Fridge on OEM battery - impossible?

[DanW]

I have the snomaster LS36 and it wont run off the rear outlet.

I was thinking of installing a separate battery but didnt want to do it under the hood or in the cab. I'm wondering if putting it under the vehicle would work Is there any disadvantage to having it there such as water crossings?

Wow, you are the first person I've seen in the US who is also running the Snomaster! Great fridge! Mine has been running constantly since I bought it, mostly in the garage. Never an issue!

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[twisty]

I've been running mine for 2 years off the cig plug in the back. Never an issue. It is a Snomaster LS 35.

More recently, though, I've used a Jackery 240 to run it at night, then during the day, the Jackery charges on the Jeep's 12v. It has charge-through capability, so when the Jeep is running, it is charging the Jackery and running the fridge at the same time. When the engine shuts off, the Jackery powers the fridge. On its own, the Jackery can run the fridge at 35 degrees for about 20 hours.

I bought the Jackery after spending 3 days at Oshkosh last year, where the Jeep wasn't even started, so I needed an alternate power source so as not to stress the jeep's batteries or have the fridge shuf off due to low voltage.

I've also since added a portable 60w Jackery solar panel. On a sunny or even partly cloudy day, it charges the 240 quicker than the fridge depletes it. So by nighttime the Jackery is at 100%. By morning, it is just under 50%. That's set at 35 degrees.

The Snomaster has a proprietary compressor that they claim is more efficient and durable than the danfoss units in others. I'm not sure if it really is more efficient, or not, but they do back it with a 5 year warranty which is the best I've seen. That fridge, btw, runs in my garage when not in the Jeep. These things are amazing. I'll NEVER go back to a cooler with ice.

I talked to the snomaster rep and he says for whatever reason some cig lighters work and some dont on the JL's. The plug is kinda in the way anyway so am moving it. I like your Jackery idea. It has the added benefit of being more flexable in that you can easily take it out of the jeep to other vehicles or whatever. I'll have to check them out dimension-wise.

 

[DanW]

I talked to the snomaster rep and he says for whatever reason some cig lighters work and some dont on the JL's. The plug is kinda in the way anyway so am moving it. I like your Jackery idea. It has the added benefit of being more flexable in that you can easily take it out of the jeep to other vehicles or whatever. I'll have to check them out dimension-wise.

The Jackery is really small. I'll get a pic of it tonight, if I get a chance, next to the fridge, to give you an idea of the scale. It never gets hot, either, so you can set it on top of things, too. One hint: When plugging the Snomaster into the Jackery, twist the plug once it is in. Otherwise it can slip back and disconnect.

 

[Maverick909]

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?

590 for the 80 watt hood solar panel kit from cascadia4x4.com. problem solved

 

[hellayellow]

590 for the 80 watt hood solar panel kit from cascadia4x4.com. problem solved

how do you like that product ? i been looking into buying this, its actually about 400 dollars right now, if possible post pictures thanks

 

[Maverick909]

how do you like that product ? i been looking into buying this, its actually about 400 dollars right now, if possible post pictures thanks

after about 3 months of researching this will be the route i am going to take. i due to life i havent been able to pull the trigger just yet as i am in the middle of a house remodel -_- on the high note the reviews are really good on the system.

 

[hellayellow]

after about 3 months of researching this will be the route i am going to take. i due to life i havent been able to pull the trigger just yet as i am in the middle of a house remodel -_- on the high note the reviews are really good on the system.

i have also done some research and that product and feel this will be the route i take, maybe also add a secondary battery in the future but i really like the simplicity of it

 

[LooselyHeldPlans]

I be kept my Engle 20L and the 45L plugged into the rear accessory port with no problems or second battery. It’s a newer battery and when I use them I drive every day and have had zero issues.

I thought about getting a second battery as a starter backup, but a $40 Lithium iron jump starter seemed to be a better option.

 

[Maverick909]

i have also done some research and that product and feel this will be the route i take, maybe also add a secondary battery in the future but i really like the simplicity of it

yea i was looking to do the genesis dual battery setup that way its two full size batteries in an accessible area

 

[WranglerMan]

From what I see in the diagram above, u would just need just one battery and some extra wire (appropriate gauge size) cable with quality terminals to make a jumper harness and make it into a single battery system.

yea i was looking to do the genesis dual battery setup that way its two full size batteries in an accessible area

I don’t run a fridge but do run a winch and small portable air compressor of my aux battery in a Genesis dual system and have to say so far zero issues, my JL just seems to act better with the additional power, maybe its a placebo affect but my charging system runs like it’s designed now with the smart alternator doing what it’s supposed to so, not sure I had any problems before as my JL always started but the voltage display stayed right at 14 volts most of the time now I only see it when it’s sat a day or two and after 15-20 mins of rolling down the road it drops to like the low 13’s and stays there.

Not sure how much power a fridge pulls but I would not think between the the two stock batteries that it would be enough

 

[Rammer]

I run a Jackery 500 with my fridge. Using the Jeep's 115 volt built in inverter, it will charge the jackery at 81 watts instead of 44 watts using the 12 volt port. This will recharge faster and it is also more wattage then the fridge uses while running.

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