Whynter FM-62DZ dual zone whynter!

[snowblind]

Opps, that was a typo. I ment 62 DZ.

Ouch, that is some draw... i was hoping to hear much lower.

There are a number of variables. Some use the small section as a 10º freezer. Last trip I used it as a 28º beverage cooler and set the large section at 35. I could probably set them at 32/37 if I was looking to conserve. There is also an ECO setting for when you know the lid will be closed for extended periods.

Here is a chart from Whynter.




Matt

 

[hour]

Hour are you running it off the stock 12v plug in back? I had the same problem with my 42qt edgestar and fridge would shut down when batt volts were 11.8. I just ran a 6gauge wire to the back for all my accessories and that fixed it. Now it never shuts off early.

Not sure what you mean stock 12v plug in back? This is in the bed of my Ram powered by a separate battery in a battery box. 6" 10 gauge run to locking blue sea systems marine cigarette lighter female... then the factory 12v Whynter cord. I'll try some other wiring configurations for testing purposes. Can't swallow the cost of that cord, I'd rather find some spare ends and wire up something myself, but I'm having difficulty finding that plug type. Research shows 'C7 style' but one flat side.

And interesting snowblind, I think I'll do some bench marking with an additional battery (or just get mine tested)... I spose I can also utilize the low voltage protection on my charge controller since my cig socket is connected to the load terminals, then set the fridge cutoff in the 10's

 

[CaliMobber]

Not sure what you mean stock 12v plug in back? This is in the bed of my Ram powered by a separate battery in a battery box. 6" 10 gauge run to locking blue sea systems marine cigarette lighter female... then the factory 12v Whynter cord. I'll try some other wiring configurations for testing purposes. Can't swallow the cost of that cord, I'd rather find some spare ends and wire up something myself, but I'm having difficulty finding that plug type. Research shows 'C7 style' but one flat side.

And interesting snowblind, I think I'll do some bench marking with an additional battery (or just get mine tested)... I spose I can also utilize the low voltage protection on my charge controller since my cig socket is connected to the load terminals, then set the fridge cutoff in the 10's

Oh ok, I keep thinking of you as a 4runner guy, forgot you have the eco ram.

 

[Bbasso]

It seems to be a power hungry monster

 

[snowblind]

6" 10 gauge run to locking blue sea systems marine cigarette lighter female... then the factory 12v Whynter cord. I'll try some other wiring configurations for testing purposes. Can't swallow the cost of that cord, I'd rather find some spare ends and wire up something myself, but I'm having difficulty finding that plug type. Research shows 'C7 style' but one flat side.

And interesting snowblind, I think I'll do some bench marking with an additional battery (or just get mine tested)... I spose I can also utilize the low voltage protection on my charge controller since my cig socket is connected to the load terminals, then set the fridge cutoff in the 10's

No need for a "special" 12V power cord. The plug is C7polarized. Buy an A/C power cord LIKE THIS and replace the A/C end with whatever connector you please. I use a WeatherPack connector but you could use Anderson Plugs, etc, etc. The WeatherPack gives me a common connector to adapt to the Yeti 400 OR the vehicle battery without using 12V sockets. I will post a couple of photos later to show you what I mean.

My first test would be to measure the voltage at the battery terminals then plug in the power cords and measure the voltage at the end of your power cords. That will show you if you are losing much/any voltage to the wire. Now plug in the fridge and measure the voltage at the battery terminals when the fridge is running and compare that to the display on the fridge. I expect that you will see little drop thru the wires and considerable drop thru the fridge.

It makes sense really. Always better to err on the conservative side when dealing with batteries. Nobody will complain that their fridge didn't last 1 hour longer but everybody will complain of the fridge stopped their vehicle from starting!


Matt

 

[snowblind]

It seems to be a power hungry monster

Well yeah... it's a fridge.

Compared to a more expensive brands the power consumption is high but perhaps more on paper. The 62DZ has dual temp zones AND dual doors. This allows much more efficient fridge management. If the small door is opened 10 times per hour on a 62DZ how much less power would it use VS a single zone 62 with the same 10 openings per hour?

The real world results for me is I can run my 62DZ off a 33ah Yeti400 battery for about 24hrs. If it is 100º I might only get 20 hours. If it's 60º I might get 30 hours, If I add 100W of solar or run the truck for 45 min/day it will run forever.

My biggest concern with the Whynter compressor is not efficiency but durability. The expensive brands use compressors that have proven durable in boats. A boat on choppy seas is a more similar environment to a truck on a washboard road than a RV in a parking lot.


Matt

 

[Bbasso]

Hrmmn...
You have me seriously considering this unit.
So my 200wts and 310ah agms should have no issue running it for life.
Are you sure you don't work for whynter with that sales pitch? LOL!

 

[snowblind]

Hrmmn...
You have me seriously considering this unit.
So my 200wts and 310ah agms should have no issue running it for life.
Are you sure you don't work for whynter with that sales pitch? LOL!

Just a customer relaying my experiences. I sometimes get deals and "sponsorships" from companies but Whynter isn't one of them.

If your 200watts of solar can pull down 50watts+ for most of the day I think you will have power to spare.

As I mentioned earlier, my take on energy consumption with this fridge is based on usage with a 33ah Goal Zero Yeti 400. The Yeti 400 has a fairly detailed display for measuring energy consumption but it can only show one measurement at a time.

When the fridge is running it pulls 40-70watts. If I measure amps it peaks at around 7 when the compressor kicks on and then drops to 2.5-4.5. I believe the variance is caused by the fridge only cooling the compartment that needs it. The fridge is actually not running most of the time. It is my unofficial observation that during warm weather the fridge is running less than 50% of the time. At night it might go hours without turning on.

I have two 15watt solar panels. I see 15-20 watts of charging thru most of the day in the thin Utah air. On a recent trip my in-vehicle charger failed and I ran the the Yeti 400 battery down to 40% before I could plug in the solar. Over the next 48 hours I was able to keep the Yeti 400 from dropping any lower using just the two 15watt panels!

Can buy this up locally and return it if you don't like? I had mine shipped via Amazon.


Matt

 

[Bbasso]

I was just joking before (working for them], but you have me leaning towards the 65DZ a little more than the others...

Thanks for the info.

With my one panel I see ip to 6.4 amps, so with two panela I should see 12.8. And if i did the math correctly that would be 150 watts.
I should be ahead by a fair amount.
Again thanks

Ps...

Home depot has a sale on it and my friend said he would use his military discount to help me out... so it comes out to $509 at store pickup.

 

[Basil.]

Has anyone heard a beeping coming from the fridge? Mine was just beeping at me, I'm assuming it was a door open alarm because it stopped when I closed it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[snowblind]

Has anyone heard a beeping coming from the fridge? Mine was just beeping at me, I'm assuming it was a door open alarm because it stopped when I closed it.

Yes. Leave the lid open for too long and it starts beeping.



Matt

 

[hour]

Reviving an old thread to vent about the stupidity that just ensued.

After letting my 62DZ sit in my basement on AC for the winter, serving up cold beer in my office, I decided to move it back in to my rig (now 4runner, Ecodiesel RAM lemoned out after 11 months of fighting).

Setup for the last ~9 days:
Battery box with charge controller mounted on it
3 year old 90ah battery, neglected many a time
200 watts of solar on the roof rack -> charge controller
Stock 12v power cord with the end cut off, connected directly to the LOAD terminals on the charge controller

That was actually alright, but I decided to help'er out a little bit and do things cleaner:
Swapped 90ah battery with a 120ah battery I got (new) last week, happily resting at 12.7 for the last several days after I let it sit on a charger for a bit
4 feet of 12ga stranded pure copper two pole landscape wire
Anderson Powerpoles on one end of 12ga, bare on other ends directly to LOAD terminals on charge controller
Added Powerpoles to the stock fridge plug

So essentially all I did was extend the fridge cord 4 feet, upgraded the battery, and added some fancy connectors. Crimped with silly $40 crimpers which were actually great - very confident in all of the connections after doing this.

Old battery, 4 hours after sundown, 12.4v under load on charge controller, 12.1 on fridge under load
New battery, 12.7 resting, 12.5v under load on charge controller, 11.8 on fridge under load

So very unfortunate, 4 feet of 12ga pure copper and 30 amp power poles are causing more voltage drop than I can fathom, or the new battery is a dud. OR - second thought, the landscape wire is less pliable than the wires of the stock fridge plug. Thinking MAYBE the screw-down terminals on the charge controller aren't able to pancake the wire as well for a good connection due to larger strand size.

ANYWAY to keep this about the 62DZ, it's been great the last two weekends and I'm floatin' all day with ~10amps peak flowing in during a clear day, and ~5 as the sun goes down or clouds move overhead... but jeez I'd be way happier with a more efficient compressor in a smaller fridge. Since I like beer, I've calculated that the larger side can hold exactly 30 12oz cans and some odds and ends squeezed in here and there (like a slab of bacon), and the smaller side can accommodate 20 I believe it was.

Gonna make some reflectix sleeve for the fridge and see if that helps keep things cool a little longer as it's still hot as hell for hours after the sun goes down this time of year.

 

[verdesardog]

4' of #12 wire has a resistance of about .006 ohms so that is not your problem. It's probably the connectors or the "new" battery.

 

[comptiger5000]

If the voltage is showing good at the charge controller or at the battery and only low at the fridge, it's not the battery. It's probably a bad connection.

 

[romz26]

did you put the power poles correctly?