Fridge or wait ?
- Thread starter brentvolkman
- Start date
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Scotty just to give you a rough Idea here they list 6 of the BD-35s but there are more also the BD-35F can handle fridges up around 150L and The BD-50 can handle fridges up around 330L and when fitted to a Freezer truck even the little BD1.4 can cool down a freezer Truck so regardless of which one they have all 3 of them can cool massive areas,
anyways heres a quick Guide on what I was saying,
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jonathon
Active member
I ended up buying a 50 at ARB from Northridge 4x4 and received it before a planned trip. They shipped really fast. Just got back from a 4 day trip with the fridge - wife agrees it was the best piece of gear we’ve ever bought. She thought I was crazy since ice is cheap, now she gets it.
Anyways as far as wiring goes I have a Ram 2500 with the optional auxiliary switches and it came with a plug for the port under the dash that has both battery and ignition power. Circuit has a 20 amp fuse and is rated for 14 amps continuous draw. The factory wiring is 12 gauge and I matched it with my own 12 gauge wiring and used a body ground. I set the low voltage shutoff at high which is 11.5v. The lowest the fridge read was 12.2v. The truck gauge read 12.3v with the engine off. The factory starting battery is 80ah.
Anyways as far as wiring goes I have a Ram 2500 with the optional auxiliary switches and it came with a plug for the port under the dash that has both battery and ignition power. Circuit has a 20 amp fuse and is rated for 14 amps continuous draw. The factory wiring is 12 gauge and I matched it with my own 12 gauge wiring and used a body ground. I set the low voltage shutoff at high which is 11.5v. The lowest the fridge read was 12.2v. The truck gauge read 12.3v with the engine off. The factory starting battery is 80ah.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
12.2v is ~60% SOC, thats pretty deep for a starter battery.. those normally sit >90% SOC, dont expect a long life out of it if you do this regularly.. deep cycle batteries only go down to ~50% SOC.. this plus always being able to start are why so many are running a house battery.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Cool, congrats on the new Fridge glad it all worked out, I bet the good Lady will be glad to have it when she needs extra fridge or freezer space, That seems to happen a lot around Christmas time,
Did you use it as a fridge or did you set it around -12*c so you could use it as a fridge and a freezer at the same time ??
jonathon
Active member
Definitely plan to address the battery soon. I need to do some more research, but it seems like a second battery is the best option for long term use.
The cool thing is I can re pin the plug under the dash to the ignition side in less than 5 minutes so it could charge a “house” battery while running but disconnected when not - all without a rats nest of wiring. The upfitter wiring in Ram trucks is really well thought out. The downside is it’s only 12 gauge, but I only intend to run the fridge.
I set it at 29f, about -1.5c. Fridge ran down to 25f and then would not kick on until 33f, kept everything perfect.
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67cj5
Man On a Mission
Sound good, At that temp you get seriously Chilled Beer and Milk will last for about 40 days before it goes off which is way longer than it lasts in a domestic fridge, I found this out when I set mine to 1*c, If you want to use it as a fridge and a freezer at the same time Set it to -10* to -12*c and put the frozen goods in the bottom and the stuff you don't want frozen in the top and it will last for weeks like that and it makes it more flexible, Just make sure you stack the Beer close to the Dairy compartment or put them in it and life will be Good,
dreadlocks
Well-known member
experiment some, I dont even keep mine that low, right at freezing is were I sit and frozen stuff stays frozen and nothing else freezes, love beer chilled down to 0C.. but each setup is different in how it cycles and stuff.. my engel keeps it right at set temp and dont cycle between 8 degrees like his.. that could be nice behavior at night tho keeping noise down when ambient temps are dropping.