fridge power

[chado100]

Hey guys just bought myself a 3 way fridge and want to hook up the 12v side of things.
Does anyone know of a wire that might be hanging around the back that i could use or will i have to take it from the box under the bonnet if so whats the best way to get it to the back.
Thanks in advance
Chad

[sundaypunch]

There aren't any existing wires that I would tap into. I used 8ga. wire to run the circuit back. Some have gone even heavier.

Here are some pic's. This may not help you much as I think you are looking for a simpler setup. I added two 12v outlets in the back of mine and am running a fridge with one. I have an aux. battery on the passenger side. I ran from the aux. battery to a master fuse block with a 40-amp fuse for now-



From there I run to a fuse block on the firewall with my two 15-amp circuits-



I ran each individual hot line from there back to the outlets. I went through the firewall here-



Pulled the wires through by the passenger feet (this black wire is for something else)-



From here it's just a matter of pulling up the floor trim pieces and running the wire underneath to get it to the back.

[jonb96150]

I wanted constant hot 12v back there so I ran a dedicated wire from the battery (fused close to the battery) all the way back on the r.h. side terminating in a ciggie lighter outlet inside the small compartment over the rear wheel well. I ran the wire through an existing hole in the firewall, then routed it under the plastic pieces (I forget the name) along the door sills, and then behind the trim. I grounded the power point to the body right next to the power point ciggie lighter thingie.

I don't know if you can find a wire that is hot with the key in "accessory" position or not back there. And I wanted an outlet that was always hot anyway. I used 12 ga wire IIRC.

Sundaypunch beat me to the punch. I also used the same type of fuse block, as I ran other wires for radios and other powerpoints.

I went through the firewall at the same spot. Nice pix.

[450 DUDE]

I think those 3 way's are pretty power hungry on 12v.
IIRC they are heating up a coil to to get the refrigerant to do its thing.
There is no existing wire that will work for this , check the amp rating on the unit and run the appropriate wire.

You must have good Battries for this?

ken

[jonb96150]

Originally Posted by 450 DUDE

I think those 3 way's are pretty power hungry on 12v.
IIRC they are heating up a coil to to get the refrigerant to do its thing.
There is no existing wire that will work for this , check the amp rating on the unit and run the appropriate wire.

You must have good Battries for this?

ken

I missed that part, 12 ga may not be big enough. I may have pulled 10ga back there, I don't recall and the rig is at college with my daughter. I use an ARB that only pulls a couple amps anyway. Can leave it on for a couple days with a good battery.

[e9999]

I was also going to ask you if you are aware that these 3-way absorption fridges are nothing like the ARB/Engel/Norcold/Waeco compressor-driven ones that people talk about here all the time. Completely different principle. Nowhere close to the same performance. And, yes, on 12V they'll wipe out your battery in no time at all, so the draw must be huge. On my camper one, on 12V it'll run a charged battery to fully drained in something like 3-5 hrs, if that.

[robmir]

Even a home minibar type fridge hooked to a inverter draw way less current and refrigerate a lot better that this 3 way heat exchange type boxes LOL

[JO MAOMA]

all you need to do is modify it to run on HHO. not only will
it be more efficient than an Engle fridge it will make ice
cubes and charge your battery at the same time...