Engel Fridge

Submitted: Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:15

ThreadID: 40616 Views:4993 Replies:10 FollowUps:9

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Steven

Hello all,

I have an Engel fridge in the cruiser which runs on a dual battery which is isolated. Today I noticed that the fridge is running but that it isn't running efficiently; i.e. it won't cool down like it usually does. I'm sure that it's not the fridge because I disconnected it from the 12 volt battery and ran it off the 240 V main and it works fine. I thought that maybe my battery is on the way out. I checked it with a voltmeter and it gave a reading of 12 Volts. Is this a bit low for a 12 Volt; should it be reading up around 15 Volts?
As my electrical knowledge is quite limited, I'm wondering if anyone can help me with this. I'd be grateful for any advice.

Thanks,

Steve

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Reply By: Ozdyssey (QLD) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:33

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:33

12.6/7 volts is fully charged I thought.

12.0 volts is well under 50% but should still run the fridge properly. Check wiring it's nearly always the cause, especially cig lighter connections etc

AnswerID: 211880

Reply By: Willem - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:33

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:33

Yep 12 volts is a bit low

I too am electrically challenged...lol, but I am led to believe that at 12.6 volts the battery is only 50% charged.

If you have a battery charger then maybe it is a good idea to charge the battery for 24 hours and then check it again. If the voltage drops considearbly over a short time( say another 24 hours) then maybe your battery will need replacing.

Cheers

AnswerID: 211881

Follow Up By: Steven - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:08

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:08

Thanks Willem,

Can you charge a deep cycle battery with a regular batterycharger?

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Reply By: Nav 8 - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:52

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:52

Check the voltage while the fridge is running off the battery, that will give you a better or truer reading. I think you will find that the voltage will be quite low. Regards Nav.

AnswerID: 211887

Follow Up By: Steven - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:03

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:03

Thanks Nav 8,

I checked it with the fridge running and it registered only 8 Volts. Do you think that this means that my battery needs replacing or that my dual system is not working properly; i.e. not charging the 2nd battery properly? The battery is nearly 3 yers old.

Thanks for your help.

Steve

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FollowupID: 472074

Follow Up By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 19:05

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 19:05

G'day Steven,

I think we might have worked out that it's the battery. 8 volts is D E A D!!!! To check if it is the dual battery isolator/controller which is at fault, all you will need to do is start you vehicle and check what the 2nd battery's voltage is with the motor running and the 2nd battery "in the loop". If it goes up to 12 to 14 volts at the 2nd battery when the motor is running then the dual battery system is working okay.....that can only mean the 2nd battery needs replacing.

Hope this helps....

(By the way....are you the Steven I saw down at Port Wakefield last week?)

Cheers

Roachie

FollowupID: 472103

Reply By: johnny - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:55

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 12:55

hi if you have put a volt meter on it and it only came up with 12 volt then this battery is between 40-50 full if it said 12.7 then i would say its pretty full

so i think maybe you have not got enough starting power for your fridge to start up properly

no battery should read 15 volts

AnswerID: 211888

Follow Up By: Steven - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:06

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:06

Thanks for your help, Johnny,

When I tested my cranking battery, it registered 15 Volts. Could this mean that the voltmeter is faulty?

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Reply By: Mark Taylor - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:08

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:08

If your fridge battery is showing only 8 volts when the fridge is running, then your battery is probably stuffed. Try charging the battery with a smart charger for 36 hours without the fridge in circuit and try the experiment again.

My money's on the battery being U/S, me being an old auto electrician.

Cheers

Mark T

AnswerID: 211892

Follow Up By: Steven - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:11

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:11

Thanks Mark,

Can you tell me what a smart charger is , please?

Thanks,

Steve

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FollowupID: 472078

Follow Up By: disco1942 - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 14:20

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 14:20

A smart charger is one with good regulation that will reduce its output to float charging (13.5 to 13.8 V) after the battery is fully charged without your intervention. A simple charger (less than $150) is ok for charging any (deep cycle or cranking) battery of the flooded type as you can top it up with water after you finish charging. I would recommend that you do not use one on a sealed battery as it is not possible to replace any water that is boiled out due to overcharging, particularly as you suspect the accuracy of your volt meter.

PeterD

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FollowupID: 472083

Follow Up By: Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 14:21

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 14:21

I agree that the battery is U/S.

Regards

Derek.

FollowupID: 472084

Follow Up By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 19:08

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 19:08

I have 2 of the chargers pictured; one in the camper and the other in the Chevissan. Both are permanently wired in and do GREAT work of keeping the batteries topped up when I'm not driving.

FollowupID: 472104

Reply By: Ron George - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:40

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 13:40

Steve, check Vs at fridge plug with car running & work backwards from there, the problem is usually in the socket from the car to the fridge... in particular the fag lighter type, if socket connector has screws that secure the wiring to it check them also, if you`re getting a fair degree of voltage drop between batt & fridge there`s gotta be resistance in the wiring system some where, be it + or -, if you have the fag lighter type give it the flick... all they cause is baldness. The battery condition should be checked with a hydrometer after it has been on charge for the appropriate amount of time before being pronounced dead or alive. Cheers RG.

AnswerID: 211894

Reply By: maxidyne - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 17:45

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 17:45

Steve, I have a setup like yours, but I made a mistake in the wiring and only the cranking battery was being charged. The result was the engel stopped completely, I went to an auto elec and he said engel's stop when the voltage drops too low (I think he said below 12 v). It is some sort of built-in protection system. I just wired it correctly and good as gold ever since. But it still won't work on a battery that's putting out less than 12v.

Good Luck
Ray

AnswerID: 211918

Reply By: Member - Andy Q (VIC) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 18:49

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 18:49

G'day Steven, Firstly can you tell me if the fan cuts in? this problem I've had to bear as well, I traced this to a non-functioning 12volt fan, at the control end of the fridge( actually my is an ARB fridge but it's just a re-badged Engel).
Ditch the bleep y little 70mm fan and get a 90mm 12volt Rotary Cooling Fan(similar to a computer fan). It is easy enough to fit it yourself and all the bits you'll need are at DM Electronics. IMHO the 70mm fan is to small and is not quite big enough for the job, the 90 is plenty adequate

Good luck.

andy

ps I doubt very much it's your battery

AnswerID: 211923

Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 22:17

Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 at 22:17

Assuming your voltmeter is OK, Then if your battery drops from 12 volts to 8 volts when the fridge is hooked up, then the battery is most likely the problem.

To test your isolator, check the 2nd battery voltage with your motor running - it should be around 14 volts after a couple of minutes. If it remains below 12.7V, then you've got a wiring/isolator problem.

I had a similar problem recently with my second battery. So I took it out, fully charged it, and ran a 1amp (13watt) fluoro to test its capacity - it only ran for 10 hours - should have theoretically gone for 70 hours, so I replaced the battery.

AnswerID: 211935

Reply By: Steve - Tuesday, Dec 26, 2006 at 22:13

Tuesday, Dec 26, 2006 at 22:13

Battery .. rooted...understand all you folk..?? Battery fuched, stuffed , buggered ..nothing more left to yap on about !! Battert RS...stop crapping on about everything else under the sun !!

AnswerID: 212125