Does anyone make a LifePO4 battery (>= 1,000 wh) with a better DC output connection?

[SBSYNCRO]

I want to eliminate the cigarette type plug that sticks out and tends to get whacked by other gear and also can come loose. I know that Dometic and ARB fridges both come with DC cords that have locking plug type receptacle, but none of the battery packs (except the over-priced and under-capacity Dometic unit) comes with such plugs. I am resigned to cutting a fridge cord and splicing in an Anderson or other connector to make it more robust and space-efficient, but I can't seem to find a good battery pack that has anything except a 12v Cig type receptacle (and the tiny barrel type connectors that I don't think would be well-suited to fridge use).

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

You could always build your own system, Battery, wire (Size as needed), fuse/breaker, and plug of your choice. The bugger with prebuilt systems, is your stuck with what they did.
If it does not need to be removable you won’t need a " battery pack" like the dometic, or goal zero systems.

I would also go bigger than 1000wh, which is about 80amp/hrs. Id do a minimum of 100amp/hr for a fridge personally.

 

[SBSYNCRO]

Thanks. I've been running a Dometic CFX50 on a 500wh battery and a 100w panel on the roof of the Jeep for about three years and have felt the capacity has always been adequate, but must be charged every other day at least. I tend to do most of my camping in the desert and other areas of the southwest, so I can get good solar most of the time. My biggest gripe has been two things: one, the ciggie plug will jostle loose and also sticks out so it gets banged a lot by gear shifting around when I'm loading/unloading stuff in the back of the Jeep. The second issue is that it will not passively charge - what I mean is that every single morning I have to unplug the solar connection and plug it back in for it to begin charging. For some reason the MPPT controller "goes to sleep" when it is not receiving input. Sometimes if I travel through an area with dense tree cover, I have to stop when I'm back in the sun and cycle the plug to get it charging. A few times I arrived at camp after a long drive to find that it had been draining the battery all day and not charging because of this.

 

[SBSYNCRO]

EUREKA! - I think I found the solution I've been looking for.
$840 off today for Amazon Prime Day, so a net price around $860 which is a helluva deal for a 1548 wh LiFePO battery pack. Looking at the rest of the features it offers tremendous flexibility and the charging rates from all of the ports is amazing (they can be combined for up to 2100w of pass-through charging). I really like the 400w Anderson input.

1500 wh and a locking marine type 12v plug! This means I can easily cut off the 12v plug on my Dometic cord and replace with a Marinco or Blue Sea unit and have a locking connection.

This thing will run my fridge for a solid week without needing a charge. This means on shorter trips I'll never have to deal with stringing out solar panels.

If anyone is curious, I'll report back with my impressions after I've used it in the field for a bit.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Im in PNW, but its also an entire camper. For solely the fridge and moving regularly, makes sense with your set up.

Do you separate the fridge and battery pack often? If not, you could just hardwire it. And simplify the entire system. Could still be disconectd when needed.
The Anderson connectors work well. I have them on the front and back of my truck to provide a 4awg connection for DC/DC charging.
A DC/DC would also help, especially if you are driving a lot.

That is weird about the MPPT. I have heard of some doing that if the battery gets to a certain level. Maybe it’s a brand thing, What kind is it?

 

[NatersXJ6]

Are you adding more solar? Also charging from alternator? I’m guessing you will run near the bottom third of capacity most of the time until a shore charge otherwise.

 

[SBSYNCRO]

Do you separate the fridge and battery pack often? If not, you could just hardwire it. And simplify the entire system. Could still be disconectd when needed.
The Anderson connectors work well. I have them on the front and back of my truck to provide a 4awg connection for DC/DC charging.
A DC/DC would also help, especially if you are driving a lot.

That is weird about the MPPT. I have heard of some doing that if the battery gets to a certain level. Maybe it’s a brand thing, What kind is it?

I don't separate it often (normally both stay in the Jeep) but I may add a Starlink to my kit and if so, I may be moving things around a bit more. The current 500wh unit I have is from Suaoki (no longer available) and I got it originally because it was the only unit I found with APP input for solar and a regulated 12v power supply.

Are you adding more solar? Also charging from alternator? I’m guessing you will run near the bottom third of capacity most of the time until a shore charge otherwise.

For longer trips you may be right. I currently have 380w total available (100w hard panel, 120w suitcase, 100w folding, & 60w folding). If I add a Starlink at some point in the future I will probably add a second 100w hard panel to the roof of the Jeep, or another 120w suitcase as I know the Starlink draws about 60w continuous on average.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I have small packs that do this and it's annoying. The problem is what they sense as activity is just enough more than a few loads I want to keep constantly powered.

But the design intention for those little portable packs is to charge a phone or tablet that would consume on the order of 12W or higher until the device hits 100% and then it is taken off. So sensing a trickle makes sense as a trigger to turn off the power supply that will slowly drain the battery from internal losses otherwise.

In this case I'm actually a little surprised a portable fridge isn't enough to kick the timer to reset. My Engel draws about 1.5 amps every couple of minutes, which would represent about 15% of the capacity they claim (10A) for their 12V outlets. I could see 1% or 2% load not being enough but I'm with you that this seems like a significant oversight.

 

[SBSYNCRO]

In this case I'm actually a little surprised a portable fridge isn't enough to kick the timer to reset. My Engel draws about 1.5 amps every couple of minutes, which would represent about 15% of the capacity they claim (10A) for their 12V outlets. I could see 1% or 2% load not being enough but I'm with you that this seems like a significant oversight.

My Dometic CFX50 cycles 3 minutes on (at about 45 to 60 watts) and then will sit for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on ambient temp and how full the fridge is. Overnight when temps are low, the fridge can go an hour or more before cycling, which then allows some battery packs to shut down.

 

[pcstockton]

EUREKA! - I think I found the solution I've been looking for.
$840 off today for Amazon Prime Day, so a net price around $860 which is a helluva deal for a 1548 wh LiFePO battery pack. Looking at the rest of the features it offers tremendous flexibility and the charging rates from all of the ports is amazing (they can be combined for up to 2100w of pass-through charging). I really like the 400w Anderson input.

1500 wh and a locking marine type 12v plug! This means I can easily cut off the 12v plug on my Dometic cord and replace with a Marino unit and have a locking connection.

This thing will run my fridge for a solid week without needing a charge. This means on shorter trips I'll never have to deal with stringing out solar panels.

If anyone is curious, I'll report back with my impressions after I've used it in the field for a bit.

Dont cut the cord! Unscrew the top, there is the locking DC inside the ciggy.

 

[DaveInDenver]

My Dometic CFX50 cycles 3 minutes on (at about 45 to 60 watts) and then will sit for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on ambient temp and how full the fridge is. Overnight when temps are low, the fridge can go an hour or more before cycling, which then allows the battery pack to shut down.

Wow, that's a lot different. I've only ever owned this MT45, 16 years now, so I thought they were all worked about the same. Mine probably runs 10 or 15 times an hour, high duty cycle but fairly short periods.

 

[SBSYNCRO]

Dont cut the cord! Unscrew the top, there is the locking DC inside the ciggy.

Yes, I wish I could use that Dometic/ARB type lock but this battery unit utilizes a Marinco-type (marine) screw-in type locking mechanism as opposed to the "prong and threaded collar" type used on the Dometic/ARB units.


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[SBSYNCRO]

Update to my original post

After the first night where I woke up to find the battery shut down (and the fridge off) I have not had any other issues. After another 48 hours of testing the unit did not shut down on its own. I also unplugged the fridge from the battery and monitored it for an hour several times and the unit did not shut down during any of those tests.

I also heard back from the manufacturer and they confirmed that the design parameter is to remain in standby for 6 hours before shutting down.

For now I am monitoring the unit and assuming that the initial overnight shutdown was attributable to some other glitch such as the stupid 12v plug getting knocked loose. One thing that threw me off was a reference to a 30 minute shutdown of the DC circuit when in standby mode but after re-reading the manual I realized that “standby” refers to actually powering the circuit off by pressing the DC button so that the display shuts off (and then the unit de-powers the 12v plug after 30 minutes). I confirmed this with testing.

I will write up a more formal review if the unit after I do some field testing, but I am back to being bullish on this unit. Support was excellent by the way.

Lastly, I've decided to try to power the fridge from one of the DC5521 ports using a right-angle connector spliced into my Dometic 12v cord. I will keep a careful eye on the temp of the plug itself to make sure it isn't introducing excess resistance, but I'm hoping these units with 16 AWG wire will be sufficiently stout enough to carry the 4-6 amps that the fridge draws when it is cycling. (the ad claims 1-15 amps, but I certainly don't believe the upper end of that claim)

 

[SBSYNCRO]

Two+ weeks powering my fridge continuously with a 200 watt panel on the roof of the Jeep and the battery has never dropped below 80% (and that was after a day and a half of rain). Setup seems to be working perfectly and the 200 watt panel usually has the battery completely topped off by about 10 am. (And I’m in a tree-covered area where sun in the morning and afternoon is obscured).


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