100acrehuphalump
Explorer
The Fridge too Far... Why are they all so damned expensive? Heck they cost more than a home fridge!
To fridge or not to fridge?
- Thread starter Finatic Angler
- Start date
BADDANDY
Adventurer
I see the OP got a fridge, but for those on the fence;
1. If you don't boon-dock for more than 2 days at a time, get a cooler. Buying 1 or 2 bags of ice for life will probably never exceed the price of a fridge.
2. If you don't plan on using it for keeping food for 3 square meals a day, get a cooler. See item #1.
3. Plan on buying or making a blanket, you will be surprized how much one prevents the fridge from always running.
I bought mine before a 2 week solo trip and never cooked once and never stayed anywhere for more than 1 day. Could've used my cooler instead. In Aug we have a 5 person 10 day trip, but we plan on feasting everyday dry camping every night. We'll be relying on my fridge for fresh food. So yah, glad I have one now, as I'll be the only one. Refreshments will be in coolers in some of the other Jeeps.
I ran a 12VDC socket direct from the battery to the rear interior. The fridge has run for 3 days straight numerous times without the Jeep being ran when it finally shuts down and Jeep has started like normal every time, stock battery.
1. If you don't boon-dock for more than 2 days at a time, get a cooler. Buying 1 or 2 bags of ice for life will probably never exceed the price of a fridge.
2. If you don't plan on using it for keeping food for 3 square meals a day, get a cooler. See item #1.
3. Plan on buying or making a blanket, you will be surprized how much one prevents the fridge from always running.
I bought mine before a 2 week solo trip and never cooked once and never stayed anywhere for more than 1 day. Could've used my cooler instead. In Aug we have a 5 person 10 day trip, but we plan on feasting everyday dry camping every night. We'll be relying on my fridge for fresh food. So yah, glad I have one now, as I'll be the only one. Refreshments will be in coolers in some of the other Jeeps.
I ran a 12VDC socket direct from the battery to the rear interior. The fridge has run for 3 days straight numerous times without the Jeep being ran when it finally shuts down and Jeep has started like normal every time, stock battery.
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hansrober
Adventurer
My fridge is the best thing I have bought in years. I work outside everyday in Florida. I put mine in my work truck during the week and wa la I am instantly my own ice cream / Popsicle man. A cheap Popsicle is a great way to cool off and de stress at work or on the trail! Not to mention everyone likes the ice cream(or Popsicle for those who are lactose intolerant) man! 
Back over the summer, I copied teotwaki's approach. I made (2) wiring harnesses (1 for my Wrangler and another for the wife's Grand Cherokee) out of 10 Ga Coleman wire. I also sleaved the red/black 10 Ga wires and used shrink tubing to clean it up. I placed an inline fuse on the positive cable right near the battery on both as well. I am currently using Anderson Powerpole connectors, but I really don't like them (plastic and not as tight as I want them to be. I want the fridge wiring to be "secured" as in screwed and tightened). I will be changing all my connectors to mil-spec connectors eventually to match my solar generator I built.
Since I installed these wiring harnesses, I have had zero problems with voltage issues... (hell, I left my fridge running last week for 3 days without starting the Wrangler at all (stock 60ish Amp Hour battery) with the fridge set to 28F full of beer and various stuff) The problem is that the cigarrete (spelling? don't smoke... lol) lighter wiring that is built in to our vehicles is very tiny. There are (2) main things to think about in regards to wiring for our fridges. Now, you could still run the same amount of amps through various size (gauge) wires, but the smaller the wire, the hotter it gets. I'm pretty sure that the wiring for our cigarrete outlets is fine for our fridges. The second issue (and probably more important) is voltage drop. Lets say you have a 12v battery. You want to run a device that is located 10 feet away from the battery. You must run a 10 foot cable. Now... there are tables online out there that you can reference for the exact specs (I'm not going to reference any specific wire gauge size but I have looked at these tables many times), but to keep this short, if you use a skinny/small wire and run it 10 feet, the voltage at the end of the wire might be down to say 11.5 volts. If you run a thick/large wire, the voltage at the end might only be down to say 11.9 volts. You get less voltage drop with the thicker gauge wiring.
The reason this is important for our fridges is that they have a power shutoff feature that will shut the fridge off if the battery gets too low. Now, lets say the fridge thinks the batter is too low when the battery gets down to 11.5 volts. Well, the fridge might see 11.5 volts at the end of the wire due to the thinner wiring even though the battery might be close to 12 volts. This will cause it to shut off a lot earlier than you want it to.
If you want to have some fun, take your volt meter and test the voltage on your battery (with the engine off). Then test your cigarrete (there goes that spelling again... that just looks incorrect) lighter up front. Then test the cigarret lighter in the back. I guarantee you'll see lower results the farther from your battery you get.
Ok... Gotta get back to work.
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