Fridge on 12V

[Pieter]

Hi all,
I picked up my new van a couple of weeks ago. Must say Warburton in Bundi did a great job! They even told me about the light in the grab handle at the door!:tape2: I read that some people only discovered that recently! :yell:
So far we have had no warranty issues as such. Found my hot water system not working on 240VAC, but discovered it was not plugged into the powerpoint!:smash:

My question today is:
If you turn the fridge to 12V without the anderson plug connected to the car, should it draw power from the caravan battery? I did this and it did nothing, I left it overnight and the fridge showed no sign of cooling and the battery remained full. When I mentioned this to the dealer at my first service they said that it will only work when the anderson plug is connected.
Does anyone have any info regarding this please?
Cheers
Pieter

 

[boots33]

Your dealer is correct the fridge is wired to only work from your tow vehicle on 12v. This is to stop you from running your van battery flat unnecessarily. when stopped it is best to use 240v or gas. It would be easy enough to hook the fridge to the van battery but i would not advise it as it would (in most cases) drain the battery flat well before morning. !2v is primarily meant for use while traveling.

 

[Pieter]

Your dealer is correct the fridge is wired to only work from your tow vehicle on 12v. This is to stop you from running your van battery flat unnecessarily. when stopped it is best to use 240v or gas. It would be easy enough to hook the fridge to the van battery but i would not advise it as it would (in most cases) drain the battery flat well before morning. !2v is primarily meant for use while traveling.

Boots,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I fully understand the battery going flat etc. But if the anderson plug only supplies the fridge, how does it charge the van's battery when connected to the car?

 

[Bank of Dad]

Found my hot water system not working on 240VAC, but discovered it was not plugged into the powerpoint!

The factory leave them unplugged and we were advised by our dealer to do the same. It is a safety precaution to stop you turning it on without water in the system and burning the heater element out.

How effective it is at preventing this is a matter for debate, but as I am new to HWS in vans, I'll listen until I know better.

The 12V is from your car which will require a relay and fuse to stop it flattening your car battery when the car is turned off. It will really only keep the fridge cool, not get it down to operating temperature from warm. We plug ours (150 ltr) in at home via an "Ampfibian" adapter for a day or two to get it working at the temperature we need and then the car can keep it down for the trip.

 

[Gaz70]

I have my house(van) batteries hooked up so they run the fridge and the car via anderson plugs charges the battery while driving, the fridge on 12volt draws approx 16 amps, i have two 110 amp hours batteries, i can safely leave the fridge running on 12V for those short stops (couple of hours) while travelling, solar also charges whilst driving and parked up, although only puts 6-9 amps in......running the fridge on 12v only maintains the coolness, does not cool, and this depends on the ambient tempature....a good auto electrician should be able to sort you out to suit your needs....

 

[shadow75]

Boots,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I fully understand the battery going flat etc. But if the anderson plug only supplies the fridge, how does it charge the van's battery when connected to the car?

Hi there Pieter,

Do you have a 12 Pin or 7 Pin plug fitted? I have a 17-56.2 with a 12 Pin and Anderson Plug. The Anderson Plug is connected directly to the Battery (Via 30A Fuse). Pin 9 from the 12 Pin Plug is connected directly to the Fridge. (I can't seem to find a fuse on the Caravan side for this yet - 20A coming from the Car - If anyone knows - Greatly appreciate some advice where to look).

If you only have a 7 Pin plug, I believe your battery would only be charging via the SETEC unit at ~0.2 Amp/hr if your Anderson plug is connected directly to the fridge.

That's my understanding at the moment - I've been playing around a lot trying to understand how Jayco have wired mine up anyway..

Cheers, Glenn

 

[boots33]

Boots,
Thanks for the reply. Yes I fully understand the battery going flat etc. But if the anderson plug only supplies the fridge, how does it charge the van's battery when connected to the car?

Normally that is supplied by pin 2 of your trailer plug

 

[boots33]

Pin 9 from the 12 Pin Plug is connected directly to the Fridge. (I can't seem to find a fuse on the Caravan side for this yet - 20A coming from the Car - If anyone knows - Greatly appreciate some advice where to look).



Cheers, Glenn

There may be a fuse on the fridge somewhere but the only fuse you really need is the one located at the power source

 

[Bank of Dad]

We have a 12 pin plug for a 150 ltr fridge.

We don't have an Anderson plug.

We have a wire that runs from the car to the van battery, via a relay and fuse to charge the van battery.

We have a wire that runs from the car to the van fridge, via a relay and fuse to run the fridge on 12V when moving.

All of this goes via the 12 pin plug (I don't know which pins - should I suppose).

Done by Boronia Auto Electrical who do most / all of Bayswater Jayco electrics. Not a plug, but they did the work for our brake controller etc when we got our Eagle and now for the van and so far so good.

 

[boots33]

We have a 12 pin plug for a 150 ltr fridge.

We don't have an Anderson plug.

We have a wire that runs from the car to the van battery, via a relay and fuse to charge the van battery.

We have a wire that runs from the car to the van fridge, via a relay and fuse to run the fridge on 12V when moving.

All of this goes via the 12 pin plug (I don't know which pins - should I suppose).

Done by Boronia Auto Electrical who do most / all of Bayswater Jayco electrics. Not a plug, but they did the work for our brake controller etc when we got our Eagle and now for the van and so far so good.

That is exactly how mine is wired. if yours is wired the way jayco like it pin2 will be to charge your battery and pin 9 will be for your fridge. I moved the battery charge wire from the small pin2 connector and now use the larger pin 8 as the smaller pins are not rated for high current.