Fridge or wait ?

[67cj5]

This wiring lark gets really confusing because I plugged my 47L into one of those 4 in 1 cigar socket packs but the wire feeding the 4 in 1 is about 16 or 18g now by rights that should not work because the cable is about 4ft long plus the ARB's factory lead so it should not be working but for some reason it does,

Then problem number 2 was when I bought the little Dometic CDF-18/CF-18, I bought a 10Amp power supply from Amazon and it started the fridge and then the fridge cut out so I turned it off and set the CDF-18s battery protection to low and all was fine with the world, The CDF-18 only runs from 12v power so you need to buy a power supply for it be it the Dometic one which is 4X the price of the one I bought but they both are rated at 10Amps so if it's rated at 10A It should of been able to run a fridge that has a Peak Amprage of about 4Ah at the most,

My point is there is a fine line when it comes to powering these things and what should be does not always pan out, My way of getting around this is to go OTT every time when it comes to wiring, yeah it costs more but I never have to re do things,

 

[dreadlocks]

I always wished my ARB woulda displayed the voltage it was getting so then you'd know just looking at it how much drop it was seeing..

Most fixed supplies at 12.0VDC would see that as a battery over half discharged, so I can see that being an issue.. if you open power supply up might have a pot on it you can adjust the voltage, if you crank it up to like 13v it'd probably be fine with any LVD setting you had.

My camper came with a non compressor dometic, I gave it away.. not even worth the trouble, like 40AH a day to not even keep food cold.

 

[67cj5]

Good Idea, thanks for that I will take a peak inside,

I just had a brainwave regarding your ARB, ?? If you buy the remote Gizmo they make for them you could adjust things via that, mmm Hang on I got a new one here still in the pack I will see what it can do, ??

 

[67cj5]

Well it will display the Voltage and the Temp in C or F and you can change the channel it uses,

At leased that will give you the display back,

 

[dreadlocks]

its more not being able to change settings, like put LVD on low or any indication its running or not.. since LVD just stops the compressor from kicking on and not the internal light from turning on the unit just slowly warms up when battery is dead heh... its just my office beer fridge now on 120v, thought about trying to find the parts to order and fixing it myself just to gift to dad.

 

[67cj5]

Well from what I have seen it is a basic plugNplay panel, also since they have bought out the new Grey and Black ones they must have a heap of spares somewhere at HQ, ??

 

[86scotty]

Interesting conversation here. I have a 74l Truckfridge Steel (IndelB TB74 rebranded) that has the Secop/Danfoss. It has been bulletproof for about 5 years until hundreds of miles of washboard and trails a month ago. Now the compressor rattles loudly. I've had it apart. It is an internal compressor rattle. The only fix I know of is several hundred for TF to put a new complete cooling unit in it. Not sure if I want to. Why?

Low voltage cutout! I have a dedicated group 31 AGM for this fridge tied to an MPPT/100 watt panel and dedicated 10 gauge cabling to it, yet it still cuts off on occasion. It is also tied to my chassis battery with a Blue Sea isolator and we don't stay put long. The battery is not the problem, nor is the wiring. There's maybe a 10' run of 10 guage wire to the fridge from the battery. So, sorry for the long story but here's my question:

Do none of the Engels have a low voltage cut off? Which other brands do not? I'd love to know definitively and purchase one that does not have this feature. I check my batteries constantly. I'd like to decide when to cut the voltage or address the situation. TF's settings, even on low, are way too picky and though the fridge has been rock solid I'm really sick of this.

I'm also wondering if the swing compressor (Engel and maybe a few others?) are more reliable even if a little louder. I have proven (to myself) that even though most folks stand by Secop/Danfoss I have personally killed one and would prefer to try something different. Seems like lots of people have had Engels for 15 or more years with no trouble other than a little noise.

 

[dreadlocks]

Do none of the Engels have a low voltage cut off?

AFIK I've never seen an Engel w/Internal LVD... dunno of any others without it and the swingarm that are not just rebranded engels but they might be out there.. tons more fridges on market today than there was when I was shopping last.. but most are trying to outdo each other w/features it seems like, so I wouldn't spend too much time looking if simple and solid is what your after.

I know of guys running these in Westfalias for decades, back in the 90's and early Aughts everyone was putting Engels in em..

 

[67cj5]

Interesting conversation here. I have a 74l Truckfridge Steel (IndelB TB74 rebranded) that has the Secop/Danfoss. It has been bulletproof for about 5 years until hundreds of miles of washboard and trails a month ago. Now the compressor rattles loudly. I've had it apart. It is an internal compressor rattle. The only fix I know of is several hundred for TF to put a new complete cooling unit in it. Not sure if I want to. Why?

Low voltage cutout! I have a dedicated group 31 AGM for this fridge tied to an MPPT/100 watt panel and dedicated 10 gauge cabling to it, yet it still cuts off on occasion. It is also tied to my chassis battery with a Blue Sea isolator and we don't stay put long. The battery is not the problem, nor is the wiring. There's maybe a 10' run of 10 guage wire to the fridge from the battery. So, sorry for the long story but here's my question:

Do none of the Engels have a low voltage cut off? Which other brands do not? I'd love to know definitively and purchase one that does not have this feature. I check my batteries constantly. I'd like to decide when to cut the voltage or address the situation. TF's settings, even on low, are way too picky and though the fridge has been rock solid I'm really sick of this.

I'm also wondering if the swing compressor (Engel and maybe a few others?) are more reliable even if a little louder. I have proven (to myself) that even though most folks stand by Secop/Danfoss I have personally killed one and would prefer to try something different. Seems like lots of people have had Engels for 15 or more years with no trouble other than a little noise.

I think the newer Engels have the LVC but you might want to confirm that, the earlier models did not have it, But even if you buy a fridge that does not have it, Dometic have a lead that has a Low Voltage Cut Out built in to the LEAD and the Part Number is " COOLPOWER M50U Voltage monitor", It costs about $20 +/- , I have one sitting here In case I want to run other 12v gizmos,

Your fridge might of had a Danfos/Secop Compressor but not all Danfos/Secop compressors are equal, For a start there are Dozens of Danfos Compressors, In fact there are hundreds and a lot of fridge companies fit the cheaper versions, Some can use 12v/24v/110v/240v, OTHERS are only 12v/24v and some fridge companies fit a 110/240v transformer in to the unit, The sales pitch is deceiving because they say it has a Danfos compressor "Which" it does but it has the budget model,

Other Danfos Compressors have 12v/24v/110v/240v built in the one unit with no need for a transformer to step up the power from 12v to 240v, The secrete is knowing the part numbers and if the compressor Numbers are different then walk away because a lot of compressors that have trouble with either the 12v supply or the 240v supply because these will be fitted with a step up transformer and it will be hidden within the fridge body,

The Best part numbers are the BD-1.4F and BD-35F and the BD-50F and the BD-80F, If there are any other letters or numbers next to these I have listed forget it,,

The BD-35F is the industry standard and is the most common in all "past" National Luna's and it will power fridges as big as 100L or more and the BD-50 can power a domestic cold room or a Fridge Truck so don't think because they are small they don't have the Horsepower because they do,

Any ways I hope that helps.

 

[dreadlocks]

ah it looks like the platinum Engels have low voltage cutoffs, but checking out the manual it lets you disable it entirely if you wish:

 

[67cj5]

Yeah Dread the shut off is a useful feature but I am not sure I would want to let the batteries get that low, It could be handy if a person wanted to run the fridge directly off of a Solar panel,

If your does not have it just get that Dometic Lead/Socket and your good to Go, Yeah.

 

[dreadlocks]

thats not necessarily what the battery is at though, just what the fridge is seeing on its end of things, with its own load.. perhaps with other loads running off same branch, mebe you fire up an air compressor and drag the voltage down low enough it drops but it dont bounce back high enough to come back on after, though ur battery is not near cutoff.. it seems like good protection, but its not.

Victron Battery Protect, like $40 installed at your battery to drop EVERYTHING, including the crap less important than your fridge will work better.. or spend $20 more and get the Smart Model and you can specify the cutoff voltage and resume voltages you want down to the hundredth of a volt..

*edit* BatteryProtects are 1 way devices, dont run a charge current thru em backwards!

 

[67cj5]

Yep, that's why my 3X 31's are for the fridge and the Lithiums run the little CDF-18 and my toys, If I need to run the compressor I can hook that to the Main vehicle battery,

That's the beauty of separate power banks, lol.

 

[86scotty]

The BD-35F is the industry standard and is the most common in all "past" National Luna's and it will power fridges as big as 100L or more and the BD-50 can power a domestic cold room or a Fridge Truck so don't think because they are small they don't have the Horsepower because they do,

Any ways I hope that helps.

I am familiar with the Secop model numbers. I'm almost certain I looked this up awhile ago and mine (and other Truckfridges) have the BD-35.

I'm not affiliated with TF but they are about 100 miles north of me and I love their products. I've bought 8 or 10 of them now for various rigs I've had and for others I've built/flipped. The TF130 front door model in my work truck is unbeatable for my use or for an RV or camper van. They are all rebranded IndelB's as far as I know and all have the Secop BD-35. I'm gonna research more though. Also, they are an amazing value for a DC fridge. I paid $599 for this 74l 5 or so years ago, it's gone up maybe $100. I hate the idea of shelling out $1500 for a similar sized Engel almost as much as I hate the thought of warm beer.

 

[67cj5]

I am familiar with the Secop model numbers. I'm almost certain I looked this up awhile ago and mine (and other Truckfridges) have the BD-35.

I'm not affiliated with TF but they are about 100 miles north of me and I love their products. I've bought 8 or 10 of them now for various rigs I've had and for others I've built/flipped. The TF130 front door model in my work truck is unbeatable for my use or for an RV or camper van. They are all rebranded IndelB's as far as I know and all have the Secop BD-35. I'm gonna research more though. Also, they are an amazing value for a DC fridge. I paid $599 for this 74l 5 or so years ago, it's gone up maybe $100. I hate the idea of shelling out $1500 for a similar sized Engel almost as much as I hate the thought of warm beer.

Yes but the Trouble is there are at leased 12 models of the BD-35, You want the BD-35F because the other BD-35's are the wrong ones,

Some have different power supplies some use different gases some use all the combinations, But the Best model is the BD-35F,

Danfos /Secop make about 2 that the ones you want in the 35 range, These are incredible compressor and Danfos has made over 8 million of them to date.

And just to throw even more confusion in to the mix, Danfos /Secop make over 600 different compressor models.