What to check? ARB fridge not always cold?
- Thread starter mtnbike28
- Start date
Andy@AAV
Old Marine
Is it plugged in using a factory 12v or aftermarket? If aftermarket ensure its wired with 10g or larger wire.
Check the voltage at the battery, then at the plug. They should be the same, with maybe a .05 volt loss. Plug in the fridge and repeat checking the voltage. Again they should be the same.
If the voltage loss is more than a a tenth of a volt it sounds like a wire is too small to carry the current draw. If the fridge running drops the battery voltage by more than a few tenths the battery may be bad, or it is too small for your use.
The other thing to check is the connection at the plug. I switched to a powerlet locking plug and that solved my power issues. Try marking the plug at 12 o'clock with a paint marker. Plug it in for some time and see if it rotates when you drive or if you have power issues on the fridge. If you have power issues again but no rotation try rotating the plug 90 degrees in the outlet and try again. If the plug rotates you found the problem and need a better receptacle.
This is what I use.
http://www.powerlet.com/product/standard-powerlet-socket/280
Check the voltage at the battery, then at the plug. They should be the same, with maybe a .05 volt loss. Plug in the fridge and repeat checking the voltage. Again they should be the same.
If the voltage loss is more than a a tenth of a volt it sounds like a wire is too small to carry the current draw. If the fridge running drops the battery voltage by more than a few tenths the battery may be bad, or it is too small for your use.
The other thing to check is the connection at the plug. I switched to a powerlet locking plug and that solved my power issues. Try marking the plug at 12 o'clock with a paint marker. Plug it in for some time and see if it rotates when you drive or if you have power issues on the fridge. If you have power issues again but no rotation try rotating the plug 90 degrees in the outlet and try again. If the plug rotates you found the problem and need a better receptacle.
This is what I use.
http://www.powerlet.com/product/standard-powerlet-socket/280
pugslyyy
Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
+1, it is not enough to check the voltage without the fridge being on, it's the only way to determine whether the fridge is getting the power it needs. Just because you read 12V with an open circuit doesn't mean that it will stay that way once loaded.
NikonRon
Adventurer
I had a problem with mine not wanting to start and run with the battery monitor set to High, simply change it to the low setting and it will kick on and run just fine. For me this is no problem since I do have a dual battery setup and am not concerned with draining my starting battery down too low. Ron
crawler#976
Expedition Leader
Had a similar problem on our '12 JKUR - the factory rear power outlet was insufficient to run a fridge. The factory wiring was 18G - perhaps even lighter...
We ran 10G primary wire for both positive and negative directly to the battery and used a cigarette lighter socket rated to 15A, and all is good.
We ran 10G primary wire for both positive and negative directly to the battery and used a cigarette lighter socket rated to 15A, and all is good.
According to Engel this is the #1 issue with fridges. People really need to run 10g wiring from battery to outlet. Too small of wire results in voltage drop and the fridge just can't work properly.
Once I removed the white connector from the ARB harness I have almost no notable voltage drop between my battery and the outlet.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
The thermostat in my ARB is VERY optimistic. It says 35 degrees but an infrared thermometer says 41.
All the other suggestions are a good place to start though. I run mine on a dedicated circuit off of two Optima BlueTop D31M batteries; I have the fridge set for the medium (11.5v) cut-off and have only gotten there twice.
All the other suggestions are a good place to start though. I run mine on a dedicated circuit off of two Optima BlueTop D31M batteries; I have the fridge set for the medium (11.5v) cut-off and have only gotten there twice.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Well, it's reassuring to know that (a) I'm not the only one having this issue and (b) that it happens to high-end fridges like the ARB as well as to my bargain-priced Dometic 19 liter unit!
cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
High end fridges need adequate power supply too
Premium ARB dealers have a meter offered by ARB to physically load test the outlet in question. Basically it simulates the fridge start-up amperage and determines if your outlet and associated wiring can handle the fridge load. I've found that many of the OE supplied outlets are not up to the task, they build them to charge phones or a laptop, not power a fridge. Along with those would be outlets in which the installer jumped on the circuit of something else, be it the rear dome light power, etc. Best bet is to run a dedicated circuit, ARB offers a nice kit that is compatible with their cord (and any other Hella style plug but not cig. style) that comes with a nice flush mount outlet and enough wiring for a direct run to your battery system or high amperage fuse block. We've installed quite a few of the kits in late model Toyota's where the factory outlet wasn't doing the trick.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
Good info. Thanks.High end fridges need adequate power supply too
Premium ARB dealers have a meter offered by ARB to physically load test the outlet in question. Basically it simulates the fridge start-up amperage and determines if your outlet and associated wiring can handle the fridge load. I've found that many of the OE supplied outlets are not up to the task, they build them to charge phones or a laptop, not power a fridge. Along with those would be outlets in which the installer jumped on the circuit of something else, be it the rear dome light power, etc. Best bet is to run a dedicated circuit, ARB offers a nice kit that is compatible with their cord (and any other Hella style plug but not cig. style) that comes with a nice flush mount outlet and enough wiring for a direct run to your battery system or high amperage fuse block. We've installed quite a few of the kits in late model Toyota's where the factory outlet wasn't doing the trick.