New Dometic CFX-65 Flashing Power Light

[john61ct]

Personally I would not run a fridge off less than a 200AH bank unless my power source is available to recharge on demand.

In which case I might be able to skimp get by on 100AH.

There is no escaping the need to put back in every day 120% of what you take out.

 

[erstwild]

Personally I would not run a fridge off less than a 200AH bank unless my power source is available to recharge on demand.

In which case I might be able to skimp get by on 100AH.

There is no escaping the need to put back in every day 120% of what you take out.

Fair point. Initially, I am hoping that my Lycan (1000 Watt Hour Standard Battery, can be expanded to another), 100 watt panel, and charging off the alternator when driving around would suffice for a small, efficient fridge. On my next rig, I am planning on 300 watts of solar to handle additional usage. Sunny California and can park the rig in direct sunlight all day.

I figured that I would initially cool down everything off 120 volt and them move to a rig with Renogy + Solar and Drive Charging.

If I precooled, I would be hoping that I would only be getting 1 amp/hr average draw from the fridge say 300 watt/hour a day reasonably continuously. With 100 (or 200) watts of solar and drive charging, I'd think I'd have it covered.

I have read discussions on here about folks successfully running small dometic/arb fridges off Yeti 400s with just 100 watts solar and drive charging only full-time. I was hoping to manage something similar. Thinking I should be aiming for smaller, efficient units like National Luna 40L Classic (60mm insulation) or a small Engel though.

 

[erstwild]

Looking at National Luna which has a lot of power cabling options apparently. Anyone familiar with a hella plug and know if there are adapters for Anderson PowerPole?

 

[john61ct]

BMW style 12V ports aka Hella/ Merit/ Powerlet "Euro-style DIN" (ISO 4165) style is very robust

genuinedealz.com should be able to make an APP adapter for you if you can't find readymade

Excellent outfit for any custom wiring, top quality & CS

 

[erstwild]

Well, the next installment in the saga commences. I purchased a National Luna 52L Weekender and their standard Anderson cable in addition. However, upon receipt, I noticed their Anderson cable is actually a 15 amp coupler on the fridge end and a 45 amp coupler for some weird reason on the other end. I needed 15 amp coupled to connect to the rear panel Anderson on the renogy lycan. Nevertheless, I had an 10 foot (maybe too long) 15 to 15 Anderson cable laying around. Connected to the fridge and Lycan. It still won’t power up on 12 volts! Have a couple more things to test tomorrow but needless to say I am getting pretty pissed that it does not seem that the Lycan can handle this bone basic common application.

 

[john61ct]

Actually 90% of these powerpacks are used mostly for recharging screen gadgets, maybe a fan & some LEDs.

A fridge is usually by far the biggest consumer even in rigs with a 400# lead bank.

 

[erstwild]

In the end, I am returning the renogy lycan. It simply could not handle the voltage drop despite being advertised for running refrigerators (I assume not via 12 volt). In the end, I bought an ArkPak 730 and installed a 100 amp/hr Battle Born LiFePO4 battery. Weighs half as much and powers the National Luna Fridge just fine and charges via DC/DC alternator and my 100 watt lensun panel attached to my RTT shell. Sunny California and my commutes power everything I need just fine now.

 

[john61ct]

Note ArkPak specifically will not support LFP.

 

[erstwild]

Note ArkPak specifically will not support LFP.

Huh, really? They list them as compatible on their website:
https://www.arkportablepower.com/products/arkpak-730-portable-power
"Compatible with Lithium LiFePO4 batteries"

 

[rickc]

I think the ArkPak support of LiFeO4 is a relatively new upgrade.