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Hey guys,
I'm about to wiring up a system for my rear fridge this weekend, I was just wondering about fuse size.
The fridge I'm getting is a Bushman, and it recommends a 10A fused circuit.
Would I be better off fusing the circuit 10A from the battery, or making a 10A fused cable from the fridge plug to the anderson plugs?
I would go 10 amp direct off battery as it takes away the resistance losses in the fridge plug and anderson plug. Every connection is a loss point.
And solder the connections if you can. If not crimp with a coating of conductive paste in the joint for total certainty. This is what I do now and its stopped all those PIA troubleshooting tasks when you have to start looking at connector issues as well as appliance faults.
Fuses (& circuit breakers) protect the wiring in case of a short circuit, to prevent the wire getting hot & starting a fire. A fuse may also be required to protect the fridge itself. Best to have protection at both ends of the wire. On mine connection to the battery runs to a circuit breaker with a capacity to cover all combined loads (a short circuit would pull a higher current & would therefore trip the circuit breaker) & then to the fridge via a 10amp fuse near the fridge because that is what the fridge manufacturer specifies. If only using one I'd put it close to the battery.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmyboyjr4
If using a circuit breaker avoid the auto reset type. They make fault finding far more difficult. Use a manual reset type ...... & this can double as switch which can be handy.
Be sure to go 'heavy' on the cable you use. The most common cause of fridges not working properly is inadequate cabling causing voltage drop. You want pretty much the same voltage at the fridge as you have at the battery terminals (within say 0.3v max difference).
This is the wiring diagram for my set up. Each circuit also has it's own circuit breaker, but that part is irrelevant for your purposes. (Separating the circuits just makes fault finding easier). The important bit is protecting the cabling as well as the fridge.
Attachment 78966
The fridge may have its own fuse like my engel.
Throw away any cig style plugs and use a merit
or better still a 50 amp anderson style plug.
Hi TD. Yep Jimmy Boy mentioned using Anderson Plug. Best way to go, far more secure on rough roads. My original fridge plugs (ARB) had the fuses built in. I must admit I wasn't sure if the fridges specifically needed fuse protection ,but as that was how they came I included an inline one one at the fridge ends when I chopped off the original plugs & replaced them with andersons.Quote:
Originally Posted by threedogs
I have used the dead side of the fuse to power my
auto fridge led light, most fridges now have lights I think
@Cuppa hi back to you still tuff here moving on slowly
Thanks for the awesome replies guys!
I ended up speaking to the Bushman company over the phone. They said that the fridge itself has the protections needed built into it, so the fuse would be purely to protect the wiring - he recommended a 20A fuse. Apparently the maximum current draw from the Bushman is around 6A once the compressor kicks in, after that it is relatively low.
@Cuppa, I'm going to go with 8B&S twin core wiring into an anderson plug. I'm thinking that the wire should be large enough to avoid voltage drop across the circuit, I mean its a SWB GQ, the runs quite short comparatively. Also, I'm looking at a 20A standard blade manual reset C/B from Jaycar, looks pretty good from what I can see. Since I'll be replace the cig style plug with an anderson, that plug comes with an inline fuse.
@threedogs - I won't touch those cig style plugs. Last time we were camping it would even hold my phone charger, and we were stationary at the campsite!
If the fridge itself has the necessary protection built in & the fuse is purely to protect the wiring, it makes no sense to have the fuse at the fridge end. Cannot see why a 20A fuse is recommended if max current draw is 6A. A 10A fuse or CB would me quite adequate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmyboyjr4
You're right there, am going with the 10A
When I asked, I wasn't aware that the fridge had the inbuilt protection in them though. I was more curious as the cig plug for it has a fuse, but the anderson plug adapter doesn't