Car Fridges , help with some stupid questions please

[trekster]

With all this talk on good brand fridges ,please use the Engel plug which locks in place,
or a 50amp Anderson plug, avoid using a cig socket and plug at all costs. You want the best connection possible.
And if touring last thing you want is a cig plug to fail out in the Simmo. Extra 2cw

I will cut mine and run an Anderson plug as that's what I have in the back of the patrol, but I will put an Anderson on the cig plug in case I need to use it for any reason.

Oh and welcome back 3d!

Cheers,
Eric.


Sent from my iPhone using Motorculture mobile app

[FNQGU]

My families trail blazer died after 20 years of use by other family members and I finally got my hands on it for 2 weeks before it died. Lost hundreds of $$$ of meat.

They are a brilliant fridge though I just lucked out unfortunately!

I will bet that Norcoast Refrigeration can fix it for you at a reasonable price… Have you tried to get it sorted. They are pretty simple animals inside, and generally they can tell you what would have gone wrong with it after a 2 min analysis over the phone.

Great bit of kit, but meant for utes...

[FNQGU]

Also, the below might be of interest to some. It is from an article by Collyn Rivers on 12 refrigeration and wiring. The whole article and other very helpful articles can be found here. For some reason Table 1 doesn't show up when I cut and paste, but I am pretty sure someone posted it up (probably Cuppa) in the past. Either way, it can be found on this link or on other sits like Redarc etc.

Also, as per Gabby's earlier comment - I think it pays to walk in and have a chat to a Refrigeration specialist who services and fixes all these fridges. Our local mob in Cairns is Portable Fridge Solutions, and one look out the back is all it took me to be able to see which fridges are being repaired the most. They were also happy to chat and discuss the quality of components, wiring and thickness of insulation. Having a fridge that is 5kg lighter might initially seem like a good point, but it may be that some of that 5kg was insulation. Again, not a big deal if you are running the vehicle, or only having short stops, but if suddenly every Ahr counts, then you may be wishing you had the fridge with the better insulation.

Problems on Twelve Volts

Most electric fridge problems are due to inadequate sized 12 volt wiring. An absolute give-away is if the fridge works well on 230-volts but not on 12 volts. This fault can also be caused or worsened by a faulty fuse holder and particularly by cigarette lighter plugs. Never use the latter.

You absolutely must have an adequate voltage across that fridge and this calls for surprisingly heavy cable. The minimum is spelled out in Table 1. Ideally use at least one size heavier.

The only way of knowing if the voltage is correct is to measure it, or have an electrician measure it. Make sure the fridge is switched on and put something warm inside to make sure it is also cycled 'on', Measure the voltage directly across the battery that drives it, then check the voltage directly across the fridge - as close to its terminals as possible.

There should be no more than about 0.30 of a volt difference: ideally only 0.15 - 0.2 volt. Many fridges have close to 1.0 volt drop! Fixing this makes an extraordinary difference. Replace the cable using one at least as heavy as in Table 1, or run a second cable in parallel.