Saturday, May 28, 2011 at 10:09
Aukedb
There are far more experienced people on this
forum than me but for what it is worth I would suggest the following and hope it helps somewhat.
What they are all trying to tell you in a nutshell is that
1. to run it off 12V in the vehicle you need a properly wired up 12V outlet somewhere - be it a Cigar socket, Hella/Merit socket, or any other kind of 12V outlet you can plug the fridge into. This will involve cable with the right current ratings and various other crimp fittings and fuses.
2. the current requirement of the 3way (absorption) fridge on 12V is quite high compared to a compressor fridge so you will require bigger battery capacity to run it for any length of time when the vehicle is not running.
3. depending on your requirements maybe you should have bought a compressor fridge.
4. forget using the inverter for the fridge as suggested - it is inefficient and except for small appliances you would generally not run much off an inverter. Also be aware that (as most advertising does) advertised ratings are often far removed from reality - a 1500W inverter may in reality only be a 300W continuous rating and the 1500W a "surge" rating for a few seconds if that. Also note that some are rated in VA and some in Watts and you need to match equipment in the right units - Watts usually being lower than VA ratings. But enough of that. Read the fine print on the inverter for true ratings.
5. to wire up a couple of sockets from the one battery or dual battery system does require some knowledge and with respect you do not seem too "savvy" on electrics which is completely understandable if you are not in that line of work. It can lead to catastrophic issues if not done properly - the comments about not being able to run it from your Cig lighter are absolutely correct based on power requirements to run a fridge - and it seems especially a 3 way on 12V.
6. Either you need to get it wired by someone that does know how to do it properly or come up with some other way of connecting the fridge to the battery without the internal wiring.
None of us would want to see anyone "hurt" or a vehicle damaged by trying to advise you how to do something that does need some proper knowledge.
Ken
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