Goal Zero ~ Yetti 400 vs ARB 50qt fridge

[Kalisaya Power]

Hey

I sell the KaliPAK which is Goal Zero #1 Competitor. My experience ,with a 558Wh lithium ion system, ( spoke with ARB), it to put the ARB power mode on Low. This should help. Very few users even know they have a power mode. I was surprised as well, but it solved so many issues! The instruction manual in the ARB should give you direction on how to put it on low power mode.

 

[Green Hornet]

52 Watts

I just bought the Yeti 400 ($100 off at a Costco Road Show) and have an ARB 50QT (2017 model). A couple things to confirm / point out that have been suggested previously:

The DC (cigarette) plug on the ARB is too large for the Yeti. As has been pointed out, you can call Goal Zero and they will send you an adapter that will work. HOWEVER, the guy I spoke with at Goal Zero was ADAMENT that the fridge was pulling too large of a load and that was the problem. It was only after I told him about this thread and my own tests with a meter that he relented. The point here is they "run in to this a lot" and "he saw it being the load demand of the compressor almost every time." The adapter plug did the job and the fridge works well.

The Yeti shows a load of 52 watts when the fridge starts up and the compressor kicks on. There is actually a momentary spike higher than that, but it's too fast to get a reading.

The Anderson plug (on the sides of the Yeti) was another option that the GZ rep offered but also warned about what we have discussed here - you'll get no low battery protection or load display if you use it. You're going straight to the battery array and bypassing the electronics. This is not ideal. The ARB has a "resume feature" that will kick the fridge back on when voltage is retuned on DC power, so you should try to use DC for that reason.

I'll report back on run times as soon as I complete a power cycle.

 

[snowblind]

I just bought the Yeti 400 ($100 off at a Costco Road Show) and have an ARB 50QT (2017 model). A couple things to confirm / point out that have been suggested previously:

The DC (cigarette) plug on the ARB is too large for the Yeti.

Ditch the cigarette adapter and use the Goal Zero 12V dedicated plug spliced into your fridge power cord - http://www.goalzero.com/p/241/6mm-m...=43737&click_id=1951292267&utm_campaign=43737

I made a fridge power cord that ends in a GM weather-pack connector. I then made GZ12v-to-weatherpack and a vehicle12v-to-weatherpack cords. Now I switch the fridge power by changing weather pack connections and not the battery/fridge.

Matt

 

[snowblind]

Here's another shot of the cables. This time with the Yeti 400 in the frame.

 

[tbisaacs]

Ditch the cigarette adapter and use the Goal Zero 12V dedicated plug spliced into your fridge power cord - http://www.goalzero.com/p/241/6mm-m...=43737&click_id=1951292267&utm_campaign=43737

I made a fridge power cord that ends in a GM weather-pack connector. I then made GZ12v-to-weatherpack and a vehicle12v-to-weatherpack cords. Now I switch the fridge power by changing weather pack connections and not the battery/fridge.

Matt

Mine isn't this nice, but I too made a cable from a 6mm gz ring connector and ditched the cigarette light socket.


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[Green Hornet]

Ditch the cigarette adapter and use the Goal Zero 12V dedicated plug spliced into your fridge power cord -

I made a fridge power cord that ends in a GM weather-pack connector. I then made GZ12v-to-weatherpack and a vehicle12v-to-weatherpack cords. Now I switch the fridge power by changing weather pack connections and not the battery/fridge.



Matt

Thanks but I'd rather not bypass the DC fuse on an $800 fridge.


I found that the runtime for the ARB 50 QT is around 18 hours when running off the Yeti 400's DC power ports. Externam air temps were between 80-90 degrees and the fridge was in the shade. The battery protection was set to "low" on the ARB and the fridge kicked off with the Yeti showing about 50% battery. If you use the AC power port you'll get well over 24 hours and you'll bypass the ARB low battery protection, which was designed for your car battery.

 

[snowblind]

Thanks but I'd rather not bypass the DC fuse on an $800 fridge.

Not sure why you think I'm advising you to bypass any fuses. If the ARB has a fuse in the cig connector you can replicate that with an inline fuse in the new cable. And you don't need to cut up the ARB cable to make a dedicated GZ cable. It's just wire.

Plus the GZ has it's own internal protection and the fridge probably does to. If there is a fuse in the cig connector it is there to protect the wire. The fuse/breaker to protect the fridge will be really close to/inside the fridge. This is the same way that car stereo amps are wired.

I found that the runtime for the ARB 50 QT is around 18 hours when running off the Yeti 400's DC power ports. Externam air temps were between 80-90 degrees and the fridge was in the shade. The battery protection was set to "low" on the ARB and the fridge kicked off with the Yeti showing about 50% battery.

My fridge has a display that shows the actual voltage for cutoff and also the actual voltage of incoming power. A number of things affect the voltage the fridge actually sees. The biggest issues for me was the length/size of fridge power wire and type of connector. Switching away from cig sockets and using shorter wires resulted in an extra 1v at the fridge (roughly 12.0 vs 11.0)

If you use the DC power port you'll get well over 24 hours and you'll bypass the ARB low battery protection, which was designed for your car battery.

Just to be clear - Are you advising to not use the 12v connectors on the front and use the Anderson port?

If this is the case you should know two things:
#1 - The ARB will still turn off when the power dips below it's set protection level. The only way to bypass this protection is to turn it off (if possible).
#2 - You are bypassing Goal Zero's battery management, fusing, protection, etc.

Perhaps a better option - Disable the fridge power management and let GZ manage itself. The Yeti battery won't become damaged from over-discharge and you will probably see battery life 1/2 way between the two extremes you've seen so far.


Matt

 

[Green Hornet]

Not sure why you think I'm advising you to bypass any fuses. If the ARB has a fuse in the cig connector you can replicate that with an inline fuse in the new cable. And you don't need to cut up the ARB cable to make a dedicated GZ cable. It's just wire.

Plus the GZ has it's own internal protection and the fridge probably does to. If there is a fuse in the cig connector it is there to protect the wire. Teh fuse/breaker to protect the fridge will be really close to/inside the fridge. This is the same way that car stereo amps are wired.



My fridge has a display that shows the actual voltage for cutoff and also the actual voltage of incoming power. A number of things affect the voltage the fridge actually sees. The biggest issues for me was the length/size of fridge power wire and type of connector. Switching away from cig sockets and using shorter wires resulted in an extra 1v at the fridge (roughly 12.0 vs 11.0)



Just to be clear - Are you advising to not use the 12v connectors on the front and use the Anderson port?

If this is the case you should know two things:
#1 - The ARB will still turn off when the power dips below it's set protection level. The only way to bypass this protection is to turn it off (if possible).
#2 - You are bypassing Goal Zero's battery management, fusing, protection, etc.

Perhaps a better option - Disable the fridge power management and let GZ manage itself. The Yeti battery won't become damaged from over-discharge and you will probably see battery life 1/2 way between the two extremes you've seen so far.


Matt

1) with all the cutting and splicing effort, it seems counter productive. It's just easier to get the GZ cig adapter. "Plus the GZ has it's own internal protection and the fridge probably does to." Yeah, probably. And you probably would have to take either one of those apart, probably voiding your warranty. I know how car stereo amps are wired. I also know that most of them have a fuse accessible on the outside. Your setup does not. That's fine for you if you want but I wouldn't advise trying to convince other people to go down the road of removing fuses from the chain. They are there for a reason. "If there is a fuse in the cig connector it is there to protect the wire" - I disagree. It's there to protect what's behind it (the hardware).

2) "My fridge has a display that shows the actual voltage for cutoff and also the actual voltage of incoming power" The ARB does not have an "incoming voltage display" that I'm aware.

3) "Perhaps a better option - Disable the fridge power management and let GZ manage itself." I do not believe this is possible on the ARB. You have the option of "low med or hi.

4) "Just to be clear - Are you advising to not use the 12v connectors on the front and use the Anderson port?" - NO. What I suggested was to use AC power. I had a typo on that and originally put DC. Sorry. If you use the "wall power plug" the ARB will not monitor voltage (and cut off when the Yeti battery gets to 50%).

 

[e60ral]

Don't use AC power for DC to DC, that is inefficient and you are already limited on power with the yeti. Use the 12V port on your yeti and set your fridge shutoff to low

The low setting on your fridge is probably about 10V (check your manual), that is effectively turning it off since your Yeti is discharged at that point anyways. Use a DC connection, the reason to make your own cable is just to clean it up, if the adapter doesn't bother you use it.

 

[snowblind]

1) with all the cutting and splicing effort, it seems counter productive. It's just easier to get the GZ cig adapter.

I was tired of lower power levels and cig plugs coming un-plugged. Sounds like the cig plug works great for you.

"Plus the GZ has it's own internal protection and the fridge probably does to." Yeah, probably. And you probably would have to take either one of those apart, probably voiding your warranty.

Yeti has a hardware/software breaker. It limits the 12v ports to 120W/10amps. Those reset automatically. So no taking anything apart. Your ARB had a 15amp fuse in the cord.

I know how car stereo amps are wired. I also know that most of them have a fuse accessible on the outside. Your setup does not.

You missed a big point on car stereo wiring. Fuse at amp protects amp. Fuse at battery protects wire. Fuse at just the amp and the wire can overheat if it rubs through and shorts. My setup has internal breakers.

That's fine for you if you want but I wouldn't advise trying to convince other people to go down the road of removing fuses from the chain. They are there for a reason. "If there is a fuse in the cig connector it is there to protect the wire" - I disagree. It's there to protect what's behind it (the hardware).

I NEVER TOLD YOU TO REMOVE A FUSE! I have personally owned three DC fridges and none of them had fused power cords. None of my friends fridges had fused power cords either. I honestly did not know that the ARBs had a fuse in there. If your cord has a fuse then by all means keep the fuse but you're wrong about what that fuse is for. Fuse at the power source protects the wire. Even your HOUSE is set up this way. Breakers at the main power supply are rated to the wire gauge in the walls.

"My fridge has a display that shows the actual voltage for cutoff and also the actual voltage of incoming power" The ARB does not have an "incoming voltage display" that I'm aware.

Do you have a mutli-meter? If you can get a voltage measurement of what is actually reaching your fridge you might be surprised at how low it is. Long power cords, small power wires, heat and multiple connectors can drop a combined 1-2 volts across the cord

"Perhaps a better option - Disable the fridge power management and let GZ manage itself." I do not believe this is possible on the ARB. You have the option of "low med or hi.

Bummer. ARB should have the voltage spec somewhere so you know. I'm guessing it is around 10.5V or maybe a little higher. If you are seeing voltage drop from the cig connector and wires the fridge will turn off much earlier than if there is no voltage drop.

"Just to be clear - Are you advising to not use the 12v connectors on the front and use the Anderson port?" - NO. What I suggested was to use AC power. I had a typo on that and originally put DC. Sorry. If you use the "wall power plug" the ARB will not monitor voltage (and cut off when the Yeti battery gets to 50%).

Ahhhh. It ALL makes sense now. With AC power the Yeti manages the fridge power and battery discharge using its software. AC power is WAY less efficient than DC so you should be seeing less runtime. The fact that you see MORE runtime on AC is indicative of an underlying problem with your DC power delivery.

SUMMARY:
On DC power your fridge views a 50% discharged Yeti as fully discharged.
On AC power the Yeti discharges all the way.
There are only TWO differences in the scenarios. #1 - Power port and #2 - power cord.

I'm guessing that the power port is fine. That leaves the power cords. AC cord is working fine so that leaves the DC cord. My bet is that you're seeing a 0.5-1.5v voltage drop using the cig connector and wires. This makes the fridge turn off even though the Yeti is still 50% charged.



Matt

 

[ConcordCarlos1]

Do you happen to know the part number of the Anderson to 12v plug adaptor? I'm going back and forth with GZ as we speak..

 

[Green Hornet]

Don't use AC power for DC to DC, that is inefficient and you are already limited on power with the yeti. Use the 12V port on your yeti and set your fridge shutoff to low

The low setting on your fridge is probably about 10V (check your manual), that is effectively turning it off since your Yeti is discharged at that point anyways. Use a DC connection, the reason to make your own cable is just to clean it up, if the adapter doesn't bother you use it.

Thanks but, If you scroll up 3 or 4 posts, you'll see that my reason for using AC is because the fridge kicks off with the low voltage cutoff set to "low," while the Yeti shows 50% charge. AC lets the fridge run longer. As I previously stated, 18 hours on DC, MORE THAN A DAY on AC.

 

[e60ral]

Thanks but, If you scroll up 3 or 4 posts, you'll see that my reason for using AC is because the fridge kicks off with the low voltage cutoff set to "low," while the Yeti shows 50% charge. AC lets the fridge run longer. As I previously stated, 18 hours on DC, MORE THAN A DAY on AC.

I said how to fix that in my post

Set your fridge to low, don't use AC

At the low setting your fridge is only shutting off when the yeti is dead anyways, it can't run lower than that and the battery is fully discharged

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[Green Hornet]

I said how to fix that in my post

Set your fridge to low, don't use AC

At the low setting your fridge is only shutting off when the yeti is dead anyways, it can't run lower than that and the battery is fully discharged

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You're not reading my previous post. You just quoted it though: the fridge kicks off with the low voltage cutoff set to "low," while the Yeti shows 50% charge

Brand new Yeti. There is indeed battery left.

 

[snowblind]

At the low setting your fridge is only shutting off when the yeti is dead anyways, it can't run lower than that and the battery is fully discharged

That isn't what's happening. Fridge shuts off with Yeti still at 50% charge. That means the fridge voltage sensor THINKS the Yeti is dead when it really isn't.

On AC power the fridge runs until the Yeti is dead. This is because the fridge is no longer monitoring the incoming voltage.

In my opinion this discrepancy is caused by resistance in the DC cig plug and connecting wires but no way to know for sure without measuring the resistance.



Matt