arb fridge...what single battery setup being used?

canadiansr5

canadiansr5

New member
hey guys!
so i buckled and picked up a 47L arb fridge a few weeks back. i installed a direct-from-battery wiring loom and individual outlet in the rear cargo compartment. I went ahead and let the battery run throughout the night, and much to my surprise, the oem (panasonic, i believe) battery used in my 5th gen only lasted about 16 hours. (with fridge "set" to 35 F and med battery protection) so my question is:

1. is this the norm for guys running one battery in their rigs?

2. if not....what battery in a single setup are guys using? deep cycle?

thanks for the input in advance!!!
 
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Yep, overnight is about all my stock battery would ever do. Even with the cutoff protection set to high, the daily drain/recharge killed my stock battery in a few months.

Replacement is a diehard platinum group 31M. That runs the fridge for days without being recharged in 100+ temps, and being a deep cycle, doesn't mind the constant drain/recharge. Works great for winching, and the starter spins at about normal speed at -20F.

It is very heavy, and you will have to do some slight modifications to your batter terminals, or replace the terminals.
 
Jeremy556 said:
Yep, overnight is about all my stock battery would ever do. Even with the cutoff protection set to high, the daily drain/recharge killed my stock battery in a few months.

Replacement is a diehard platinum group 31M. That runs the fridge for days without being recharged in 100+ temps, and being a deep cycle, doesn't mind the constant drain/recharge. Works great for winching, and the starter spins at about normal speed at -20F.

It is very heavy, and you will have to do some slight modifications to your batter terminals, or replace the terminals.
Click to expand...

Excellent thanks! Look forward to cold beveys all the time...not just some of the time :cheers:
 
id just like to give a quick update on a situation i had with my (now previous) arg fridge….so here is the situation:
i picked up an arb 47L fridge from a canadian company out east, and was thrilled to get it home and set up. when i received it i got it all working and hard wired in and went from there. the problem with it i noticed a few days later as the fridge wouldn't actually go below 0C or 33F. Needless to say i was a little frustrated. i contacted arb directly and questioned why this would be. Mitch was excellent in assisting me with this. he came to the conclusion that it must be a low coolant level and was prompt in shipping me a new fridge. I understand that the fridge was essentially brand new, but it is just reassuring to hear of such excellent customer service in todays world. so i got the new fridge yesterday and now couldn't be happier….and he even threw in a travel bag for my problems.

just thought id give ARB props when due. won't hesitate to buy anything from them again. :thumb:
 
canadiansr5 said:
id just like to give a quick update on a situation i had with my (now previous) arg fridge….so here is the situation:
i picked up an arb 47L fridge from a canadian company out east, and was thrilled to get it home and set up. when i received it i got it all working and hard wired in and went from there. the problem with it i noticed a few days later as the fridge wouldn't actually go below 0C or 33F. Needless to say i was a little frustrated. i contacted arb directly and questioned why this would be. Mitch was excellent in assisting me with this. he came to the conclusion that it must be a low coolant level and was prompt in shipping me a new fridge. I understand that the fridge was essentially brand new, but it is just reassuring to hear of such excellent customer service in todays world. so i got the new fridge yesterday and now couldn't be happier….and he even threw in a travel bag for my problems.

just thought id give ARB props when due. won't hesitate to buy anything from them again. :thumb:
Click to expand...

If you go below 0C then it's not a fridge, it's a freezer.

So, speaking of fridges, Did you hear about the guy who cooled himself to absolute zero?

Don't worry, he's 0K.
 
So would one run a separate 15A fuse protected circuit straight from the 31M die hard battery and call it a day? Or is there way to re-wire the 12V socket at the back so it stays on all the time?
 
KiruxaT4R said:
So would one run a separate 15A fuse protected circuit straight from the 31M die hard battery and call it a day? Or is there way to re-wire the 12V socket at the back so it stays on all the time?
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yes, i ran a second wire with a 15 amp fuse straight from the battery to an alternate plug on the drivers side rear cargo area. ARB actually makes a kit that makes the install painless....but if you want to piece it together yourself you don't really need much for parts.
 
1engineer said:
If you go below 0C then it's not a fridge, it's a freezer.
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ARB calls it a Fridge Freezer. Actually goes down to -18C.

1engineer said:
So, speaking of fridges, Did you hear about the guy who cooled himself to absolute zero?

Don't worry, he's 0K.
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I don't know if it's worse that you made that joke or that I got it right away...

BTW, I run my fridge off the two plugs in the back without a direct battery connection. Battery protection set to low, temp usually set at about 1C until a few hours before turning in when I set it to -3C. I let it run until I go to bed then shut it off and it stays cold until I start it again in the morning. Had no problem keeping stuff cold even in the interior of BC where it was 38C.
 
canadiansr5 said:
yes, i ran a second wire with a 15 amp fuse straight from the battery to an alternate plug on the drivers side rear cargo area. ARB actually makes a kit that makes the install painless....but if you want to piece it together yourself you don't really need much for parts.
Click to expand...

Thank you
 
just a little update.... after a long wait i finally received my 'OEM look-a-like' switch from Air on Board switches. easy install, looks as good as stock, and fits in the slot that was already in the dash perfectly.
 

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Intruder said:
BTW, I run my fridge off the two plugs in the back without a direct battery connection. Battery protection set to low, temp usually set at about 1C until a few hours before turning in when I set it to -3C. I let it run until I go to bed then shut it off and it stays cold until I start it again in the morning. Had no problem keeping stuff cold even in the interior of BC where it was 38C.
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I've been asking everyone and their mother if I can wire the fridge like this and the answer has been no across the boar. Main reason is that it's not strong enough. The other reason, and why I almost gave up, is that mine shut off once the car is turned off. Even in AUX it doesn't run...
I would love to use the factory plugs if you have a way around the issue of automatic shutoff.
 
Intruder, I believe, was talking about using his TOW plug, not "TWO" plugs in the rear. Yes, there is +12 at the tow plug without the need of your key, and it should be able to supply the arb with more than enough current to keep it powered just fine, but if your battery is not up to it, you'll still end up with a dead battery.

I believe the wire is a 12 gauge wire to the tow plug, but not positive about that. It should have a fuse somewhere, but I couldn't tell if the trailer fuse covered that line.

My suggestion, as its always been, is to just run the wire from the battery directly to the rear area, its just safer to do and it does not require any real electrical knowledge to do so! As long as you don't hook it up to the battery while you're running it to the back, you'll be fine! Lots and lots of writeups on this to follow! It shouldn't take much more than a couple of hours, max, to do this, unless you get all fancy and decide to install new cig plugs in the rear with volt meters or extra power ports with usb plugs!

You can even wire it directly to the existing 12VDC cig plug in the rear, its what I did so I could keep it looking stock with no extra jacks and wires in the back.
 
flyinhawaiian01 said:
shouldn't take much more than a couple of hours, max, to do this, unless you get all fancy and decide to install new cig plugs in the rear with volt meters or extra power ports with usb plugs!

You can even wire it directly to the existing 12VDC cig plug in the rear, its what I did so I could keep it looking stock with no extra jacks and wires in the back.
Click to expand...

Hey, I resemble that remark... :moon:
 
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