Asking your advice about powering a fridge

Dave Hansford

Forum Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2020
Messages
119
Location
New Zealand
Car Year
2008
Car Model
Outback
Transmission
4EAT
Hi folks:
I’m thinking about getting a 40lt Engel, and I’m wondering whether we really need a battery box to power it…

I know it’s practically taboo to run your fridge off your starter battery, but I figure the fridge will hardly ever be running with the car engine off. We don’t camp, so we don’t need the fridge to run overnight or for long periods on DC - we always stay in b&bs, so I figure I’d just bring the fridge inside and plug it into the AC overnight.

The Engel also has voltage protection, which makes me less nervous about relying on our starting battery to run it.

i figure the longest we’d have the fridge running with car engine switched off would be 90 minutes at most.

Am I going to get away without using a battery box? Or is that a bad idea? It’s just that if I can avoid the extra cost, complexity and weight, that’d be my preference. I could always fit a high-output alternator if it comes to that.

Any and all help much appreciated… cheers.
 
Dave, your alternator is already 85/95 amps. Nothing in the car draws that sort of power.

Mind you, I come from the era of sh!tty 22A generators. Didn't driving lights give them curry!!!
 
It’s better than that, even, at 110 amps. I know the Engel draws sod-all - between 0.5 and 2 amps, I think, but I guess I’m mindful of all the other crap the battery’s powering at the same time. One of these days I’ll sit down and calculate the total draw…
 
@Dave Hansford That would be fine; but I would carry one of those compact jump packs just in case and for peace of mind ;)
When touring I carry a long extension lead with me so when power is available I don't have to remove the fridge from the car.
 
I did not take, or use, a second battery on my recent Simpson trip. Just ran the little Brass Monkey when the car was mobile.
Worked ok and as night ambients were pretty cool had no problems. As Kevin said take a portable power pack as I did.
 
Kevin said:
@Dave Hansford That would be fine; but I would carry one of those compact jump packs just in case and for peace of mind ;)
When touring I carry a long extension lead with me so when power is available I don't have to remove the fridge from the car.
Click to expand...
Thanks Kevin. Because the Outback’s an auto, we already carry a jump pack anyway, but the extension lead is a great idea! Cheers..
 
I love extension leads. Get long enough ones and you can power pretty much anything anywhere. :)
 
^ agree - NZ is not that big maybe Dave can just plug in at home and trail the extension lead behind the car :p
 
With extension leads, always use a portable RCD (ELCB), aka circuit breaker.
 
Ratbag said:
always use a portable RCD (ELCB), aka circuit breaker.
Click to expand...
10 Amp lead between two 15amp ones 👍

(Seriously though, don't do this.)
 
since i had second battery i allways caried that with me , no matter where i go just in case... in trunk and fully charged .. so if some spare battery is nearby available i would take that . more then couple times it saved me ...thats cheap version,even better is to make cables to it so it could charge anytime you drive and then dissconect . more costly one is to have that battery pack.
other way to charge both batteries while driving is to change between them while driving , stop change to other one while engine is working and continue driving.
 
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