Another Fridge

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I,ve run 2 engels had old green type 4 25 yrs (mid eighties) but upgraded over the years, most companies use same compressor these days (danfoss) but it's the electrics that hang around them is the killer,buttons etc, i agree nightjar i got $700 bill because a gene just before prospecting season in wa my fridge fella said the same 12 volt, buy a car windscreen shade thing a wrap your fridge in it then put cover back on keeps the actual fridge temp down
 
Nightjar said:
If you want to talk to someone who knows a bit about Engels, talk to Uncle Graham (not my Uncle) at EngelWorld, Midland, WA. http://www.engelworld.com.au/en/content/4-about-us

Had a long discussion with him at a Caravan & Camping exhibition when we bought the 80L Combo in 2008.
He invited me up to his store where he gave us some Engel gifts. He took me out into his work shop and showed me the workings of many Engels laying dead in a corner.
He went into detail about a thesis he wrote for a local university about running Engels with a generator. Honda were going to take him to court but he proved his point and the action was dropped. Why you say?

Graham asked me what does a motor do when it runs out of fuel?
The only answer I had was, "It surges several times before stopping."
He pointed to the dead remains and said, "The majority of those dead Engel workings are the result of running them with a generator, even the later inverter models."
"Run your Engel at home with 240V from the grid but never from a generator."
"You could get away with running it from your 240V outlet on your generator many times but there will come a time you will run the genny out of fuel and poof it may possibly die.

If like many of us who venture into free camping his advice is and I swear by it, always run your fridge connected to a 12 volt battery when away from the grid. Plug a 240V/12V battery charger into your generator and keep the charge up in your battery. Surge in the power, even inverter models can pop a capacitor or other electronics necessitating a complete unit change out. (approx $1100.00 ten years ago)
Don't take this as gospel from me, no doubt there is something wrong with this explanation. Ring EngelWorld, Waeco, ARB etc if interested and get expert advice.

**BTW this advice is for any make and model of 12V/240V electronic controlled equipment.**
Click to expand...

Spot on NJ top advice :Y: I always hook up to charger when running a genie. I run my 12V fridge at home 24/7 through a Arkpak and plug it into a RCD via the genset when out bush, never had any problems :)
 
Nightjar said:
If you want to talk to someone who knows a bit about Engels, talk to Uncle Graham (not my Uncle) at EngelWorld, Midland, WA. http://www.engelworld.com.au/en/content/4-about-us

Had a long discussion with him at a Caravan & Camping exhibition when we bought the 80L Combo in 2008.
He invited me up to his store where he gave us some Engel gifts. He took me out into his work shop and showed me the workings of many Engels laying dead in a corner.
He went into detail about a thesis he wrote for a local university about running Engels with a generator. Honda were going to take him to court but he proved his point and the action was dropped. Why you say?

Graham asked me what does a motor do when it runs out of fuel?
The only answer I had was, "It surges several times before stopping."
He pointed to the dead remains and said, "The majority of those dead Engel workings are the result of running them with a generator, even the later inverter models."
"Run your Engel at home with 240V from the grid but never from a generator."
"You could get away with running it from your 240V outlet on your generator many times but there will come a time you will run the genny out of fuel and poof it may possibly die.

If like many of us who venture into free camping his advice is and I swear by it, always run your fridge connected to a 12 volt battery when away from the grid. Plug a 240V/12V battery charger into your generator and keep the charge up in your battery. Surge in the power, even inverter models can pop a capacitor or other electronics necessitating a complete unit change out. (approx $1100.00 ten years ago)
Don't take this as gospel from me, no doubt there is something wrong with this explanation. Ring EngelWorld, Waeco, ARB etc if interested and get expert advice.

**BTW this advice is for any make and model of 12V/240V electronic controlled equipment.**
Click to expand...
Well Done NJ for reminding everyone,

I am still spinning my wheels as far as Gene's go, can't decide whether I want a small one or a big one, Thing is I only want to run a Caravan off of it and a good battery charger when needed, I remember when I bought my first fridge you put the fear of Christ in me about using Gene's since then they have become less important, hence why I can't decide on which one I want If at all.
 
For my caravan i run kiptor 2600 runs air con ,tv, battery charger under bed, ctec charger for etra batteries in ute x2 run 240 from van to ute,engels of 12v van whilst gen going, 125w solar on ute, and stand alone 160w solar if needed can plug to van or ute there's only handfull gennie,sthat i would go near im interest has anyone got the new honda 2200?? Just brought new van 20 footer everythink i need but the company said if i didn't use certain genies void warranty.
 
For me, the only devices I would never run a fridge directly from my Honda. It pays to monitor fuel levels in generators. It doesn't take much experience to gauge a low level, to then disconnect the electrics stop the genny and re fuel.

Any brand of 12VDC fridge should be connected to a battery. Then if you need to charge that battery via genny the smart charger acts as a "buffer" re the voltage/current and the battery also buffers the device. The "buffering" affect applies to a 240VAC charger, a DC-DC charger or a solar controller.
 
condor22 said:
For me, the only devices I would never run a fridge directly from my Honda. It pays to monitor fuel levels in generators. It doesn't take much experience to gauge a low level, to then disconnect the electrics stop the genny and re fuel.

Any brand of 12VDC fridge should be connected to a battery. Then if you need to charge that battery via genny the smart charger acts as a "buffer" re the voltage/current and the battery also buffers the device. The "buffering" affect applies to a 240VAC charger, a DC-DC charger or a solar controller.
Click to expand...

My battery charger is a bit OTT, it's a workshop model on wheels and puts out 35Amps on charge and on boost it puts out about 310/320 Amps and does 12v/24v, It has 3 settings for the charging side of things, with my Deep cycle battery I always pick the lowest setting because it seems to charge these 115A/h batteries better, But for a camping Trailer I am going to get one about a 1/3rd of the size/power,

I bought a Snap On Battery Charger once with a Timer on it and it would put out 700 Amps on Boost, but for charging batteries under 100/120 Amps It was useless, even using the 90 minute timer, It killed 3 of my batteries in a week, I think my next charger will be between 5 and 15 amps max.
 
condor22 said:
For me, the only devices I would never run a fridge directly from my Honda. It pays to monitor fuel levels in generators. It doesn't take much experience to gauge a low level, to then disconnect the electrics stop the genny and re fuel.

Any brand of 12VDC fridge should be connected to a battery. Then if you need to charge that battery via genny the smart charger acts as a "buffer" re the voltage/current and the battery also buffers the device. The "buffering" affect applies to a 240VAC charger, a DC-DC charger or a solar controller.
Click to expand...

any Engel that i know of in the last 10yrs at least will run straight from a solar panel :power: :Y:

a 60 watt panel will happily power the fridge of up to about 60-70 lt capacity (anything that draws under 3.36 amps while running ;)
 
Ridge Runner said:
stoyve said:
G'day John,
Have you ever thought of changing your name to
"Fridge Runner"?
Just sayin :playful:
Cheers Steve
Click to expand...

Steve I wish I'd thought of that LOL,

I must admit I do like buying new toys, but keep that to ya self,

I gotta do something to pass the time, The weather is freezing here and the doctor has banned me from detecting for 18 months to 2 years, still getting over the side effects of the open heart surgery, the left side of my chest is still very tender and there is a load of other stuff going on with my legs where they took the veins out, They are a mess, I got more Scars than Frankenstein :skull:

My days of a being a super model are over 8.( :(
Click to expand...

Ha haa,
There is aways someone for you mate. :perfect:
 
I was told a long time ago to never run a car fridge off a Genset due to surges.
Ive been running my ARB 47L off a Dual Purpose Cranking battery for the last 6 years with no problems (with care taken not to flatten it).
Ive just installed a dual battery system with a Projector 45A DC-DC charge controller (with mppt solar input) & a 100W solar panel. My ARB fridge draws 5.1A (@12V) when it cycles on, & the solar panel delivers around 5-10A for most of the day, & so far it seems to keep up very well with the fridge. Ive made provision for a 2nd solar panel if needed but so far not reqd. I rarely go more than 3 days without starting the vehicle anyway, so the Aux battery gets topped-up then if needed.
 
Ded Driver said:
I was told a long time ago to never run a car fridge off a Genset due to surges.
Ive been running my ARB 47L off a Dual Purpose Cranking battery for the last 6 years with no problems (with care taken not to flatten it).
Ive just installed a dual battery system with a Projector 45A DC-DC charge controller (with mppt solar input) & a 100W solar panel. My ARB fridge draws 5.1A (@12V) when it cycles on, & the solar panel delivers around 5-10A for most of the day, & so far it seems to keep up very well with the fridge. Ive made provision for a 2nd solar panel if needed but so far not reqd. I rarely go more than 3 days without starting the vehicle anyway, so the Aux battery gets topped-up then if needed.
Click to expand...

Yeah ARB Quote those figures in the manual but when you do the maths with the actual run time as a fridge they use about 0.475 to about 0.80 amps per hour, In cooler climes they will use even less, On AC the highest I have recorded is 0.346 Amps per hour and on the wattage side of things it was using 9.375 watts per hour over a 48 hr period, I really can't fault the power usage of the ARB 47L, This is why I went with ARB again, I am seriously impressed with how ARB fridges perform.
 
Bought this Honda beast in 2008 along with our new caravan.
I lift it onto the ute and there it stays for duration of our prospecting trips.
https://www.generatorplace.com.au/p...dLhByMMFJrhmZxALSfpj6GA4fX6UK9fIaAg6QEALw_wcB

Runs all the van electrics + onboard battery charger including Ibis aircon. Only used when we have had cloud cover all day blanketing the solar.
Also connected to my "box of tricks" that looks after the two Engels and tops up batteries.

 
Struth, if that don't work nothing will, I have a 300w inverter and a 600 and a 1000w one but I want one that can handle about 2000watts just so I can run a microwave over, I don't need anything bigger than that but trying to find a genuine 2k inverter on ebay that is actually 2000w is a problem because you don't know if the reviews are real or not, I have ordered a few things that where meant to be UK sellers that turned out to be in china and then I spend the next 2 weeks waiting for the postman,
 
RR, have a 2500W inverter bought from eBay (China) mounted it in the boot of the van and use it with our bread maker, works a treat. Haven't tried it with the microwave because it's built in and a pain to pull out to get to the three pin plug.

There are a few "Bewares" with people using inverters in caravans.
A mate of mine blew his inverter up and it could have been worse with injury or loss of van.
When he used his inverter he used to plug it into one of his 3 pin outlets in his van, which powered the whole van 240V circuit.
It worked OK until one day he forgot to unplug the inverter before connecting the van to the grid.
POOF!!!!! Lots of smoke. No more inverter. :bomb:
 
Nightjar said:
RR, have a 2500W inverter bought from eBay (China) mounted it in the boot of the van and use it with our bread maker, works a treat. Haven't tried it with the microwave because it's built in and a pain to pull out to get to the three pin plug.

There are a few "Bewares" with people using inverters in caravans.
A mate of mine blew his inverter up and it could have been worse with injury or loss of van.
When he used his inverter he used to plug it into one of his 3 pin outlets in his van, which powered the whole van 240V circuit.
It worked OK until one day he forgot to unplug the inverter before connecting the van to the grid.
POOF!!!!! Lots of smoke. No more inverter. :bomb:
Click to expand...

That seems to be a very strange setup, Nightjar. To plug it into a caravan outlet, he must have had 3 pin male plugs on both ends of the lead. I've been using a 600w pure sine wave inverter in my van for the past 15 years by just connecting the lead from the inverter straight into the 240v input socket which must be disconnected before hooking up to grid or generator power.

Jeff
 
Well my Fridge Saga has all turn to $**t, I ordered and paid for it on Wednesday and it should of been here by Thursday or Friday, I phoned the shop they said it would be here today/Friday, I phoned the freight company and as far as they are concerned they have no such package and I don't exist on their computers and deny knowing anything about the bloody thing, I got on to the Shop and they said they will check the CCTV and sure enough they saw it being loaded in to the van, The company never signed for it or Scanned it in to their system.

He then gets back on to the company and tells them, they then find it in their Depot sitting on a pallet and said they could deliver it next week, I told the shop NO because I am going away next week that was the whole Idea of ordering the fridge so then they said about sending to where I am going I said NO because I won't be able to get it home,

So then they asked what did I want to have them do, I said that fridge should be in one or 2 places ONE being in my possession and TWO being back at the Shop and as far as I am concerned they have not signed for it, they have not Scanned it So as far as I am concerned they have Stolen It, He then said what shall we do I said get it back to the SHOP ASAP because I don't want it sitting in a warehouse where it could get damaged, Stolen or caught up in a fire etc, I said get it back to the Shop today, I do not want it if it is going to sit in the Freight companies workshop for 2 or 3 weeks, They have no entitlement to it So it needs to be returned to You. And we will make a new plan in a couple of weeks.

So what should of been a Joyous event has turned to Crap, :( :mad: ]:D :bomb:
 
snafu said:
That seems to be a very strange setup, Nightjar. To plug it into a caravan outlet, he must have had 3 pin male plugs on both ends of the lead.
Jeff
Click to expand...

Jeff, that's exactly what the clown did. I did question him at the time how he plugged into the van leaving the inverter connected?
Not only exposed himself or others to electrocution but serious consequences making an illegal extension lead. Double male plug.
***It is clearly advertised you don't plug generators into your home grid wiring during power failures. There has been instances where linesmen have been electrocuted while working down the line on power failures. The same goes for inverters.***
 
In my first van I had my inverter hard wired to the van and it was wired into the mains circuit breaker. However there was also a DPDT switch in the system, so I had to select mains or Inverter, never both at the same time. To make sure, I would manually trip the circuit breaker before switching between mains and inverter.

That is the only safe way to wire them, if wired permanently to vans GPOs. The inverter was not big enough to run the M/wave or Aircon, but was in effect wired to all of the 240VAC GPOs, so the only thing to remember was not use either of them. Had I, the inverter would overload and trip, blowing the fuse, so again no problem.
 

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