How to keep fridge running for 3 weeks? (1 Viewer)

[moonsy]

We are planning a trip to Dakar in Senegal shipping the cruisers down and driving back to ireland but when we are shipping jeeps down any ideas how long the fridge will last before it dies? Or will we not be able to keep food in them while in a containers for 3 weeks or longer

 

[86tuning]

I'd want to buy food when I get there, if possible. Zero chance of fridge quitting, or problems with customs bringing in food products.

 

[wearsabrowncoat]

Been thru a lot of customs lines. Always a more painful process getting back into a first world country.

But even if your food makes it past customs, There's no way a normal deep cycle battery will keep your food cool in a 12v fridge three weeks on its own. Maybe 3 days.

Buy some local food a wash it real good. Manure is exactly that - MANure.

 

[moonsy]

Haha yeah that's what I was thinking

What's the longest your fridge has gone without starting vehicle?

 

[george_tlc]

You have the fridge? You have your 4wd?

Run it and see. Total hours will depend on a) your specific fridge b) the contents c) your battery capacity and state of charge d) your ambient temperature e) how often you open the fridge....

Or more simply put... How long is a piece of string?

cheers,
george.

 

[EricG]

You have the fridge? You have your 4wd?

Run it and see. Total hours will depend on a) your specific fridge b) the contents c) your battery capacity and state of charge d) your ambient temperature e) how often you open the fridge....

Or more simply put... How long is a piece of string?

cheers,
george.

I think the ambient temp is going to be the last nail in the coffin here - I imagine those shipping containers get pretty hot.

 

[e9999]

3 weeks? you must be kidding...

my 63L fridge uses about 4A when running. Under reasonable temp conditions it will run something like 20 or 30% of the time after it's reached the set temp. You can do the math based on your battery capacity. With mine, set to 34F, it will go a couple of days or so before the battery gets too low to start the engine. And I'm not talking summer desert hot conditions...

(this thread would be better off in the camping section - where plenty of similar topics have been discussed)

 

[moonsy]

Yes that's what I will have to do!

Cheers lads

 

[moonsy]

I've only purchased the fridge and waiting for it to be delivered

I don't have any experience with them?

I was hoping to fit a third battery to the 80

 

[kdxman]

Check this link out https://forum.ih8mud.com/az-copper-state-cruisers/568756-powering-my-fridge-solar.html

 

[e9999]

keep in mind also that a regular lead acid starting battery does not take kindly to being fully discharged. You want dual purpose or deep discharge batteries if that is likely to happen.

 

[lumpy70]

Amp hours are basically just that, amps and hours.

My setup has a 170ah deep cycle battery and my ARB fridge pulls about 3A at full load. I'm less optimistic about the efficiency, so lets say it runs 50% of the time.
That turns into: 170ah / (3A * 50%) = 113.3 hours = 4.72 days

To work that backwards:
Fridge = 4A
Duty Cycle in a hot shipping container = min 50% of the time
Time wanted = 21 days

21 days = 504 hours * 50% * 4A = 1008ah required at a minimum.

This means for a standard 75ah yellowtop optima deep cycle you would need 13.44 of them in parallel.

That doesn't take into account ambient temperature at all (plus no air exchange in the shipping container) or voltage drop over time. At a certain point the batteries will drop below 10.5V which is usually the cutoff for most appliances/electronics. Call it 16 batteries.

I'm not the expert and people often come in and correct me so it's just my 2 cents.

Buy fresh food when you're there instead of buying 16 batteries.

Craig

 

[scrowley]

Great reply Craig. I am guessing buying 14 battery's is probably not worth some food. Buy canned food and dry food, hunt your meat.....I dont hunt but I am sure its fresh that way. That would solve the problem. My ARB 50qt. last about 2.5 days at 28*. Thats running on a second battery (deep cycle)

 

[landcrshr]

Forget about the fridge for a second. I'm having trouble thinking of any perishable foods that will last for three weeks even if they are kept cold.

 

[e9999]

Amp hours are basically just that, amps and hours.

snip

actually, that's not quite true. Read about Peukert's law which in (my) layman's terms says that the Ah capacity is a function of the rate of discharge.


and talking about fresh food, you'd want to be awfully careful about buying fresh food in the boonies in Africa anyways... Canned tuna and spam don't taste that bad after you've experienced "Dia's Revenge" (I'm improvising a name) for a bit... I'd sure want to have a serious cache of safe non-perishables (and hope you won't get it confiscated at a border so get some Guiness to distribute so as to smooth things out... ).

 

[Tenzig Norgay]

Rice and beans bra

 

[pilotuku]

Rice and beans bra

canned foods... and MRE's...

 

[chappysfj40]

no kidding what kind of food would keep in the frig for 3 weeks, hell even the best college bachlor cant make that happen.


cheers

 

[lumpy70]

actually, that's not quite true. Read about Peukert's law which in (my) layman's terms says that the Ah capacity is a function of the rate of discharge.

Agreed, but not entirely necessary to get into the nuts and bolts of it for the purpose of this conversation. It boils down to how many hours can my batteries deliver load X before they become discharged.

Craig.

 

[Stevesnj]

I am still waiting for my Flux Capacitor !!!