Question on Wiring a Engel 45qt (1 Viewer)

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May 5, 2006
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Location
Redwood City, CA
Here is what I have:
I'll be running the Engel 45qt off of the main battery. I've been told I can get away with this as long as I be careful to turn off the fridge at night and then back on during the day.
I have 8 guage wire that I'll be running from the battery to the rear cargo area. I have a 6 circuit Blue Sea Systems ST Blade Fuse Block and two single receptacles.

My question is: Can I run the fridge off of the fuse block or do I have to dedicate the 8 guage to the fridge itself? If I can run the fridge off of the fuse block should I use the same size wire? Do I still need an inline fuse near the battery? Can I ground the fuse block to somewhere close to the fuse block, or do I have to run another wire from the battery ground to the fuse block?

This is my first accessory add on so please excuse my lack of wiring expertise. Also, I will be adding a dual battery in the future but not now.
 
I have a fuse block in my engine bay and then run wire back to the rear panel and then installed an aux outlet (Cig lighter). I plug it into the cig lighter. I think I used 12 gauge. You can take your ground off of chassis in the rear. I have run mine allnight with no issues.
 
Is it okay for me to have my fuse block in the rear and have the fridge run off of that?
 
I would add the fuse block on the side of the pass. seat (see Slee's site for location). It's handy there since it's mid-truck you can add things like a CB, HAM radio, etc. to it. Then from there run wiring to a cig. lighter (or two) mounted on the side of the cargo area. This gives you another 12v receptacle back there you can use for things other than the fridge. I used an outlet with a nice cap from a Corolla, it was only about $10 from Toyota.

You can ground both the fuse block and the outlet to the body. My fuse block is grounded to the floor pan under the seat, the outlet to the inside of the rear fender.
 
If the specs I've seen on the fridge are accurate it only draws up to 4.5 amps or so. You could easily run alot more than that off of your 8ga wire. Dont forget to fuse the 8 ga at a little above the total of the current used by all circuits or fuses connected at the other end.
 
That's where I get confused. Isn't the fuse block going to take care of that job?
 
I'll be running the Engel 45qt off of the main battery. I've been told I can get away with this as long as I be careful to turn off the fridge at night and then back on during the day.

No, you can run the fridge all night. It would take awhile to drain the battery with the fridge. Set and forget it if you are driving every day.

Fuse close to the battery----wire--->fuseblock>15a fuse----wire---->12v outlet><engel fridge

reason being you don't want a long, unfused line from your battery.
 
So if I have three devices on the fuse block I should have a 45 amp fuse that is near the battery or something close to it? Or do I take the amperage of each device and what they draw and add that up?
 
That's where I get confused. Isn't the fuse block going to take care of that job?

The fuse at the front (battery) is only to protect the wire from catching on fire if it ever got shorted on it's way to the back. Thereby reducing the risk of burning your rig to the ground with that 8ga wire:D
 
So if I have three devices on the fuse block I should have a 45 amp fuse that is near the battery or something close to it? Or do I take the amperage of each device and what they draw and add that up?

Everything at the back should have a fuse. Add up the value of all of those fuses and place a slightly higher value fuse at the front than the total of all of the fuses at the back. The second portion of this equasion is that all of the fuses in the back shouldn't add up to more than about 40 amps.
 
Sorry for all the questions but is that because the main battery shouldn't have more then 40 amps of load on it like that? I was just thinking I would be using three of the six connectors off of the fuse block and that gives me three 15amp blade type fuses in there.
 
So if I have three devices on the fuse block I should have a 45 amp fuse that is near the battery or something close to it? Or do I take the amperage of each device and what they draw and add that up?

Pretty close, except you need to find out how much amperage the wire you are fusing can take, and then choose a fuse that will blow, below that threshhold. For instance (and I am just making up the wire/amperage numbers), say the 8 gauge from the batt can handle 80 amps, probably fuse it with a 75 amp fuse, then at the fuse block in the rear, you may have 16 gauge wire rated at 20 amps running to a 12v powerpoint, so use a 15 amp fuse, or the power point may have a 10 amp rating on its specs, so just use a 10 amp fuse.

Hope that wasn't too confusing, basically you want to make sure you protect the wire you are fusing, while also ensuring you are protecting the device you are powering, especially if it doesn't have it's own fuse protection.

EDIT: the fuse block also should have some max amperage rating on it, so try not to exceed that... Also, if you do a google search on wire gauge capacity, or somthing like that, you can find amperage capacity of various wire gauges.
 
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Sorry for all the questions but is that because the main battery shouldn't have more then 40 amps of load on it like that? I was just thinking I would be using three of the six connectors off of the fuse block and that gives me three 15amp blade type fuses in there.

Don't worry, ask as many questions as it takes. When I'm looking for an answer to something, I'd hope for the same. I wouldn't try to run more than 40 amps through an 8ga wire for that distance. If you needed to run more current then you would want to go to a larger wire. 6ga would be the next step. There are charts to help you with this but I'm just going off of years of experience.
 
A 12 gauge run all the way back with a chassis ground will be fine for that fridge (I have one also). Here's a useful site for doing wire loading calcs (note that it assumes a round trip wire run - if you are using a chassis ground, you only need to use the length from the battery to the device, not the round trip)

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Cheers
 
Try this... http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm. This will give you a good idea what the 8 ga can handle. I would go #4 or at the very the least #6. You can be sure the power is there. Add a 45 amp or so fuse at the battery and you are safe. Remember not to use solid wire but high strand count flexable AWG sized wire all the way. I go to West Marine and get the tin coated copper.

Rod beat me to it damn it!
 
As others have said, any fuse at any spot, needs to be sized to protect the wire it is on. Running all the way to the back to a socket for the fridge, 12 ga is OK but 10 gauge is better. That's what most people use. If you have an 8 gauge wire crossing the firewall, you need an appropriate fuse to protect that wire only, forget the loads that is may see in use.

I have a fuse block in the engine compartment-that works for me. My wires all run from there, but the fuse in the fuse block protects them. The alternative is to run a big wire, like an 8 gauge, fused at the battery and feeding a fuse block in the truck, that will work as well.

The important thing is that any wire leaving the engine compartment must be fused to prevent burning down the Cruiser.

First Toy is right-leave your fridge on. I've never had an issue in 5+ years.
 
Hey thanks everyone for the great advice on this. I feel comfortable knowing that I won't be starting a fire with my wiring at least I hope not.

Chris
 
Hey thanks everyone for the great advice on this. I feel comfortable knowing that I won't be starting a fire with my wiring at least I hope not.

Chris

I have many friends and customers which have the 45 and I got myself the 60 Engel which didn´t come with a cigarret plug but plain 14 gauge stripped wires so here is our experience:

We don´t like the OEM Engel plug, many times it got loose on the vehicle socket and after a long trip when you notice it, ref is off and food is already damaged. Because it doesn´t do a positive contact, when loose, it overheat the center positive contact point and sometimes corrode the contacts or the plug itself is damaged.

We all replaced the plug with a Marinco 12VPG Sealink which has a lock position and moisture sealing ring which help it to stand tight if plugged on a OEM receptacle, and of course for taking full advantage it should be used together with it´s matting Marinco 12VRC receptacle because of it´s half turn lock system. Be aware they are not your standard cheap asian socket and plug and are worth every cent.

Regarding the Engel all night use, just keep all area around the condenser free of objects that block air circulation. This and keeping the fridge closed as much as possible will help the compressor to cycle less. Have it´s content well organized, that will allow you to have it´s top less time opened when taking out your food. Also notice your temp setting, try to adjust it to the higher temp possible, lower temp setting cycle more the compressor. Food that need cooler temp should stay at the bottom.

Have a digital voltaje meter plugged and monitor battery status once in a while, if it drop down to 10.5 volt you will be in trouble when starting your cruiser next day.

If you only have one battery, please don´t use any other accesory like inverters or your sound equipment, just in case.

Remember that your battery must be a deep cycle type, period.
 
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Now a grounding question:
So now I have the option to ground the fuse block from the battery ground or somwhere on the chasis. Does it matter?

Also, have the same scenario with the accessory. Should I run a ground wire from the ground connector on the fuse block back to the 12v receptacle or just ground the receptacle nearby on the chasis?
 
Chassis grounds are perfectly fine for all but the heaviest loads such as the starter or winch motor or specialized circuits such as ametur radio and the like.
 

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