Questions and musings about a solar generator and a refrigerator

[HYRYSC]

I have an FJ Cruiser that I am in the midst of building a set of storage drawers as well as a slide-out for a refrigerator. I was looking for which might be the best way to power the fridge full time (will just be leaving it in and operational basically 24/7 as my overlander is also my DD).

A dual battery setup will be forthcoming (winter garage fun) but I recently purchased a Bluetti EB70 for use at the campsite and then got to thinking that since I have a wired, inverted 110v outlet already in the back of my FJ from the factory, could I not plug the Bluetti to the outlet to charge while driving and then run the fridge from the 12v outlet on that? Pro's and Con's?

 

[Kent R]

I have an FJ Cruiser that I am in the midst of building a set of storage drawers as well as a slide-out for a refrigerator. I was looking for which might be the best way to power the fridge full time (will just be leaving it in and operational basically 24/7 as my overlander is also my DD).

A dual battery setup will be forthcoming (winter garage fun) but I recently purchased a Bluetti EB70 for use at the campsite and then got to thinking that since I have a wired, inverted 110v outlet already in the back of my FJ from the factory, could I not plug the Bluetti to the outlet to charge while driving and then run the fridge from the 12v outlet on that? Pro's and Con's?

@Narbob can you describe your system to this member.

 

[ontos]

I have an FJ Cruiser that I am in the midst of building a set of storage drawers as well as a slide-out for a refrigerator. I was looking for which might be the best way to power the fridge full time (will just be leaving it in and operational basically 24/7 as my overlander is also my DD).

A dual battery setup will be forthcoming (winter garage fun) but I recently purchased a Bluetti EB70 for use at the campsite and then got to thinking that since I have a wired, inverted 110v outlet already in the back of my FJ from the factory, could I not plug the Bluetti to the outlet to charge while driving and then run the fridge from the 12v outlet on that? Pro's and Con's?

I use a similar setup on my sailboat and transfer it to my CUV for overlanding. I run the larger Bluettti EB240 and a Rovsun Chinese fridge; I have been happy with both. If I'm just running the fridge, I can get 4 days or so on one charge depending on ambient temperature and the fullness of the fridge. I've been surprised how much difference pre-cooling the fridge on shore power and making sure it is fully packed makes in how long a charge lasts.

Four days is about my limit for water tankage on the boat and about as long as we are ever off-grid camping, so I normally charge the Bluetti at home, run the fridge on the 12v in the CUV on the road, and then use the Bluettie at camp or on the hook on the sailboat. I also have a 120w solar blanket to top up the battery, which I rarely use. With 8 hours of sun per day, I should be able to keep the fridge going indefinitely. I've considered getting an inverter to charge the battery from the alternator, but haven't had a need. I think that would be a pretty slick set-up.

I have really liked having the battery separate from the electrical systems in the boat and CUV. I don't worry about not being able to start the engines. And, when camping, if the bugs are bad, or the campsite isn't right next to a parking spot, I'll move the fridge and battery into the tent. I can get a cold beer and charge my laptop without opening the door!

Best of luck.

 

[HYRYSC]

I use a similar setup on my sailboat and transfer it to my CUV for overlanding. I run the larger Bluettti EB240 and a Rovsun Chinese fridge; I have been happy with both. If I'm just running the fridge, I can get 4 days or so on one charge depending on ambient temperature and the fullness of the fridge. I've been surprised how much difference pre-cooling the fridge on shore power and making sure it is fully packed makes in how long a charge lasts.

Four days is about my limit for water tankage on the boat and about as long as we are ever off-grid camping, so I normally charge the Bluetti at home, run the fridge on the 12v in the CUV on the road, and then use the Bluettie at camp or on the hook on the sailboat. I also have a 120w solar blanket to top up the battery, which I rarely use. With 8 hours of sun per day, I should be able to keep the fridge going indefinitely. I've considered getting an inverter to charge the battery from the alternator, but haven't had a need. I think that would be a pretty slick set-up.

I have really liked having the battery separate from the electrical systems in the boat and CUV. I don't worry about not being able to start the engines. And, when camping, if the bugs are bad, or the campsite isn't right next to a parking spot, I'll move the fridge and battery into the tent. I can get a cold beer and charge my laptop without opening the door!

Best of luck.

EB240...now THAT'S a powerful unit!

I was also thinking that it would be good to be able to move it around a bit if needed but easy to keep in one spot if not.

 

[reaver]

I have an FJ Cruiser that I am in the midst of building a set of storage drawers as well as a slide-out for a refrigerator. I was looking for which might be the best way to power the fridge full time (will just be leaving it in and operational basically 24/7 as my overlander is also my DD).

A dual battery setup will be forthcoming (winter garage fun) but I recently purchased a Bluetti EB70 for use at the campsite and then got to thinking that since I have a wired, inverted 110v outlet already in the back of my FJ from the factory, could I not plug the Bluetti to the outlet to charge while driving and then run the fridge from the 12v outlet on that? Pro's and Con's?

I just did a 3 day trip with a similar setup in the back of my Xterra. Mine is wired so that the inverter must be switched on manually at the moment. This is a stopgap for me, since I plan on going with a LiFePO4 battery in the future.

I will say, the setup worked fantastic. I use a rockpals 540Wh to power my fridge, paired with a 12v voltage stabilizer between the fridge and the rockpals, as the output isn't regulated on the 12v socket.

The only issue with this setup in general (and any of these battery packs) is that there's no way to lock the fridge cord into the port on the battery. I can't tell you how many times the cable has come loose while driving.

That being said, this setup worked quite well at keeping the fridge powered, and the battery charged.

 

[HYRYSC]

I just did a 3 day trip with a similar setup in the back of my Xterra. Mine is wired so that the inverter must be switched on manually at the moment. This is a stopgap for me, since I plan on going with a LiFePO4 battery in the future.

I will say, the setup worked fantastic. I use a rockpals 540Wh to power my fridge, paired with a 12v voltage stabilizer between the fridge and the rockpals, as the output isn't regulated on the 12v socket.

The only issue with this setup in general (and any of these battery packs) is that there's no way to lock the fridge cord into the port on the battery. I can't tell you how many times the cable has come loose while driving.

That being said, this setup worked quite well at keeping the fridge powered, and the battery charged.

Thanks for the post. The FJ factory unit has a switch that you can toggle on and off as well, but I think once you toggle it on, it will remain on that setting until it is toggled off so any time that the vehicle is running, it will be charging the battery generator.

That is a good point about the power cord. Going to have to see what I can do to make sure that stays in there. Worst case scenario is that I will just plug the fridge in to the 110v outlet but I am sure that would be very inefficient to convert from 12v to 110v then to run the fridge from the 110v outlet on the unit itself.

But that is part of the fun is trying to figure everything out.

 

[ontos]

Thanks for the post. The FJ factory unit has a switch that you can toggle on and off as well, but I think once you toggle it on, it will remain on that setting until it is toggled off so any time that the vehicle is running, it will be charging the battery generator.

That is a good point about the power cord. Going to have to see what I can do to make sure that stays in there. Worst case scenario is that I will just plug the fridge in to the 110v outlet but I am sure that would be very inefficient to convert from 12v to 110v then to run the fridge from the 110v outlet on the unit itself.

But that is part of the fun is trying to figure everything out.

I'm not sure if your battery is compatible, but locking 12v plugs are available for a few dollars. A few minutes and some heat shrink could solve the loose plug problem.

 

[AJ Nealey]

I'm going to be doing something very similar. I'm not ready for a dual battery setup in my 4Runner. I ended up purchasing a kitchen/drawer system CampCargoKits.com and a Truma fridge that I plan on running on a Lion Energy battery. I can use the inverter built into the truck to recharge the battery while driving during the day and the Lion energy can run everything else at night as to not drain my main starting battery. I can also easily remove the kitchen/fridge/battery setup in case I need to use the trunk of the 4runner.

 

[HYRYSC]

Just a follow-up to this in case anyone else runs into a similar situation. The FJ Cruiser built-in inverter charged the Bluetti EB70 without issue as long as the solar generator was not depleted much. During my testing, I depleted the solar generator about 50% then plugged it up and started charging as I was driving. The EB70 wants to pull about 200 watts which is in excess of the built-in inverters limits while driving (150 watts max) and it would kick off the inverter.

So in weighing my options, I think that I am going to hook the refrigerator to the build-in inverter and run it while I am driving, then use the solar generator to power it while I am not (with both plugged into the refrigerator, it will automatically switch).

Then over the next week I will be finishing up my solar panel install (100watts) and use that to keep the EB70 topped off.