3 way fridge - can you run them while driving?
Submitted: Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:14
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zigglemeister
Hi all,
I have an old 3-way fridge (lpg/240volt/12volt) that I normally just fill with cold food and run off gas once we get to where we're going, just a few hours away. But now I'm planning to head off across the Simpson, out to Ayers
Rock, etc etc, and so will be doing a lot of quite long days. My question is - is it okay to us run one of these in the car off 12V while driving along? I know its fine for the compressor-type fridges, but these ones work off a heating element instead. So, are they safe?
Thanks,
Tim Z
98 GU 4500 Petrol/LPG
04 Trackabout Safari camper trailer
Weird old camping fridge made in Luxembourg, of
all places
Reply By: nsngood - Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:45
Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:45
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
AnswerID:
308439
Follow Up By: zigglemeister - Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:51
Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:51
Thanks for that nsngood,
I'm thinking I'll position it near the back door with the back of it (where the heat exchanger is) toward the side - the shape of the car panels means there'll be some space behind that, so hopefully that'll be enough ventilation to let it work a bit. I won't be running it when leaving the car, as I only have one battery!
Tim
FollowupID:
574360
Follow Up By: nsngood - Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:52
Saturday, Jun 07, 2008 at 22:52
As an add on.....
My old unit worked quite
well when driving .Mainly due to the fact that when travelling along you will have anything up to 14 volts instead of 12-13 volts when parked. May not sound like much but made a hell of a difference to
mine.
FollowupID:
574361
Reply By: Ray - Sunday, Jun 08, 2008 at 09:06
Sunday, Jun 08, 2008 at 09:06
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
AnswerID:
308477
Reply By: oldtrack123 - Sunday, Jun 08, 2008 at 22:53
Sunday, Jun 08, 2008 at 22:53
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
AnswerID:
308669