Monday, Aug 02, 2004 at 21:04
It depends on the
fridge setting and the ambient temperature.
On a normal
fridge setting (around zero degrees C) in moderate temperatures it lasts about 48 hours with no running of the engine. In
the Kimberley on maximum freeze, providing
ice for an icebox it lasted about 24 hours (it awas also powering an 11 watt fluoro for part of that time). However, you don't have to go far sightseeing or run the engine for very long to add a lot of amps back. I was taking the
battery down to about 20% capacity (inaccurately measured with a voltmeter - not a good measurement but not much option with a sealed
battery). It would be better to drain the
battery less but its a trade off between more money for a bigger
battery versus shorter
battery life. From what I've read though, these batteries cope reasonably well with deep cycling and last longer than standard deep cycles under similar treatment - I haven't had it long enough to judge yet.
I used a 40 amp circuit breaker near the isolator which seems to work OK, however, having seen the amps flowing in, I would use a 50 amp if I were to do it again.
Nick
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