Convert Jackery DC out to Andersen?

S4SQTCH

S4SQTCH

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Off-Road Ranger I

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Salt Lake City, Utah
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Dave
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I have a Jackery Explorer 2000 V2 that I charge off my truck’s power when driving and solar when parked. The Jackery then runs my fridge, so when I stop for a hike or to explore the fridge still has power.

The problem is the Jackery only has USB and cigarette plug DC outputs, and the cigarette plug for the fridge keeps vibrating out of the Jackery.

I’d like to modify the Jackery DC out to be an Andersen plug; I can get an Andersen power cable for my fridge. Has anyone opened their Jackery or modded that DC output? I’m aware it’s full of screaming murderous pixies that will try to kill me if I screw it up, which is why I’m trying to see how hard it is to address just the deenergized low voltage part and not touch the “screaming death” bits.
 
I am also no fan of the cigarette DC plug. My Ecoflow does have it too but I never use it, since the DC panel is limited to 120 W. Your fridge only has a DC input? Anyway, I would not recommend opening the device. What you can do is convert from AC to DC to fridge.
 
The fridge has AC input and the Jackery has AC output, but converting car DC to AC back to DC is incredibly inefficient. Right now I can run the fridge and pull half as many amps as the vehicle is providing to the battery, so I arrive at camp with cold food and 100% battery charge - enough to run a 72 liter fridge freezer for a day in hot weather or two days in cool weather. The loss from flipping DC to AC to DC would negate all that.
 
I use a Bluetti AC70, and used it when I ran the Rubicon Trail last June. The stupid cigarette light plug wiggled out on the first day and ruined all the cold food in the fridge. I had enough food that didn’t need refrigerated that I didn’t starve, but I needed a different solution.

I understand the efficiency loss of using the AC brick, but if that’s what it takes to keep my food cold, so be it. I also just installed a Bluetti Charger 1 DC-to-DC charger which now feeds 540 continuous watts of charging instead of just 80 watt with a direct battery connection. I’m hoping this finally resolves the power needs, but I might upgrade to the Bluetti AC180 for more battery.

My primary overland rig is my Jeep Gladiator, but the 47 needs exercised once in a while…


IMG_7472.jpeg
 
PCO6 said:
Another approach is to modify your fridge cable.

Click to expand...
This only works if you have a barrel plug on the power station, many do not have this option…like mine.

I really like the lockable Cigarette lighter plug since I use that outlet for power in my Project M camper.
 
Cj2atruck said:
This only works if you have a barrel plug on the power station, many do not have this option…like mine.

I really like the lockable Cigarette lighter plug since I use that outlet for power in my Project M camper.
Click to expand...

Interesting. My EcoFlows all have one. I didn't know that some don't.
 
Blue sea makes a nice power plug. I normally have one in each of my vehicles for things that use a "cigarette lighter". I first ran them in my small off road trailer for the fridge. It was the only socket that the plug wouldn't rattle out from vibration. They also have a matching male end but, I've never used one. Later I ran my fridge in my Cruiser for years with it. Less vibration and never fell out. I still use them but most of my gear I've switched to Anderson connectors. The 50 amp is most likely going to be too big to fit into a Jackery. I've never opened one but I know how much room they take up. A single 40 amp will be slightly wider than your lighter plug and will be shallower. That would be a good fit.

If your going to use the Andersons, buy the crimp tool. You want this design (crimper), it has a pocket that holds the end of the terminal in place. I've built more Anderson connectors than I can count and if their not crimped properly, you will struggle assembling them. I've had good luck with the Cheap Amazon terminals but some of the plastic sockets don't stay attached. They slip/lock into each other and the cheap ones are not tight. Mounted in a panel mount, their fine but on the cord side I use thick marine grade shrink tubing about half way up. Be sure to run the shrink tube about half an inch onto the cord. This is called strain relief. This absorbs stress from the cord flexing.

There's a number of other options when it comes to plugs but over all with the amount of current a fridge has, the Anderson is the best bet or the Blue sea socket.
 
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smritte said:
Blue sea makes a nice power plug. I normally have one in each of my vehicles for things that use a "cigarette lighter". I first ran them in my small off road trailer for the fridge. It was the only socket that the plug wouldn't rattle out from vibration. They also have a matching male end but, I've never used one. Later I ran my fridge in my Cruiser for years with it. Less vibration and never fell out. I still use them but most of my gear I've switched to Anderson connectors. The 50 amp is most likely going to be too big to fit into a Jackery. I've never opened one but I know how much room they take up. A single 40 amp will be slightly wider than your lighter plug and will be shallower. That would be a good fit.

If your going to use the Andersons, buy the crimp tool. You want this design (crimper), it has a pocket that holds the end of the terminal in place. I've built more Anderson connectors than I can count and if their not crimped properly, you will struggle assembling them. I've had good luck with the Cheap Amazon terminals but some of the plastic sockets don't stay attached. They slip/lock into each other and the cheap ones are not tight. Mounted in a panel mount, their fine but on the cord side I use thick marine grade shrink tubing about half way up. Be sure to run the shrink tube about half an inch onto the cord. This is called strain relief. This absorbs stress from the cord flexing.

There's a number of other options when it comes to plugs but over all with the amount of current a fridge has, the Anderson is the best bet or the Blue sea socket.
Click to expand...

The fridge isn’t pulling anything close to 50 amps, I was aiming for a PowerPole 40 amp for size considerations. I was also going to swap out the one in my truck bed too, and that’s a max 30 amp circuit.
 
I use the 50A power pole for its size not so much for its rating. I don't think my 60qt fridge pulls 20amp. My suggestion was in the event you were thinking of going that direction for the convenience of the larger plug. Not the rating.
 
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So far so good with Jackery and Iceco-branded cigarette plugs. I power my V1 Jackery Explorer 1500 from my truck bed cigarette outlet (Wolf Haus Offroad, its plug and play from factory wiring hid outside the truck bed), and the Jackery powers my Iceco JP50. So, two cigarette connections, truck to battery, battery to fridge. In many combined weeks of travel (highway, then dirt/washboard then trails), I haven't had anything come loose yet, but I'm constantly paranoid about it. Not all cigarette male/female plugs are created equal.

I currently use the stock Jackery plug to go from Wolf Haus plug in my truck bed to the Jackery. This has always been tight and secure. I purchased, from Iceco, a right angle plug to reduce the accidental shearing potential of the stock Iceco plug end hanging out of the Jackery cigarette lighter. Lastly, and this might be overkill, I keep my Jackery on its side, in an oversized milk crate, so the plugs and screen are facing up. I figured that little bit of gravitational help might reduce the potential of the plug wiggling out. So far, I haven't had a problem. I do check those two connections at least once while in transit though.

I'm about to get a Tune M1L installed, with a MaxAir fan. I'll need to have my Jackery power both the fan and the fridge. The watts and volts accommodate that, but I need to split my sole DC output - the Jackery cigarette port. I plan to wire the MaxAir to a cigarette male plug end of hopefully high quality. Then, I'll use a cigarette output splitter from Amazon to create a couple more cigarette port outputs, and will report back on my findings.

*tried unsuccessfully a few times to post the Amazon link, its called the JOYROOM 227W Retractable Charger Adapter

My Jackery has likely years of life left and I hate to replace it, but I will soon be using 2 or more DC devices and I really wish these sorts of battery systems accommodated that better. I'll need to see what other products have a better DC out, that can go to some sort of a fused hub, then run DC stuff from there. I'm not expert in DC wired systems, so maybe the solutions are obvious, just not to me yet!
 
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