weaco fridge in the X Trail

Well someone is going to have a go so I will.

Will it flatten your battery? If you are up in North Queensland in summer and you are running an newish 80L Waeco or Engel fridge on very cold, then I will boldly say yes your battery will be likely to be flat (nothing like first had experience though)

If you are in Tasmania and you are running an 18L Waeco or Engel, then unless it is set on freezing, and you don't have a hangover that lasts until after midday, no it won't flatten your battery.

Run direct from battery? A suitable sized (they say 6mm core ie not including the wrapping) and fused.

I've no idea how many AH the battery is, nor how many of those you can use before it won't start your car ... but since the waeco (assume 40 or 50L) will probably only draw about 10AH overnight I think you'll be ok.
Why don't you try it at home.

SRB,

If you can't go the whole hog and instal a dual battery system, here's what you should do as a minimum.

The Waeco should have a built-in low voltage protection feature.
Just ensure it is set for the higher cutout range rather than the lower. This should stop your starting battery from discharging too low.
Unless this fridge is a large capacity one, the battery will survive an overnight drain, but the low voltage device will stop it being flattened completely, if the fridge was left connected for a longer period.

Alternatively, you can buy a low voltage cutout device such as the Projecta Battery Discharge Protector and this will protect your starting battery from discharge below 11.6 volts.
This device is available from Repco, Kmart, etc. for around $30.00


Bill

Really there is only one way and that is to have dual battery system especially if you come up north and the waeco can get pretty thirsty.
You might get away with it for a couple of weeks but then when you least expect it, there is no one around to give you a jump start. Off course you could always invest in a Honda EU10 and that would solve a lot of problems, you could even run a fan during the night when it's hot. Good luck

I've travelled with lots of people who run their fridges off a single battery (often hire vehicles) and there's no problem running a Waeco overnight off a 600cca battery. The Waecos have a low voltage cutout - set it on the higher 11.5V setting.

Your Xtrail, being a petrol motor starts pretty easily. But if you were to rely on a single battery, and travel alone, it might be worth taking a jump pack for insurance.

To run power from battery, you can use one of the 3 cig sockets, but they can be unreliable. My prefernce is to run a separate fused cable from the battery, thru the firewall and into the cab. I have 2 Xtrails that I have done this to.

That is such a beautiful Freudian slip in the title!

As others have said, set the low voltage cutout on the "Weaco" to the highest voltage setting and you should be fine.

At least if the fridge drops the voltage too far it'll stop but your car will still start.

Geoff

Ran my weaco (50L) when we were in High Country overnight off a single battery (did have duel batts but the controller bleep its self 2 days before we left) so I put in a bigger 750cca and took some jumper leads with me just incase but started not a problem the next day and that was running the weaco at -16 as a freezer. This was a 2.8D hilux so takes a bit more to turn the diesel over but admitedly no electronics like the newer vehicles. I would at least take a battery booster pack with you just in case especially if going it alone............ WHG

My advise - where possible - have a backup plan.

A jump-start kit might be a good idea, if you're going it solo, otherwise if you're travelling in convoy, a set of high quality jumper leads. (Just remember to park where you can get another vehicle close enough)

When travelling alone, I tend to run the fridge quite cold during the day, turn it back up a bit when i set up camp, then switch it off before i go to sleep (it will stay quite cold if you don't open it)

Otherwise, experiment before you go, set up the fridge, get a voltmeter and run it, do some tests.