Installing and powering a fridge in vehicle
- Thread starter mtlangst
- Start date
We use an Iceco JP40 coupled with a Bluetti AC50S 500Wh/300W Portable Power Station, and the Bluetti SP120 120Watt Solar Panel set-up, and we are good to go.
I think you are right, this apply to a regular RV fridge. What about while being powered by the main battery and turning the car on and off while traveling. Will that cut off of power be ok?
A fridge won't run all the time so there's a good chance it won't be running when you turn the car off. If you have a cover for the fridge it'll help keep it cool. I have a Yeti power station that I keep my fridge plugged into. If I'm going to be running the fridge for a long time, I have the Yeti plugged into the car and the fridge plugged into the Yeti. Jackery or similar work the same.
If you have a 12 volt fridge and a lot of other 12 volt accessories, it would be wise to carry a jump starter pack, I recommend the Anti Gravity XP10. Also, if you have purchased the Costco Type S jump starter, you might want to test it on your rig, it barely jumps my 99 4Runner and will NOT jump start my 2018 F150.
My Goal Zero 400 Lithium runs my ARB Fridge for 3 days if inside. This was bench tested as I have never gone 3 days without turning the vehicle on, at which point it switches to car power.
Nomad52
Rank I
Enthusiast I
We have a Hummer H3 and use a single agm starter battery to run a 45 quart Alpicool $320 Amazon frig while we are driving. I replaced the fake plastic hood vent with diamond plate and mounted a 30 watt solar panel permanently to it and wired a small controller to the battery. When we are stopping when driving during the day the hood solar panel will keep up with the frig draw no problem. When camped we use a 60 watt folding Overland Solar panel that plugs into the starter battery to be able to follow the sun before it goes down. At night we switch to a Goal Zero Yeti 400 to run the frig till the sun comes up then switch back to the onboard battery. The Yeti 400 gets plugged into a 400 watt ac inverter to charge while we are driving during the da. I found that the dc 12v charging doesn’t charge fast enough while the truck is running so that’s why we do the ac inverter.
Enthusiast III
Currently have my ARB Elements wired to the truck battery (Northstar single bat setup) being replaced by an Oddysey since i need to remove it to be tested. When I get to a location, Ive got my GZ 3000 Lithium and a couple briefcase solar to keep me going though with the 3000, I think I stopped testing after 5 days of running it, never used much power, but it wasn't a good test to me, so I'll be looking forward to camping and testing out in the summer sun. I always suggest when you are packing it up, to use your AC while doing so to get it to temp, then pack it tight, cooler things to the bottom. (Fridge Dependent), this will be my first foray into fridges, I hope I didnt wast money, but tired of the cooler with ice. (I even used frozen milk jugs)
