Converting fridge plug to 7-pin
- Thread starter Tex68w
- Start date
emulous74
Well-known member
That is the problem, you'll have to check your 7pin to see if the 12v wire is live when the vehicle is turned off. I have the adapter plug for my ZR2 Bison and it only works with ignition on or acc only. That's fine if you can switch the power to the fridge when your stop, but you'd be better served to get a battery generator that can be plugged into the 7pin to charge while you drive and plug the fridge into the battery generator so they fridge always receives power.
Roaddude
Long time off-grid vanlife adventurist
Only one of the contacts in a 7 way is 12v, and often just enough of a gauge to run the trailer's lights.
Can you do it? Sure, but it might not work as well as you'd like and seems like an odd workaround to just running a dedicated line from your battery. Then you'd be stuck with a 7way on your fridge and not be able to plug it in to any other 12v outlet.
Most 12v fridges have a low power setting, that when it thinks the battery is getting too low in voltage, will slow down the cooling of the fridge so you don't kill the starting battery. I have no doubt that the 7way gauge on the 12v wire may be insufficient enough that it will fool that low voltage sensor. It's a common problem on some Jeep's rear 12v outlet.
Australians often run a completely separate, and heavier gauge, 12v line from their battery to the hitch, ending with an Anderson plug, to which a similar line on their trailer can plug into, avoiding using the 12v line in the 7way at all because it is not enough to power the add'l 12v needs on their adventure trailers. I'm getting ready to do the same with my van and trailer.
The best thing to do, really, is get a $42 ARB fridge wiring kit, which has 20' of 10AWG, an inline 15amp fuse, eyelets ready to connect to your battery, and a nice surface mount 12v outlet for the rear of your vehicle. And, if you change the 12v plug end on your fridge to an ARB 12v plug, "the cigarette plug tip can be removed and the special two pin plug can be screwed into the matching ARB power socket for a secure connection."
Works great at keeping the plug from vibrating out on washboard roads and rugged trails.
Can you do it? Sure, but it might not work as well as you'd like and seems like an odd workaround to just running a dedicated line from your battery. Then you'd be stuck with a 7way on your fridge and not be able to plug it in to any other 12v outlet.
Most 12v fridges have a low power setting, that when it thinks the battery is getting too low in voltage, will slow down the cooling of the fridge so you don't kill the starting battery. I have no doubt that the 7way gauge on the 12v wire may be insufficient enough that it will fool that low voltage sensor. It's a common problem on some Jeep's rear 12v outlet.
Australians often run a completely separate, and heavier gauge, 12v line from their battery to the hitch, ending with an Anderson plug, to which a similar line on their trailer can plug into, avoiding using the 12v line in the 7way at all because it is not enough to power the add'l 12v needs on their adventure trailers. I'm getting ready to do the same with my van and trailer.
The best thing to do, really, is get a $42 ARB fridge wiring kit, which has 20' of 10AWG, an inline 15amp fuse, eyelets ready to connect to your battery, and a nice surface mount 12v outlet for the rear of your vehicle. And, if you change the 12v plug end on your fridge to an ARB 12v plug, "the cigarette plug tip can be removed and the special two pin plug can be screwed into the matching ARB power socket for a secure connection."
Works great at keeping the plug from vibrating out on washboard roads and rugged trails.
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The 7 pin is not just to run lights, my Ram has a 30 amp fuse on that circuit. It could run the fridge no problem.
You can find a few different varieties of this:
I wouldn't use this if I had one of my trailers hooked up though due to the trailer brakes. 2 axles worth of electric brakes and lights can be 20+ amps from what I understand and there aren't many separate fuses for this wiring.
Edit: I took a look at the fuse box and the Electric brakes are on another fuse so I wouldn't even worry about it for my Ram 3500. The 12v for the 7 pin is on a standalone 30 amp fuse.
You can find a few different varieties of this:
I wouldn't use this if I had one of my trailers hooked up though due to the trailer brakes. 2 axles worth of electric brakes and lights can be 20+ amps from what I understand and there aren't many separate fuses for this wiring.
Edit: I took a look at the fuse box and the Electric brakes are on another fuse so I wouldn't even worry about it for my Ram 3500. The 12v for the 7 pin is on a standalone 30 amp fuse.
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jadmt
ignore button user
that is my plan. charge the jackery 1000 I just ordered for $500 (blem) and keep my fridge plugged into the Jackery.