a couple of weeks in Eagar.

My ploy somewhat worked. The wife questioned the purchase, so I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a wine bottle. It fit perfectly in the new fridge. "Look honey, we don't need to worry about wine spoiling while we're out tasting!"

 

[Deleted member 9101]

My ploy somewhat worked. The wife questioned the purchase, so I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a wine bottle. It fit perfectly in the new fridge. "Look honey, we don't need to worry about wine spoiling while we're out tasting!"

HaHa...you my friend are nothing short of a genius...********!!!

 

[teotwaki]

When I run the 10 ga wire form the battery to the fridge, what do you use for the connector to the fridge itself? Its the end piece that plugs into the fridge.
Thanks

If the fridge has the usual cigarette lighter plug you just need the matching socket:

West Marine has a nice one although a little pricey.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=10109&subdeptNum=10611&classNum=10615

main page http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategories1_11151_10001_-1

Check auto part stores for alternatives that are also panel mount

 

[CaliMobber]

So i ran a new wire. I have a 4gage wire running under my seat. I ran a 6 Gage( I know it's over kill) along the panels and wired it directly to the factory cig plug in the back. I'll run some test and report back.

Voltage was exactly the same as the battery at the plug, but the wires were super small.

 

[teotwaki]

Voltage was exactly the same as the battery at the plug, but the wires were super small.

The fridge would have to be running to pull current through the wire and cause a voltage drop. I'm guessing it wasn't running if you got exactly the same voltage readings at both ends.

 

[ExpoMike]

Thanks for the nice write-up, dude. We're still on the fence about cooler vs. fridge.

Cooler vs. Fridge... that's an easy one after having a fridge. Fridge hands down, without question, period. Outside of a quick trip to the beach or something, I will never use a cooler for traveling again. Anything that requires 1 or more days, not dealing with melting ice, soggy food, water dripping off cans and bottles when you get them out, is priceless. Yes you do pay for this but the end enjoyment so outweighs it in the end.

Like you, Lisa and I were on the fence at first but once we took the plunge, we can never look back. Spend one weekend without your house fridge and see if you could ever live without it. Same type of deal... well at least in my mind. :ylsmoke:


On a side note, I need to check out the 12 volt side of my fridge again. I found that the power wire running to the back had fried up at the battery so I might not have been getting enough current (even though I showed correct voltage). I think a bad trailer battery killed the wire but not enough to pop the circuit breaker. I'll report findings one I verify them.

 

[CaliMobber]

The fridge would have to be running to pull current through the wire and cause a voltage drop. I'm guessing it wasn't running if you got exactly the same voltage readings at both ends.

yea your totally right. I didnt even think about testing while running, but hopefully its fixed now. should be noo voltage drop now.




Yea anyone on the edge about this one GO FOR IT, seriously the best feeling in the world taking and trip and never buying one bag of ice. Even better is not pulling out wet food and drinks, especially those pesky Gatorade holding water behind the plastic wrapper lol

 

[webdog]

Hey all I am the one that bought the fridge fro XJ Mike.

I have been using it a few times and now that I have a second Accessory battery I have it on the jeep all the time. I drive for about 1-2 hours every other day, and I have been running the fridge for 2 weeks now without needing a recharge. Yesterday I was down to 11.6V after two weeks of 36* cooling. I have not driven much the last week.

I did notice one strange issue, every once and a while it will reset to -01* for no apparent reason. I haven't called edge star yet about it as it is a minor issue.

I am sold on the fridge and cant wait to take more multi day trips without fear of losing food.

 

[CaliMobber]

Hey all I am the one that bought the fridge fro XJ Mike.



I did notice one strange issue, every once and a while it will reset to -01* for no apparent reason. I haven't called edge star yet about it as it is a minor issue.

I am sold on the fridge and cant wait to take more multi day trips without fear of losing food.

For me it does this when I hit the set button twice. hit it once and your set temp will show up and blink, hit it again and mine goes to -1. I wonder if its a rapid set feature, If so id love it set it to 35 instead.

 

[Strizzo]

just ordered another scratch and dent 43qt for 329 + tax, hopefully this one works better than the first one (eventually quit cooling and was given full refund).

they also have a 63qt scratch and dent listed for 349, someone jump on it if you've been waiting!

 

[Strizzo]

just noticed while trying to check the weather this afternoon that CA now sells a transit bag for the 43qt. a bit steep at $120 though...

http://www.compactappliance.com/Edg...n=Appliances-Freezers-Portable_Fridge_Freezer