Using the fridge on 12v when driving

What do people do about running their fridge (either 2 or 3 way) on 12v while travelling?
Do you bother or just add some freeze packs and hope for the best?

The 12V element on my electrolux used 8 amps when switched on so is only for use when the engine is running. Still takes a bit hit out of the leisure battery over 5 or 6 hours travelling as the split charge doesn't seem to put much in.

 

I used too but they suck so much and if you forget to switch over they do your bat in no time . I normally cool down for a day before i go and add frozen food and bottle of frozen squash and water ta drink when their .

 

@Zebedee , we always use ours when travelling. Never had any issues & it consumes 5-6 amps. In fact it makes ice in about an hour.
TBH if the charging system is in good nick (both batteries, regulator, alternator, relays & cabling) the alternator should easily cope with the draw over that period of engine running.

 

i have a 115amp alternator so i laugh in the face of your quaint old vans.

 

Think the leisure battery is probably on its way out then.
From fully charged the 4 hour trip to Tatton last weekend with the fridge on, plus 5 hours or so with the stereo playing on the night flattened it enough that it dropped below 12v and shut off the radio.

 

Something's wrong if it's a self switching relay it may be a problem with eather battery
With the engine running check the charging system is working take a voltage reading of the battery's they should show the same

 

Ice blocks in the fridge will keep things chilled down three or four hours without using the 12v. Only having a 1600 the loading is noticeable when the fridge is on (absorption type)

 

My Waeco compressor coolbox/fridge will run happily all day and all night off our 75 a/h leisure battery and split charger.

 

That's what we do also...yesterday met a couple at a show who have a yank dodge v6 campmobile who runs his engine non stop when camping at shows!!! uses £100 of petrol over a weekend and has a remote control exhaust diverter to change from direct 3 pipes each side to a high stack when parked up!!! Never seen so much gadgets in a campvan, 2 tvs, massive sound system, strobe lights and disco lights in suncanopy and lots of other gizmos. He was a one man music festival.

 

yeh but if your only driving hr or so , no point really , if you fill with cold or frozen stuff , it dont melt even after slogging fa 4hrs ive ben thinking about taking a balloon filled with water n frozen , n chip if ice ta suit

 

But you need that to feed all the unecessary points of failure in a modern vehicle. Probably still only have 20 amps to spare for other things..

 

We cool ours down the night before, freeze everything that you can like sausages and bacon, we usually cook a curry or a chilli and freeze that also, cool your drinks down before then just put it all in before we leave, it stay cold for ages until you get on site

 

We drive with the fridge on but it doesn't doesn't get anywhere near as cold as it does with hookup. Try to remember to switch it off when parked but usually forget and have flattened the LB

 

Plug the 12v only cool box in the leisure outlet. In the past we run the 3way on 12v while driving.

 

If you are going to use the fridge when you are driving, be quick and make sure you're on a straight bit of road

 

I have an awesome cool box I made for my bus in an old steamer trunk with two separate compartments made of polystyrene boxes about two feet square each with a fair bit of extra insulation underneath. One is quite cold and one very cold for my Stella. I've experimented with a few different ideas of cooling things down and the best is to get the house fridge turned to maximum the night before and cool down the Stella so it's almost icy. I also use water in plastic bottles frozen for a couple of days prior. The trick is to empty the water out of the bottles two or three times a day which is great if you like very cold water and if you don't then plonk it in your kettle ready for a brew. By tipping the water out of the bottles, the ice melts much slower and in effect you are taking the heat out of the cool box. Works very well and lasts about three days plus using large water bottles, and I seem to get more ice left if I use two pint milk bottles. It seems the larger the lump of ice the longer it takes to melt especially if you can tip the water off. Toying with the idea of using a couple of ice cream tubs and having a larger icy lump, might work, think the theory is sound

Ozziedog,,,,, and that's more than can be said for me!!

 

I stick my fridge on 240v the night before and don't have any issues by the time I get to a campsite.