The Best 100 Series Fridge Setup- 40/40 Rear Seats

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TheIcemanCometh said:
Given the frig lives between the seats hard braking would be the biggest factor.

Regarding the number of power banks - yes many. I just bought one made by Enphase. They are not the most powerful nor the least expensive but my home solar is an Enphase system. Their products are well made and supported. Though many of the parts are imported they are assembled in the USA. I just used it for the first time on a trip and it worked nicely with my frig. Still figuring everything out. But worth a look as they are $350 off right now.
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Unfortunately the form factor of the Enphase is far too big to fit where I'd like to put it. I don't want to clutter up the rear "deck" (above the drawers) with heavy things that need to be moved back and forth as that is my sleeping platform. There are small spaces between the seats and drawers that I'd like to use and there are a few power stations out there that I *think* will fit. I may have to use two of them and/or run a hood solar panel to make it work. I rarely spend more than one night in the same place so the power station will get recharged frequently.
 
Working through some details, testing fitment. I was able to flip the front D ring around and used a random tie down I found left at camp a while ago. Two Voile straps went to the rear. The fridge is a lot more secure and it allowed me to push it forward at least an inch, giving me a reasonable amount of space to work with to install a power station directly behind the fridge. Area is roughly 14" wide, 10+" high and has 8" of depth (between the fridge and drawers). I could move the fridge even further forward if needed and still have access to the awful second row cupholders. Iceco offers these tie downs which would save some space, I likely could find something a lot less expensive though. Im feeling a lot better about finding a power station that will fit and provide the energy I need.
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GTV said:
Unfortunately the form factor of the Enphase is far too big to fit where I'd like to put it. I don't want to clutter up the rear "deck" (above the drawers) with heavy things that need to be moved back and forth as that is my sleeping platform. There are small spaces between the seats and drawers that I'd like to use and there are a few power stations out there that I *think* will fit. I may have to use two of them and/or run a hood solar panel to make it work. I rarely spend more than one night in the same place so the power station will get recharged frequently.
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Do take into consideration that power packs need space for ventilation. I put mine in front of the frig in the foot space. It is not much wider than the frig so a good location for ventilation.

Also for your frig you should be able to get a plug with a 90 bend so that it does not stick directly out.
 
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TheIcemanCometh said:
Do take into consideration that power packs need space for ventilation. I put mine in front of the frig in the foot space. It is not much wider than the frig so a good location for ventilation.

Also for your frig you should be able to get a plug with a 90 bend so that it does not stick directly out.
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Ventilation has crossed my mind, as well as putting the power station in front of the fridge. From a packaging perspective I would prefer it behind so I'm going to try it out in this configuration first and see what happens. 🤞🏼
Yes, a 90° plug will be better. The 12v DC plug supplied is a 90° but not the 120v AC. I can't remember what these are called but I'll need one that has the cord coming out to the right side of the photo.
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I can finally put a bow on this project! I'm so stoked with how it all turned out. Super simple, effective and integrated.

To sum it all up...
I'm using an Iceco JP30 30L fridge. It's not available any longer but I believe Set Power offers an identical version for less $$$.
It's all strapped down with Iceco straps. I could have probably made something for cheaper but it was exactly what I needed so an easy buy.
The fridge power cable is also Iceco. I wasn't trying to keep it all in the Iceco family, it just worked out that way.
It's powered by a Bluetti 100 V2 power station. Just like the fridge I chose it because it was the biggest I could find that would fit in the available space.
I wasn't planning on getting a DC/DC charger right away but Bluetti released their Charger 2 a month ago and I couldn't pass it up. It's a powerful piece of equipment for the price.

Fridge makes a perfect center armrest.
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Seen here is the sheathed 6 awg cable from the battery coming out from between the f/r carpet and up to the dc/dc charger. The other 2 cables go back and feed the power station. It's all Bluetti stuff that came with the Charger 2. The 90 degree AC splitter is for ease of AC power access. The drawers are very close. The AC inverter uses a lot of power so I will avoid using AC as much as possible. The rear fridge straps go through the handle on the power station, securing both. The DC charger is sticky velcroed to the power station. Bluetti advises to mount them vertically. They also don't guarantee it over 6,600' elevation. I live at 7k. Whatever. I'll make sure nothing blocks the cooling fan.
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The fridge power cable is a bit long. I keep a multi USB cord plugged in the back to charge all the things. Another strap through the handle on this side.
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Up front a strap on each side go down to a D ring on the former center seat mount. The whole system feels very secure. It's also very easy to remove if need be. Since it's in the center of the vehicle it won't see nearly the same forces as it would if it was mounted in a rear corner.
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You may have noticed the power station controls are difficult to reach. That's no problem as it and the charger, as well as the fridge are controlled by apps.

The power station stuff was new territory for me. It's been fun learning how it all works. I plan on adding interior/camp lighting at some point. And if needed I can easily augment the power system with solar by plugging directly into the Charger 2.

And now, for me, this is the best part-
Old 60% seat = 86lbs
Yeti 20L cooler + 5lbs ice = 21lbs
Total = 107lbs

New seat = 39lbs
Fridge = 35lbs
Power Station = 25lbs
Charger = 8lbs
Total = 107lbs :cool:
 
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Live to Ski said:
interested in your ps elect supply wire run from auto battery in engine compartement. can you elaborate on cargo factory access points (assuming you did not create new one).

keep on keeping on!
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Power wire goes directly from the battery (with supplied 75a MRBF) and through the rubber grommet in the firewall. Then behind the drivers kick panel, under the door sill plates and rear quarter trim panel until it reaches the rear carpet. Then across to the charger and power station.

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Not sure what you’re referring to with cargo access points(?) all of the original D rings are still in place I just added one more to the front center and two in the rear that are secured at the original seat mount/latch locations.
 
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I can't comment on the cargo area part of the run, but adding a grommet to the firewall is stupid easy. I followed another post on here and drilled a 1-1/4" hole (1-1/8"?) just above where GTV has his hole, centered on that bump (hit it with a center punch first to keep the drill from walking off). Grabbed a grommet off Amazon and now I have a hole big enough to even fit most connectors through. The area on the inside behind it is pretty open, so fishing stuff through isn't hard at all.
 
Live to Ski said:
got it. so this is an interior run from the firewall back to cargo area.

I'm thinking external run and up through the aft most access point (58136C plug).

see post #2 of electrical access points in the rear cargo area? - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/electrical-access-points-in-the-rear-cargo-area.1373361/#post-16219955

this shows the cargo area pan with access points. seems to me that this route is lesser of all evils w/r power run to cargo area.

thoughts.....
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Running the cables behind interior panels is easy, I can't imagine running externally is going to be any easier. You'll have to secure the wiring underneath, there's no need for that with an interior run. Just pop the panels off, lay the wires where you need them and clip them back into place. Done.
 
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