Quote:
Originally Posted by sgt_doofey
The Kings fridge I have allegedly uses approximately 1Ah when just cycling normally when not being opened too much (Secop compressor). So the 75Ah battery should be ok for overnight. The Kings 60L fridges are apparently a rebadged Waeco fridge.
I will be having drinks in an esky to minimise opening of the fridge throughout the day.
The 150w solar panel is rated to a max of 8.33A, obviously in perfect conditions. Even at 20% capacity, it should be around the 2Ah mark, so should be able to keep up. (Fingers crossed!)
The times I've used the fridge on the battery so far has been whilst I've been playing cricket. For about 4 hours of usage, the battery voltage is only dropping to about 12.9V, and I don't have the solar panel on it either.
I understand that the battery is probably a little on the low side for Ah for what I intend to do, but it's all I can afford for now. I'll see how it goes and I'll upgrade at some stage in the future. It's a start and I can always update going forward. If I had the money, I would have shelled out for a LiFePO lithium, but they are still very expensive.
I'll keep the battery on the solar charger at home. That does float charging.
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Im not going to argue with you mate, if you bought within your budget and are happy then thats ok, but dont be fooled by their spin, theres no way a 60l budget fridge only draws 1ah, heck even Engel or other high end units draw more and they'd be in controlled conditions, not in the back of your car or in a tent.
Reading reviews of the Kings fridges and battery consumption is a repeated concern, so too is temp. stability and thermostat accuracy, they go hand in hand and neither support a 1ah figure.
Dont get me wrong, ive been there myself, my first fridge was a Companion 60l in a bag, i thought it was great, then it got pinched and i replaced it with 2 smaller fridges to split the uses, drinks and perishables in the Dometic45l frozen in the Waeco 18l and in all honesty, the two replacements are as efficient as the one big unit as i only open each when necessary, i ran both at Barmera a couple of yeats ago in 30* heat and no problems at all., now i have an absorption fridge in the van the 18l sits in the shed.
My Dometic Waeco has a 3* cycle, so i set it at 1 and it cycles between 0 and 3*. Last week at West beach in cool overnight conditions still used 2ah or 20% of my battery overnight and that was chocker block full and unopened which is the most efficient way of running them.
Some of those Kings reviews were stating upwards of 10* cycle fluctuation, so whilst they cut out for a while, the work hard on startup again.
My2c.