Van has 2 x 80W panels, 2 X 110AH batteries, 1 X 120W portable solar panel
Car has a 100AH battery fitted.
Do I put another battery in the car to run the fridge (80L Waeco) or  plug the portable panel into the existing car battery via an anderson plug? Will this be enough?
When camped, I can plug the solar and fridge into the van.

I would be tempted to run the van as "seperate unit" to the car, you have more than enough power and recharge availability in there to do the job run all power off the vans batterys including the waeco, place the waeco in the car when travelling and use the onboard charging system to power that, alternatively keep the fridge in the rear of the car and place a double "live" back to battery cigarette lighter in the back, place the fridge intake into one of the lighter sockets and place the incoming power of your 120 watt portable solar in to the other as you draw power from the battery it will be recharged by the solar and will not affect your starter battery the solar on the van could easily cope with the waeco sitting on that as well, if you can find a space that is not in your way in the van then leave it in there powered by the onboard batterys and recharged by your solar either way will be fine

You've got a a fairly solid set up there, guys.

If I understand you correctly, you just want to run the portable fridge while you are driving.
If this is so, then your car alternator should have plenty of capacity to keep the cranking battery charged, even when the fridge is drawing current.
But, and this is a big but, you will need to disconnect the fridge from the car battery immediately after switching off the motor.

If you forget, you will soon have a flat battery, since very few cranking batteries have much by way of reserve current.

However, connecting your folding solar panel to the car system will provide ample current to run the fridge and keep the battery charged while it is in the sun's rays.

When the sun ain't shining you'll need to disconnect the fridge from the car tout suit, otherwise the previously implied starting difficulties and buggered cranking battery could be the result.

Keeping the fridge well ventilated and out of direct sunlight, is always a good thing.
Extra insulation helps a lot too.

I much prefer the "cranking" battery and the "house" battery be kept well and truly seperate, to underestimate the necesity of the cranking battery is a bad, bad thing, do it at your peril

to assume the vehicles alternator is up to bearing the extra load without consultation with the manufacturers specifications is actually not a good thing, in this day of see and be seen (headlights on 24 hours a day) and air conditioning becoming standard the load on the alternator has increased dramatically and it is being seen to fall short

increasingly we are replacing more alternators with after market more powerfull ones to see to the demand ( I work in a mechanical feild, dealing with vehicles of all makes and models everyday)

in the eastern states where it gets a little chilly it is not unknown to have heaters on, demisters on, lights on, windscreen wipers on, cd player/stereo on, with a load of this measure very few standard alternaters would cope with the extra burden of the fridge

make it known to yourself the output of your alternater and speak to an auto electrician to see if it is up to the load that you are going to place on it before expecting it to cope with any extra, remembering the fridge is going to be running a lot more than the norm simply because it is in the back window in direct sun, just assuming can and does get a lot of folks into trouble

wherever possible assure the survival of your cranking battery and isolate the fridge draw to a secondary supply



-- Edited by dave06 on Sunday 11th of October 2009 06:43:07 PM

Hi Gary.....I bought and had installed in the Paj.....a waeco wiring kit http://www.waeco.com.au/products.asp?id=355&catId=&subCatId=&subCatId2=# it monitors the vehicles battery....and will switch off if gets to low.. "Heavy-duty to suit all WAECO Kompressor fridge/freezers. Highly recommended for replacement of standard vehicle cigarette lighter sockets which are often inadequate to properly run fridges due to thin wiring and associated voltage drops. One kit does all." Or you can buy a jumpstarter from Supercheap....run waeco on that.......till you setup camp.then recharge that from Solar panel setup the 80lt is heavy on power....Av. Power Consumption: 2.9 amps/hr (@ 12V, 5°C fridge, -15°C (approx.) freezer, 32°C ambient temperature) My 40lt ...........Av. Power Consumption: 0.87 amps/hr (@ 12V, 5°C interior, 32°C ambient temperature) Dave

watch those jumpstarters, most arent worth two bob!, I'd do what Davo says and keep it all in the van

On the subject of fridge powering , got caught out recently when a 12 volt  inline fuse failed , obviously didn't read the instruction manual from cover to cover,if I had i would have noted the fuse is contained in the plug itself and it's a ceramic fuse like that used in the old VW's . Can't see why a glass fuse couldn't be used certainly easier to find on a weekend.

-- Edited by Wombat 280 on Saturday 31st of October 2009 07:13:10 PM

wombat a ceramic fuse will carry more currant before it blows.. no air getting at the wire.. your right a glass one is much better to look see.. most times.. have been caught with the fuse looking good but no connect....use the old metter to be sure..Bob

BobnBev wrote:

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wombat a ceramic fuse will carry more currant before it blows.. no air getting at the wire.. your right a glass one is much better to look see.. most times.. have been caught with the fuse looking good but no connect....use the old metter to be sure..Bob

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The old ceramic fuses that the VWs used have the fusible link in the fresh air. They are a small piece of ceramic material with conical ends. There is one piece of metal that forms the conical contacts that fit over the ends with a connecting strip between them. The fusible is on the side of the ceramic bit. They are still available in places like SuperCheap - Ok for some but few and far between out in the boon docks.

 

I have found glass fuses to be notoriously unreliable particularly when mounted in "el cheapo" in-line fuse holders (both fuse and fuse holder being the culprits).

I've also found the automotive type plugs and sockets (both cig lighter and Hella types) to be not sufficiently reliable for in-car fridge use and have replaced them with the Clipsal 2 pin "T" polarised type  http://search.dse.com.au/search?w=clipsal&x=57&y=14&sessionid=4b0fa54105ddb63e273fc0a87e010680&ts=new

You will need to wire a fuseholder into the lead as the original is removed when the plug is changed over.... I use a "blade" type fuse.

As I recall the "VW" type ceramic fuse is the type used in the Waeco plugs (as distinct from the ceramic M205 or 3AG types similar to the glass ones)

Decided to have a 110AH battery fitted in back of car, will charge via the alternator while driving and i can plug the portable solar panel into the existing anderson plug when camped.Dual battery isolater fitted to prevent cranking battery from getting to low. $500 all up.

Found this article http://www.4wdmonthly.com.au/tips_fridge.php to be useful.