60L ENGEL - Battery use

If you're planning to camp for two weeks and rely on the alternator for charge, the only battery that will do it for you is an AGM. This is because they accept a lot of charge in a little time.

You'll need a 100 amp job.

I have survived this way with an 80L fridge (prior to getting a solar panel) by idling the motor for 15 minutes, 4 to 5 times a day in warm weather. It's a pain in the crack, but it does work. Keep an eye on battery voltage and don't let it drop below 12.1 (unloaded) in the interest of prolonging the life of a $300 to $400 battery.

Anything other than an AGM will require hours of running/driving to get it recharged.

Two weeks at 30C will put a huge load on your fridge (and battery) and is ideal conditions for solar to keep it running.

Cheers,

Jim.

reddog,
i have an almost identical set up as you however my 60l engel is alot older and so probably uses a touch more amps and i have a 75 amp hour deep cycle battery as my auxilliary.
i manage to get 2 1/2 to 3 days use out of the fridge(at setting 1 1/2-thats all you need to fridge things) when the temperature is over 30, before the fridge cuts out. the cooler the nights the longer is lasts. so for the weekend trips you are more than covered.
as for the chrissy trip you will need to sort something out. what jimbo said is spot on. a deep cycle or normal battery will take hours to fully charge so unless you plan on doing some driving everyday or a long drive every few days then a AGM battery is the way to go.
i can understand you not wanting to go solar. big money, especially if you do it properly(at least $1000 for 120 watt solar).
one thing you may want to consider, and i have no doubt the solar experts will have some input to this idea, is if you dont want to get rid of your auxilliary battery just yet and buy a AGM battery spend the money on a 50 to 60 watt solar set up.
yes i know this isnt enough, but if you arent going to be going anywhere during the chrissy camping you can use one battery to run the fridge. over the 2 to 3 days it is being drained by the fridge the other battery is being charged by the solar panel. then you swap them over. then repeat the process. the way i figure it that way your fridge and other electrical stuff are always going. the other battery not being used is getting 2 to 3 days of charge(more than enough i would think??).
this way at least you can get started on a solar system, add to it in the future if you so desire and when the auxilliary battery does need replacing you can get a AGM if you so desire.
but alas i am poor and just have a dream that one day i will have money and will be able to do just such a thing and the sun will shine and it shall be good and the plan shall come to pass and all upon this land shall rejoice and behold the wonder of my plan and shall say unto each other he has done good.

Mainey, Doesn't it get dark in WA??

Gaday Redog
1: Auxilary Batt.....about 2 days at best @ 30 degees.
2: Car run for minimum of 1/2 hour morning & night. (turn fridge up to max during that time & increase revs to 1100)
3: Either will work fine, the bigger the better. I can highly recomend the 115 amp hour Trojan battery.
To be honest if you intend to camp for 2 weeks in one spot without going for a big drive every 2 days then a standard twin battery system really isn't built for the job particually in summer. A gas 3 way fridge would be far better. Alternatively 2 solar panels or a generator are your best options.
Because Engel don't put a great deal of insulation in their fridges (compared to others) their efficiency in the heat drops conciderably so if you get a couple of 36+ degree days you can nearly halve the above run time.
You say a generator is not an option but running your car for an hour a day in camp is just as annoying ;-)
Cheers Craig..........
Twin Trojan 115 AH deep cycles & Autofridge.

I've just bought a Remco 80Ahr AGM (N50 10 inch size) for $235 from Batteryworld. Ring around - another branch wanted $265 !

Whitworth Marine also have them but for $249.