plug in coolbox query

[markley]

hi there
We are pondering on best option for keeping drinks and food cool on our travels but worried about running down the leisure battery.

Weve looked at the coolbox plugin to rear connector type and wonder if these are satisfactory?

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[Andy12]

I've used my coolbox connected like this for years and found no problems. When were going a long distance and know it will be early evening when we arrive my wife makes a meal and freezes it the day before we travel and then puts it into the coolbox and it's ready to just warm/cook through. Hope this helps.

[winchman]

We and a few of our friends use these

http://www.jacksons-camping.co.uk/cool/minicool.htm
They are excellent but expensive but I know a man who gets them cheap in fact they are cheaper than some cool boxes.
We plug them in in the house, then when we leave plug it in the van whilst travelling, most sites we use have hook up if not we just turn it off at night, one of the lads just has his hooked up to a spare car battery and just has it on in the day, he tells me it lasts the week end

[paulim]

I just picked up one of these - this is a very good price as most places have it for going on £500. Hopefully it should run OK off my leisure battery for two or three days between trips in the van when the battery should recharge. It costs quite a bit more but compressor technology should be much more efficient than standard cool box (Peltier). I've also just used it at - 18°C to keep stuff from our home freezer while I defrosted it.

http://www.thefamilytentshop.com/PRD_Pr ... rodID=2291

[Simon Jones]

Waeco compressor fridges are very good but you will need suitably rated wiring. It won't run from the rear 12v socket.

[winchman]

You also have to consider any compressor noise

[Diplomat]

I have never had any problem with a 3 way powered (mains, 12V, gas) absorption fridge. However, they don't generally use a thermostat in 12V mode. This means that they can quite easily overcool when the car engine is running and also eat the battery unnecessarily when stopped. I made an external control box to reduce the consumption on 12V operation.

Avoid Peltier effect coolboxes like the plague. They are good only for selling to unsuspecting campers in the full knowledge that they will come back later to buy something better. The noise is annoying and they also run continuously at similar current to absorption fridges but far less effectively. It is a very basic technology, severely limited by the laws of science. Only buy one if it is really well insulated and has the cooler mounted in the lid and even then only buy it to extend the cooling on a journey. they are no use for pitched camping.

For extended usage on a hookup site either go for compression or absorption. On non hookup sites, absorption running off gas is a solution which works well.

The prices of some camping fridges are staggering, often in excess of decent sized domestic fridges. Truly a case of 'what the market will bear'. Might be worth waiting until a load of armchair-side minifridges come on sale after the world cup finishes!


Frank

[helen&tony]

Hi
I have a 3-way to run gas when camping, or hookup if I ever decide to use such places....
Errrr.....What's a World Cup?
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

Waeco compressor fridges are very good but you will need suitably rated wiring. It won't run from the rear 12v socket.

I've been humming and ha-ing about getting a Waeco CDF25 or similar (all advice in best prices welcome). Is it really the case they won't run off the rear socket? I don't fancy rewiring if I can avoid it Anyone got experience of trying it?

In passing, I saw this on another forum:

Most of the small Waeco fridges use a Danfoss BD35 24v/12v compressor, heres the data of one. They are a brushless DC compressor & are soft start (start current is not mutch more than run current)

[mikeonb4c]

Bump

I'm running a Peltier cool box off the rear ciggie socket - would it not handle the lower amperage of a waeco compressor? Anyone tried it?

[Simon Jones]

The manual for that model suggest min 15A fuse required so that will be just above the peak start up current. The max current doesn't seem to be stated but the nominal is 6.8A

http://www.waecofridges.co.uk/pdf/coolfreeze-manual.pdf

On page 9 it shows the cable cross section required to run it via an extension lead. If you assume there's 4 metres of cable from battery to socket then it will need a minimum if 6 mm square to avoid excessive voltage drop. No idea what the stuff in the Bongo is, but it's pretty thin.

[Snail921]

we use a plug in, can't remember where we got it but it's definitely at the budget end of the range.
We have two sets of three cool blocks in the freezer. The night before traveling I put one set in the box to cool it down. In the morning take out those blocks and put in whatever needs to be kept cool (if that's frozen so much the better) followed by the second set of blocks. First set go back in the freezer. Plug in while engine is running, unplug when not and that lasts for a long weekend.
We've not done any longer trips but I'd imagine that ice from a supermarket would work as a replacement once the blocks warmed up and if you happened to be passing a fish quay you'd probably get it for nothing.
Regards,
Brian.

[mikeonb4c]

Thanks for the tips guys, I guess it's suck it and see but don't be surprised if thicker cable needs fitting.

[Dodgey]

Here is the situation with running bd35 compressor fridges (pretty much all compressor fridges! ) off the standard cig sockets, particularly the rear one.

They will work if the wiring is in good order, but not nearly to their full potential. They have a low voltage cut off to stop killing your leisure battery. Each time the compressor starts it draws more current than it consequently needs to carry on running. This spike will overwhelm the thin wires the bongo cig sockets use. The wires won't melt or any thing like that, but the big current draw will drop the voltage at the fridge end, low enough to trigger the low voltage cut off. This happens because the wires simply can't deliver what is asked of them.

The fridge will keep going on, off, on, off, ad infinitum.

The net result is your fridge will work ok for about half the duration of one connected with thicker wires. In a nutshell the thinner wires trick the fridge into thinking your battery is flat when it still has plenty left to give.

Make no mistake though, compressor fridges are by far the most efficient.

[mikeonb4c]

Here is the situation with running bd35 compressor fridges (pretty much all compressor fridges! ) off the standard cig sockets, particularly the rear one.

They will work if the wiring is in good order, but not nearly to their full potential. They have a low voltage cut off to stop killing your leisure battery. Each time the compressor starts it draws more current than it consequently needs to carry on running. This spike will overwhelm the thin wires the bongo cig sockets use. The wires won't melt or any thing like that, but the big current draw will drop the voltage at the fridge end, low enough to trigger the low voltage cut off. This happens because the wires simply can't deliver what is asked of them.

The fridge will keep going on, off, on, off, ad infinitum.

The net result is your fridge will work ok for about half the duration of one connected with thicker wires. In a nutshell the thinner wires trick the fridge into thinking your battery is flat when it still has plenty left to give.

Make no mistake though, compressor fridges are by far the most efficient.

What a superb reply and just what I'd hoped. I'm interested in weekend camping. Whilst travelling, the charging available should make the inefficiency irrelevant. Once there, i'd be moving the cooler from the boot so I can connect more efficiently to the battery by another thicker cable at that time. If I I don't, I should get a day or two's running even with lowered efficiency. Finally, I read you can switch off the waeco's low voltage sensor, which would eliminate the inefficiency albeit leaving me to watch out for lb flattening. Which all means that although I should uprate the wiring, I could get by with the standard wiring for now if I wished.

Let me know if I have that wrong and thanks again all.