Fridge is running down my battery
Submitted: Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 20:02
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Neil.w59
Hi all,
My problem is I am by no means a sparky so I think I may have done something wrong. What I have set up is in the back of the ute in a canopy, I run a primus mammoth 65 litre fridge. The issue is that parked at work, in full sun, the fridge draws the battery down so low that it shows ERR1 which the tech tell me means is generally consistent with lack of power to support the fridge.
As it is running on the back of a ute it is running in hotter conditions than if it were running elsewhere, therefore I assume it will use considerably more power in this application. It also runs out of power when I park it in the open at 2pm and return to it at midnight, the tech says that running out of power during the night tells him I may also have a power supply problem to the fridge.
Can I
check the math and set up with this knowledgeable group before I spend a lot of money I don't have.
Specs are: average current draw for the fridge 4.6 A power input 55W, compressor is a SECOP BD50F. Fridge is set to cut out at 10.2 volts. Average Consumption: 0.89A/h
The battery is a 130 aH AGM which is fully charged each night using a Microprocessor controlled battery charger. When driving the battery is maintained by the redarc BCDC125-LV in car charger which is located in the back of the ute also. Twin core 8 B&S cable is run back to the battery/alternator under the hood in accordance with the wiring diagram and 6 B&S from the battery to the merit plug (<2metres) the fridge connect to that by the 2 metre long cord.
Assuming hot conditions in the back of the ute what would the effect be on the aH usage with the fridge shutting down at 10.2 Volts.
Any help would be appreciated.
Reply By: noggins - Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 20:17
Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 20:17
As for the reason why your fridge is running the battery flat I couldn't even guess
What temp do you have it set at ?
Remember the further below zero you set it the more power it uses.
The hotter in
the tub the harder it has to work.
( best temp for a Really Chilled Beer is -2 , soft drink that has no alcohol content +2 or slightly above, will stop it from exploding / freezing )
As an aside on fridges in the back of the ute ,
I bought one of those solar fridge fans and pop riveted it to the 140W solar one on the canopy roof , ran the lead down into the canopy and attached the fan to where the air is drawn into the fridge giving it a slightly forced air flow over the condenser coils of the "Chinese Fridge" I often use as a freezer.
I did the same with my 35 ltr Engel that lived in the canopy of the ute before I changed it to inside the cabin, The result was certainly a drop in used power but as I had no way of measuring the actual figures I cant give the data here.
Ron
AnswerID:
546689
Reply By: Les - PK Ranger - Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 21:26
Friday, Feb 27, 2015 at 21:26
Yes, I would have thought you'd be drawing closer to just under 2 amps with that size.
That said, there is an issue for sure.
Assuming the battery is ok, it should run the fridge for days, my 100 amp hr AGM runs my 45lt for at least 3 days (haven't had to try it beyond that), goes down to about 30% battery charge according to the Arkpak gauge.
But I rarely don't get it to charge fully each day while driving / touring.
When you open the canopy rear door when it's hot weather, is it obviously VERY hot in there ?
If so, you probably need to try keeping it cooler.
- Add a whirly vent, auto type . . . or, not sure a battery operated exhaust fan is a good idea (may add to the issues), but possibly a solar powered one.
- Solar film the windows with a dark even slightly reflective tint (good for security from prying eyes too.
Other than that, can you add a solar panel or two to the roof and take advantage of the sun to support the battery a bit ?
If you have panel(s) on top on a frame on a roof rack, it will also shade the canopy.
AnswerID:
546693