Suggestions for wiring up Dometic

[kentoe]

Thanks for all the input, definitely is appreciated. Currently on 6/7 hours in the parking lot at 32-35 F steady throughout the day workin on this new cable.

I wired it up last night: Battery -> Inline Fuse (10 gauge) -> 16 feet of 10 gauge wire to the rear -> spliced Dometic power cable. Negative directly to the battery.

Mess of cables for testing

Testing that the cable works

Nice and tidy

Convenient when throwing the fridge in the back

Low voltage detection working much more reliably

My only issue at the moment is the inline fuse that came is LARGE, it only fits MAX/MAXI fuses and the lowest fuse I can find is 20Amp. So... running a larger fuse than I need but it works for the time being. Obviously I would rather have 10 amp appropriate fuse in there.

I'm sort of at a loss for how to proceed. Get a blue sea fuse positive relay/fuse 4 terminal connector and stuff the 10gauge wire in there (w/o a terminal connector, since it wouldn't fit) and use a more appropriate fuse? Not sure... I can see that most people run larger wires like 8/10 gauge to a blue sea fuse box typically. But this fuse situation is extremely frustrating, it was the last thing I expected to run into.

 

[furbucket]

I found a picture:

Looks like you want an ATC/ATO holder instead, found a 10awg one on amazon:
Parts Express ATC/ATO Water-Resistant Fuse Holder - 10 AWG https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002KR88A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_A8cLAbX3J8M0E


...sent from my an evil pocket calculator with a flashy screen...

 

[furbucket]

Just looked at the dates, this thread's a bit old... what did you end up with in the end??


...sent from my an evil pocket calculator with a flashy screen...

 

[kentoe]

Looks like you want an ATC/ATO holder instead, found a 10awg one on amazon:
Parts Express ATC/ATO Water-Resistant Fuse Holder - 10 AWG https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002KR88A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_A8cLAbX3J8M0E
Just looked at the dates, this thread's a bit old... what did you end up with in the end??

I ended up still working with the current fuse since then which only accepted MAX/MAXI fuse with the minimum 20amp that I could find. Never changed it out and haven't gotten around to installing any Anderson disconnects. I just throw the fridge in Jeep when I need it. Looks like according to wikipedia where your image came from the Max/MAXI is actually a APX style fuse rather than ATC/ATO.

Looking at your amazon link, it seems like it was the same exact sort of title that was the one I had bought back then: "E-KYLIN 10 Guage In-line Blade Fuse Holder Cable ATC/ATO Heavy Duty for Car Electronics Modify Lab Solar System, Circuit Blow-out/Overload Protection, Large L Size Fuse Holder Waterproof" but the reviews would make me worried whether:

1. The gauge would actually be 10gauge
2. The fuse would actually be ATC/ATO or not

So I would be curious what it would come in as. Could be the solution for what I needed though! I definitely hadn't found an ATC/ATO 10gauge inline fuse on amazon when I had looked before despite the one I bought saying it was.

The title was originally half wrong when it said ATC/ATO (Not true), but Large L size fuse holder (potentially true, considering it ended up being MAX/MAXI) on the original one I had bought. Unfortunately the seller is some random parts china storefront so I can't even link the original one I bought anymore:

 

[furbucket]

Always hit or miss with made in China bits... but at least what you have sound like it's working just fine. I have to get around to doing something similar since my rear 12v port is on the long end of what must be very thin cable- I have to have the fridge's battery protection on the lowest setting


...sent from my an evil pocket calculator with a flashy screen...

 

[jnack]

I am running 8 gauge stereo power amp wire from the aux battery up front to the rear to power my National Luna fridge.
Both wires straight to the battery with a heavy duty ANL fuse.
Fridges like their power directly to the battery, and the ground wire also to the battery, and not to the frame.

is there any particular reason you opted not to fuse at a buse box? i was planning on wiring mine to aux fuse box w/ 10 amp fuse

 

[orangejeep1]

Fridges like their power directly to the battery, and the ground wire also to the battery, and not to the frame.

Can you elaborate on the need to ground to the battery?

I recently bought an Arb and called them to ask about grounding to the frame since I’m new to 12 volt fridges/ The instructions on their wiring kit showed grounding to the battery. Anyhow the guy I spoke to on the phone said grounding to the frame is fine. But, sometimes you get the wrong guy. Now I’m second guessing myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Corey]

is there any particular reason you opted not to fuse at a buse box? i was planning on wiring mine to aux fuse box w/ 10 amp fuse

That is the way National Luna recommended it.

Can you elaborate on the need to ground to the battery?

I recently bought an Arb and called them to ask about grounding to the frame since I’m new to 12 volt fridges/ The instructions on their wiring kit showed grounding to the battery. Anyhow the guy I spoke to on the phone said grounding to the frame is fine. But, sometimes you get the wrong guy. Now I’m second guessing myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

See above, the instructions from National Luna said the fridge will work better if the ground wire goes directly to the battery instead of to the frame.

 

[rickc]

A fridge pulling less than 10A can be very safely grounded to any factory grounds; there is nothing special about a fridge compressor motor. I have no idea why National Luna think the battery posts are the right place to go. When a device is connected to the negative post and the post to block/chassis connection is corrupted or develops excessive resistance, for example a loose or corroded negative post, the battery negative post will divert current through anything attached to the negative post. A starter, for example, can pull hundreds of amps, easily enough to fry most other electrical goodies and even set them on fire. The only extra direct battery ground connection on my truck main battery is the winch. This is because the winch pulls high amps in use and I don't want that energy passing through the body or chassis.

If you can't find a convenient factory ground (most vehicles have many) then it's easy enough to make one, just make sure of good metal to metal contact with the chassis or body and the terminal and paint after so you don't get rust.

The newer fridges are deliberately sensitive to lower voltages with trip settings designed to save the battery from becoming discharged. Enough has already been said about the reason for bigger wire gauges and voltage drops.

 

[PSea]

When a device is connected to the negative post and the post to block/chassis connection is corrupted or develops excessive resistance, for example a loose or corroded negative post, the battery negative post will divert current through anything attached to the negative post.

Been reading about this. This is a key point. If you have devices connected directly to your neg battery post and the battery's ground to chasis fails, all the other devices then become your ground and can be easily ruined. For this reason, it's never a good idea to have anything connected to the battery's negative post other than the ground to chasis and a run to a busbar (which is where all other neg connections would reside).

 

[Ball]

Dd anyone figure out what kind of plug Dometic uses, or is it something specific to Dometic so they can charge more for their unimpressive cables?

 

[Dometic]

I posted this over in our CFX thread but wanted to post it here as it might provide some help.

There are two plug types we can work with:

• standard DC plug
• 2-pin threaded (this one helps to prevent the socket from coming out during travel and shutting your fridge off)

We offer the Dometic Hardwiring Kit because it's not uncommon for OEM wiring to carry insufficient power to keep your fridge powered (especially if you only have a single battery system). The kit includes 10AWG wire so you can run it directly from your battery and ensure that the outlet is powered as much as your single battery will provide. In this case, the battery protection system will work better to prevent no-start situations. If you are using OEM wiring, the battery protection tends to trip more quickly due to voltage drop over the wiring.

If you have a secondary power source for your cooler (two battery system or using on of our PLB40), it's a lot less worrisome as you won't be left in a no-start situation regardless (at least not due to your fridge ).

Hope this helps!

DOMETIC
mobile living made easy
shop.dometic.com
Use promo code Expedition20 for $25 off your order of $75+

 

[mexicodrones]

Thanks for everyone's input on this post. I thought I had a bad Dometic dual zone CFX 95 that I bought only because it was a demo and cost $600 vs. the $800-900 for the 40L ARB or Dometic that I had planned new. So big I changed my entire build plan but could not resist the fridge freeze option. So I rewired the factory 18g with the same size wire directly to my second battery under the hood. I was crushed when the fridge would not stay cool. thanks to this post I rewired with 10 guage wire and installed Blue /USB/voltmeter panel and it stays at 32F for days. I only run the cooler daily driving (freezer off). Only driving about 30 minutes a day and the voltmeter has read over the last week is 12.40 using a Genesis battery setup with yellow tops.

This post was a life saver!

 

[mexicodrones]

btw. never had seen that Dometic option or I may have gone that route. But the Blue Sea 12v snaps in and locks very nicely and I do not expect it could ever vibrate out.

 

[Sportsbiz]

I posted this over in our CFX thread but wanted to post it here as it might provide some help.

There are two plug types we can work with:

• standard DC plug
• 2-pin threaded (this one helps to prevent the socket from coming out during travel and shutting your fridge off)

We offer the Dometic Hardwiring Kit because it's not uncommon for OEM wiring to carry insufficient power to keep your fridge powered (especially if you only have a single battery system). The kit includes 10AWG wire so you can run it directly from your battery and ensure that the outlet is powered as much as your single battery will provide. In this case, the battery protection system will work better to prevent no-start situations. If you are using OEM wiring, the battery protection tends to trip more quickly due to voltage drop over the wiring.

If you have a secondary power source for your cooler (two battery system or using on of our PLB40), it's a lot less worrisome as you won't be left in a no-start situation regardless (at least not due to your fridge ).

Hope this helps!

DOMETIC
mobile living made easy
shop.dometic.com
Use promo code Expedition20 for $25 off your order of $75+

I just installed one of these in my Jeep Gladiator to power my CFX3 35. So easy to install and looks really clean mounted to my Goose Gear seat delete.