Can your refrigerator holding 40F with this record heat??

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by rallypanam

Am I reading this right?

You can run your fridge in 90* ambient temperature for 2.1 days, holding a 40* inside temp, and use less than 70 amp hours?

And at 70* you can run it for 4 days and use only 35 amp hours?

That seems extraordinarily good!

I was not reading it right.. You've got "Wh/Day".. So the 70 amp hours at 90* is only for a single day, that makes much more sense.

[LenS]

Originally Posted by rallypanam

Am I reading this right?

You can run your fridge in 90* ambient temperature for 2.1 days, holding a 40* inside temp, and use less than 70 amp hours?

And at 70* you can run it for 4 days and use only 35 amp hours?

That seems extraordinarily good!

That is ~70 amps hours PER DAY. That is ~35 amp hours PER DAY. I get the impression the Norcold's have comparable performance.

[ShuttlePilot]

Greetings All,
It was pointed out that the link I posted (post #14) regarding the power supply to run the programmable thermostat was dead. Here is another attempt to post the link.

Coolerguys 12-40v DC to 12v & 5v DC Power Adapter

This little power supply is needed because the thermostat uses a Molex connector as input power. A Molex connector has both 5 volt and 12 volt prongs. As I understand the thermostat runs on the 5 volt and the 12 volt is switched for the fans.

sorry for the inconvenience.
-Eric

[MsNomer]

My 1.43cuft Engel chest fridge holds 37° at van temp of 104°. That's set at 1.5 out of potential 5 on the dial, so rock-solid freeze would be a snap.

Uses no more than 6Ah/day even in this extreme condition. Closer to 5 Ah/day in cooler weather. Yes, that is per DAY as measured by my TriMetric meter.

[LenS]

Originally Posted by MsNomer

My 1.43cuft Engel chest fridge holds 37° at van temp of 104°. That's set at 1.5 out of potential 5 on the dial, so rock-solid freeze would be a snap.

Uses no more than 6Ah/day even in this extreme condition. Closer to 5 Ah/day in cooler weather. Yes, that is per DAY as measured by my TriMetric meter.

Always impressive when the refrig can hold 37F on a 104F day. Good for your food. The amp draw you quote is a tenth of what the manufacture quotes.

[MsNomer]

"The amp draw you quote is a tenth of what the manufacture quotes."

Not at all. Engel says 0.7 to 2.5 amps. It operates within that range, commonly 1-1.5 amps, sometimes even less, particularly in cooler weather. The key is that it runs about 1/10 of the time, usually about 2-2.5 minutes of every 20 minutes or so. The amount of time it runs per hour is more consistent than the amperage for reasons I don't understand.

Note also that I'm running at the warmer end of its range--1.5 out of 5 on its dial. Amazon says 25Ah per day. It would probably draw that if I turned it down past 0°.

I'm not the only one who has reported these numbers.

[1der]

Is there a solar panel or two feeding into this system? How many watts? Is the Trimetic measuring net usage?

Something seems to be misinterpreted here, otherwise Engel would have the market cornered exclusively. An average of 1.5 to 2.5 amps per hour over a 24 hr period is what is typical. What is being stated is .25 average per hour for a 60 degree drop.

Maybe super insulated installation, fully filled and chilled and never opened during the day???

[Scalf77]

Factory Performance data

http://www.sailboatstuff.com/images/...ance_Curve.pdf


So holding 37° at around 103° is going to be in the 35 + amps hours per day


-greg

[MsNomer]

Solar panels are still in the shop waiting to be installed. For the last year, this fridge has run on one 100Ah battery powered by the alternator. Everything goes through the TriMetric shunt. In the driveway, the fridge gets shore power. One time I forgot to plug it in for about a week, no harm done.

I don't pretend to understand how this Sawafugi compressor works, but it has one moving part and no start-up surge. It is also well-insulated.

On a normal evening/morning, we use about 8-9 amps total with fridge, lights, computer, so we have felt comfortable boondocking up to 5 days. On our last 5-week trip, we went below 90% full one evening/morning when rain trapped us inside half the day.

I can tell you why this fridge hasn't cornered the RV market--though it has a huge chunk of the market it is designed for. This is a chest fridge/freezer designed to be hauled in the back of a 4x4 in the Australian outback. It looks like a cooler, not a house fridge. I built it into my cabinet with a hinged lid in the counter. Not everyone could or would want to do that. I have never seen a small front-opening fridge that I liked, and my counter is only 16" deep, so this was really the only choice for me. It has greatly exceeded my expectations.

Edit: I cannot explain the discrepancy from the chart. I wonder if the 00.12.21 notation at the bottom is the date. If so, that could be it. The compressor has improved since then, and I know the older ones are not as efficient.

Now that it is built in, it has some protection from the heat, but last year when it was sitting on the floor, I timed the 10% run time.

[LenS]

Originally Posted by Scalf77

Factory Performance data

http://www.sailboatstuff.com/images/...ance_Curve.pdf


So holding 37° at around 103° is going to be in the 35 + amps hours per day


-greg

Great chart! Wish could find that kind of detailed info for all manufactures.