Cheap Fridge <$400 shipped

[4x4junkie]

When you say "install a new outlet with heavier wire" are you talking about replacing the existing blue and brown internal wires that go to the DC outlet?

Thanks!

This one has me a little bit concerned there's a misunderstanding, so I will clarify a bit better:
We are talking about upgrading the wiring to the DC socket (cig lighter) on your vehicle, not the socket on the fridge itself (which is a DC input socket BTW). The blue & brown wires inside the fridge there is no reason to mess with those.

If it's a factory socket in your vehicle you are plugging the fridge into, then of course upgrading the wiring wouldn't be practical, instead you would need to install a separate accessory socket wired with #12 or #10 wire straight to your vehicle's battery.

Hope that helps.

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

I went to the ARB site and typed "wiring loom" in their search box and the only thing that comes up is this http://store.arbusa.com/IPF-Wiring-Loom-M002-P3645.aspx for $112.00. Aaargh. Is that the wiring loom you are talking about?

No it is this one only 42.00 dollars and worth it!

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2290

 

[magentawave]

Except for 5 minutes once an hour when the fridge cycles on, my 83 quart Edgestar has been running silently 24/7 for the last 2 weeks on AC. Starting about 5 days ago there is noise coming from the power supply that sounds like a fan that is out of alignment, and that fan noise seems to be on all the time now too. If I disconnect and then re-connect the power cord the fridge will be totally silent for about 10 minutes and then that out-of-alignment sounding fan noise in the power supply will start again.

So far the fridge seems to be cooling everything okay but has anyone had this power supply noise issue in their Edgestar? What did you do about it?

Thanks

 

[4x4junkie]

There is a small fan inside the power supply itself (separate from the condenser fan), maybe check and see if a wire or something might've made it's way up against it's fan blade (or maybe a little insect critter tried to make it's home in there or something).

If it's a whirring noise, a drop of oil on the motor shaft might help (not sure if the power supply fan has a ball-bearing or not). Probably will need to peel up the fan's sticker to get to the end of the motor shaft bearing (or bushing) to oil it.

 

[magentawave]

Thanks. Edgestar just told me they are going to send me a new fan for the power supply. Not sure yet if that means they are sending a new power supply or just the fan. You might be right about a wire or something touching the tips of the fan cuz it kinda sounds like that. How difficult is it to remove the power supply to check that?

 

[magentawave]

My 83 quart Edgestar keeps everything cold but it makes lots of weird noises when it runs sometimes. It will run quietly for a week and then maybe the next week the weird noises will return for most of the week and then it will go back to running quietly. Its been doing this for about a month now. Has anyone had this problem with their Edgestar? What did you do to fix it?

 

[CaliMobber]

Other then the fan and motor spinning up, no sound from mine. What kinda noise are you talking about? can you describe it?

 

[Fzzt]

If you want to diagnose dc amp draw this looks like the device around $60 US. I use an AC version of the WattsUp inside the house and it's pretty accurate, good enough at least to get an idea of how much something is costing to run per hour ie Christmas lights
http://www.rc-electronics-usa.com/ammeters/dc-amp-meter.html

 

[thebrassnuckles]

I am having a slight "problem" with my fridge. If i leave it to sit, while my all black jeep is in the sun on hot days (90+) the fridge is unable to keep the temps down. it is set at 33 degrees and currently it is 45 in the fridge. My fridge is not fully loaded with cold items, but its not completely empty either, am I just needing to up the amount of cold items in there so it won't have to work so hard? If i start the jeep and crank the A/C it eventually gets the temp under control.

Is this "normal" operation? Has anyone figured out a trick to keep this under control?

other than this inconvenience, the fridge has been great. I have only seen the low cut off activate once in the 3+ months it has been running in the back of my jeep. once i get down to so cal full time, the high temp problem will not be an issue, but that wont be for a couple weeks.

 

[thebrassnuckles]

Upon further investigation, I have discovered that if I unplug the fridge, then plug it back in I can hear the compressor kick on for about 2 seconds, then it shuts off.

 

[thebrassnuckles]

Another update, with the jeep running, there is no problem. The compressor kicks on and stays running.

 

[TemboTusk]

Another update, with the jeep running, there is no problem. The compressor kicks on and stays running.

In my opinion, it is time to rewire to a lower gage wire. If you are using the existing vehicle plug wiring, the fridge may be drawing too much energy for the length of wire while the engine is off. I have run a 10 gage wire from my battery to the fridge and all intermittent issues have disappeared. I have an Engel fridge, but the issues are the same.

 

[austintaco]

Hey Brass,
What type of battery are you using? Your battery may have been able to handle the draw when it was newer, but now, being run down a few times, it might not be up to the job? My low voltage cut off came into play over Spring Break, and I checked the system with my scan gauge, and it was indeed low. I turned the truck on and let it charge itself back up and all was good.
I had the fridge in my 4runner at Moab two weeks ago and I never had an issue with it cutting off. On the 4runner, I do have a smaller gauge wire going directly from the battery to a 12 volt plug, and then use the Edgestar cord for the connection.

Note to all: We moved the fridge to the tow vehicle for the ride home to store the growlers of jalepeno beer and some Golden Spike Hef. At some point, while checking the fridge, I must have hit fast freeze. Nearly lost the beer. I think it got down to 8 degrees. Caught the mistake, turned the fridge off and the beer was still half frozen, 24 hours later. Yes, these fridges have good insulation too!

 

[thebrassnuckles]

How does one do that? Run a lower guage wire straight from the battery to the plug? I haven't seen any write ups for a mod such as this (but I also have t searched)

 

[thebrassnuckles]

Hey Brass,
What type of battery are you using? Your battery may have been able to handle the draw when it was newer, but now, being run down a few times, it might not be up to the job? My low voltage cut off came into play over Spring Break, and I checked the system with my scan gauge, and it was indeed low. I turned the truck on and let it charge itself back up and all was good.
I had the fridge in my 4runner at Moab two weeks ago and I never had an issue with it cutting off. On the 4runner, I do have a smaller gauge wire going directly from the battery to a 12 volt plug, and then use the Edgestar cord for the connection.

Note to all: We moved the fridge to the tow vehicle for the ride home to store the growlers of jalepeno beer and some Golden Spike Hef. At some point, while checking the fridge, I must have hit fast freeze. Nearly lost the beer. I think it got down to 8 degrees. Caught the mistake, turned the fridge off and the beer was still half frozen, 24 hours later. Yes, these fridges have good insulation too!

It's the stock battery on my JKUR. I have been contemplating a dual battery system, but the price of admission is pretty high, and I haven't really found a setup I really like.