12 Volt fridge/battery issues

Nate Romero

Nate Romero

Rank IV

Influencer II

1,353
Firestone, Colorado
So we picked up the Costway 63QT fridge and fell in love with it from the moment I unpacked it. We ran it for a total of about 30hrs in the back of the truck hooked to a secondary truck battery that is not wired to the charging system of the truck. started the day at 13.2 volts and the fridge was set at "medium" battery saving mode. After about 30hrs of running it had drained my battery to the point that the fridge hit the limit for "safe" (11.7 volts)battery voltage. My question is.......does everyone run some sort of charging system for fridges and if so is anyone doing a solar setup? It was hot also.......80 to 90 deg for most of the two days
.FRIDGE.jpg
 
A couple of options :

Connect the house battery to the car via a Voltage Sensitive Relay Dual.

This charges the house battery while driving. If you camp longer without driving you need a solar set up which requires as solar charge controller and Solar Panels - I use 2x50 w renology flex panels which I mount to the roof rack while on tour

Setup works quite well for my needs. Hope this helps

Ps : and use appropriate wiring/fuses etc to be protected
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RoarinRow and Nate Romero
This works for me, when in travel I have my 40qt. Engel in the back of the bed of my GMC. I have a separate fused 12v. outlet socket wired in the truck bed. It runs off my main cranking battery which is XS Power AGM. In camp it's plugged into my trailer which is a VMax 125ah AGM. At camp whether on sunny days I have my solar system producing power, over cast\cloudy days or camping under heavy tree foliage I have my trailer plugged into a 2000w inverter generator which charges my battery when needed. For shore power or generator my battery is charged by a 3 stage Powermax 55amp Converter Charger a\c to d\c.
082.JPG048.JPG023.JPG014.JPG004.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: Viking1204, John Smith, mk-Zero and 2 others
ArkansasDon said:
This works for me, when in travel I have my 40qt. Engel in the back of the bed of my GMC. I have a separate fused 12v. outlet socket wired in the truck bed. It runs off my main cranking battery which is XS Power AGM. In camp it's plugged into my trailer which is a VMax 125ah AGM. At camp whether on sunny days I have my solar system producing power, over cast\cloudy days or camping under heavy tree foliage I have my trailer plugged into a 2000w inverter generator which charges my battery when needed. For shore power or generator my battery is charged by a 3 stage Powermax 55amp Converter Charger a\c to d\c.
View attachment 106279View attachment 106280View attachment 106281View attachment 106282View attachment 106283
Click to expand...
That is one impressive install!
 
I have really been looking into a solar panel for the roof of my truck to keep that battery topped off. We run all of our led lights and charging device station also off of that battery.
 
ArkansasDon said:
why don't you run dual battery & use the truck charging system to charge the battery when needed? You wont have to mount a solar panel & wire a charge controller. You would just run 10ga wire from the 12v. socket out let to a fuse then to the battery.
Click to expand...
Agree in addition I would include a voltage sensitive relay to avoid draining the car battery
 
It has been a thought of mine to run a solenoid off of the alternator to allow the truck to charge both batteries but not allow the 2nd battery to draw power off of the 1st battery. Up until now this has t been an issue as the most we have done is run my roof rack light for 3 or 4 hrs. I will more than likely do this setup so the truck can charge both batteries buy I also am thinking that I want some sort of solar to charge while at camp just in the off chance we dont move from camp for a couple of days.
 
ArkansasDon said:
why don't you run dual battery & use the truck charging system to charge the battery when needed? You wont have to mount a solar panel & wire a charge controller. You would just run 10ga wire from the 12v. socket out let to a fuse then to the battery.
Click to expand...
This.

I run a dual battery setup and both of them are powered while driving. I wired an outlet to the secondary battery in the back. Batteries are both AGMs. I can run the fridge for an entire week.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nate Romero
This might be a bit of a dumb question but does the fact that I am using a normal truck battery instead of a deep cycle battery matter? if so why? I know the deep cycles can be run down and still be brought back but would it react differently to a low power drain than the battery I am currently using?
 
Wtf is a truck battery? I think what matters most is the composition of the battery. An AGM battery is what you need. If your truck battery is an AGM/deep cycle battery then you should be fine.


Edit: a quick google search and some random link I clicked on has a good description of the differences Choosing a Battery for your Overland Rig
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boort
I've run a dual battery setup with a 100W Renogy panel. I'm running my fridge 24x7 and park in a garage. I've yet to see my house battery drop below 12.6V with fridge on the highest/most intensive setting. With just the AGM house battery and solar, I'd probably get about 3-4 days depending on the weather but the linked dual battery setup keeps everything topped off while moving and no chance of killing my starting battery and can jump it from house battery via a touch of a button if needed.

It took a few iterations, but so far this has been the most reliable setup for me and did it all for under $500ish. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go with a Redarc so I wouldn't have a separate solar controller and charge controller.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bmwguru, Nate Romero and TrailHawkGuy
Aaron Niemi said:
I've run a dual battery setup with a 100W Renogy panel. I'm running my fridge 24x7 and park in a garage. I've yet to see my house battery drop below 12.6V with fridge on the highest/most intensive setting. With just the AGM house battery and solar, I'd probably get about 3-4 days depending on the weather but the linked dual battery setup keeps everything topped off while moving and no chance of killing my starting battery and can jump it from house battery via a touch of a button if needed.

It took a few iterations, but so far this has been the most reliable setup for me and did it all for under $500ish. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go with a Redarc so I wouldn't have a separate solar controller and charge controller.
Click to expand...

Aaron,
Exactly the setup I have while being out there and it is worry free. Thanks for the Redarc suggestion have to look into that as i rev the solution.

What AmpH capacity is your House Battery and do you happen to have an idea on your Fridge draw ( my ARB uses approx 1-1.3 Amp/Hr - weather depending) ?

Thanks
 
My Dometic fridge pulls about 2.3 amp hours, per hour (according to tests from others). I forget what the AmpH capacity is on my house battery, I'll see If I can find it. Looking at my solar controller I'm currently getting 4A from my panel, today it's super cloudy out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TrailHawkGuy
Aaron Niemi said:
My Dometic fridge pulls about 2.3 amp hours, per hour (according to tests from others). I forget what the AmpH capacity is on my house battery, I'll see If I can find it. Looking at my solar controller I'm currently getting 4A from my panel, today it's super cloudy out.
Click to expand...
Are you using the insulation cover?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom