Waeco and solar

Tin of worms-----Tin of worms

mate, I'd need to ask you 10 questions before I could give you an answer.

Two to be going on with:

1) Battery capacity?

2) Is it an auxilliary battery charged by the car's alternator?

You're best bet is to use the site's search facility. There's enough there to keep you occupied for hours. Then you'll have some more meaningful questions. You ought to do it even though it is time-consuming. You'll learn a lot from the archives and some of the good chaps on here.

Short answer: maybe 2 days.

Hi Hairy

Like the others....

More info,

What size Exide, is is fully charged ?

But take this as a guess. 90 a/h battery, fridge uses +- 50 to 60 amps per day.

Solar gives you 46w = +-3amps x 8 hours max = 24 amp hours.

You are going to fall over really quick !

Regards Derek.

Hi Hairy
I have the same fridge as you and sometimes worry about the capacity of my dual battery coping when i dont leave camp for a couple of days. Solution for me was to buy a good "starter pack" fitted with cig lighter outlets, as a back up to the auxilluary battery. This will run the fridge for about 18-24 hours on low. A cost a lot less than a solar panel.
On Patrol.

I was under the impression that the latest model 40 litre Waeco fridges only draw around 22.5amps per day. Or up 2.2amps at 55 degrees C, which is bloody hot.

This from the mega fridge comparison. I have a 100AH AGM battery and was curious how long it would run the the same Waeco fridge..?

"Among the smaller fridges... the WAECO CF-40 AC was the cheapest unit tested but still had it where it counted, producing a temperature graph that could have been sketched by a metronome and consumed a measly 22.5A over the full 24 hours".

Even at 55°C the energy consumption of the CF-40 AC was a class leading 2.2A per hour meaning more run time out of your battery.

G'day Hairy,

This is such a complex question as you have no doubt already gathered. There are a lot of variables at play when you are running fridges and they determine the final power usage. Your capacity to keep the batteries charged is probably a relevant question and as you have already mentioned that you have a second in the car then maybe start looking at how this is charged.

I have 2 weaco 50's that I run off my 75AH AGM. The battery is charged by the car when driving and a 3 stage charger when stationary. Power for the charger comes from either mains (powered site) or genie (remote camping). A lot of people substitute the genie and 3 stage charger for solar panels but generally need considerably more watts than 46 to run their fridge on a sustainable basis.

Kind regards