Old 3 Way Fridge/freezer - okay to run on single battery?
Submitted: Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 20:31
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Holly Anne
Hi guys,
I recently acquired a Primus Snowline 35 from my father. It runs 12 v, 240 v and gas, and according to the back of it, it's 75 watts. I'm going across the red centre next year, and I want to take it with me. I have a Nissan X-trail with just a normal car battery, and I'm wondering if it's able to handle the fridge. My dad had it in his old van and is convinced it will be okay, but we're also running
driving lights and a
UHF radio so I'm not so sure. When we stop, we will be running it on gas, so that's not a concern. But I'm worried it will sap the battery and I won't be able to start the car one morning.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Reply By: Athol W1 - Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 21:41
Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 21:41
Holly Anne
As long as you are only running the fridge whilst the engine is also running then you should not have any problems during the day. How much night driving do you intend to do, it is not a good idea to be driving outback Australia at night due to the wild life that is nocturnal, and you are not seeing what you went there for in the first place. The only time that you may have any issues is with continuous night driving using all those lights and the fridge, as a 75 watts load from the fridge is roughly equivalent to running an additional headlamp (or leaving a headlamp on after the engine is stopped)
When travelling the outback of Australia without back up it is always a good insurance to have an auxiliary battery system fitted in such a way that it can be used for 'jump starting' or have a good set of jumper cables that can be used with your auxiliary battery to enable 'jump starting' of your vehicle. This auxiliary battery MUST be isolated from the main starting battery when the engine is not in operation.
Hope this helps.
Athol
AnswerID:
543235
Reply By: kcandco - Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 22:44
Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 22:44
Hi Holly Anne
75 watts is just over 6 amps. I have had 4 three way fridges over the years and they all drew considerably more than this, in the vicinity of 10 - 15 amps. I would suggest you
check the current draw with a multimeter, just to be sure this figure is correct.
Also definitely have the frig wired so that it is only supplied with power when the car is running. Another consideration is that power current draw will probably be too high to use a cigarette lighter type power outlet. You will need a properly wired supply cable. A cigarette type connector even drawing 6 amps will struggle due to poor connection and may cause voltage drop and overheating (melting) problems in the connection. I have personally had this happen and its not much fun once your on the way.
Cheers Kevin
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543242
Follow Up By: oldtrack123 - Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 23:12
Sunday, Dec 21, 2014 at 23:12
HI Holly
Not sure what size crank battery you have ,but if it is the same size as in my Xtrail 2w drive, forget running the fridge off it.
You could end up stuck with a dead flat & stuffed battery.[so much depends on a good battery with the Xtrail,[ as you would know from the manual}
The other point you raised about alternator max output also could be of concern.
There may be little to spare with all the other gear , with electric operated clutch & power steering , air con fan .
The battery is not designed for deep cycle duty, such as putting out 6A all night . You would definitely end up with a flat battery in the morning
To do that every night you would need at least 150Ahr DEEP CYCLE AUX battery.
PeterQ
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