12v auxiliary plug for fridge

[JeepsterPete]

Hello everyone. I just bought a 12v fridge to go out on the trails and noticed that the 12v plug in the back of my Jeep Sahara JKU 2018 was not powerful enough to run the fridge. Reading up online I think the solution would be to run a wire and plug directly from the battery.
Any ideas on the matter?
Anyone found a solution?
Not sure where I could install a plug in the back ? Not a lot of room in the walls to install a power socket kit.

 

[socal66]

Had not heard of this being a common problem with later model Jeeps. Perhaps the amps being pulled by your particular fridge exceed what the gauge of the factory wiring could provide and you could look at upgrading the gauge of your wiring to that plug.

I have a JL and I use a portable battery (Bluetti AC50s) plugged in the rear cargo jack between my fridge and that works fine and keeps the power with the main battery off. I am redoing the wiring because the factory jack placement is annoying and I need accomodate solar and a power management charger, etc. For that I am running 4 awg wire from the car battery (positive) to the rear cargo area and using the grounding bolt that the factory plug uses. I think there is a similar ground bolt for the JK.

 

[JeepsterPete]

Had not heard of this being a common problem with later model Jeeps. Perhaps the amps being pulled by your particular fridge exceed what the gauge of the factory wiring could provide and you could look at upgrading the gauge of your wiring to that plug.

I have a JL and I use a portable battery (Bluetti AC50s) plugged in the rear cargo jack between my fridge and that works fine and keeps the power with the main battery off. I am redoing the wiring because the factory jack placement is annoying and I need accomodate solar and a power management charger, etc. For that I am running 4 awg wire from the car battery (positive) to the rear cargo area and using the grounding bolt that the factory plug uses. I think there is a similar ground bolt for the JK.

Thanks. I have a Ecoflow River Pro power pack. Good idea to have it plugged in the aux power outlet in the back and having the fridge plugged in that for power, subsequently recharging the power pack with the Jeep battery. Will try that.

 

[Jim SoG]

Also most fridge units will have a "Battery Saver" setting or something like that make sure it is set to low.......

It most likely is not the plug but the battery itself I would think, if it works with jeep running but errors when off, I say it is battery.......

 

[jeepers29]

The wiring in the jeep is too small. Your best bet is to buy the ARB wiring harness that goes directly to the battery. Works great.

 

[Downs]

Here's a decent reference for wire sizing based on AMPs and length. Honestly these little fridges don't draw a ton of power. 2-3 amps? You don't really need battery cable sized wiring to run them. If you're running the full length of your vehicle some 12 gauge wiring should give you some wiggle room to account for start up draw and keep you from having excessive voltage drop. You could probably squeak by with 14 gauge but 12 gauge would be on the safer side.

12 Volt - Wire Gauge vs. Amps

Maximum current (amps) in a 12V electrical circuit vs. size (AWG) and length of wire.

www.engineeringtoolbox.com

 

[trail_runn4r]

Hello everyone. I just bought a 12v fridge to go out on the trails and noticed that the 12v plug in the back of my Jeep Sahara JKU 2018 was not powerful enough to run the fridge. Reading up online I think the solution would be to run a wire and plug directly from the battery.
Any ideas on the matter?
Anyone found a solution?
Not sure where I could install a plug in the back ? Not a lot of room in the walls to install a power socket kit.

you can run 2 wires from the battery to the back and then wire them to a blue sea panel which you can configure with different accessories like 12v, usb, etc

 

[Road]

The wiring in the jeep is too small. Your best bet is to buy the ARB wiring harness that goes directly to the battery. Works great.

.
Jeep's OEM outlet wiring is evidently insufficient in some jeeps, and tricks some 12v fridges into thinking the voltage is too low, reducing power.

I second the vote for the ARB Fridge/Freezer Wiring Kit - makes it super simple and easy to run wiring straight from battery to rear for the fridge.

It's 20' long, 10AWG, includes a 15amp in-line fuse and surface mount 12v outlet. So, no need to set up a fuse panel in the rear if you're only powering the fridge.

Even if you are setting up power for other items, I'd run the ARB wiring kit straight from whichever battery just for the fridge. Keeping a 2nd battery for "house" items is always advisable so you're not running your starting battery down too far all the time. Good way to shorten the life of a starting battery.

And, if you care to change your fridge's 12v plug to the ARB plug, "the cigarette plug tip can be removed and the special two pin plug can be screwed into the matching ARB power socket for a secure connection."
Great to keep the plug from vibrating out on washboard roads and rugged trails.

Good luck; hope it works out just the way you want.

.

 

[Brewbud]

.
Jeep's OEM outlet wiring is evidently insufficient in some jeeps, and tricks some 12v fridges into thinking the voltage is too low, reducing power.

I second the vote for the ARB Fridge/Freezer Wiring Kit - makes it super simple and easy to run wiring straight from battery to rear for the fridge.

It's 20' long, 10AWG, includes a 15amp in-line fuse and surface mount 12v outlet. So, no need to set up a fuse panel in the rear if you're only powering the fridge.

Even if you are setting up power for other items, I'd run the ARB wiring kit straight from whichever battery just for the fridge. Keeping a 2nd battery for "house" items is always advisable so you're not running your starting battery down too far all the time. Good way to shorten the life of a starting battery.

And, if you care to change your fridge's 12v plug to the ARB plug, "the cigarette plug tip can be removed and the special two pin plug can be screwed into the matching ARB power socket for a secure connection."
Great to keep the plug from vibrating out on washboard roads and rugged trails.

Good luck; hope it works out just the way you want.

.

I used the ARB wiring kit in my LJ but it had no 12V in the back anyway. I also used their receptacle in my truck. The two pin plug is very secure. They work great!

 

[JeepsterPete]

Thanks to all for the great tips.

 

[The overland Herbivore]

This is good to know! I just got a fridge I planned to use off the back 12v plug in my 14 jku when not plugged to my goal zero yeti 400.

 

[Boostpowered]

If its anything like chevys 12v outlets the front 12v plug won't put down many amps only enough to charge phones or power a radio etc, the rear 12v has more amp capacity and will run friges, air compressor and inverters.
Both front and rear shut off power when my truck isn't running.
If its anything like that then yep you'll need to run an auxiliary 12v from the battery to run continuously.
I wired in my own 12v plug under the hood and in the bed just to run my compressor anytime front or rear.

 

[El-Dracho]

The socket and wiring of ARB, which was mentioned here a few times, works really well for me. I have the socket for several years in use and made the wiring that way as @Road has already written above: I use the socket exclusively for the fridge and it is connected directly via a fuse of course to the 2nd battery. This works great for me. What I particularly like about the ARB solution is that the plug sits firmly in the socket and does not slip out even on rough tracks.

In my experience, plug connections in the vehicle are always a very vunerabler point. Just these, "cigarette lighter solutions" - sometimes for example, for the charging of a tablet or so, even with USB adapter in between, often make trouble on the road. A shaky power connection has never been good, because these can quickly lead to major damage. So please always pay attention to a correct and proper wiring and leave this best to a professional!

Something else: A compressor fridge with comparatively low power consumption could probably also be run on the starter battery for quite a while. The starting current of most compressor fridges is high, but the energy demand afterwards is relatively low. In my experience, however, running from the starter battery is not a good idea because starter batteries are designed to deliver high currents for a short period of time and not to slowly discharge through low currents, which is just what happens with electrical consumers in camping. To save the battery, it is recommended to use a battery monitor, as mentioned above (sometimes the mobile fridges also have such a low-voltage protection built in).

 

[North40overland]

I bought this off of amazon for around 20 bucks and I pulled 10 gage wire back directly from the battery. I used an in-line fuse at the battery terminal to ensure safety. It powers my 50 liter fridge / freezer no problem. I can also use the usb plugs to power the lights in the roof top tent and charge phones while at camp. The bank has a switch to cut it off when I am not using the fridge so it will not drain the battery. had it installed about 6 months, used it on about 20 trips and so far no issues. Hope that helps.

 

[Make Wai Overland]

I want to do this to my 2020 Tundra. Toyota did this to the Tacoma so idk why they didn’t do it to the Tundra. I also want to do a second battery and an inverter.