Car fridge power draw.

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

Evening all..

Well you get what you pay for or so it seems.
I bought a cheap fridge, looked like a Waeco, but it's not. Looks goods, runs well, keeps the food cold and it is huge. First thing I noticed that was not a big issue, no light, but found, yes, it does matter...

Anyway, I have had some issues with the fridge error light coming on within a few hours. Checked every damn thing. Changed fuses, changed sockets, actually hardwired it now. Used full 6B&S front the aux battery to a powered fuse box in the back.Error light comes on, volts show around 12.1, and there is a setting for battery saver, cut in cut out volts.... Tried all three, no change.

So, this 60l fridge is quoted at 7 watts when at temp, not too bad, but no mention of draw when compressor is running. So, me not being a expert is looking for some help. The manufacturer has told me it draws 5-7AMPS when the compressor is on. Is it just me or is that number huge....????

So effectively on a hot day, the compressor runs more, I have a 75 Ah battery, and running it down to 40%, leaves me 45Ah youse before battery is fat, is that correct??

I found an online calculator that I plugged in some numbers, and to drain my battery down to 40%, this fridge do it in around 4hours... Freaking ridiculous if you ask me.


Does the above make sense? If I is right, I may be asking for a refund as this, to me, is not a portable fridge.

Thanks in advance

Mark.....


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[4wd Supplies Member Find all posts View Profile Close 4wd Supplies]

Those numbers do seem very high. My ARB fridge for example runs at .7 i believe. What sort of compressor does it run?

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

The compressor is a Domus... Never heard of it before.




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[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

geez that seems like a heap of power, from memory the waeco 60l draws about 6 amps on start up and runs on around 3 amps, correct me if im wrong. cheers samo

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

Samo, was checking out the Waeco site this Argo, the 80 runs an average of 2.9 amps. The Waeco 40 runs 2.2 max, which is why it win the 4wdAction comparo...

I guess I want to know from you all, is this such a poor performer, that I should chase a refund, put in the extra for a REAL fridge???


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[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

geez that seems like a heap of power, from memory the waeco 60l draws about 6 amps on start up and runs on around 3 amps, correct me if im wrong. cheers samo

So Samo, how long can you run your fridge without recharge? What size aux battery do you have? I wanna make sure my math is correct...


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[Hpycmpr Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hpycmpr]

7 amps is high. But how many minutes per hour does it run? For example on a 20 deg day my Waeco might run 15 mins for each hour.

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

i will get back to ya md, got a different battery i now so i will let you know. cheers

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

7 amps is high. But how many minutes per hour does it run? For example on a 20 deg day my Waeco might run 15 mins for each hour.

I have not timed it to that degree, but I do know, on the weekend, I charged my battery for a full 24hours at 6amps, switched it off at 8 pm, and by 6 am Sunday, the error light was on.

I have emailed the manufacturer to ask what the single flash of the error light means as it is not in the manual.


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[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

MDS as per post #58

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...554#post320554

7A is way too high. Also look at comments in

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...148#post329148

If the fridge isn't defective I reckon take it back if you can.

Michael

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

Thanks for those Michael.
I have been emailing the manufacturer of the fridge, they want to do some 'bench testing' to see if it is faulty.
But they did tell me the consumption was between 5 and 7 AMPs when the compressor was running.
I've had it almost 5 months now, but this is driving me nuts.. They will possibly blame the wiring in the car.. or the battery..

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

The compressor will pull higher amps if the voltage is low (simple P=i^2R=Vi) but those sort of currents are crazy high even as peaks. I think the peak mine got to was a bit over 4A in the hot sunshine. Bear in mind that is starting current and the monitor records the peak regardless of duration. While the compressor is running it is down around 2 ~ 3A. I guess 5 or 7 amps is ok if the fridge runs for much less time. 16 Ah per day translates to 0.75Ah/h so looks as though my NL is running about 38% of the time. But during the day it would run twice as much (guessing actually no data) so that would mean about 50% during the day and 25% overnight. Pulling 5A and the same power requirements would suggest running less than 16% of the time during the day? Probably unlikely. And that is using my worst recorded data for any 24 hour period. 45Ah woud run the NL for neary 3 days. I will let my my battery run lower than you (120Ah AGM) but the solar panel puts in what the cold pixies take out.

6 B&S cable is fine, that is what I am using and the voltage drop when the fridge is running (measured at battery with fluke meter and the outlet using the monitor) is too low to measure. However measuring voltage like that isn't perfect but close enough for me.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

I can run 2 engels - 0ne on cold and the other on freeze - and my 6 amp solar panel is sufficient to have both N77 deep cycle batteries in the trailer floating by 10 or 11 in the morning on a sunny day.

[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

Well, speaking to the manuf, they are looking to take it back for testing, but I will do my own first.
Tonight, removed the aux battery and taped up the connectors, should be ok for a few days, right??
I have charged up the battery in the garage, when done, I'll plug in the fridge, see if I get the same results. If so, I'll get the battery tested, that is easy, if that tests ok, I'll ship the fridge back for testing. If not, I'll need the expert assistance of a sparky to check the wiring in the car...

More to come...


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[MDSimpson Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDSimpson]

Well, I'll be......

The results of my out of car, garage tests are in.
The fridge is running on the battery that was in the car.
Charged it up, plugged it in last night, and bugger me, it is still running at temp,24 hours later. Given the fridge has not been opened, and my garage is kind cool this time of year, so all things being equal, this is not too bad.
I think this fridge is not very efficient, when under load, but when kept cool, works well.

So a few final questions.

1. Should I get my incar wiring checked, to make sure it is all up to scratch?
2. Do I try to get a refund on the fridge, on the basis I is not very suitable for my needs, not a likely option.
3. Is my Century 75Ah flooded deep cycle battery enough? I was told that the flooded deep cycles aren't the best for power draw, is this true? Would I be better swapping this out for a larger gel or ago style?




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