Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
I'm doing this now. Cheaper in the long run than replacing batteries...
Power Management with Fridge
- Thread starter carbon60
- Start date
concretejungle
Adventurer
here is what i did. I put a huge deep cycle diehard marine battery in my cruiser. I installed a morningstar charge controller and a 60W solar panel. I have an engel fridge wired up in the rear of the cruiser. The battery has handled the fridge running for 3 days and still started, but i could tell it was drained. So now, i just hook up the solar panel if i'm stopped for a while and aim it at the sun. It will top the battery off each day and so far it has worked like a charm.
What i like is that there is a monitor on the charge controller with a green light for full charge, a yellow light for lower battery life and a red light for "it's time to start the truck or plug in the solar panel". So even an idiot like me can see the status of my battery.
What i like is that there is a monitor on the charge controller with a green light for full charge, a yellow light for lower battery life and a red light for "it's time to start the truck or plug in the solar panel". So even an idiot like me can see the status of my battery.
jays0n
Adventurer
I just returned from a week long trip with my 37 qt. ARB fridge, the best camping purchase I've made in years! My trailer setup is a pair of 80 amp/hr marine batteries in parallel topped off before we left with a 100w solar panel (solid mounted, no tilt) We packed the fridge full (items came out of fridge or freezer) with the ARB started in the house and brought down to temp a few hours before we left. On the 12 hour trip we ran it in the FJ to save the trailer batteries. Upon arrival the fridge went into the trailer and ran there for the rest of the week. The panel was in the sun about half of each day. I have the thermal wrap on the fridge and tried to keep it in the shade as much as possible. We left it in the trailer for the 12 hour drive home and after all that (plus running lights and a water pump) we still had 75% left in the battery bank. Most important thing is keep it full and out of the sun, ours barely used any power all week!
86scotty
Cynic
The turning fridge off at night is a tactic I have used before, with success. I have also preventatively charged during the day for about 30 minutes of van idle. I have a camper van with a furnace so I usually turn the fridge off on colder, furnace nights so I don't run two things all night. Seems to work fine.
When running a 10 gauge wires directly to the battery for these fridges, what amp fuse do i need to install inline? I just got a dometic 50qt last week and will be putting it in my 2012 jk wrangler. Do i need a different socket or can i wire it into the oem one? Ive read some post of people installing a 30amp but dont understand it when the fridge doesnt even draw 10amp. Maybe im reading the specs wrong.
Yuman Desert Rat
Expedition Leader
My house battery must be on deaths doorstep or something. I have a National Luna weekender 50 qt runnning off it and when left on overnight it runs the batt too low to for the fridge to stay on and by the next morning it's nice and warm inside the fridge... it charges up fine and the 100w solar keeps it charged during the day but over night it's sucking the battery dry.... MEH! anyone have any input, comments or recommendations??
In what ambient temperature?
goodtimes
Expedition Poseur
Check all the connections. When I installed the first fridge in my truck, I had similar problems. After a few weeks of off and on troubleshooting with the help of Paul @ Equipt & Martyn @ AT, I broke down & bought a doc watson meter, & ultimately found that the plug (hella style) felt solid (snapped in like they usually do), but was making marginal contact. I replaced the plug & the problem went away.
4x4junkie
Explorer
Unless you have other accessories running off the circuit, a 10A fuse is fine (a fridge's draw is usually between 3.5-5 amps when it running).
Best is to make your connection right at the battery (putting the fuse as close to the battery as practical). The body or chassis is usually fine for your ground return.
Yes, checking for voltage drop you have to check it while your load (the fridge) is switched on (running). Ideal is less than a 2% drop (about 0.25V), though up to 5% is usually tolerable (but can reduce a fridge's efficiency).
Yuman Desert Rat
Expedition Leader
Well, its Paul's old truck and he put it together... its hot here but not as bad as it was in AZ and I didn't have this issue with my Engel in my Jeep... I'm going to have to chase some wires and have the battery load tested. thanks for the responses!
BigSwede
The Credible Hulk
The Engel locking 12V outlet I bought for my fridge came with a 10A fuse on both pos and neg leads.
Yuman Desert Rat
Expedition Leader
Yeah something is off. The battery monitor built into the fridge reads 2.5 volts lower than reading on the dual battery controller.