Hard wiring a fridge

[Topo.Ranger]

I just recently purchased an Engel fridge for my Jeep. Its been mounted to the Adventure Trailer Combo Slide with the stove underneath it. I have it hooked up to my 12v cigarette lighter now but I want to be able to run it all the time. I have tried to search for ideas on how to hard wire it but I cant find anything about it. I know Engel sells a hard wire kit. im basically looking for routing ideas because it seems like the cable would get caught in the slide if I didnt attach some kind of retractable cord or a spring or something to it. Any ideas?

Here is my set up now.

 

[1Louder]

I can't help you with routing because I own an FJ Cruiser. ARB makes a nice wiring kit that is easy to pass through areas and in through the firewall direct to your battery. Also has a fuse built in. You really want your fridge hard wired to your battery for efficiency purposes. On my FJ the floor panels along the outer edge of the vehicle pop off easily. That's how my wiring is fed. I used a step drill to put the right size hole in a small removable panel in the back for the plug. The ARB kit still is a 12 volt cigarette plug. I converted mine to an SAE connector.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

You might look at retractile or coilcords.
Huge variety of sizes & types available, especially 300v or less ratings.

Amazon 12v coiled extension cord: https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Products-080918-Coiled-Extension/dp/B008DQSR2G

Walmart 12v coiled extension cord: https://www.walmart.com/ip/29029305...75035&wl11=online&wl12=29029305&wl13=&veh=sem

 

[C-Fish]

Low voltage 10g wire works great. Make your own harness for much cheaper.

 

[unseenone]

I can't help you on routing. I would suggest some AWG 8-10 Marine sheathed cable. It gives you an added layer of protection against shorts. Finish it up with either an Anderson Power pole, or a surface mount Anderson Jack. Cut the wire, fit new Anderson plugs, plug it in. Fuse your run at the battery, which you will wire directly to.

Connectors, jacks, etc. http://powerwerx.com/

Wire -
https://www.amazon.com/Ancor-121510...=1474816596&sr=8-2&keywords=ancor+marine+wire
h
End Result Picture 1 Picture 2

Any more help needed-- there are plenty of folks here that can get you there.

Here is a picture of using that same type of wire, with Anderson connectors to make a wire, that will not interfere with your slide. -- routing is under fridge rear exit. Pictures

 

[1Louder]

Low voltage 10g wire works great. Make your own harness for much cheaper.

How dare you counter my idea C-Fish! Don't make me come up to Flag and have you edit your post!

ARB Fridge Freezer Wiring Accesories
by ARB
Link: https://amzn.com/B00NIOBC02

$45.00

DIY probably $25-$40 in parts and the wires won't be sealed together.

FINIGO 3-Way Multi Socket Auto Car Cigarette Lighter Splitter with USB Port+ dual USB Car Charger Adapter
by FINIGO
Link: https://amzn.com/B0002KRC5Y
$5.69


Fuse holder plus butt connectors and heat shrink tubing:
$10-$15

Wiring: 8 AWG $20-$30 for 40ft. (Same as ARB)

Not sure how DIY is that much cheaper....

Now with that said I have 2 plugs setup in my FJ. One with the ARB kit. Nice and clean simple to install and one DIY. Diy I had to run 2 wires vs 1 bundle. I had the wiring from other projects but it really didn't save me all that much money.

XXOO Mr Fish...... miss ya buddy....

 

[Ducky's Dad]

FYI, ARB used to sell their fridge with a standard cigarette lighter plug, and over time on bumpy roads the plug would sometimes work itself loose from the socket, causing sometimes troublesome results for the stuff in the fridge. When I hard wired a socket into the back seat of my truck for my Indel B, I thought the standard plug/socket combo would be just fine. I was wrong, and will be replacing my plug and socket with the newer ARB positive retention setup. Seems that would make even more sense in a trailer.

 

[Kmrtnsn]

If you download the installation instructions for the Mopar 7-Pin trailer wiring harness, the routing/installation for that will give you all the answers you need. When I installed mine I added the ARB wiring to the harness and routed it all at the same time.

http://www.quadratec.com/sites/default/files/installation_instructions/75397.pdf

 

[Topo.Ranger]

My plan is to hard wire the fridge in but I was just trying to find some ideas about keeping the cable from getting caught in the slide track. I will probably buy the Engel Hardwire kit and then add a connector to extend the wiring to the diy spod system Im building.

 

[unseenone]

Sounds good. I have no problems with the wire doing it the way it is routed. Under the fridge, out the back, off the side. A little excess in the rear, so it will go in and out.. it works great. Keep your run as short as possible, shoot for zero voltage drop from the battery if you can.

 

[4x4junkie]

Not sure how DIY is that much cheaper....

I have maybe $20 into my DIY setup...

$9 for a 4-way surface-mount cig lighter socket (giving me 3 added ports I can use for campsite lighting, charge adapters, whatever)
15' of #10 AWG landscape lighting wire is about $10 (yes, #10 is way more than plenty to handle the 3-5A draw of a typical fridge)
Terminals & shrink tubing I already had on hand, as well as an ATC inline fuse holder.

That's less than half the cost of that ARB kit (that only provides a single socket).

As for keeping the wire up out of the fridge slide mechanics, I use one of those real little bungee cords wrapped around the wire secured to the handle of the fridge. The bungee allows it to move around enough to extend the slide all the way, but not get caught in it when stowing it back in.

 

[pugslyyy]

I have maybe $20 into my DIY setup...

$9 for a 4-way surface-mount cig lighter socket (giving me 3 added ports I can use for campsite lighting, charge adapters, whatever)
15' of #10 AWG landscape lighting wire is about $10 (yes, #10 is way more than plenty to handle the 3-5A draw of a typical fridge)
Terminals & shrink tubing I already had on hand, as well as an ATC inline fuse holder.

That's less than half the cost of that ARB kit (that only provides a single socket).

As for keeping the wire up out of the fridge slide mechanics, I use one of those real little bungee cords wrapped around the wire secured to the handle of the fridge. The bungee allows it to move around enough to extend the slide all the way, but not get caught in it when stowing it back in.

Those little bungee cords and a couple of zip ties are a very low cost solution. 20 for $2.44 at Walmart... I always keep a bunch on hand just because of how useful they are.

 

[Kmrtnsn]

If you have a Jeep JK without the powered sub-woofer, Jeep was generous enough to go ahead and run the wiring anyway, including a fused location at the TIPM. The fuse can be switched to either full-on battery power or ignition power. Right now I can't remember the fuse location but I'm sure it can be Googled up in short order. I installed a two-outlet power center on the passenger side of the cargo compartment. One outlet is regular cigarette lighter type and the other side is dual USB. I wired the ARB plug to the driver's side of the cargo compartment.

 

[jeep670]

I just recently purchased an Engel fridge for my Jeep. Its been mounted to the Adventure Trailer Combo Slide with the stove underneath it. I have it hooked up to my 12v cigarette lighter now but I want to be able to run it all the time. I have tried to search for ideas on how to hard wire it but I cant find anything about it.

There is an always-on 12v plug in the center compartment, in-between the front seats of JK. I use that one for my ARB fridge. No need for other wiring.

 

[NatersXJ6]

I ran 8 awg fused at the battery down the inside of the drivers door sill and up to a blue sea fuse block on the inside of the hard top right behind the rear seat. Then I cut the end off the ARB cord and used ring terminals to wire the fuse block. a single zip tie to the roll bar keeps the cord up and allows the slack to not catch in the drawer. I will think about pic posting when it is daylight out.