ARB 50QT power questions

[GrnRubi]

I will be running my fridge on my 12V cigarette lighter in the back of the Jeep while running down the road, while camping I will be running it off my Yeti 400...I am needing a bit of assistance with possibly 2 items...

My goal is to not have to plug and unplug it while driving/camping

1) For those of you with an ARB do you know how the "brain" works if you have both powers plugged into outlets? I asked ARB but they werent a ton of help on how this would work, but I just want the fridge to run off the power that it gets but what happens when its getting from both?

2) For those of you with Jeeps, Im trying to figure out how to get the 12V cigarette outlet in the back to turn off when the ignition is off. This would help with the power moving to the Yeti when the Jeep is off.


I hope this makes sense, and thanks in advance for the help!!

 

[Hafaday]

According to the manual, if both AC & DC plugs are plugged in, AC takes priority over DC on the fridge. I have not tried doing this yet to see for myself.

As for the fuse to the rear outlet.. I believe the M7 is the one you want. That fuse has a selectable slot (keyed w/ ignition or a constant on) This will also affect the outlet in your center console too. Not the one on the lower dash.

 

[sabjku]

Hafaday is correct on the M7 fuse. I just recently switched mine as I powered my ARB DIRECTLY to the 12volt in the rear, full time. I blew threw two factory batteries pretty quickly, and then upgraded to an Odyssey Extreme, which has been working out fine so far. I leave my fridge in 100% full time.

 

[GrnRubi]

Thanks guys, that helps with my plan. Now Im thinking about plugging the Yeti into the DC (I believe I can have multiple charging sources at the same time) then running the ARB off the Yeti full time. This way I would be charging the Yeti while driving and still, when the ignition is off run off solar and battery from Yeti.

 

[varano14]

I’m not sure if you figured this out on your own put if you have the yeti plugged into the 12v in the rear of your Jeep it shouldn’t be drawing any power with the engine off. I am setting up the same thing as you except with a dometic 50 instead of arb.

I had the same concern you did but with the engine of you will get a low voltage error on the yeti which I believe means it’s not drawing anything. This was you don’t have to keep unplugging it.

 

[sabjku]

I’m not sure if you figured this out on your own put if you have the yeti plugged into the 12v in the rear of your Jeep it shouldn’t be drawing any power with the engine off. I am setting up the same thing as you except with a dometic 50 instead of arb.

I had the same concern you did but with the engine of you will get a low voltage error on the yeti which I believe means it’s not drawing anything. This was you don’t have to keep unplugging it.

Varano that is true, unless you switch the position of the M7 fuse, and then that outlet is hot, full time.

 

[GrnRubi]

So here is my plan, faulty (maybe) or not...

Have the Yeti plugged into the 12v in the back of Jeep, this will charge the Yeti while driving.
Have the ARB plugged into the Yeti all the time.
When not moving I will be deploying my solar panel to charge the Yeti

This should keep the Yeti charged, the ARB happy, and the battery in the Jeep happy. I have a big battery in the Jeep but dont really want to take the chance of it dying on me.

I am also looking into getting a smaller solar panel the hang in the back window of the Jeep, this would also be charging the Yeti while moving. This is a thought, not really on the plan right now.

 

[varano14]

Varano that is true, unless you switch the position of the M7 fuse, and then that outlet is hot, full time.

Ahh alright I’ll have to check mine later I was under the impression mine was always hot however the yeti sensed the voltage drop when the alternator was off and wouldn’t draw any power. You certainly could be right I’m new to th Jeeps electronic nuances.

To GrnRubi
How do you have you solar set up. I don’t yet have a panel and am researching my options. I would like to with a non goal zero panel but am worried about wiring it up.

 

[Renegade]

I have mine connected to a Yeti 12VDC and also connected to 120VAC at the same time, no issues. Works as advertised.

 

[GrnRubi]

Ahh alright I’ll have to check mine later I was under the impression mine was always hot however the yeti sensed the voltage drop when the alternator was off and wouldn’t draw any power. You certainly could be right I’m new to th Jeeps electronic nuances.

To GrnRubi
How do you have you solar set up. I don’t yet have a panel and am researching my options. I would like to with a non goal zero panel but am worried about wiring it up.

Its not the best vid but you will get the point. I know they sell a cable for Yetis proprietary plug but nobody seems to have them in stock.

 

[varano14]

Its not the best vid but you will get the point. I know they sell a cable for Yetis proprietary plug but nobody seems to have them in stock.

Thanks for posting up the video just put in an order on amazon for the stuff to give it a go. I already have an anderson to 8mm cord I'm not using so I am going to use that instead of the 4.7 to 8mm. We will see how it turns out.

 

[utspoolup]

I'm not a jeeper but last year I added onto the ARB fridge install post found here https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/arb-fridge-install.8047/page-4

A few things, I personally hate cig lighter adapters. I have a ton of wire, relays, and a secondary fuse block into my rig and am an electrical engineer at one of the larger defense contractors, so I'm not worried doing most anything to a vehicle. But if you do go with a GZ Yeti, do not do the lithium. I wont flat out bash a company but will say the design is a bit off. If curious check the DC volts output. It is not 12.X but the GZ LI lineup only give you 10.6V. This will trip most fridges for low voltage even you set the under voltage limits to low. That being said, Im a major fan of my little yeti400. for home back up I have 2 extra 33AH batteries tied to it under the desk all the time. This really adds to the capacity of the little guy and I have used it a few times on power outages for odd ball stuff. But again, its limited to about 300watts. For the fridges/ chest freezer/ etc I use dual Honda EU2000 generators. But for tent camping, off roading, family reunions at the park, the little 400 has done everything I have asked of it if you know what you have ahead of time. It will easily power a pellet grill if you start the fire yourself and bypass start up. And it will do so for hours. I have ran my ARB 50 off of it for 2 days without charging and still had 40% left. It a great little system and if your prepper mind like me, makes it even better. I agree with the video on making your cables when you can but they have pretty much everything you will need for pretty cheap to get any job done. Im finishing dinner but will post up traditional photos if you need them later, just ask, but keep us updated with your build. Ill be following it.

 

[varano14]

I'm not a jeeper but last year I added onto the ARB fridge install post found here https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/arb-fridge-install.8047/page-4

A few things, I personally hate cig lighter adapters. I have a ton of wire, relays, and a secondary fuse block into my rig and am an electrical engineer at one of the larger defense contractors, so I'm not worried doing most anything to a vehicle. But if you do go with a GZ Yeti, do not do the lithium. I wont flat out bash a company but will say the design is a bit off. If curious check the DC volts output. It is not 12.X but the GZ LI lineup only give you 10.6V. This will trip most fridges for low voltage even you set the under voltage limits to low. That being said, Im a major fan of my little yeti400. for home back up I have 2 extra 33AH batteries tied to it under the desk all the time. This really adds to the capacity of the little guy and I have used it a few times on power outages for odd ball stuff. But again, its limited to about 300watts. For the fridges/ chest freezer/ etc I use dual Honda EU2000 generators. But for tent camping, off roading, family reunions at the park, the little 400 has done everything I have asked of it if you know what you have ahead of time. It will easily power a pellet grill if you start the fire yourself and bypass start up. And it will do so for hours. I have ran my ARB 50 off of it for 2 days without charging and still had 40% left. It a great little system and if your prepper mind like me, makes it even better. I agree with the video on making your cables when you can but they have pretty much everything you will need for pretty cheap to get any job done. Im finishing dinner but will post up traditional photos if you need them later, just ask, but keep us updated with your build. Ill be following it.

I agree so far I love the Goal Zero Yeti. I’m testing mine with my fridge and it’s been going for 24hrs so far looks like I’m going to get about 30 out of it. Thinking I’m going to either add a second battery or add solar to extent it alittle longer. Would love to see pics of your setup.

 

[GrnRubi]

Thanks everyone for all the comments...Glad to know Im headed in a decent direction but sounds like I need to look into using the 6mm output instead of plugging the cigarette adapter into the 400.

 

[utspoolup]

You can use the cig adapter on the 400, but there are many reports of them coming out during wheeling and the reason I hate the stupid things. Also on my ARB cig adapter only 1 of the 2 negative springs temrinals was actually connected. Ive CNRed a few others and the same thing was true, not sure if it was cost savings, poor quality control, or some dumbshit assembler, but on mine I could get a low voltage warning depending on how I oriented the plug into the receptacle. Just another reason I hate them. I completely forgot to check back here until this morning, but at work I don't have the best access to my photos since all the sites are blocked due to corporate polices.

Several of my modified harness photos were in the post I linked earlier. I will have to get the fridge in the vehicle photos and a few others later since they were not easily found with a google search. But I did find the setup under my desk at home with the extra 33AH batteries and U1sized battery boxes.

These are from before the nasty photobucket breaking the internet issue, so I'm not sure these will work, but let see. (They did!)

My added wiring diagram for my rig

My fuse block

My relay panel (installed behind factory stereo

Fridge mounting points

Fridge installed

Anderson power poles for fridge and now charging the Yeti while driving or even when sitting since its hot power

Modified ARB harness, kept the cig adapter so others can use it when needed.

 

[GrnRubi]

I thought I would throw this into the mix, see if anyone has given this a shot. I will be utilizing solar panels when camping but was thinking how I could also utilize the sun during driving times...I wondered if putting 2 smallish solar panels inside the JK but placed against the back windows of my hardtop (like sun shades), would this work? While I know they would have to be small (20 watt or lower) but if driving a good 8 hours this could be worthwhile. Now the key is whether there is any benefit if Im also charging from the Jeep while moving. The alternator will be doing all the work, Im just not sure the solar panels will make any difference at all...

 

[dstock]

I thought I would throw this into the mix, see if anyone has given this a shot. I will be utilizing solar panels when camping but was thinking how I could also utilize the sun during driving times...I wondered if putting 2 smallish solar panels inside the JK but placed against the back windows of my hardtop (like sun shades), would this work? While I know they would have to be small (20 watt or lower) but if driving a good 8 hours this could be worthwhile. Now the key is whether there is any benefit if Im also charging from the Jeep while moving. The alternator will be doing all the work, Im just not sure the solar panels will make any difference at all...

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to charge but the best charge you can get while driving is going to come from the alternator. The most efficient way for the ARB to be powered is from a dedicated 10 gauge 12 volt outlet, like the kit ARB sells. The factory 12v outlets are smaller gauge wire and have no provision of locking the plug into the outlet.

Solar panels in the back window, especially such low wattage and not angled correctly to the sun are not going to be worth the effort.

I run dual batteries in my JK and I have a 100 watt Renogy panel to keep the ARB 50qt running when camped. If there's sun I can sit parked in the desert for days without ever starting the JK.

I learned all of this the hard way, proper wiring plays a big part of everything working correctly.

 

[sabjku]

I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to charge but the best charge you can get while driving is going to come from the alternator. The most efficient way for the ARB to be powered is from a dedicated 10 gauge 12 volt outlet, like the kit ARB sells. The factory 12v outlets are smaller gauge wire and have no provision of locking the plug into the outlet.

Solar panels in the back window, especially such low wattage and not angled correctly to the sun are not going to be worth the effort.

I run dual batteries in my JK and I have a 100 watt Renogy panel to keep the ARB 50qt running when camped. If there's sun I can sit parked in the desert for days without ever starting the JK.

I learned all of this the hard way, proper wiring plays a big part of everything working correctly.

dstock, what do you use for your two dual batteries? What type of batteries? I just upgraded my starter to a Odyssey Extreme, no dual setup though. I run my ARB fridge, full time, and so far, no issues with the Odyssey-at least with day to day driving. Stock batteries were failing left and right.

 

[dstock]

dstock, what do you use for your two dual batteries? What type of batteries? I just upgraded my starter to a Odyssey Extreme, no dual setup though. I run my ARB fridge, full time, and so far, no issues with the Odyssey-at least with day to day driving. Stock batteries were failing left and right.

I started with Diehard Platinums (rebadged Odysseys) and no longer made. I also had a National Luna dual battery system which turn out not to work very well under the JK hood, it doesn't care for the heat. Both Platinum's died within 2 years, partly due to the malfunctioning NL system.

Odyessy batteries like a really high charge rate once they've been deeply discharged which means hooking up to high amp battery charger per their specs.

So I went a little simpler this time, with 2 Optima Yellow Top Group 34 batteries. They are reasonably priced and readily available everywhere. I also switched to a 500 amp BlueSea ML-ACR which keeps both batteries charged automatically and I can self jump by flipping the switch if needed.

I don't daily drive my Jeep anymore so I do keep it on a NOCO charger when parked. There's just too many systems on the JK pulling power that will run it dead over a couple weeks time.