Quick questions on my new Waeco
Submitted: Saturday, Jan 28, 2006 at 11:32
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Member - Willie , Epping .Syd.
I have just received my new CF 50 AC and I have a couple of questions :
- Are the handles strong enough to use as tie-down points ?
- In the fridge there is a little box above the compressor. Is this used for food you do not want to freeze , when you have the big basket section set up as a freezer ?
Do you recommend using it from the ciggy lighter or wiring it through to the battery and putting a plug at the fridge end so I can disconect it ?
Thanks a lot ,
Willie .
Reply By: Notso - Saturday, Jan 28, 2006 at 11:59
Saturday, Jan 28, 2006 at 11:59
That little section will be the warmest part of the fridge, so if you are using it as a freezer you can put a couple of tinnies or a bit of butter, cheese etc there and it probably? won't freeze.
Wire a plug directly to the battery, both active and earth wires, use an anderson type plug or something else with a good ampage capacity.
Make sure you use a wire with enough capacity to carry the load. A good Auto Elec can tell you what you should use.
AnswerID:
151432
Reply By: GUIII Ringwood - Saturday, Jan 28, 2006 at 17:07
Saturday, Jan 28, 2006 at 17:07
He willie
Handles are fine to use to tie down, I made fridge slide out of drawer runners and some perforated angle iron and steel plates all available at Bunnings, cost around $50, good thing if the angle brackets I used to munt the cross braces have holes and a couple of the good tie down elactic rubber straps from clark rubber are perfect.
The small section is warmer than the rest and good for tinnies when using the rest as a freezer...
As far as wiring goes....I took the rear interior panel off (the top plastic bit) and the floor things to get access to the wiring harness that runs under the floor...then 2 x 50amp cables to just behind the rear passenger door with a 12 v socket and then a positive and negative post (for the compressor which fits perfectly behind the fridge on top of the
home made drawers that work a treat!)....then 2 x 20 amp cables run to the little light replacement panel near the rear door...
big job to take the panels off so might as
well do it right the first time!...works an absolute treat with 100amp hr sealed gel aux battery....about 4 days worth.
AnswerID:
151488
Reply By: Member - Collyn R (WA) - Monday, Jan 30, 2006 at 11:50
Monday, Jan 30, 2006 at 11:50
A note of caution re '50 amp' cables.
The '50-amp' bit (any 'amp' rating) is simply a fire rating. It relates only to the temperature at which the insulation melts - and that varies hugely from one type of insulation to another.
In other words it tells you absolutely nothing about voltage drop - and thus its suitability for any application. It cannot possibly as voltage drop is directly related to cable length: a '50-amp' cable may be fine over a metre - but absolutely useless over ten metres..
The ONLY meaningful indication is the cross sectional area of the conductor in sq mm. If auto cable, this is not the same thing as the nominal rating.
Whewn appliance makers say to use (say) 4.0 mm cable - what they mean is 4.0 sq mm.
But the auto cable rating (auto cable is the stuff you are sold in autoparts and hardware stores) is as absurd as the '50-amp' thing. Au auto cable's size (say 4 mm) is the diameter and includes the insulation.
It tells you only the size hole it will pass through.
Thus '4 mm' auto cable is typically 1.8 sq mm (about 45% of what most people think they are buying). Not understanding the above is why so many 12-volt fridges disappoint.
Don't blame me! I only try to explain how to avoid these traps!
Collyn Rivers
AnswerID:
151748
Follow Up By: G.T. - Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006 at 17:06
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006 at 17:06
What size of `auto` cable should one look for? It seems to me that a minimum of 10mm is called for , what are your thoughts? Regards G.T.
FollowupID:
405658
Reply By: Member - Collyn R (WA) - Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006 at 17:51
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006 at 17:51
Probably 10 sq mm - but let me know the length. Alternatively calculate as follows.
Length of conductor (in metres) times current draw x 0.017.
Divide the answer by proposed cable size (in sq mm). The answer you get is the voltage drop . Go for 0.15 to get ideal.
Example fridge three metres from battery - hence six metres conductor. Fridge draw (say) 5 amps.
Thus 6 X 5 X 0.017 = 0.51. Dividing by (say) 4 sq mm = 0.127 volts.
Closest auto cable size is 6 mm (typically 4.6 sq mm).
This always give an almost exact answer - much better than wire tables!
Collyn Rivers
AnswerID:
152096