3 way fridge - can you run them while driving?

Tim

The answer is yes (just in case I do)

But I have found that they don't run very well on 12 Volts.

just make sure it is well ventilated around the condenser

Richard

mmmmm......Had an old chescold fridge meself years ago (in fact i think its still in the shed somwhere).Whilst probably not exactly the same as what you have.This is what i found with mine.
1. As you said it works on heat exchange so the heat has to go somewhere.
2.be careful where you put it and what you put near it.
3.do not put anything likely to be damaged by heat or flammable anywhere near the vents/heat outlets of your unit.
4.the better the airflow (within reason)the better the unit will operate.
5.Obviously it goes without saying not to operate it on gas in any confined spaces!!!!!!!!!
6I would recomend switching it OFF when leaving the car for any reasonable period.On saying that i used to leave mine running all the time,but never used to close my vehicle up (the heats gotta go somewhere)
7 Do not restrict the air flow to/around near etc these units.
8.I am not an expert on these units but have used mine over a period of 10 years plus with no dramas.As with device a bit of commom sense will go a long way.ie remember it has a heat exchange/element so be careful.
9 all else fails ask the manufacturer/retailer.
Hope this helped B

Yes Tim they are safe to use on 12 volt while travelling. They will normally stay cold long enough until you put it back on gas each night. As they pull around 9 amps continuous it's important to run large cable & use quality plugs to avoid burning out. You also need to give the fridge as smooth a ride as possible as they are not quite as rugged as the compressor models, the heat pods in the rear being known to fail from vibration.
Cheers Craig............

Hi Tim. If you can spare the room in the fridge., put a couple of cartons of frozen water in . It will help keep it cold , as it will only maintain coldness on 12 volt. We do this on all our trips, and always have cold food and drink when we get to our destination. Don't leave the fridge turned on without the car running either, as you'll very soon discover how even the best of batteries are easily and swiftly flattened !! Enjoy your trip. We leave home on the 25th. June for about 3 months North of Capricorn. Getting a bit toey now. Cheers.

Roger B.........

Will get flamed but i just used to run it on gas all the time
the 12 v worked and was run via a relay hooked up to the coil power so it couldnt flatten the battery when turned off.

G'day Tim, plenty of good advice already given. My 25 year old Finch has given great service. A bit steady on 12v now so have changed to 240v via an inverter, works brilliantly. The usual stuff
about flattening the battery applies when motor is not running.
....oldbaz.

Adding a 12V computer fan to pull/push more air over the heat exchanger makes a big difference on 12V.

Mike Harding

I have a 3way Electrolux fridge in my caravan, maybe not quite what you are talking about and found that it did not work too well on the 12v system. On carrying out maintenance I found that I only had 11v at the fridge.
I have a 150amphr battery mounted on the draw bar of the caravan and have rewired the fridge to get its power from these batteries. I now have 13+ volts at the fridge
To stop it draining the batteries when stationary the are a couple of solenoid switches to isolate the system when the ignition is turned off and of cause fuses. I used 6 aswg wire for this modification and modified the baffles at the rear of the fridge and have air bag suspension on the car so as to make the caravan as level as possible and of course as soon as I am camped up I either run the fridge on gas or 240v.
The caravan batteries are either charged from the car via 4 aswg cable or off the mains via a smart charger.
As the car alternator produces more power than what the fridge uses, keeping the batteries charged is not a problem

Yep - we ran ours on 240 at home to get the contents quite cold - 12V 'sort of' maintained that situation while mobile - straight onto gas when camped. Even though they must be quite level when static, the rocking and rolling across the Simpson won't bother it !

HiTim
MY summing up
1: definatly run on 12v while travelling less chance of fire in case of accident or explosion @ gas station,& no chance of deadly gas buildup[co&co2] in car.These can be as deadly as car exhaust fumes.
2:keep it as well ventilated as possible .The pc fan will definatly help.
3:check & make sure you get at least 12v at fridge terminals wirh engine running,large dia wire & good high current plugs essential.
4: an isolating relay to ensure you do not forget to switch it off is good insurance[bad news flat battery in isolated area]this can be a simple 30 amp horn relay or similar with the coil fed from any fuse load side that is live only when ignition is in run position.[air con/heater,wipers are possiibilty]
5:Also suggest a voltmeter wired to read battery voltage to moniter battery state of charge, should be at 13.8v or better when driving if batt is fully charged

Thanks everyone who responded,

That's great info, especially the tip about the 12V fan - I'll have to look into that. Thanks again, everyone.

Tim