Powering 12 volt fridge/freezer with deep cycle battery

[Steve W]

I have a 62 quart Whynter freezer refrigerator that I will be carrying in my tow vehicle. While I am driving it will run off the 12 volt receptacle in the vehicle. I don't want to leave it running off the vehicles battery for extended times when not driving. I have a Schumacher 6 in 1 power pack http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-El ... r/25955544 that works very well for most all my needs. But I will be using the fridge a lot and for some long extended times while not being powered by the vehicle while running. I was thinking of just using my 6 in 1 to keep the fridge running during these times and maybe getting a solar panel to rig it up to keep the power supply charged
My question is.....should I use the 6 in one or something a little more designed for this kind of heavy use, like something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Two-Brand-New-1 ... 1048404582

I was kinda thinking that the overuse of the 6 in 1 Schumacher might damage it or prematurely shorten its life span drastically.

[MtnDon]

When I am contemplating how much battery I need for something I like to use a watt meter so I can measure the actual use of the device I have in mind. I have a couple of these watt meters.... It will give you the instantaneous volts, amps, calculate the watts and total the watt-hours over a days use; or whatever interval you want. Then you know for sure what amount of battery is required to power the device. Of course, make allowances for different ambient temperatures, tossing in something warm that needs to be cooled, etc. But IMO it beats guessing.

[Shadow Catcher]

We are powering a Waeco refrigerator with a 185W high voltage solar panel through a Morningstar MPPT controller into a 150AH Lifeline AGM battery. We spent 8 days on the North shore of Lake Superior a couple of years ago. during that time and in that site there was maybe one hour a day with no shade on the panel but the high voltage means you get usable current with shade from sun up to sun down. At the end of 8 days we were at 64% state of charge.
This powers everything else TV/DVD XM radio LED lights laptop, battery charger for camera...
This includes pictures of the camp site and the panel.
A last note, Nancy was pissed at me for spending so much on the refrigerator, she now loves it!

[Steve W]

I was a little concerned about spending that much on a fridge too. But once you use one of these on a long road trip,you will never go back to an ice cooler.

[GuitarPhotog]

Well, the fridge draws 4.5A, so every hour it runs, it consumes 54 WH. The 6-in1 gadget doesn't specify it's watt-hour capacity, but based on size and weight, I doubt it will power the fridge for more than 4 or 5 hours before it dies.

<Chas>

[Shadow Catcher]

As pointed out you will need some serious battery, the 3 in 1 will power it for less than 3 hours according to the manual http://www.batterystuff.com/manuals/manual-IPD-1800.pdf

[Steve W]

These refrigerators don't run the whole time. The come on and run for short periods to keep things according to the temp settings. I am guessing out of 4 hours they may run a total of an hour. So the ah rating would be less that running all the time. Would that make a difference?

[GuitarPhotog]

Yes, but since the 6-in-1 is totally unknown it's just a crap shoot how long it will keep running. Maybe you should try it at home and see how long it keeps some beverages cold.

<Chas>

[Steve W]

The more I research on this the more I am having to agree it will take 100 ah to keep this running any decent time without the vehicle running. So, now I am shopping for the battery. thanks for your suggestion.

[Dale M.]

The small tote around power pack for jump start and short term emergency use rely on small batteries , some thing like 10-15 amp-hr and very short use... They produce large inrush of current to start strained vehicle and such over short term use.... Probably good for cell phone and tablet or lap top charging /running but not much under large current drain over long period (12-24 hours)...

Dale

[Steve W]

Well, I finally decided to order the 35 ah batteries. I also ordered a 30 watt solar kit with controller. I kind of think that it will be sufficient for what I have. The batteries came in a set of 2 so if one gets low I will have a reserve to fall back on. I am very limited on space and am trying to keep things small but efficient at this point. I am trying to keep the weight down also. These batteries only weight 22 lbs each, so that will be about 44 lbs total. Which is still less than a regular deep cycle. Plus they will be easy to move around and will be somewhat portable.
I think I may have started out in too much of a hurry and ordered the bigger fridge and generator when smaller would have for me. I don't know. But now I am trying to make the best of what I have and work things in to keep them.
Here is the small solar battery charging kit I have ordered. I am not planning on doing much more that just keeping the batteries for the fridge charged. I think it will work. I will report back the results.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Plug-n-Power-30 ... 2590310245

[GuitarPhotog]

Given that your fridge draws 54W when running and you are only able to put back 30W from solar you will have a tough time keeping up.

<Chas>

[MtnDon]

Given that your fridge draws 54W when running and you are only able to put back 30W from solar you will have a tough time keeping up.

<Chas>

Agreed. 30 watts is the panel rating. In the real world it is not unusual to get less than the rating even during the hours of best sun. Depending where you are and the time of year you may only have 3 to 5 hours of peak sun. Add any shadows and you will have much less. If you are in camp you might be able to stretch out the good hours by moving the panel. A good thing is that the fridge will not run constantly. But then the fridge will run through the evening, night and morning when solar production is nil or very low. So yes, if you want this to be sustainable you will need more solar PV, or an auxiliary source of charging.

[Steve W]

I am limited on space in this small trailer. I think that I already overdid things on getting the fridge and generator. But that can't be helped now. So I am trying to keep things as small and lightweight as possible from here on. I can probably add another solar panel later on if the one 30 watt doesn't keep up. I really don't know how it's going to do. So I have been cautious on this for now. It may do ok. But if not I will add another one.