fridge: how to wire?

[TacoTuesday1]

Trying to set this up:

-camper shell
-Dometic CFX3 35
-Dometic hardwire kit (optional)
-EcoFlow River 2 Pro
-Renogy 100w flexible solar panel, adhere to top of shell using 3M VHB
-can't find 400w anytime harness; out of stock for a month

What's the best way to set this up?
I've come up with two ideas:

1.
-mount solar facing forward. Drop wires between shell and cab
-remove rear seat panel (passenger) find grommet. Poke hole or slice cut
-cut solar wires, route through grommet, re-crimp them (connector is too big to pass through)
-place fridge and EcoFlow in cab, with solar and cig lighter charging it
Pros: Fridge in cab has vertical room to open lid

2.
-mount solar facing forward and sneak wires into front of shell, might not be possible
-or mount facing backward, wires dangling ugly, run into window seal; might be too thick or cause water leak
-run Dometic hardwire kit (12v) from battery into bed
Cons: Hardwire kit is constant power even with key off, EcoFlow could drain battery unless you constantly get in the shell and unplug/re-connect it

minimum concerns:
-enough airflow for fridge
-temp insulation; not sure if cab or bed/shell is better insulated

This is what I did to get my coax cable in to the cab and keep it all water tight.

Take out the plastic behind the seats.

Here is the grommet that I am going to use.


I pulled out the grommet and used a sharp tool to poke a hole into it.


I shoved my needle nose pliers through the hole.


And grabbed a hold of the wire.


Slide the grommet over the wire.


Finally put the grommet back into the hole.


Its water tight and you don't have to drill any holes in your truck.

 

[PeterChang]

I think the first setup option is better.

 

[Josie'slandcruiser]

I have two Land Cruiser wagons set up with frig power cable kits. These run heavy gauge cable from the battery (in the engine compartment) to where the 12 volt refrigerator is located. I have added at the frig location an "on/off" switch for this always "hot" cable before the port for the frig. So when the 12V frig is not being used the power port is turned off.

 

[COAKXterra]

I just did like BillieBob.

100w renogy panel on the ARE roof, wires through that fitting (rear facing), down to a home built battery box. Anderson plugs on major connections (solar-controller, controller to battery box) to allow easy disconnect/removal. Eventually want to pop a dedicated line from the vehicle battery to the bed with an Anderson as well so I can trickle charge the truck if it’s sitting awhile/using truck accessories. ARB fridge runs off the battery box with the dedicated ARB plug and ive got a couple of usb connections on there too. We’ve gone on a handful of multi-day trips in the last couple months and I’ve kept an eye on voltage, but never had to worry about it. I do have that silly ARB battery pack as a backup in case the battery box fails or whatever.

but I like keeping the truck and the “living” stuff separate.

currently trying to figure out new placement for the box, but overall really happy with it. And my “helper” enjoys helping. Haha

 

[NatersXJ6]

what vehicle?

Suggest you just land a blue sea fuse panel at the end of your 8 AWG and attach the amp and fridge to it on separate fuse positions. The fridge cord should be plenty long for running on either side. No real need for a breaker if you have the fridge turned off and a fuse panel to protect against wiring shorts. I cut the plug end off my fridge cord and attached the cut end of cord to a blue sea panel with ring terminals. In the extremely rare event that I don’t have the fridge in, I simply unplug it from the fridge and stuff the cord under the seat. If I get scared about the cord under the seat with “live terminals” I remind myself how well they are covered. If I’m still worried, I pull the fuse. But in reality, the fridge is running 99.9% of the last 9-10 years.

 

[TwinStick]

What ever you decide, do NOT use less than 10 gauge wire, everywhere in your system to fridge. If you do, you risk the risk of fire. We came within seconds of losing our 4RUNNER to fire as a result. Took a year for my burned fingers to heal.

Use inline fuses and a fuse block and a resetable circuit breaker. Blue Sea products are your friends.

 

[TacoTuesday1]

It's a Tacoma

Did the build, used it, then got rid of stuff
Don't need to use it right now

Maybe again in the future, sure.
Plan is to do another build for that, but better.

At the time, build was:
-Dometic CFX3 35, backseat
-EcoFlow River 2 Pro
-rooftop solar 100w (really not enough), wire into EcoFlow
EcoFlow plugged into cig lighter port for alternator charging; I need to do '400w anytime' harness mod, as stock port is limited to 100w without doing that mod
and look into potentially upgrading inverter from weak stock one that doesn't have the best sine wave configuration
either replace in factory location, or have a better inverter somewhere else

the EF River 2 Pro seemed better than competitors like Jackery 500, GZ Yeti, Dometic, etc. but some of those are also good
and potentially better products have come out into the market since then

If I do it again later, it's probably gonna be
-bigger battery, like Delta 2 Pro or whatever it's called
-200w worth of solar, potentially solid panels atop a rack (better, lasts longer, air cooled, compared to stick on)
-disassemble rear seat, re-purpose the hinges and frame to make flat wood, so there is more room for a bigger fridge to sit flat allowing for lid opening, instead of atop factory seat which results in angle making inside food items fall over

as for wiring, I did try to use as thick gauge as possible, keeping it as short as possible, including fuses
fridge was in the cab to have room for sleeping on truck bed platform
routed solar wire into the cab from behind.

The cool part about a power station is they have many features built in, competitive price, are mobile
and already has MPPT controller/solar charge regulator inside
from what I found, only the cheapest dual/second battery is cheap; but a good quality dual/second battery is costly.
so I will have to research more for the next build which one is truly better; a power station, or second deep cycle battery that will likely need additional external MPPT controller, isolator in the engine bay (like what Mav put on his F-150),
finding a decent location to put the second battery that doesn't break anything
there are kits for the stock battery location (dual tray) that are like up to $1k though,
and stock fender is weak and can crack. Solution for that is expensive; JD Fab 'Inner Fenders'.

Unless it's somewhere else. Knew a guy with a Land Rover build; had his battery in the back; backseat or trunk area, enclosed in a plastic container.
Bigger alternator is expensive
and extended idling is not good; fuel dilution into oil.
IDK if my previous setup was the best, but it definitely worked, and the major thing I noticed could be desired to improve
would be simply to try 200w of solar, rather than 100w.
To be honest, it's even achievable to get 300w or more.
for example:
-Cascadia hood solar, 100w
-x2 100w/ea panels atop a roof rack = 200w+hood solar = 300w total, likely enough or more than enough; 200 may be fine

in my case, the goal was not for a weekend trip after driving 8hr.
The goal was to have a truck that can sustain itself any time, any where
without requiring driving 8hr prior just to run, which is not always gonna happen; not every adventure is gonna come with a prerequisite 8hr drive.
And to be honest, the build was able to do that, pretty quickly, easily, and on a budget, without issue

I did not have significant power users though. For example, popular YouTubers operating out of a rig, doing whatever they do
laptop, video editing, charging a drone to use it for footage, or switching to electric appliances rather than propane
I imagine they may need more solar, bigger battery, to power that
which could depend on the size of their vehicle. Something like a 90's Land Rover Defender, Toyota LC troopy, etc. is gonna have a bit more space for things

It would've been awesome if I'd have been able to operate a small cheap real microwave but I don't think my system had enough wattage. And probably not enough power held to run said wattage for the amount of time the microwave is on.
As opposed to Dometic fridge, while being 60w, it's really only 60w those select number of times the compressor actually kicks on momentarily.