new fridge

[numbnuts]

I have been given a new fridge by my wife, an evakool 60lt.
Just wanted to know how long I can run it on a 700a/h deep cycle battery before it flattens the battery. It draws about 2.8 amps.

[drivesafe]

Hi numbnuts, could you list the size of the battery again plus, does the fridge have an automatic cut-out voltage and if so what is the setting.

Cheers.

[numbnuts]

Sorry, the battery is 95 amp/h and is 12 volts and the fridge cycles on ond off. you can set it from 1 to 10.

[numbnuts]

sorry again the fridge is set to cut out at 10.4 volts.

[drivesafe]

Hi again numbnuts, you have to consider a number of factors such as your setting, your use of the fridge ( how often you go to the fridge ), the external temperature and so on. Trial and error will give you a better idea but a rough guess, after between about 24 to 48 hours of continues use, you will have drained the battery to about 50% discharge and depending on the type of battery, thats about as low is it is advisable to go on a regular basis without starting to shorten the battery’s operating life.

Again trial and error through usage will give you a much more realistic idea.

Cheers and hope this is of some help

[numbnuts]

thanks drivesafe Ill give it a go, I just thought if the max draw was 2.8 amp on high there may have been a way to work it out.

[drivesafe]

If the fridge motor is running all the time then over a 24 hour period your fridge would pull about 60 amps which means your battery would be discharged well bellow 50% but even with you fridge set at it’s coldest setting, it should still cycle so the actual time is as I said, down to trial and error.

Again, because of all the different factors involved there just isn’t any straight forward calculation.

Cheers

[numbnuts]

thanks mate, have a good new year.

[guzzla]

if your fridge runs flat out continiously drawing 2.8 amps then from a 95ah battery your battery will be dead flat in 33.9 hrs. if its deep cycle its all good but it will take some time to recharge, however if its a standard wet cell then itll only do it 2-3 times b4 its completely RS.

realistically, if you have the ability to put pre chilled/frozen items in there b4 use then this will reduce the time the fridge spends removing the heat and there 4 running flat out. good idea to get into the habbit of always latching the lid shut the keep it sealed. also if it stays in the car the whole time your camping be mindfull of exposure to sun as the ambient temp in the truck can hit 60 deg so your fridge will run flat out in that case.

besides that their sooo good to have.

cheers, nathan.

[HeathGQ]

so whats the best way to monitor the batteries performance? Heading to Fraser for a few days shortly, adn want to make sure I have all this organised. If i'm running a fridge (ARB 40ltr), what battery should I consider?

[RoldIT]

Take a multimeter and check you battery voltage at the terminals.

When it gets to 12.00v then your battery is about 50% which is about as far as your should let your battery go regularly to maintain it's optimal life span. Depending on your battery type (ie flooded, dry, gel, AGM) you can safely go lower on the more expensive batteries but may still shorten it's life span.

My Engel 40lt drops my 90AH AGM battery to about 12.00v after constant running (cycling on fridge setting) for around 48 hours in 30 degree ambient temp.

[guzzla]

basically the more amp hours the better. dont want to start a deep cycle, dry or wet cell debate but i have 2 optima deep cycle batteries both 900cca and 75a/h. 1 starts the vehicle and powers the winch only and the other runs everything else.

my research has led me to believe that with this set up i can run my batteries dead flat round 200 times b4 its time 4 a newy. (the way i see it is youve only gotta run a standard battery flat 2-3 times and its RS, and then so is the food and beer in your fridge).

i have installed 2 volt indicator gauges in my centre console that give a full time reading of each battery.

i recently purchased a honda genie eu10i at mates rates and this is a top bit of gear to run your fridge and power tools on for extended periods. super quite too.

[HeathGQ]

sorry for continued hi-jack, but should it affect the battery if I run spotties of the second, if they're only on when the car is running?

[Dingo]

This all depends on whether you have a isolated system or not, but should not be a problem.