12/120V Portable Refrigerator/ Freezers

[DaveB]

Have the frig loaded, turn it down to 20 degrees while running engine. This may take 3-4 hrs even tho the box says 20 degrees as all items in that box takes hrs to cool down.
I have a 18 amp charger on my New 50HP Big Foot. It only puts that much amps back to battery if 50 % or more discharge and more you get battery up less the amps put in.
Why to take full advantage to bring you frig. down while under power.
Dave

Also on 5 day or more trips, Freeze water bottles and put in frig. takes more than 5 days to unfreeze them but take one out and you got nice half frozen water that stays that way for long time.

Yeah Dave – that's another good hint– and if you put the bottles in a deep freezer (as opposed to a kitchen refrigerator freezer), you will be starting out at an even lower temperature – for even more time away.

And of course, a fridge that has something in it (as opposed to being empty) will use less power and run more efficiently too. I use cans of pop, and water, and ice cube trays as a filler when the fridge (Waeco 35) gets too empty - they can just be removed if I need more space for other stuff.

[Boblee]

Good point Dave I notice even on the other thread on batteries that the charger(pro?) says if the battery is discharged by 100ah, and if using a 10 amp charger you need to charge your battery for ten hours to bring it back to full charge.

This is just so wrong as the battery's will only accept so much charge, and you lose up to 25% in the process, so if your battery is only accepting a small charge why not do as you say to use the full charge available to build up cold storage instead of basically wasting it.

[DaveB]

I am not going to go thru details that require lots of info that has already been posted many times on this forum. Best to do a search on this forum to answer your questions. you will find your answers.
Just go to search and use DaveB or many other members who have commented on this subject for years.
Dave

Good point Dave I notice even on the other thread on batteries that the charger(pro?) says if the battery is discharged by 100ah, and if using a 10 amp charger you need to charge your battery for ten hours to bring it back to full charge.

This is just so wrong as the battery's will only accept so much charge, and you lose up to 25% in the process, so if your battery is only accepting a small charge why not do as you say to use the full charge available to build up cold storage instead of basically wasting it.

[Three Gypsies]

back in the days of taking weeklong vacations on the boat .. We would deep freeze all of our meats and ice , beforehand . On departure day we load all this deep frozen stuff in a Coleman extreme cooler and cover the cooler with blankets and life jackets . We would only go in the "meat locker" once a day to get out whatever we would use that day .
We had another cooler on board for drinks , etc .
After a week in Alabama & Florida summer heat , we would come home with still partially frozen food .
Wish it was that easy living aboard !

[DaveB]

It still is that way but with Deep Refig. 12 volt that gets it down to -20 degrees. The Edgestar will do those temps. but not useful on our trips. Using these portable frig. one has to know when to turn on deep cycle when engine is running and turn off to 40 degrees when engine is shut off.
Appears many do not know this.
I have a Edgestar 63 portable 12Volt/ AC110 that gets down to -22 degrees. Have my boat next to house and have AC applied to my Auto 10 amp charger.
I set frig to 20 degrees before trip with all food in frig.
In morning frig. I set at 40 degrees after unplug AC. Temps are 25 degrees . I take 4 hr trip to Homestead, FL to Launch. Temps at frig. is 31 degrees. Temp. set is 40 degrees.
Took another 4 hrs to get that frig. to turn on at 40. That's 8 hrs that frig. never turned on. I turn it off at night and get 45 degrees in morning. SW Florida.
More than one way to save the juice. Run two 40 watt solar panels on bimini.
Outboard running turn that Frig. to 20 or less. Never get that far but much better than using battery power to wear down the source when you direct charge thu engine.
Getting Max outboard charging rate depends on 2/4 cycle engines but on my Merc. BF50 I get about 16 amp charge at 1400 rpms. I know all about the 27 amps the 60 2cycle does.
Point is run your frig. max. lower rating to take advantage of the running engine amp output.
Setting you refig to 20 degrees or below will not freeze food on a 6hr motor run.
Your home freezer ac will take much longer.
Dave

back in the days of taking weeklong vacations on the boat .. We would deep freeze all of our meats and ice , beforehand . On departure day we load all this deep frozen stuff in a Coleman extreme cooler and cover the cooler with blankets and life jackets . We would only go in the "meat locker" once a day to get out whatever we would use that day .
We had another cooler on board for drinks , etc .
After a week in Alabama & Florida summer heat , we would come home with still partially frozen food .
Wish it was that easy living aboard !

[mastreb]

IPA beer, red wine, shelf-stable bacon, canned soups, dry snacks, jerky.

Single 105ah battery that still has never run down in three years, and that's with an autopilot on nearly 100% of the time during sails and only recharging off the 1nm into and out of the marina. Never plugged into shore power, never ran the engine just to charge the battery.

Just sayin'

[Boblee]

That battery is going really well Mastreb because there is no way it would be fully charged even if the distance was covered very slowly when the motors running, a small regulated solar panel trickle charging would certainly make it last many times longer.

[Tony E]

I still do the Coleman Extreme cooler and its work great. I go out for 1 week trips in July and August and I come back with food still frozen in it. It keeps ice for 7 days. I have 2 - 20 watt solar panels on my 2 - 12 volt deep cycle batteries and they would probably keep up in the day time with a small fridge/freezer but I don't want to push my luck. I am trying to keep things as simple as possible on my boat so I have less complications and break downs and things to worry about. I save my power for other things and the basics like charging things,music,etc.

[Three Gypsies]

In our long term / liveaboard lifestyle , we use an Engle freezer and two Yetis . The Yetis are our refrigerators and the Engle is our frozen meat locker .

In the cruise from Montgomery to Key West and back we spent a fortune on ice for the coolers/refrigerators .
As previously written , I am seriously considering a 110 vac igloo 3.2 cubic ft refrigerator .

My power plant is 200watts of solar cells charging two 60 amp hour Exide orbital batteries (the 6 pack batteries) which has worked well powering the Engle and house .
I am thinking about adding a third 60 amp battery and only run the fridge while the batteries are charging , filling the little freezer compartment with ice bottles .
The batteries are usually charged by lunchtime so a third battery shouldn't be a problem .

We do spend a lot of time at anchor and this would be when the system would be put to the test .
I would rather have a 12volt Dc fridge but money is a serious consideration.

I have read all that is written on this subject , and to be honest , still can't make up mind whether to do or not .

Somebody please talk me into it or out of it !

[innervations]

Disclaimer I am not and engineer but I cannot see how running an AC 110 or 220 volt fridge is at all efficient from a 12volt DC system. If you have mains power each day or run a generator then ok but the loss of energy by the inverter (12 to 110) combined with the fact that mains power fridges are probably not designed to be super efficient (I am probably wrong here) I would think 12volt refrigeration straight off the batteries and recharged by outboard and solar is better.

[Boblee]

I have read all that is written on this subject , and to be honest , still can't make up mind whether to do or not .

Somebody please talk me into it or out of it !

We all do these things different and you are the only one who know what exactly you want but your requirments are not so different to ours, think your 2x 60ah batteries are a bit small even with a third added but if not running the 110v fridge except when running probably ok if not anchoring for more than a day but then you can't run the 110v fridge during that day but you have more solar than us (120w).
Re your charging time when running the harder the draw on your motor charge the more it will put out for longer but remember you are cycling your dc fridge (4 amps), charging 2 or 3 batteries (60-20 amps depending on discharge and type) and running your 110v fridge, on the plus side the solar contributing possibly 6-8 amps max it will take some time to bring everything up to charge especially if you want them fully charged.
Everything has to be flexible so to take any worry out of it we use our motorised genny (50 amps) and go fishing while it's running if there is doubt about lasting that day or at anchor?
Personally can't see any problem with using a small 110v fridge, they don't draw much.
Also remember the chargers even on cars are not meant for heavy charging duties just maintaining charge ie low amps.

[mastreb]

That battery is going really well Mastreb because there is no way it would be fully charged even if the distance was covered very slowly when the motors running, a small regulated solar panel trickle charging would certainly make it last many times longer.

Oh I doubt it ever gets a full charge except on those occasions where I go WOT for a few hours, which is maybe once every few months. The ETEC-60 generates about 10 amps at a 2000 rpm 5 knot displacement speed, and we never run it for more than about 30 minutes on a typical sail.

I figure I'm pulling about 2 amps during sailing with all the trons on, so I'd guess I could get maybe two solid days on a full charge. So given our typical four hour day sail, it's not a lot of draw. That's a guess based on MFR reported amp draws averaged and summed.

Lead Acid is perfect chemistry for occasional charges and trickle use, and don't need to be topped off. They're more damaged by overcharging and full discharge than they are by any other kind of use. That's why they make great car batteries.

I've been happy with the battery, that's for sure.

[Highlander]

Well I've been using a Koolatron P-34 for about 35yrs & it finally packed it in last fall
so have been looking for other better options but @ $700-$850 I decided to look for cheaper options
So I went this way
KoolatronKargoKooler.com reg $190. on sale $160. a/c adapter $40. free with this offer . now equals = $120. this offer also comes with a merchandise voucher worth $100. good @ wallymart or 99 other big retail stores . now equals = $ 20. reg shipping $52. with this offer $10. now equals = minus $12. So basically they r paying me $ 12. to buy their product , so I may breakdown & buy the wheeler with handle version also for the same price !

J

[Three Gypsies]

Well I've been using a Koolatron P-34 for about 35yrs & it finally packed it in last fall
so have been looking for other better options but @ $700-$850 I decided to look for cheaper options
So I went this way
KoolatronKargoKooler.com reg $190. on sale $160. a/c adapter $40. free with this offer . now equals = $120. this offer also comes with a merchandise voucher worth $100. good @ wallymart or 99 other big retail stores . now equals = $ 20. reg shipping $52. with this offer $10. now equals = minus $12. So basically they r paying me $ 12. to buy their product , so I may breakdown & buy the wheeler with handle version also for the same price !

J

Will a koolatron let you put ice in it ?
The Colemans don't recommend adding ice .
This might work if ice can be added . On a long term cruise , we cannot precool items , but if we can add ice and it cools it down to 50-60 degrees inside , the ice would last for several days .

[DaveB]

That's right, all the tricks of the trade to use you frig.
Even in cloudy 5 days in Keys the Solar Panels didn't work. Why you shut off or turn temps to 45 degrees, deep freeze to 20 degrees engine running and shut off during night saves the battery.
I always have a 72 quart 5 day cooler that fits perfect in the sole. Have solid 10 lb block of ice in it and that's for beer, Ice cubes and never run out. The frig. is for fresh food that don't get soggy.( I make my own 10 block Ice in Frig. Freezer)
I take my home convinances with me, and eat my cake to.(Admiral likes it this way, so do I)
We do have frozen meats in the frig. for longer than 4 days.
To old to Redneck it.
Dave

Also on 5 day or more trips, Freeze water bottles and put in frig. takes more than 5 days to unfreeze them but take one out and you got nice half frozen water that stays that way for long time.

Yeah Dave – that's another good hint– and if you put the bottles in a deep freezer (as opposed to a kitchen refrigerator freezer), you will be starting out at an even lower temperature – for even more time away.

And of course, a fridge that has something in it (as opposed to being empty) will use less power and run more efficiently too. I use cans of pop, and water, and ice cube trays as a filler when the fridge (Waeco 35) gets too empty - they can just be removed if I need more space for other stuff.