12 volt fridge on hook up

Discussion in 'Camper Conversions' started by martyn, Apr 9, 2016.

  1. How do you guys run your fridges from a mains hook up? My fridge just has gas and a 12 volt heater. I was thinking of installing an 8 amp 12v power supply fed from the mains but would a battery charger do the job?
     
  2. Get a suitably sized CTEK battery charger :)
     
  3. I have a 3 way now that only uses 12 volt when im driving. My old 2 way was fed via a battery charger used as a power supply. You do need a decent one, as you say they take around 8 amps. Possibly a ctek mxs 10 or above to give a couple of extra amps for any charging your battery etc.
     
  4. 3 way fridges take quite a lot of juice to run. I was testing the one I have in the Puck using a CTEK 7 and it dragged the Voltage right down, so if you're going to run it on 12V you will need a decent power supply. Why not use gas?
     
  5. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    As Dicky suggests got for the Ctek MXS 10. It has a constant power supply mode (as you are already considering) plus all the functionality of a smart battery charger.
    Our Dometic fridge (as per Westy US campmobile) is a very needy little unit but the 10 copes with ease:thumbsup:
     
  6. rickyrooo1

    rickyrooo1 Hanging round like a bad smell

    yeah get a ctek 10 if it's only 12v, i had a 7 in my bay and it struggled.
     
    theBusmonkey likes this.
  7. matty

    matty Supporter

    A 10 might struggle the fridges take 8 to 10 amp all the time so may over heat a
    Ctex
    It's better to look for a transformer power supply
     
    bernjb56 likes this.
  8. bernjb56

    bernjb56 Supporter

    We've gone transformer now with our 12v cooler as against recharging the leisure battery. It seems a more logical solution.
     
  9. rickyrooo1

    rickyrooo1 Hanging round like a bad smell

    are they silent? last one i had hummed - admit years ago but....
     
  10. bernjb56

    bernjb56 Supporter

    I don't think the transformer makes any noise. The cool box does though.
     
  11. Thanks guys. Following your feedback I have been looking on e bay for a power supply as having a separate charger makes the wiring simpler when on mains hook up. Have any of you seen or used this ( 281994417414 ) It seems just the ticket?.
     
  12. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    That seems either very cheap or exceptionally good value @martyn !!

    Personally I'd be wary of connecting an unregulated supply of 20amps to your leisure battery. Without seeing the tech. spec. you'd have to assume the unit outputs 20 amps regardless of the current draw from the appliances you have connected.

    Potentially that means that there is at least 10amps still going into the battery with the fridge on full chat, and up to 20 if you turn off/down the fridge & leave the transformer in-line & switched on.
    If so, there is a real risk of overcharging the battery resulting in possible excess gases and a risk of fire.

    I'd check with the seller & explain to him/her what you intend to do with the unit before committing to buy:D

    BTW, many years ago I used one of these..

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CARAVAN-M...436077?hash=item5421fc4e2d:g:8wAAAOSwPcVVlQNz

    BUT, I still had to remember to turn it on & off so the leisure battery wasn't cooked. US Westys have a timer on the fridge control panel in a rather simple attempt to help campers avoid blowing up lol. Now the MXS10 takes all the thinking out of our set up & copes easily with the 7-8 amps our fridge consumes. We used it continuously for a month on hook-up in Greece the year before last with no overheating issues at all!
     
    Hearny likes this.

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