We are looking at purchasing an engel fridge to take away when we free camp . We are not too technically minded so would like some advice on how to best set this up. We are off to the Caravan and Camping show in Adelaide to purchase but would like to know a bit more before we go. Our idea is to get a fridge around 40-50 size. We have an older van which we put in a battery system to power van lights etc when camping and this works well . We basically charge it when driving . We are looking at probably no more than a week out without power. We are thinking along the lines of a solar panel and then a portable battery to charge it, any help or advice greatly appreciated. We have seen a thumper which was quite expensive and wondering if there is any alternative or would this be the best idea. We plan to use it quite a lot so happy to pay for the best option
we have a waeco 220 ltr fridge and a 45 ltr Techneice portable that we intend to use as a freezer , powered by 2x 140 w panels feeding 2x105Ah D/S batteries , works very well.Just calculate the power that you draw now and calculate from there . The Techneice only draws about 3 amps (36 watts ) . Presuming yours has around the same current draw and with a good panel , you shouldn`t have too much of a problem.
To stay out without traveling you will need big battery power and solar and or wind generator ore a nice small genset and a good battery charger at lest 30amps the thumpers are not big enough for any lenght of time
An Engel 40 litre fridge has a current draw of 0.5 to 2.5 AMPS Maximum according to the Engel web site. If you assume an average of 1.5 amps using the unit as a fridge , then the daily draw over 24 hours is 36 amp hours. A 100 watt solar panel will output approx 5.5 amps per hour (100 watts divided by the normal voltage of around 18 volts). So, if you are getting say 7 sun hours a day your 100 watt solar panel will output approx 38 amp hours - just enough to cover the usage of the fridge. There are sun hour maps available for Australia showing the sun hours by location.
So a 100 watt panel alone is not enough to provide a safety margin. You need more. Also you will need a solar controller, cabling and an anderson plug or two. And you need to make sure your battery is a deep cycle battery and not just a cranking battery. It needs to be at minimum 100 amp hr deep cycle as you should only discharge deep cycle batteries down to 50% State of Charge (SOC). That means you use half the capacity of the battery, which in your case will cover the draw of the Engel.
A thumper will not do what you need in the scenario you are proposing. However they are always useful bits of gear, if you have the spare weight capacity to carry one.
Solar panels are big and heavy and you will need two or a folding panel that has two -(say a 160 watt unit with 2 x 80 watts) and that needs to be factored into the overall load capacity of your van - if you are going to carry them in the van. You also have to lug them about as you chase the sun during the day - assuming you have them freestanding.
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Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander Diesel 2011, AVan Cruiseliner 2011
What we did is buy on Ebay a Waeco copy 50l fridge for just under $500 delivered. It draws about 2 to 4 amps when running which can vary from 30% to 100%. Also bought on Ebay a 80 watt folding solar panel for $155 delivered. Our camper has a 100 a/h battery fitted standard.
When we pull up, the Waeco copy is connected to the van battery as is the solar panel which on a sunny day will pump out 6 amps (measured). As long as it doesn't cloud over 100% for a few days in a row you should not run out of battery power for the fridge.
Lights in the van are all LED's so draw minimal power.
If you keep it simple you have less to go wrong plus less to cart around.
we ran a 60L Engel in our camper trailer powered by a 135AH VRLA battery which was charged from the alternator of my troopy via Redarc BCDC1225 battery charger which was located in the trailer, beside the battery. We also had a 120W folding solar panel which connects directly to the BCDC (not through the regulator on the panels) and used a relay energised by an ignition feed to select between the two, as per this diagram from the redarc website. The BCDC can be configured to charge different types of batteries as well eg. GEL/AGM - Lead Acid - Calcium.
We used this setup over a 20 odd day period mainly for overnight stays, with a few 2 and 3 day stays, without external power up through the centre of Aus (so plenty of sunshine at the time). We never ran out of enough battery power to run the fridge and 4 led light strips, with a bit of use on a laptop thrown in as well. The fridge was set at around 1deg to 2deg for this time.
Although I had no way to monitor battery state of charge, and considering the ambient temp overnight was around the 2deg to 4deg, I reckon we could have got at least another day without power or charging from the alternator as it usually took only 4 to 5 hours of sunlight to bring the BCDC up to float charge stage.
The BCDC charger can be bought a lot cheaper off Ebay too, just make sure the seller has excellent feedback.
