Fridge Options

Hello Iain,

if you only have got room for one battery, select a spiral wound pure lead/tin deep cycle/cranking battery. Replace your ordinary flooded cranking battery with it.

You can run a 12V/240V 40/50 litre fridge with an average current draw (on 12V) of 1.5A for 24 hours and still have enough juice left for cranking.

This particular type of battery recharges to 90% within 45 minutes.
So you'd have to drive for 45 minutes per 24 hour period to keep the fridge cold 24/7.

When you come home from your trip (or in between in caravan parks), fully recharge the battery with a good 3 stage charger:
12V 25A precision charger

That's the simplest an least expensive setup for your purpose.
And mainly for piece of mind: get a small (30 or 40W) solar panel you can use to recharge your battery with, just in case you manage to drain it too much.
30 to 60 minutes of full sun will put enough juice back into your battery for cranking.

More on this special type of batteries in my profile, and here:
spiral wound AGM battery


Best regards, Peter

ARB make a dual battery tray for the triton.

Check out Triton Forum

Do a search you'll find heaps of options.

G'day Iain, while not disputing any of the above re extra batteries,solar etc, by
far the cheapest option is a good 3 way fridge, wired correctly & run on gas when camped. Sure,you can install another battery, hook on solar if you wish, but
nothing beats the convenience of gas if camped for more than a few days. The
engel/waeco forum will bleat about the superiority of the compressor fridge & they may be correct under conditions of prolonged high ambient temperature, but
the average user will find a 3 Way quite satisfactory. Compare a total cost of under $1k to the combined cost of an equivalent compressor job plus solar plus extra battery & all the control system stuff & you will get the idea. Add on the cost of a generator in case the sun dont shine. Excuse me now as I go take cover from incoming rounds...:)))....cheers...oldbaz.

Iain Hi,
The better compressor type frigdes have an auto cutout,when the voltage drops below a preset point the fridge turns off,in theory you should always be able to restart your vehicle.The three way fridges are very efficient on gas but power hungry on 12 & 240 volts. generally with no cutout.IMO they are great if you go camping & stay in one place for an extended time.
I have a caravan & bought a 32 L Engel to use as a freezer ,an excellent unit.
I now find that I tend to use the van as a base & take the tent eskies are not much better than a pocket in a hankie, So am looking for another fridge. If I had bought a larger unit maybe 50L with a freezer compartment in the first place would be better off. Sorry to be long winded but suggesting think of the possibilities.
Mike.

Captain Crunch
I,ve put a dual battery in my ml by installing a plastic battery box in the ute tray & have used a baintech controller. I have a waeco 50 that is mounted to the tray with just straps. Had no dramas with this setup.

Regards Greyemu

Iain,

Have you considered mounting a secondary battery in the rear of your Triton?
This gives you the distinct advantage of choosing an AGM battery over a standard wet cell deep cycle.

For a bit under $400 you can install an ABR Flyer in the rear and connect it via the supplied cables to your primary battery. This setup includes a built-in isolator to protect the starting battery and will recharge the battery inside the box via the vehicle's alternator.

For somewhere between $200-$350 you can add an AGM battery of your choice and you will end up with a more practical and cheaper option than an "under the hood" dual battery system with it's inherent limitations on battery capacity and size.

The Flyer will take an AGM battery up to a 120Ah capacity, but a 100Ah battery will give a good solution for anything other than a "normal size" fridge.

As for brand of choice, that is up to you and how much you are prepared to pay.
For two people, a fridge of around 40 litre capacity will give you adequate storage capacity and will not unduly drain the battery too mucm.


Bill.

Iain,
I recently bought a 'battery box' from Supercheap ($66) it has voltage gauge and battery connections built into it, the customer had their own battery and we placed it in the back of their 4wd to run the fridge.
It was charged from the alternator when vehicle running as had an isolator under the bonnet.

Have to admit I previously only had negative thoughts of 3 way fridges, however at Cowley beach we had a 150Lt 3 way running on 240v and it was keeping things very cold.
We also had an Evakool used as a freezer and it was running on 240v also, but running non-stop, so I now have reservations about what is possible with various compressor fridge models running as a freezer off 12v.

Maîneÿ . . .

Iain,
I have a conopy on my ML and therefore installed the auxillary battery in the back. I housed it in a placcy battery box and secured it. I then wired some outlets (ciggy and anderson) to feed my 60l Waeco. I'm guessing you too have a canopy?? It was a cheaper option for me than getting a second battery installed under the bonnet.
You can see my setup on newtriton.net.
Regards,
Cheeky1