ARB 50 qt 12v power story

[Whito123]

While this is my 4th a Jeep in 30 years, this is my first fridge in a Jeep. I have a 2016 JKR Hard Rock. I got a great deal on a new 50 qt ARB, and plugged it in to the 12v outlet in the cargo area. The fridge would work perfectly when the Jeep was running. It would not operate when the key was switched only to ignition. So I went to a local auto parts store and purchased a 12 V lighter receptacle and wired it directly to the battery. While I had 12.8 V on my voltmeter I clearly did not have enough power to run the fridge even with the jeep running. Research here showed me that my problem was cable gauge. A couple days later I had an ARB wiring kit delivered and I installed it today. The difference was huge and this wiring kit wired directly to the battery now powers the fridge without any problem, even with the jeep not running.

Of course I am not the first to learn this lesson but in case anyone else buys a new fridge make sure you use appropriately gauged cabling to power the fridge from the battery.

While I didn't take any pictures of my install yet, here is one pic of the JKU.... We are driving from Vegas to Flagstaff early tomorrow and are looking forward to the expo.

 

[jeep670]

The plug in the trunk of Jk is weak to run the fridge. I power my arb fridge from the live 12v plug in the between the seats compartment with the cable it came with. Runs perfect.

 

[texasbillet]

I am seriously considering an ARB Fridge for my 2016 JKU. I will either purchase the ARB wiring kit or run it to the center console for power. Is it ok to run it just with the stock battery? The Jeep is my daily driver so it doesn't sit for too long. I will probably eventually go to a second battery, but I was trying to do this one piece at a time starting with the Fridge. I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[Robert Bills]

I am seriously considering an ARB Fridge for my 2016 JKU. I will either purchase the ARB wiring kit or run it to the center console for power. Is it ok to run it just with the stock battery? The Jeep is my daily driver so it doesn't sit for too long. I will probably eventually go to a second battery, but I was trying to do this one piece at a time starting with the Fridge. I appreciate everyone's input.

For peace of mind when using your starting battery to power your fridge, you should consider a low voltage cutoff switch to cut power to the fridge at a pre-determined voltage that will leave enough battery power to start your jeep.

 

[joelbert]

The ARB has pre-defined voltage settings that shut off to save your battery. I started doing it one piece at a time like texasbillet plans and then decided I needed an ArkPak vs doing the secondary battery install in the vehicle. The ArkPak will be portable to the next vehicle or a cabin. On my Tundra, the ARB would only run about 24 hours before kicking off due to low voltage.

 

[Robert Bills]

The ARB has pre-defined voltage settings that shut off to save your battery.

Good to know. My 12-year-old Engel MT45 does not.

 

[TwinStick]

Yup, I believe there are 3 settings for the low voltage shutoff that is built into the ARB Fridge/Freezers.

High: 11.8v
Med: 11.4v
Low: 10.1v

Restart voltage

High 12.6v
Med 12.2v
Low 11.1

This is from the ARB maual. We have an 82qt & a 50qt. We bought ours last July I think.

 

[texasbillet]

I really appreciate the information everyone. I'll check out the ArkPak solution. I plan on setting the cutoff to a pretty conservative setting to ensure I have enough battery.

 

[slvyj]

I had the same problem in my 2012 JKU, replaced the factory battery with an AGM and problem solved.

 

[tarditi]

I ran my ARB50 to the 12v in the center console on my 2015 JKUR, but will be wiring in the ARB wiring ASAP. I haven't had problems yet, but did get a jump pack as a backup in case I ran it low (yes the ARB does have the built-in cut off)