Caravan Batteries

Hey , thanks all of you. My first thought was cable size, but can't be sure what it is? Also amazing the wattage draw 300+, that's quite a drain..
Thanks again

Collin,
How do you work out the " amazing the wattage draw 300+ " ???

Maîneÿ . . .

I don't think the issue is the 3 way fridge but the recharge amps the batteries would want if low.
I had a 20 amp circuit breaker on my anderson plug and it would trip all the time due to trying to charge the batteries ( 2 x 105s ) Not to sure what the wire is as I no longer have the vehicle but changing to a 40 amp fixed the problem.
Not to sure what amps a half full wetcell battery would try to pull from the charging system but I know it will labour the motor when I first connect the anderson plug to the camper trailer.

Honky

Thanks you goys for all the imput...Had a closer look at connections this morning before hitting the road..Anderson plug inside looks as though its been over heating...purchased new one in Norseman...currently in Salmon Gum WA and will lay up here tomorrow and rewire it...will also pick up circuit breaker to install close to batteries when we get to Esperance...
Thanks again...Not so worried now Colin

A resettable fuse is a lot safer A breaker will reset but a resettable fuse wont except if you do it.

Just clean the anderson plug contacts with some baking soda. They are 50 amp at least so wont be them overheating.

MIne were pretty dirty but werent getting hot

Unless you have a very big soldering iron or an equally big set of crimps you wont be able to fix it satisfactorily.

6 B &S wire is 10mm sq and comes in single strand in either red or black so you wont mistake it if you have it

Its nearly 3/8in in diameter

6 mm automotive is usually twin flex and much much smaller It is actually only 4.8mm sq

"3 Way fridges are notoriously heavy on Amps possibly close to 10 Amps when compressor kicks in"

Compressor in a 3 way fridge. I don't think so.

Well I dropped a clanger didn't I ...
Never mind the principle remains that there is a heavy drain on 12 volt system due to the Ammonia Evaporator heating element - I just had a look at a Dometic user manual and it showed a 325 watt heating element for one of its 3 - way fridges .
I guess that explains the current draw ...

Cheers

Steve

yep..just an standard electrical heating element

Why arent these things (heavy on the power) explained to the customers when they buy such things?

If that is so I wonder why my van was built with 6 B&S to both the fridge and the batteries via an Anderson plug.

I wouldnt use a flat 7 or 12 pin plug ever.

A large round 7 pin has much better contact area on the pins and the Anderson is best of all.

You need fuses at both ends, as when travelling if something shorts you want a fuse to blow not a breaker resetting when you still have the problem.

I agree with Graeme.

As already mentioned these 3 way frigs are notorious for power consumption which is why I use a 12v compressor frig. It's like leaving your head lights on. One of the problems with charging the van batteries from the car is the the van batteries rarely get fully charged due to the voltage drop from the car alternator. I see recently Projecta and Redarc have 12v to 12v chargers which do provide the correct charge to the remote batteries; not cheap though over $300.

Cheers

Racey

Once the Alternator is charging the battery system, the battery will then happily power a 3 way fridge, only when stopped should you then put it on gas.

Maîneÿ . . .