Fridge on OEM battery - impossible?

[Martindfletcher]

We use our ARB 37qt all the time on the factory 12v plug in the cargo area of our JLU-R without issue. Have left it plugged in for several 24+ hour stretches without starting the Jeep and have not had an issue with lack of cooling or trouble starting the Jeep. We have the fridge on the medium voltage cut-off setting.

It was 95-100 degrees with really high UV index without really driving it for 2 full days, when mine finally killed the battery

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[TBULL52]

First Jeep. First portable fridge. Need some advice:

I just purchased a Dometic CFX 50W fridge, and have been trying to just plug-and-play with the OEM battery setup.

From what I’ve read, this should work, but I will run the risk of draining the starter battery if I left it on too long. Fridge has three settings for voltage drop shutoff: High, Medium, and Low. Instructions say to only use “High” if you are in a single-battery setup, and really worried about impacting the starting battery. “Medium” is for normal operation in a single-battery setup. “Low” is only for use in a dual-battery setup, where you are not concerned about how far your voltage drops.

“High” was of no use. Fridge would only work for less than an hour after shutting off Jeep, then the voltage would drop to the point the fridge wouldn’t work. “Medium” is only slightly better - Fridge stops cooling after a couple hours. Test was done for one week - most days the Jeep would be running for 30-minutes on my commute in the morning, and 30-minutes back home at night.

Question: Is the factory wiring to the rear 12V plug the problem? I bought the ARB wiring kit, but have not installed it yet, because I want to be sure this is even a viable setup with a single OEM battery. If it isn’t, no sense installing that kit, as I’m looking at the following total costs:

Single-Battery Setup:

$650 for fridge
$250 for fridge slide
$ 40 for ARB wiring kit
$940 Total for single-battery setup

Additional Dual-Battery Costs:

$550 guess for Genesis dual battery kit
$296 for Odyssey Group 25 battery #1
$296 for Odyssey Group 25 battery #2
$1,142 Additional Costs

I went with the fridge THINKING the total cost would be less than $1K. Now I’m getting into it, thinking my actual cost maybe more than double that, and deciding whether I should abort the mission, sell the fridge, buy a good cooler for $400, and redeploy the other nearly $1,700 on bags of ice and more mods to the Jeep!

Is anyone running their fridge successfully with a single-battery setup? Am I missing something?

I have this and it has never messed with my battery

https://www.rticcoolers.com/shop/coolers/roto-molded/RTIC-65-White

 

[old8tora]

I've been camping for MANY DECADES and I've had COLEMAN/ENGEL/ARB/IGLOO coolers-

All the electric ones are a P.I.T.A. and pose battery trouble, I've read about so many battery failures over the years, so

I will/have only used the ICE type any more and I don't have any troubles, even after 5 days--although I don't camp any longer than that !

How you prepare the cooler and the ICE FORM makes all the difference in the world-

W.E.

JIMBO

@JIMBOX gives the others some common sense . All in your favor , @JIMBOX . Ice is the Best ! , as you wrote .

 

[JIMBOX]

Sorry to disappoint you-

It'd probably be better on your lifestyle if you just overlooked my posts-

W.E.

JIMBO

Finally , a word of common sense from @JIMBOX .

 

[old8tora]

Sorry to disappoint you-

It'd probably be better on your lifestyle if you just overlooked my posts-

W.E.

JIMBO

Meant to say , @JIMBOX gives the others some common sense . All in your favor , @JIMBOX . Ice is the Best ! , as you wrote .

 

[Martindfletcher]

I have this and it has never messed with my battery

https://www.rticcoolers.com/shop/coolers/roto-molded/RTIC-65-White

At least the price on this one is reasonable. To me a refrigerator/freezer ~$900 is not as crazy as paying $500 for a yeti cooler.

 

[RussJeep1]

Not that I'm suggesting to complicate things, but for those already packing generators with auto start capabilities anyway on overland adventures, you could rig one of these to monitor vehicles batteries and autostart the gen when voltage drops below a threshold.

http://atkinsonelectronics.com/manufacturing/products/GSCM-mini-i.asp

The voltage threshold is customizable with the full blown version.

http://atkinson-electronics2.mybigcommerce.com/gscm-generator-start-control-module-rev-c/

(The feature is normally used to crank the gen and charge its battery before it becomes too weak to crank the engine--easily adaptable to the rig's batteries.)

 

[Mousehunter]

I recently spent some time with the snowmaster importer (a competing product). He has not been impressed with the rear plug in the Jeep (too much voltage loss). That said, even if it does work, do yourself a favor and give it its own wiring harness. Aux plugs are usually only powered when the ignition is on, randomly loose connection, and have a LOT more voltage drop under load than say a 10 guage direct run. I have not wired ours yet, but he said it was super easy in Jeeps (a bit more concerned about out mini van). I just did a 2k mile trip using the vans aux plug (worked), but will have a direct harnesses in both vehicles before another trip.

While the ARB is probably a good harness (I think he showed me a handful of them), the system he recommended to me was dual fused, marine grade jacketed wire and Anderson Power Pole plugs (the 30/45 amp ones are plenty-no need to used the 50 amp of 75amp).

I am carrying a jumpstart battery. I don’t plan on using the fridge all the time so expect the decrease in battery life will not be worth changing to an AMC yet. The Importer runs a solar panel on his roof

 

[DanW]

I recently spent some time with the snowmaster importer (a competing product). He has not been impressed with the rear plug in the Jeep (too much voltage loss). That said, even if it does work, do yourself a favor and give it its own wiring harness. Aux plugs are usually only powered when the ignition is on, randomly loose connection, and have a LOT more voltage drop under load than say a 10 guage direct run. I have not wired ours yet, but he said it was super easy in Jeeps (a bit more concerned about out mini van). I just did a 2k mile trip using the vans aux plug (worked), but will have a direct harnesses in both vehicles before another trip.

While the ARB is probably a good harness (I think he showed me a handful of them), the system he recommended to me was dual fused, marine grade jacketed wire and Anderson Power Pole plugs (the 30/45 amp ones are plenty-no need to used the 50 amp of 75amp).

I am carrying a jumpstart battery. I don’t plan on using the fridge all the time so expect the decrease in battery life will not be worth changing to an AMC yet. The Importer runs a solar panel on his roof

Is his experience with the JK or JL? The JL can be selected to have constant power, even with the ignition off. I'm wondering if might be a better setup than the JK. I've heard from a bunch of folks with ARB's that say they run fine in their JK's. I'll try my Snomaster on my stock 12v rear plug and will report back. If unsatisfactory, I'll do a direct wire setup.

 

[DanW]

Well, I got a Snowmaster LS35 and for two days have run it off the aux 12v in the back of the JL. I found that the high setting on battery protection does exactly what was said earlier...It shuts off after a few hours. So, I ran it on low (or medium, I can't remember) and it ran just fine while parked for about 12 hours on a hot day, with soft top and windows buttoned up. The Jeep started up with no issue, although the fridge was showing the voltage had come down a bit. My habits won't include 2 or 3 days sitting with the fridge running. It would be 12 hours, at most. I keep the AC plug in it, too, so in my garage at night, I just plug it into the wall and AC takes over.

I agree that pre-cooling on AC is the way to go. It keeps the Jeep's battery from doing the heavy lifting.

Btw, @Mousehunter , would the Snomaster guy you talked to be Todd Trudeau? He's great and helped me a lot with my purchase. Man, this Snomaster is nice, too! I love it!

 

[tjeeper]

I have a 50qt ARB set to high. Just got back from a week trip in Silverton CO. Plugged it into the rear 12 volt plug, worked fine all week. By the end of the week it was freezing my sodas. BUT- I was driving the JL everyday, and it didn't get above 75 while we were there.

 

[DanW]

I have a 50qt ARB set to high. Just got back from a week trip in Silverton CO. Plugged it into the rear 12 volt plug, worked fine all week. By the end of the week it was freezing my sodas. BUT- I was driving the JL everyday, and it didn't get above 75 while we were there.

Wasn't it nice not having to buy or manage ice? After just under a week, I can't believe I've lived my adult life without one of these!

 

[Jeeperz Kreeperz]

OP here, with update on the solution I chose: Purchased a Goal Zero Yeti 400 (NOT the lithium version, as GZ is having problems with their lithium batteries not playing nicely with 12v car charging. They actually warn you not to do it).

Here’s the configuration I chose:

1. Yeti input is always plugged in to 12v ARB harness wired direct to battery for charging (8mm plug, blue color code). I couldn’t get the GZ cig adapter to work. So I cut in half the Dometic 12v fridge cord. Then cut the GZ 8mm cig adapter in half. Spliced the 8mm connector to the side of the fridge cord that is compatible with the ARB screw-on connection at ARB fridge wiring harness.
2. Dometic CFX50W fridge is always plugged in to Yeti output for power (6mm plug, green color code). I’m using the “Low” voltage sensitivity setting on the fridge, which - according to the manual - switches fridge off when voltage drops below 10.1 volts. I cut the cig adapter off a 6mm GZ cig adapter. Then spliced the 6mm plug to the leftover half of the fridge cord from step one above.
3. OEM 12v cig plug in rear of Jeep is unused and available for other uses.

I tried plugging the Yeti into the OEM 12v plug for charging, but could only get 35-39 watts max input to Yeti while Jeep was running. With the ARB 10 AWG harness, I’m getting 65-69 watts while Jeep is running.

To put the wattage in perspective, the fridge uses 1-2 watts when compressor is off, and 60-62 watts when fridge compressor is on. So a steady 65-69 watts input while driving should be a net positive in terms of charging the Yeti - even if the compressor ran continuously, which it does not.

For trips where we travel to a new location each night, this config SHOULD work well. I’ll confirm when I get back from next trip.

For trips where we don’t start Jeep for several days, a solar panel could be used to charge the Yeti during the day. Note to self: need to buy a solar panel!

 

[twisty]

OP here, with update on the solution I chose: Purchased a Goal Zero Yeti 400 (NOT the lithium version, as GZ is having problems with their lithium batteries not playing nicely with 12v car charging. They actually warn you not to do it).

Here’s the configuration I chose:

1. Yeti input is always plugged in to 12v ARB harness wired direct to battery for charging (8mm plug, blue color code). I couldn’t get the GZ cig adapter to work. So I cut in half the Dometic 12v fridge cord. Then cut the GZ 8mm cig adapter in half. Spliced the 8mm connector to the side of the fridge cord that is compatible with the ARB screw-on connection at ARB fridge wiring harness.
2. Dometic CFX50W fridge is always plugged in to Yeti output for power (6mm plug, green color code). I’m using the “Low” voltage sensitivity setting on the fridge, which - according to the manual - switches fridge off when voltage drops below 10.1 volts. I cut the cig adapter off a 6mm GZ cig adapter. Then spliced the 6mm plug to the leftover half of the fridge cord from step one above.
3. OEM 12v cig plug in rear of Jeep is unused and available for other uses.

I tried plugging the Yeti into the OEM 12v plug for charging, but could only get 35-39 watts max input to Yeti while Jeep was running. With the ARB 10 AWG harness, I’m getting 65-69 watts while Jeep is running.

To put the wattage in perspective, the fridge uses 1-2 watts when compressor is off, and 60-62 watts when fridge compressor is on. So a steady 65-69 watts input while driving should be a net positive in terms of charging the Yeti - even if the compressor ran continuously, which it does not.

For trips where we travel to a new location each night, this config SHOULD work well. I’ll confirm when I get back from next trip.

For trips where we don’t start Jeep for several days, a solar panel could be used to charge the Yeti during the day. Note to self: need to buy a solar panel!

Being totally green on car fridges all that went over my head. lol Pics would help for those's needing info in the future.

I bought my JL in part to do an Alaska trip with my son in three years when he's done college. I've been to Alaska before and used a cheap-o refrigerator and it REALLY was nice not needing to think about ice, or if stuff is getting wet. Oh, and no sloshing sounds either. lol

There are some really great overlanding/expedition forums to get some great info from guys who do this stuff a lot. Once I set my jeep up with bumpers an such I will be hitting it hard.

 

[DanW]

Being totally green on car fridges all that went over my head. lol Pics would help for those's needing info in the future.

I bought my JL in part to do an Alaska trip with my son in three years when he's done college. I've been to Alaska before and used a cheap-o refrigerator and it REALLY was nice not needing to think about ice, or if stuff is getting wet. Oh, and no sloshing sounds either. lol

There are some really great overlanding/expedition forums to get some great info from guys who do this stuff a lot. Once I set my jeep up with bumpers an such I will be hitting it hard.

I've been running mine for a couple weeks off the 12v plug in the back of the Jeep, with no issues. I'm not parking and running it for 2 or 3 days. If I did, I'd be looking at a different set-up.

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