Goal Zero ~ Yetti 400 vs ARB 50qt fridge
- Thread starter itsmejme2016
- Start date
e60ral
2016 4Runner Trail w/KDSS
Are you on low setting? I looked it up for ARB, low is 10V and your goal zero battery has no charge at 10V
If you are running your yeti that low you will kill your battery
Don't use AC
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snowblind
Adventurer
Why is everyone having so much trouble understanding voltage drop across the power wire? The fridge is MEASURING 10V. That doesn't mean that the Yeti is actually at 10V. The Yeti has electronic protection that stops it from ever getting to 10v.
We KNOW the Yeti is at 50% when the fridge turns off because the Yeti tells us that on its screen. The math looks like Voltage at Fridge = Battery voltage - Voltage drop. Using real numbers that is 10v = 11v - 1v (roughly).
So yes. Don't use AC power. But if your AC power lasts longer than your DC power - check voltage drop over the power wires and connectors.
Matt
e60ral
2016 4Runner Trail w/KDSS
There is not enough voltage drop in a short power cable to drop voltage enough for it to be substantially different, you are not getting 1V voltage drop for that short cable.
if the fridge is seeing 10V it should shutoff because the Yeti is dead. At 11V you are about 90% discharged, at 10V you are completely discharged regardless of what your yeti display is telling you. If you are consistently running down the yeti to 90% discharge of 100% discharge it will not last long
if the fridge is seeing 10V it should shutoff because the Yeti is dead. At 11V you are about 90% discharged, at 10V you are completely discharged regardless of what your yeti display is telling you. If you are consistently running down the yeti to 90% discharge of 100% discharge it will not last long
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Anyone got their hands on the new Lithium Yeti? It's pricy but considering I don't have to worry about running it down to 10-20% 1000x I feel it may be a better investment, being smaller and lighter also plays into it. I'm considering picking one up, hooking it to a 100w roof mounted solar panel and the fridge. I'll run a dedicated 12v line from the starter battery to hook up the Yeti and/or the fridge when needed, but I doubt that will be very often. It would be nice to be able to power the fridge while its in a bear box (Yeti inside and solar on top of box).
snowblind
Adventurer
You have no idea how long his power cable is or how poorly it is functioning. Very easy for a 10ft cig connector cable to pull voltage down 1-2v.
The Yeti is at 50%, not dead, when the fridge shuts off.
I just plugged my Yeti into my fridge to give actual numbers. It reads 13.5v at the fridge and drops to 12.4v when the compressor kicks on. That's a 1v drop over a 5ft power wire with good connectors.
Matt
snowblind
Adventurer
Lighter is a big deal. The AGM Yeti is pretty heavy to move around.
Lifetime/Durability of battery has proven to be a non-issue for me. I've owned mine for almost 4 years now but the battery is only 2 years old. After 2-years I had a screen problem and Goal Zero warrantied the whole unit. If/when the new Yeti shows a loss of runtime I can buy a replacement battery for around $75.
I heartily recommend the AGM Yeti. The lithium Yeti is nice but that is a lot of $$ if weight isn't a priority.
Matt
It's not just the weight, but as I understand it, it is also more usable amp hours since the battery can be drained much deeper. It's only a 35ah battery to start with so if the AGM can be drained to 50% then you have 17.5ah usable battery, but the lithium can be drained to 80% giving you 28ah usable battery. That's a 62% increase, which is significant on such a small battery. I don't want to act like I know more than I do, because I'm just starting to learn, but from what I've read this is the benefit of Li technology.
snowblind
Adventurer
I believe that you are correct regarding the increased capacity/discharge capability of Li batteries.
I have a setup similar to what you described with dedicated vehicle wiring for charging but with a 60watt solar panel. I have had no trouble keeping the Yeti above 50% charge using solar alone during 3-night summer camping trips. My panel pulls in about 30-40 watts constant and the fridge pulls a little less than 70 watts when running. If I run into trouble the vehicle will charge the Yeti at up to 130 watts.
I suppose with the Lithium version you could just skip the charging completely on a 2-day trip... :smiley_drive:
Matt
e60ral
2016 4Runner Trail w/KDSS
the voltage drop that you are describing here is not because of the wire, its because batteries with no load will have an artificially high reading due to surface charge. To get an accurate reading you need a load. If the voltage drops to 12.4V when there is a load, then the battery is actually at 12.4V.
1V drop for a short power cable is not realistic, but let's pretend like it is. If you set your fridge to low it will shutoff at 10V. If the battery is actually at 11V it is dead anyways, it is over 90% discharged regardless of what the display is telling you.
running the fridge off the 120v inverter is very inefficient and bad advice, go DC-DC
snowblind
Adventurer
That may be true but I've seen similar voltage drops when the battery is depleted. Perhaps made worse by the relatively small size of the Yeti battery. I seen worse voltage drops using cig plugs.
So what is realistic in your experience? I'm just relaying my actual experiences with an actual measurement from an actual fridge. From what I can tell your answer is that that you trust the fridge voltage sensor more than the Yeti display and the Yeti is dead, even though the OP says it isn't.
But let's pretend like your view is correct. ;-) Please explain how the OP is getting longer runtime and full battery discharge using AC power.
Back to the OP - The "best" solution to your problem may indeed be to use AC power. It is less efficient but your real-world results are what matters. If you really want to get the longest runtime possible you could run DC till the fridge shuts off and then AC until the Yeti shuts off.
I still advise you to replace the cig plug with a more secure connector. ARB even recommends hardwiring their fridges in their fridge manuals. And they most definitely state that the wire needs a 15amp fuse.
Matt
snowblind
Adventurer
The OP stated a number of times that the fridge runs longer on AC power. This plus the 50% remaining status on the Yeti when the fridge cuts out indicates that the fridge is not using all the power the Yeti can provide.
Possible causes are a bad 12v port from the Yeti, voltage drop across cable/connectors, voltage drop INSIDE fridge wiring or a bad fridge voltage sensor.
I'll try to do that tonight... I think I may have an old cig lighter cord and I can check that also for comparison. I'll also load the fridge and do some run-time tests and demonstrate voltage drop at various battery voltages.
Matt
e60ral
2016 4Runner Trail w/KDSS
It wasn't OP, it was Green Hornet, and I don't believe them because their facts don't add up and their posts sound confused.
Someone in this thread already has a good observation of how inefficient going through the inverter will be:
on AC you will always be using power, even when the compressor is not running. on 12V you will be using almost no power when the compressor is not running.
Someone in this thread already has a good observation of how inefficient going through the inverter will be:
on AC you will always be using power, even when the compressor is not running. on 12V you will be using almost no power when the compressor is not running.
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snowblind
Adventurer
If you don't believe them then the question is moot. Doesn't matter if he runs AC or DC.
Here's a pic of my Yeti powering my Whynter (Edgestar) fridge.
12.4v output on the Yeti
10.9v input on the fridge
Matt