I have a caravan in the planning stage and I have a Dometic 180w regulated portable solar panel and a 75 ltr car fridge. When parked up at times I may wish to run my car fridge from the caravan (2x 100 Ah batteries & 2 x 170w roof mounted panels) and plug the portable panel in to assist the van battery system which is lithium ready. The van and tug have 1 x red and grey anderson plugs and I would like to know the best wiring setup. Can I run the car fridge from an exterior 12v cigarette lighter or install extra anderson plugs?
I also have a portable 40Ah lithium battery that I can plug into a cigarette lighter and run the fridge while charging the van batteries if this is my best option.
-- Edited by David&Paulene on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 09:08:11 AM
Whenarewethere said
09:35 AM Dec 23, 2020
I will let someone else comment on wiring for a caravan as I don't tow.
Going off on a tangent adding insulation to the fridge dramatically reduces energy consumption & may solve issues from another perspective.
Hi D and P, I have a similar setup with a Waeco, portable solar and anderson plugs I use now and again with my caravan. I like to keep things separate so I tend to use the solar blanket to charge each individual battery in the van, I have one battery under the bed and another in the front locker, I have circuit breakers at the terminal of each battery (only way to go) and can isolate the batteries individually, charging with the rooftop solar on one (usually the under bed one) whilst using the blanket totally separate on the other. Obviously if I take my portable battery I can directly charge that with the blanket or via the "power" anderson plug on the draw bar using the rooftop solar. Vice versa you can also run the van off the portable battery plugged into the power anderson. I would suggest your grey plug is power and the red is either fridge or Alko ESC? As to the cigarette lighter plugs, my strong opinion is to use them only when necessary. I put two andersons plugged together just before the lighter plug on my fridge, then you can use the much-better-connection anderson where possible and still have the ability to plug them together and use the cigarette if necessary. I hope that all makes sense.
PS. Forgot to mention, if you have a 3 way fridge just remember that on 12V it uses the battery power to heat an element, it is VERY power hungry and is only really for when you are hooked up to car power and travelling. Make sure your car power to fridge is via a relay that shuts off when the car is stopped. Otherwise you will return to a flat battery after a lunch stop.
-- Edited by vince56 on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 10:24:49 AM
travelyounger said
10:41 AM Dec 23, 2020
David&Paulene wrote:
I have a caravan in the planning stage and I have a Dometic 180w regulated portable solar panel and a 75 ltr car fridge. When parked up at times I may wish to run my car fridge from the caravan (2x 100 Ah batteries & 2 x 170w roof mounted panels) and plug the portable panel in to assist the van battery system which is lithium ready. The van and tug have 1 x red and grey anderson plugs and I would like to know the best wiring setup. Can I run the car fridge from an exterior 12v cigarette lighter or install extra anderson plugs?
I also have a portable 40Ah lithium battery that I can plug into a cigarette lighter and run the fridge while
charging the van batteries if this is my best option.
Hi David and Paulene
You would be better off putting a duel battery with at least 120 amps agm or 100 lithium in your vehicle and charging with a dcdc charger most have isolaters in them to protect your start battery . You can run a wire from your auxiliary battery to your external solar panel via an Anderson plug as the panel has a solar regulator.Much the same way you would wire an Anderson to your van battery so you can swap and change to the conditions.If your van fridge runs on gas you should not need as much sun on your panels but a 240 12 watt will need to be charged most days depending how you set up your system
cheers
-- Edited by David&Paulene on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 09:08:11 AM
I have a caravan in the planning stage and I have a Dometic 180w regulated portable solar panel and a 75 ltr car fridge. When parked up at times I may wish to run my car fridge from the caravan (2x 100 Ah batteries & 2 x 170w roof mounted panels) and plug the portable panel in to assist the van battery system which is lithium ready. The van and tug have 1 x red and grey anderson plugs and I would like to know the best wiring setup. Can I run the car fridge from an exterior 12v cigarette lighter or install extra anderson plugs?
I also have a portable 40Ah lithium battery that I can plug into a cigarette lighter and run the fridge while charging the van batteries if this is my best option.
-- Edited by David&Paulene on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 09:08:11 AM
I will let someone else comment on wiring for a caravan as I don't tow.
Going off on a tangent adding insulation to the fridge dramatically reduces energy consumption & may solve issues from another perspective.
https://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t65059593/extra-fridge-insulation-wattage-test/
Hi D and P,
I have a similar setup with a Waeco, portable solar and anderson plugs I use now and again with my caravan.
I like to keep things separate so I tend to use the solar blanket to charge each individual battery in the van, I have one battery under the bed and another in the front locker, I have circuit breakers at the terminal of each battery (only way to go) and can isolate the batteries individually, charging with the rooftop solar on one (usually the under bed one) whilst using the blanket totally separate on the other.
Obviously if I take my portable battery I can directly charge that with the blanket or via the "power" anderson plug on the draw bar using the rooftop solar. Vice versa you can also run the van off the portable battery plugged into the power anderson.
I would suggest your grey plug is power and the red is either fridge or Alko ESC?
As to the cigarette lighter plugs, my strong opinion is to use them only when necessary. I put two andersons plugged together just before the lighter plug on my fridge, then you can use the much-better-connection anderson where possible and still have the ability to plug them together and use the cigarette if necessary.
I hope that all makes sense.
PS. Forgot to mention, if you have a 3 way fridge just remember that on 12V it uses the battery power to heat an element, it is VERY power hungry and is only really for when you are hooked up to car power and travelling. Make sure your car power to fridge is via a relay that shuts off when the car is stopped. Otherwise you will return to a flat battery after a lunch stop.
-- Edited by vince56 on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 10:24:49 AM