Camping Fridges

i have just bought a 60lt 3way chestcold fridge freezer old one but works well.only paid $100 for it, the gas operation is what i was after. but now the question?? with a stand alone battery how big a battery would i need to get to run it for a day at least so as i can get from A to B. on the side of the fridge it says 12volt..10amps. i dont know anything about this auto elecy stuff, my car is a vy dunnydoor wagon

cheers...reg

reg

Not sure what car you have and how big the battery is in it but 10amp don't turn your car off and go detecting for a few hours or when you get back your car will not start.

I had one of those and they run the best on gas and leave it as that.

If you do want to set it up then get yourself a second battery and a 80watt solar panel and that will be fine for the day only as the 80watt pannel will only give you 4.3amps on a good day.

Reg,
10 amps is a big draw for a fridge. Having said that it will only draw that current when the compressor is running as when it gets to temp it should shut off. I would think you'd need at least a 120 A/H battery to run it for a day. A solar panel and a second battery setup is a must for that one. The newer fridges only draw 2 or 3 amps and for the cost of one of them against a large battery, solar panel etc., it might be worth considering offloading it for a neweer model. Cheers.

thanks for that fellas yous have been more than helpfull.thinking i will put it on the market and get something a bit more battery friendly.

cheers...reg

Actually I think you will find Sandy the Chestcolds are a direct all the time draw using heat to generate the cold not a compressor, so it will need even more storage. 10 amps an hour x 24 hours = 240 A/H battery , so I would double the battery size or amounts if all day means 24 hours. Best bet is to run them on 240V before the trip and get them good and cold, then get it onto gas as soon as you hit your destination. If the weather is below 30 Deg C they aren't too bad (usually about 28 Deg C in the fridge section below ambient temps). In the past we used to get 3 weeks in cooler months out of a 9KG gas bottle. If you can run it on 12 Volt from the vehicle whilst driving to also save on battery life.

Hope this helps,

JP

JP,
You may be right as I don't see a lot of them if any. Older Engels drop the current when the fridge cycles but I'm not sure about Chestcolds. The 3 way one a mate had was good on 240 volt a few days before a trip, then to 12 volt on the journey and straight onto gas on arrival. It used around 1/2kg of gas a day and would freeze bottles of water overnight. Cheers.

would the alternater on the vy holden keep the fridge going while travelling if i used heavy lead hooked up to a cig lighter adaptor,as long as i dont turn the car off.

reg

Reg,
Commodore alternators from about VR have been 90 or 100 amps, so there will be no problem with the vehicle running a 10 amp fridge while travelling, even with lights and the A/C on. Cheers.

thanks sandy you have made my day, when i can afford it i will upgrade tho. thats a snack pack i owe you next time i visit my sister at hidden valley.will drop them in.

cheers and thanks for your help....reg

The Chescold fridge uses "Absorption operation" in other words silent and no moving parts but this comes at a price. Yes run them on 12V while moving but be sure to swap them to gas soon after setting up camp.
As previously detailed there most efficient operation is running them on gas.
Like everything price and reliabilty plays an important part of any purchase.
Most caravans these days have 3 way Dometic fridge/freezers fitted, again they work perfectly on all three power sources, however at the end of the days travel be sure to switch the power source from 12V to either 240V or gas or your batteries will be dead by morning.

Peter

Gday Reg
Agree with pretty well everything said so far. I definitely wouldn't be selling the Chescold but.
My brother runs two of them out prospecting and they're brilliant!! They and their gas bottle are mounted in the back of the tray under a canopy. Uses one as a freezer and one as a fridge.
As Peter said, run on 12v while travelling (there are no issues with the vehicles alternator - it will run it easily) and immediately switch over to gas when you hit camp.
cheers
Brett

I thought I would comment of this subject as it's in my field , I'm a refrigeration tech.
The "Absorption units are a very early design and work with Ammonia,
alcohol, and water mix which settle in separate compartments in the
refrigeration system ,all joined but circulate when a heat source is
obtained in the generator vessel, this causes the cycle to create the
refrigeration cooling effect in the evaporator.
The generator only requires a heat source to start the cycle and yes there
are no moving parts or compressors.
The heat source can be 12 volt or 240 volt electric heating element or
a gas pilot/burner all switchable to suit the available source.
The draw back with these units is the high current required for the
heating elements and the slower cooling effect also they don't like
being bounced around which can cause the 3 separate refrigerant mix ie
{Ammonia,alcohol ,water } to get mixed up within the system and this
will cause the refrigeration cycle to stop, a quick fix for this
problem can be upend the unit for about 1 min and then turn back the
unit to normal position and leave for an hour or so for the
refrigerants to settle back to there correct places within the system
.
This usually works if not do this again.
Any break or fracture to the pipework can be nasty with the ammonia and
this is drawn to moisture and when we used to work with large systems
we had a bucket of water on hand to throw down in case of a leak which
gave time to get away before you were over come with this dangerous gas.

I prefer to use the newer compressor operated systems with current refrigerants
as they draw less power and are quicker acting.

The last is the thermal electric coolers but they are extremely slow acting and
don't get down to the lower temperatures but are very cheap.
Regards Mark

reg wrote:would the alternater on the vy holden keep the fridge going while travelling if i used heavy lead hooked up to a cig lighter adaptor,as long as i dont turn the car off.

reg

One thing to note is that a cig lighter socket might not like having 10 amps permanent draw and may get hot and melt the fridge plug as I have seen many do. This is because the wiring to the cig lighter is not heavy enough and causes voltage drop. As the voltage goes down the current goes up to maintain the same wattage, hence the melting.

A better solution would be to run a dedicated pair of wires directly from the battery solely for the fridge. They would need to be 6mm (automotive wiring size). There is 6mm twin sheath cable available that has a red and a black 6mm wire captured in an outer sheath that would do the job for you.


MS,
Thank you for an informative post as I know little about the refrigeration side of A/C work, and althought the principles are the same, the components are very different. Cheers.

thanks for that sandy...in the consol there is a power outlet that says 12v 120w max would that do the job or go with what you just said.

cheers...reg

Hi, l am looking at buying a fridge for the out back that runs well on battery. There is a new one on the market called Companion with Danfoss compressor does anyone know any thing about them?

Thanks Goldydawn

Morning GoldyDawn,
One review here, however it is an older 3 way.
http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=58162
More reviews.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=130418

Personally the fridge that shines over all others is the Engel, tried and proven, the Waeco is catching up.

http://www.productreview.com.au/category.php?cat_id=1196

Cheers
Peter

Hi Goldydawn
I bought this one a couple years back and so far havent been able to fault it,it has the danfoss compressor and only draws 4amp,is 12v 24v and 240v.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/80L-Litre-12v-24v-240v-Car-Freezer-Fridge-Camping-4WD-/330483461982?pt=AU_Business_Industrial_Restaurant_Catering_Equipment&hash=item4cf2596f5e

Cheers Jon.

Hi All
I use a 3 way dometic chescold 60l excellent unit, My brother uses a trailblazer, bloody awsome, also try " Quirks Auto Fridge"
cheers
Lee

i use mother nature... dont need a fridge when we keep getting these cold snaps, lol. But to be a little more serious for a moment, all the interstate truckies i know use the engel. I dont own one but i borrow them from mates on my trips I havent heard anything bad about them 'yet'.

giday Goldydawn, I bought an Italian plastic one like a big esky at a fire sale , its called an Indel B,it has a Danfoss compressor the same as the Engals, can,t fault it.goes below minus 10 and draws bugger all power, if its got the Danfoss comp ,it will be fine,3 way fridges are ok but ya gota be carefull about the angles ya set em on, they should be level so up and down hills in the 4by is not recomended, cheers Jed

I have a "Fridgemate" 55ltr.
Basically a big esky with a motor on the side. Honestly I cant fault it. Aussie made for aussie conditions. Doesn't need an insulating bag either.
I think they are made in QLD and can be bought from the maker or off Ebay...cheaper off the maker.
Thier after sales is brilliant too.
Half is freeze,r half is fridge or you can have it the whole 55 ltrs of either.

On a 75amp hr battery I get a minimum of 3 days with the drinks that cold you get them horrible eye popping freeze aches if you skull it too quick

i have a 30year old engel before i leave home i put all my goodies in there plug it to 240 volt over night close to freeze
then plug it into my ciggie lighter
then when i get to my camp spot i turn it to number one and my things stay cold all weekend great unit

Hi Dawn

Just to improve your knowledge of fridges check out the info on Camping fridges in our Equipment Section

https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/equipment-accessories-f21/camping-fridges-t1120.htm

Jeff