Power demand

Firstly understand that 3 way fridges are very inefficient running on electricity...very inefficient indeed.

If you want to be running on batteries/ solar you realy need to be talking compressor based fridges.

you also need to be running a 3 way fridge of an inverter run of batteries like a hole in the head.

The only saving grace thet 3 way fridges have is that they will run for quite a long time on a bottle of gas.

Have you seriulsy thaught about your need for cold storage......people PARTICULARY women have a tedancy to put all sorts of unnecessary stuff in the fridge and refrigerate lots of stuff that does not need it.

cheers

Have to agree with bantam regarding do you need so much cold storage....... If we are doing an extended trip of 2 to 3 weeks where we will not be able to restock we can get away with a 60lt fridge and at worst another 40 lt.

The only stuff you have to keep cold (not frozen) is some dairy, cryovaced meat and drinks.... everything else like bread, fruit and veg you can store in breathable plastic crates in a dry area.

The other option is review what you take and learn to eat differently when away.

Why do you need so much fridge and freezer space?

David,

I agree with the others that you need a compressor fridge, ie Engel/Waeco. We have an Engel and a large Esky type fibreglass cooler.

We freeze whatever food we want, as well as 2 x 2 litre containers. These frozen containers go in to the ice-box, and the 2 old ones taken out and put back in the Engel to refreeze.

This works for us with the Esky food/drinks inc beer as cold as required.

Paul

Hi David

Unless you have medical needs, it is easy to manage with little or no refrigeration. We all used to camp that way in the past.

If you really need supplementary refrigeration, I suggest getting a car fridge type of compressor fridge eg Engel. These top loading fridges are power efficient and can be used when really needed and turned off in between. They can be run as a fridge or as a freezer giving you further flexibility. We have run a 30 litre Engel from an 80 w solar panel and one 100 a/h battery. If the battery power goes too low at night, the controller shuts the fridge off, and as it is not being opened during the night, it doesn't warm up unduly.

Motherhen

David W28,

I would expect a second 3-way fridge would run off gas okay but it would be a huge load for your vehicle to run two 3-ways when you are driving. I would suggest a compressor fridge like a Waeco or the like. That way you don't need a lot of solar to keep it running while in camp. Depending on the weather etc. you would use between 20 and 40 Ah per day as a fridge. I use two fridges now, one as a fridge and the other as a freezer. I tried the esky for years but it is difficult getting good ice. Most of the ice is half water when you buy it and lasts about a day. If you are camped away from a town then you have a drive every day for more ice. It becomes annoying and expensive. I got sick of vegies and fruit going off in hot climates so I installed extra solar and bought a second fridge.

Regards,
Bob

Hello David.

I have been watching this thread since it started and observed that the 'usual suspects' were there immediately to tell you how to go about your business and not answer the question that you asked i.e. How do I power more cold storage.

Personally I couldn't care less if you wanted/needed a 40ft Refrigerated Container to accompany you on you travels to the Bungles, Kakadu, CSR etc etc. Thats your business, so I'll have a go at answering your question.


(1) You already have a 3 way fridge, unless you are at a powered site somewhere forget about running it on 12V or 240v via an inverter. You will struggle to keep a power supply up to it unless you run a a generator.

As someone else stated these type of fridges work excellently on gas, so good in fact that I always run our large 3way fridge in our caravan on gas whether on a power site or not. My wife is always complaining that it freezes 'things' on the recommended Temp settings. Easy fixed, just turn it down a tad.

I don't and would never recommend to anyone to run a 3way refrigerator on 12V or on 240V via an inverter unless they had the mother of all Battery Packs and access to a generator to recharge same on a daily basis.

Suggested Solution: have a look at carrying more gas. 9kg bottles are the go.


(2) Obtain an 12V compressor fridge similar to a Engel 60L. One that draws no more than 5amps. You can use these as a Fridge/freezer and they are 12/240V.

See link:Engel Compressor Type Refrigerator.

How do you power such a device on 12V whilst prolonged free camping:

(i) Generator and/or battery storage

Run it as 240v into a Bat Charger (eg CETEK 25) through batteries to 12v Fridge (not the 3way way fridge)

Requires its own fuel, normally petrol.

(ii) Vehicle (static running) and battery storage

In-efficient way of doing business, however know people who do this. Doesn't do the vehicle a power of good.

Have to factor in extra fuel for the vehicle to do this.

(iii) Solar and battery storage.

Requires Solar panels and a solar regulator of some kind, large enough to run the extra refrigeration during the day as well as charge the batteries from the previous nights usage.

To do this you run the solar pwr through one of these doovers. Link:Redarc BCDC1240

When your traveling it will run off the vehicle Alternator, charging the batteries and running the extra 12V fridge. Not the 3 way Fridge. (why?? I'll explain below)

When static it has a MPPT solar regulator/facility that will charge the batteries and run the extra fridge during the day for nothing via the good old Sun.

This is the way I do it.

(3) Esky - only good if you have got a Ice supply.


Note:

(a) My caravan is a Jayco and Jayco as far as I am aware always use a magic 'black box' to run the 240V and 12V supply through.

Suffice to say, when traveling the 3way fridge is wired to the 'black box' so that it only draws a 12V source from the vehicle via a dedicated cable from the 'Black box' to the vehicle. It has no facility to charge the batteries via the 'Black Box' whilst traveling.

I use a Anderson Plug on my vehicle that splits into two Anderson Plugs. One for the dedicated 3way fridge cable and one to the Redarc BCBD1240.

This way I always arrive at destination with the auxiliary 70L 12v compressor refrigerator/freezer perfect, caravan batteries fully charged and the 3 way fridge holding the same chill factor as when we departed.

(b) On arrival at free camping site the 3way fridge is immediately switched to LPG, the solar panel is set up for maximum output (usually 7-10 amps depending on cloud) and all is good.

For me, the one solar panel via the BCDC1240 is more than enough to top up two 100AH batteries and run that auxilliary 12V compressor Fridge/freezer.

(c) The more you keep the access to any fridge to a minimum the less it needs to run to maintain the set temp.

My Aux Fridge pulls approx 5amps an hour, however doesn't run continuously for that hour .

If you ever decide to purchase the Redarc BCDC1240, let me know as there is a place thats sells them for $459 with free delivery.

Some one else may know of a cheaper source.

Hope this helps you

DD