What is everyone using to power their portable fridges?

[vision-quest]

I've got the ARB 50 running through a yeti 400. The yeti is plugged into the rover and charges when driving. When stopped for more then a day I charge the yeti through one of their new 100W panels. I got it through promotive so it wasn't MSRP. It's still kinda spendy for 100W panel but I love that it folds to the size of a large trapper keeper (for all you 80's kids It's stupid easy to hang it off the side of my Eezi Awn tent or rack http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nite-Ize-6-in-Gear-Tie-in-Black-2-Pack-GT6-2PK-01/203210506, crack the sunroof and plug in the yeti. Two minute deployment and the yeti will power the fridge indefinitely.

Wow really interesting. So you are finding the Yeti 400 +100W of solar powers the fridge indefinitely? That's great. I'm tempted to go the Yeti 1250 route so I have extra juice to power the laptop and camera batteries as well without worrying about taking up juice for the fridge. I have a 40% off code so the Yeti 1250 would be affordable.

 

[vision-quest]

Lots of people with similar solutions providing solid advice! The key is the solar component. How quickly you can charge your battery back up will depend on the efficiency of the solar panel and of course the size of the battery. My 60 watt panel can charge a single battery back up with normal fridge use in a few hours. Like someone else mentioned in your other thread they have an 80 watt and it works great for them.

Expedition Insipred sells a roll out 90 watt panel for $450 I think. Expensive but convenient and could easily be clipped to your RTT. I am buying one of the 100 watt suitcase setups from Renogy so I can charge my trailer battery and truck the same time. Either separately with one hooked up to each battery or with my panels daisy chained together. My 60 watt can't charge two batteries at once.

Yeah Solar is definitely looking like the best option. Partnering it up with some kind of battery solution, preferably one with monitoring controls like the Goal Zero or Ark. So when you say "my 60 watt panel can charge a single battery back up with normal fridge use in a few hours", are you saying that if your battery was drained to 50% (because you weren't partnering it with solar) you can get it back up to 100% in a few hours by plugging in the solar panel? And if you were to keep the 60W attached you could almost power it indefinitely? Trying to figure out exactly how big of a panel I'm going to need.

 

[vision-quest]

This new solution is actually sounding pretty damn good too. All the inputs needed and it's cheaper than the Yeti 1250 which is weird considering it's lithium and when you factor in that you could drain the battery a lot more it seems it would have more power? Any idea why it might be cheaper?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-kodiak-off-grid-home-solar-system-in-a-box#/story

Someone else linked it here and I had never heard of it before.

 

[1Louder]

Yeah Solar is definitely looking like the best option. Partnering it up with some kind of battery solution, preferably one with monitoring controls like the Goal Zero or Ark. So when you say "my 60 watt panel can charge a single battery back up with normal fridge use in a few hours", are you saying that if your battery was drained to 50% (because you weren't partnering it with solar) you can get it back up to 100% in a few hours by plugging in the solar panel? And if you were to keep the 60W attached you could almost power it indefinitely? Trying to figure out exactly how big of a panel I'm going to need.

Yes, back up to 100% or close. Just remember the bigger the panel in available wattage the quicker your battery will charge and the more likely it will charge in less than ideal lighting conditions. Now if you hook it up and walk away for days a smaller panel will probably work fine. There are lots of options but I wold propose the following.

Option 1:
ARB Wiring Kit, New Deep Cycle battery for your truck. I have a X2 75AH battery from Batteries Plus, Solar panel or Suitcase setup with a controller and a jump box. Add a few BlueSea USB ports to your truck that can be always on and you have the ability to keep phones and tablets charged up. Disadvantage is you have no inverter if you need one.

Option 2: Because you don't want to mess with the internals of your truck and or want a portable setup
Get the ArkPak 730 since it can handle a Lithium Ion battery down the road. Get a good battery at least 55amp hour higher preferred but it will make the setup heavier and get the solar panel of your choice (Same as above). This gives you a few USB ports, 2 12 volts sockets and an inverter if you need to charge something like a laptop. You don't have to mess with anything in your vehicle. Yes, a Goal Zero Yeti would work I am just not familiar with them and not sure how you can replace the battery or if one could take the improved technology of a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery down the road.

This new solution is actually sounding pretty damn good too. All the inputs needed and it's cheaper than the Yeti 1250 which is weird considering it's lithium and when you factor in that you could drain the battery a lot more it seems it would have more power? Any idea why it might be cheaper?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-kodiak-off-grid-home-solar-system-in-a-box#/story

Someone else linked it here and I had never heard of it before.

I linked it. I would love to own one. Price point is steep but you can get the 30% energy credit so in theory it's around $1000.00. About twice what an ArkPak and Group 31 battery would cost with close to twice the available power. Really the Kodiak is overkill for just powering a fridge and a few smaller items. It does have the "prepper" aspect of it to power things in your home like your home refrigerator in the event of a lengthy power outage.

Don't get caught in decision paralysis. Either one of those solutions works well. I have both because my wife sometimes needs portable power independent of what I use for overlanding/camping.

 

[vision-quest]

Yes, back up to 100% or close. Just remember the bigger the panel in available wattage the quicker your battery will charge and the more likely it will charge in less than ideal lighting conditions. Now if you hook it up and walk away for days a smaller panel will probably work fine. There are lots of options but I wold propose the following.

Option 1:
ARB Wiring Kit, New Deep Cycle battery for your truck. I have a X2 75AH battery from Batteries Plus, Solar panel or Suitcase setup with a controller and a jump box. Add a few BlueSea USB ports to your truck that can be always on and you have the ability to keep phones and tablets charged up. Disadvantage is you have no inverter if you need one.

Option 2: Because you don't want to mess with the internals of your truck and or want a portable setup
Get the ArkPak 730 since it can handle a Lithium Ion battery down the road. Get a good battery at least 55amp hour higher preferred but it will make the setup heavier and get the solar panel of your choice (Same as above). This gives you a few USB ports, 2 12 volts sockets and an inverter if you need to charge something like a laptop. You don't have to mess with anything in your vehicle. Yes, a Goal Zero Yeti would work I am just not familiar with them and not sure how you can replace the battery or if one could take the improved technology of a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery down the road.



I linked it. I would love to own one. Price point is steep but you can get the 30% energy credit so in theory it's around $1000.00. About twice what an ArkPak and Group 31 battery would cost with close to twice the available power. Really the Kodiak is overkill for just powering a fridge and a few smaller items. It does have the "prepper" aspect of it to power things in your home like your home refrigerator in the event of a lengthy power outage.

Don't get caught in decision paralysis. Either one of those solutions works well. I have both because my wife sometimes needs portable power independent of what I use for overlanding/camping.

What wattage solar panel would you recommend for my needs? It seems like people are keeping an ARB 50 topped off with about 60+ and a good battery, so with the extra items I need to charge maybe go a 90 or 100? I need to keep the ARB 50 going, a laptop (editing photos on the road possibly for hours at a time), smart phones/ipad and possibly small LED camp lights.

 

[rob mellor]

Wow really interesting. So you are finding the Yeti 400 +100W of solar powers the fridge indefinitely? That's great. I'm tempted to go the Yeti 1250 route so I have extra juice to power the laptop and camera batteries as well without worrying about taking up juice for the fridge. I have a 40% off code so the Yeti 1250 would be affordable.

I have two yeti 400's I chain together and have no problem running the fridge, charging Ipad, Iphone, MacBook pro and some of their light-a-life's with the 100 watt panel. I'm also in Utah so we probably get the same amount of sun as CO. If I was in Seattle 100 watts probably wouldn't keep up with my needs. I've seen the Yeti 1250 at the factory store here in Utah (which is awesome for cheaper factory refurbs) and it's a big beast and heavy at 103lbs. I was kind of surprised at how big it was in person. I like the 400's since it allows me to chain them together based on my power usage needs. That way if it's a short trip I can simply grab a yeti 400 for the fridge and a Sherpa for charging the phone or D500 battery.

I'd be a lot more tempted with the 1250 if it could power my home furnace in a power outage but it can't. It was just too big/heavy for my camping power needs with out having the dual use of being a back up at home incase of a long term power outage. I like the smaller more portable set up I have of yeti's and Sherpa's for camping. For a home emergency I have a tri fuel (gas, propane, natural gas) EU2000 I can hook up to a transfer switch. This will run my furnace, fridge, deep freezer and living room lights/outlets. I do have to load balance, like run the furnace and warm up the house then switch it off and cool down the freezer since the little generator can't run everything at once. But the eu2000 is lite, efficient and quiet and the house wouldn't cool down much in the 30 min the furnace was shut of to run the deep freeze down to temp.

I like goal zero stuff, it's not the cheapest but I like that the whole system is plug and play so my wife and kids can use it. They also are local to me and the factory store has great prices and customer service. The couple issues I've had were handled excellently with no questions asked and exchanged right in store.
I did pick up one of these http://www.goalzero.com/p/340/guardian-12v-plus-charge-controller last time I was in the store to charge the deep cycle on my pop up trailer when I'm camping. Then I can put that 100W panel to use and not have to use the EU2000 so much when I'm camping with the trailer. The furnace drains the group 27 pretty well keeping the pop up warm for the little's.

 

[vision-quest]

I have two yeti 400's I chain together and have no problem running the fridge, charging Ipad, Iphone, MacBook pro and some of their light-a-life's with the 100 watt panel. I'm also in Utah so we probably get the same amount of sun as CO. If I was in Seattle 100 watts probably wouldn't keep up with my needs. I've seen the Yeti 1250 at the factory store here in Utah (which is awesome for cheaper factory refurbs) and it's a big beast and heavy at 103lbs. I was kind of surprised at how big it was in person. I like the 400's since it allows me to chain them together based on my power usage needs. That way if it's a short trip I can simply grab a yeti 400 for the fridge and a Sherpa for charging the phone or D500 battery.

I'd be a lot more tempted with the 1250 if it could power my home furnace in a power outage but it can't. It was just too big/heavy for my camping power needs with out having the dual use of being a back up at home incase of a long term power outage. I like the smaller more portable set up I have of yeti's and Sherpa's for camping. For a home emergency I have a tri fuel (gas, propane, natural gas) EU2000 I can hook up to a transfer switch. This will run my furnace, fridge, deep freezer and living room lights/outlets. I do have to load balance, like run the furnace and warm up the house then switch it off and cool down the freezer since the little generator can't run everything at once. But the eu2000 is lite, efficient and quiet and the house wouldn't cool down much in the 30 min the furnace was shut of to run the deep freeze down to temp.

I like goal zero stuff, it's not the cheapest but I like that the whole system is plug and play so my wife and kids can use it. They also are local to me and the factory store has great prices and customer service. The couple issues I've had were handled excellently with no questions asked and exchanged right in store.
I did pick up one of these http://www.goalzero.com/p/340/guardian-12v-plus-charge-controller last time I was in the store to charge the deep cycle on my pop up trailer when I'm camping. Then I can put that 100W panel to use and not have to use the EU2000 so much when I'm camping with the trailer. The furnace drains the group 27 pretty well keeping the pop up warm for the little's.

Good to hear, thanks for the input. Sounds like if I did decide to go the larger route, I'd go the Kodiak over the Yeti 1250 due to the portability and lithium. Also it's cheaper. I currently live in Colorado but I may be moving West to the Seattle area next year... so the larger Kodiak may help keep things charged for as long as I need (3-5 days) with the 100W panel.

 

[1Louder]

Good to hear, thanks for the input. Sounds like if I did decide to go the larger route, I'd go the Kodiak over the Yeti 1250 due to the portability and lithium. Also it's cheaper. I currently live in Colorado but I may be moving West to the Seattle area next year... so the larger Kodiak may help keep things charged for as long as I need (3-5 days) with the 100W panel.

As mentioned the bigger the panel the quicker stuff will charge back up. Like more water coming out of a hose. If you end up with the Kodiak please use this link: https://igg.me/at/inergy/x/13807554 then I will get credit. So minimum I would go with a 50-60 watt panel. 100-150 is just better. Look how they show examples on the Kodiak page with different charge times based on the number of panels you have.

 

[vision-quest]

As mentioned the bigger the panel the quicker stuff will charge back up. Like more water coming out of a hose. If you end up with the Kodiak please use this link: https://igg.me/at/inergy/x/13807554 then I will get credit. So minimum I would go with a 50-60 watt panel. 100-150 is just better. Look how they show examples on the Kodiak page with different charge times based on the number of panels you have.

Yeah the Kodiak is probably in the lead for me right now with the Goal Zero 100W flexible solar panel (because I have one 40% off Goal Zero coupon). I do like the Renogy suitcase 100W but the price difference isn't huge once I use the coupon code on the Goal Zero one and the ability to hang it over my rooftop tent would be great. I'd prefer to be safe and have the extra charging capability rather than push the limits with a smaller setup and also worry about over discharging the battery. If I do purchase it I will use your link definitely.

 

[Bigunit]

I run dual batteries in my rig with a "fancy" isolator and a 12v plug-in in the bed from the 2nd battery (100 ah AGM) plus an Arkpak with 125 ah AGM topped off by a 100 watt Renogy folding solar panel suitcase. I can run a lot of things for an unlimited amount of days with this system. I do believe in system redundancy.

 

[Trikebubble]

I run dual Deka Intimidators and a TMax dual battery control. I ran a dedicated line from the auxiliary battery to the fridge in the back and replaced the stock fridge plug with a locking Blue Sea one. Tested over a weekend with no significant drop in auxiliary voltage. I have a portable solar setup for the travel trailer that I'll also be taking along for longer trips.




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[Johnainny]

I have an 50 qt. arb fridge and I bought a battery box that you can use for trolling motor. It has two 12 volt ports on the side and has a direct connection to the post without opening the box. It does have crude Guage to tell how much power you have left. I bought the box from Walmart for 50.00. I strap it down while I'm driving and it powers the fridge for 5 days with no problems. Plus I can take it out and use elsewhere (like in the annex room for my tent. The nice thing about it you can decide what battery you want to use. I have an industrial 90ah battery. If I need 120 volt I can plug in an inverter and still have one e 12 volt access port.

 

[spikemd]

I have a Goal Zero Yeti400 and Extreme 350 that I recently replaced the battery on for abut 70 amp hrs of power. That Kodiak us crazy expensive for 90 amp hrs of power, even being lithium ion. The yeti 1250 is very large and cumbersome. I like the portability of the yeti400s. The Ark oak is a good choice but about twice the size of a Yeti400. You need at least 100w of panels since you rarely get full efficiency even in full sunlight.

 

[hyperboarder]

Haven't tested it yet but just got a Renology 100W suitcase for my Econoline. Running a pretty standard battery, which is in turn running a Whynter FM-65G. Think it'll be enough?

 

[FMF]

I use a poor mans ArkPak. Its a Minolta trolling motor power box with a group 31 DHP. Its mainly use this setup to power a 50q ARB. The power box is a very nice and cheap alternative to the higher price stuffs. I use a NOCO g7200 pluged in to the inverter in the bed of my Tacoma to keep the DHP charged when we are driving. I know its not a the most efficient way to have a "duel battery setup" but its cheap, portable and has worked very well for the last 1.5 years.

http://www.amazon.com/MinnKota-Trolling-Motor-Power-Center/dp/B001PTHKMG
http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-G7200-UltraSafe-Battery-Charger/dp/B004LWTHP2