ARB Zero fridge low voltage cutoff

[enzo]

Anyone have issues with the low voltage cutoff on their fridge? I recently installed a Redarc BCDC, AGM battery and ARB fridge wiring loom going to the aux battery. The fridge battery monitor is set at low. I wish there was a way to turn the battery monitor off as I’m not concerned with a dead battery.

 

[aearles]

The Low setting doesn’t disengage until 10.1V, there would be no point in completely disabling it because at that point the voltage isn’t high enough to safely run the electronics... the fridge isn’t protecting your battery, it’s protecting itself.

You really shouldn’t run your aux battery that low anyway though if you want it to last.

 

[enzo]

The Low setting doesn’t disengage until 10.1V, there would be no point in completely disabling it because at that point the voltage isn’t high enough to safely run the electronics... the fridge isn’t protecting your battery, it’s protecting itself.

You really shouldn’t run your aux battery that low anyway though if you want it to last.

Thanks

I thought it was good to discharge batteries occasionally?

 

[john61ct]

If your system is averaging only say 10% DoD then yes.

But hardly ever going deeper than 50%, and getting to true 100% Full as quickly as possible are much more important.

The LVC on load devices are there to protect their electronics, much too low a setpoint for battery health.

Separate external adjustable ones are required for that, or paying attention to a quality BM.

 

[aearles]

50% max depth of discharge for lead acid/agm batteries, which equates to 12.3V or so.

 

[dreadlocks]

If you used the ARB Fridge Wiring Loom it shoulda grossly oversized the conductors that the voltage drop at the fridge is minimal.. the only times it should shut down on you is if your cranking your starter (drags voltage way down) and if you severely over-discharged your battery.

I had some trouble w/ARB's LVD before, but I didnt have it set that low and the issue was mostly due to me shoving the fridge in a bear locker and running it off 30ft of cable off my trailer.. I ended up making the battery somewhat portable (but heavy af) and would just drag it over to the bear locker too.

 

[enzo]

I’ll try a different battery and see what happens.
Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

[dmulk]

For the record, the danfoss compressor is more than capable of running on much lower voltages than 10.1v. There are other (cheaper) fridges out there that that use the same design (and arguably cheaper electronics) cut off at 8v and can easily deplete lithium and deep cycle batteries.

ARB likes to give the answer that it's "protecting the electronics" because there isn't a way in their design to disable the cutoff. It's unfortunate.

 

[67cj5]

The Secop / Danfos BD35 compressor has a Voltage range of 9.6v to 17v @12v and 21.3v to 31.5v @24v And a Standard Cut out of 10.4v and a Standard Cut In Voltage of 11.7v.

 

[john61ct]

If you are actually desiring??? a lower cutoff then you really are not designing your system right.

Whatever the LVC might be on a fridge, it is **not** as high as what you should have in place to protect your House bank.

12V is the absolute lowest I'd set for LFP 4S, and for lead it should be whatever corresponds to 50% SoC.

There might be emergency comms / safety / navigation gear I'd let run a bit lower

but food & drinks is not that important.

Get a bigger bank, or a genset!

 

[67cj5]

He says he is using the ARB wiring loom, That alone is asking for Trouble, The voltage drop under load is going to tell his fridge the voltage is lower than it actually is, He would be better off using 8AWG as a bare minimum,

ARB's LVC is 10.1v +/- 0.3v which normally happens at around 9.8 to 9.9v, Taking any Lead Acid or AGM Battery this low will Kill it, As to why the OP States that he does not care if it kills the Battery is Not Good Thinking because what is he going to do for a Battery when he has killed it Because His Fridge Now becomes nothing more than an Overgrown Paper Weight. With No Way of Powering It, These Batteries are designed to be Cycled Not Used Once and Thrown Away,