When driving you can (and most do) run the fridge on 12v and the van battery will be recharged (to a degree) as long as you have a cable capable of carrying at least 30 amps....generally people will have an Anderson plug and heavy cabling just for this purpose. The cabling for the Anderson plug should come straight off the tow vehicles battery otherwise you will suffer voltage drop.
Good Luck.
-- Edited by hako on Tuesday 14th of November 2017 07:00:23 PM
In addition to Hako's advice I would add that if your Eagle is fitted with a 12 pin towing plug then all you need to do is ensure that you have a 10 sq mm red and black from your battery to the two large pins in your cars socket which connect to your fridge. If it is an older Eagle with a 7 pin plug then you will benefit from adding this cabling via an Andersen plug as mentioned.
Battery charging is a little more technical though. Most modern day cars have smart alternators which drop their voltage once they have finished bringing the cranking battery on the car up to full charge. Unfortunatey then, the voltage output from the alternator is too low to charge your camper battery fully and a bcdc charger of sorts is useful here. Sited nest to the battery it is charging this type of charger takes the lowered voltage from your battery and compensates for this (plus the voltage loss in the cables feeding it) and steps the charging voltage up so that your battery charges fully.
Make sure that your fridge is cold before you turn it onto 12v and hit the road. Think of the 12 V as a "maintenance" energy source in that it is just sufficient in most cases to maintain the fridges temperature. You may well be disappointed to stock your fridge with new unchilled beers and wines etc and expect the warm fridge to chill them on a 2 hour trip using 12 V
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Landrover Discovery 4 towing a New Age Manta Ray MR19E
Hello Shane,
Up until a year ago, we had an Eagle Outback & while I did run the fridge once off our GQ (& I felt the power drain).
We found by turning the fridge on a good 1/2 day before setting off & freezing water bottles & leaving them in the fridge, we could get away with 700kms (or a day's travel) with everything still cold in the fridge area & frozen in the freezer compartment - without running with the power on. The fridge ran like a big esky & just starting with 4 frozen bottles in the fridge area with your other food.
You should fill the fridge - cooling empty space is a waste anyhow. The other thing to remember is that there is a vent on top of the fridge which may come in contact with the clear window & could at an extreme case cause over heating/burning.
Welcome to the forum - I hope you both enjoy it & learn more about enjoying the great outdoors! We had our Eagle for nine years & it certainly went to places I don't think our heavier van will see! The forum has been very helpful to me - there are quite a few very experienced people on it. Utilise the "Search" button & if you can't find what you want, then join in on the other sections.
Warren
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
Thanks warren, good advice we don't plan on doing big day drives anyway so we will take your advice, I didn't think about the heat vent being covered while driving, would you recommend a CB radio for contacting others if breakdown shane
Hello Shane,
Contrary to some of my friends, a UHF radio is essential, I believe. If there is a traffic jam on a road not usually blocked, you can hear if there has been an accident & perhaps take an alternative route. Communicating with truckies (chn 40) is essential as mostly you're on "holidays" & they are working. Be careful close to cities as you may hear some unsavoury language - out in the country, most drivers are friendly enough.
Keeping in touch with friends travelling with you is another use. We're bird watchers & it took some time to convince the clubs up here to fit radios. Now nearly every car has a set & our portable safety kits carry a set of hand-helds.
All the best,
Warren
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
