Whynter refrigerator just about killing my battery after 12 hours

[OpenTrackRacer]

There's definitely some parasitic draw but I've never bothered to quantify it. Probably worth doing so at this point and easy enough to accomplish when I swap the battery again. I'll also have to change my habits of leaving things like the tablet and other devices charging when the engine is off.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Have you removed the cover to the compressor/fan and cleaned it out well with compressed air, may have reduced efficiency somewhere causing it to run more than needed?

 

[kdeleon]

I have a similar whynter 45 and have no issues with batt getting flat. My batt is still the stock batt, about 1.5yrs old since i had my fridge. I am able to run it more than 24hrs just to see how much voltage drop i get. It drops a bit but easily had juice to start the car. One thing though, i run it primarily in efficient mode and monitor religiously. I also dip the temp during the drives then bump it up overnight to reduce the load. I am guessing the batt is your problem.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[OpenTrackRacer]

I've checked the coil, compressor and fan and everything is clean. I'm hoping it's the battery combined with the lower thermal mass of the refrigerator not being close to full. I also have it set around 33 degrees as well.

 

[john61ct]

If you stick to one batt, get a true dual-use deep cycle like Odyssey http://odysseybatteries.com/pc2150_series.htm

 

[Airmapper]

If you stick to one batt, get a true dual-use deep cycle like Odyssey http://odysseybatteries.com/pc2150_series.htm

Been there, done that. That battery will make you pull your hair out.

 

[OpenTrackRacer]

Oh? What's wrong with the Odyssey (besides the price)?

Just did a check with the compressor running. 12.48v at the battery and 12.20v at the Anderson connector leading to the refrigerator. The refrigerator display was showing 12.00v. Probably some loss in that stock DC connector. So, the voltage drop is around 2.2%. I'm totally okay with that.

 

[Airmapper]

Oh? What's wrong with the Odyssey (besides the price)?

A normal vehicle alternator can't charge it properly. Batteries are slowly damaged when left undercharged, and you run around with a battery that will never be more than 80% without external charging. It's very finicky on its charging profile as well, needs special and expensive chargers to even top off. It wants 14.7v when a normal vehicle stops at 14.1v or so, some less. Not to mention heavy charging amperage specs most reasonable equipment can't hit.

Mine just died after a little over 3.5 years, which isn't horrible considering, but those last 3 years I was charging it nearly every other weekend trying to extend its life. Lots of fiddling with it, not just drop it in and leave it be. Yes it's a very powerful battery, but hell to take care of.

I've got a Northstar 31 ready to go in. Ask me in 3 years if it's any better, but word on the street is normal alternators and chargers can actually make it happy. We shall see.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

A normal vehicle alternator can't charge it properly. Batteries are slowly damaged when left undercharged, and you run around with a battery that will never be more than 80% without external charging. It's very finicky on its charging profile as well, needs special and expensive chargers to even top off. It wants 14.7v when a normal vehicle stops at 14.1v or so, some less. Not to mention heavy charging amperage specs most reasonable equipment can't hit.

Mine just died after a little over 3.5 years, which isn't horrible considering, but those last 3 years I was charging it nearly every other weekend trying to extend its life. Lots of fiddling with it, not just drop it in and leave it be. Yes it's a very powerful battery, but hell to take care of.

I've got a Northstar 31 ready to go in. Ask me in 3 years if it's any better, but word on the street is normal alternators and chargers can actually make it happy. We shall see.

Also happens with Optima batteries, about half of the stock alternators on the market cannot properly charge them or other AGM batteries, so they slowly die.

 

[OpenTrackRacer]

I wasn't paying attention either. Group 34 is stock. I've been using a Group 24 marine battery for years. 140 minute reserve capacity. I'll try and get a new Group 24 tomorrow and test and we'll see what happens.

 

[john61ct]

Well of course with a quality batt, you need to charge within the mfg specs to regularly get to 100% Full. Ideally most cycles.

If the alt can't do it on its own, get a DCDC charger that can.

 

[OpenTrackRacer]

Got the new battery and I'll be installing it shortly and testing overnight. Had the fridge set to 41 degrees last night and the battery was in worse shape this morning than the previous day when the fridge was set colder. That leads me even more towards the battery being suspect. I'll know soon enough!

I was looking at Group 27 and 31 batteries and I think I could make one fit if I spent some time with a dremel...

 

[sonoronos]

Hope these specs help.

 

[OpenTrackRacer]

That's a great chart. I hadn't come across it before. According to it, I should be in good shape with the Group 24 marine/RV battery which is rated at 81Ah. I'm not trying to get 24 hours out if it either. 18 is about all I need. Just setup another test with a (hopefully) fully charged new battery. I'll know more in the morning!

 

[67cj5]

I have a new (to me) Whynter FM-45G refrigerator that I'm getting setup for the first time in my Jeep Wrangler JKU. I tested the setup last night and the results have me concerned. I have the fridge set around 34 degrees and I left the Jeep at 10pm with the battery fully charged. When I went to start it up this morning at 10am it started but struggled. I have what's basically a factory Group 34 battery but the marine "deep cycle" version.

It seems to me the battery should be lasting longer than this. If I'm out on a trip and park at 6pm and head out the next morning at 10am I think I could be in trouble. I can't imagine this is normal but... Since it's basically not lasting overnight a solar panel won't help.

Anyone care to comment on if this situation is normal?

Thanks!

At those figures you either have a battery problem or your fridge needs servicing, The ARB 47L/50QT will run for 85+ hours on a "Single" group 34/55amp-58amp battery, and that is not at the lowest battery shut off setting, looking at that chart someone posted the Whynter 45 uses about 45% more power on AC in a 24hr period.

hope that helps.

Here is the written test results
https://overland.kinja.com/offline-fridge-update-1787314773

Here is the Video,