Fridge help
Submitted by troopie87 on Mon, 2012-07-02 16:55
hi,
I have a 60 litre evakool fridge, i plugged it into my aux point in the back of my 100 series recently for a day trip up to moore river. I had it in there for about an hour to cool down, then went out to put some food in it just before i was leaving and it hadnt cooled down at all and the fault light was flashing but it still sounded like it was cycling. I brought it inside and plugged it in and was working fine so must be something to do with my car, i checked my batteries and aux point with multimeter and they all read over 13 volts. Anyone else had this sort of problem before, thought id ask on here first before i go see an auto sparkie.
cheers
Willlo
Posts: 1490
Date Joined: 07/10/11
I was told that the wiring
I was told that the wiring isnt heavy duty enough to run fridges, more designed for lights etc. Not sure i arent a lecy.
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katsy85
Posts: 209
Date Joined: 13/02/12
Your nearly there fault
Your nearly there fault finding, u have eliminated the refrigeration component, eliminated your 12 source in your ute, so theres not too many things left to check.
From what you say, it sounds to me like the 12v circuit on your evakool has a fault, check any loose connections inside and also look for hot points where the wires terminate in the frigde.
Starbug
Posts: 563
Date Joined: 27/08/09
Have you checked your car
Have you checked your car wiring under load? Plug the fridge back in and check the voltage under load. This will show up any bad joints or under sized wiring.
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Have you tested the 12v plug
Have you tested the 12v plug with your evakool plugged in and turned on ? The reason that i say this is that you may find with the current draw the cable just cant handle the current over the distance and you will end up with a volt drop that the evacool doesnt like/ cannot run on. It could also come down to bad connection that will still show 12v but under load will drop, could even be happening inside the eva.
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
voltage drop
the wiring in the cruisers is to small to run a fridge! it will show 12 volts but when under load it wont deliver enough! and be carefull as it could melt the wiring! i would suggest rewiring your plug in the rear straight from your battery with a decent size wire! try running the fridge from your front point! i had the same problem with my 100 series!
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kempy
Posts: 810
Date Joined: 28/05/09
Need to have some decent size
Need to have some decent size wiring when in the back due to volt drop over the distance. You need to put hook the mutilmeter in circuit while the fridge is plugged in.
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troopie87
Posts: 35
Date Joined: 09/11/09
just checked with mutimeter
just checked with mutimeter again and aux battery is at 12.44 volts at the battery and the plug in the back, it isnt the original cruiser wiring so i dont think its that. cheers for the quick replies.
Georgejungle
Posts: 354
Date Joined: 25/03/09
I could be wrong here but i
I could be wrong here but i seem to remember that a 12 volt battery is almost flat at 12.4 shouldnt it be around 13?
troopie87
Posts: 35
Date Joined: 09/11/09
had the fridge plugged in and
had the fridge plugged in and was putting multimeter in different spots down the cable on the fridge, was reading bout 12.4 all the way down and when the compressor kicked in it dropped down to about 9.5 volts. and when i have it plugged into point on the dash with the c!ar running fault light still flaashes but the fridge cools down. WTF! i hate electrical shit haha
katsy85
Posts: 209
Date Joined: 13/02/12
So u don't have dramas in the
So u don't have dramas in the future it's not a good idea to probe the cable with multimeter leads, can lead to green death
naylor_1
Posts: 161
Date Joined: 15/02/10
I think snappermiles is on
I think snappermiles is on the money had the same problem with my arb fridge, I went to battery world and got a few meters of 6mm wire and hard wired mine in an now works a treat
Willlo
Posts: 1490
Date Joined: 07/10/11
Thats what i meant on first
Thats what i meant on first post, was told by auto leccy that wire wasnt thick enough and he has had heaps of people in his shop for a rewire.
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naydog36
Posts: 46
Date Joined: 08/12/10
low voltage
the fault light on most fridges is an indication of low voltage. heavier gauge wire and a better connection system to the fridge rather than the standard 12 volt plug will almost fix your problem. the only thing left to check will be your second battery if that is where the fridge is connected to. all batteries should be tested under load. even a shot battery with a bropped cell can still read 12 to 13 volts. only under a load will you get a true reading. a good battery will read between 10.4 volts to 14 volts. I had a similar prob changed the wire checked the fridge found the compressor was kicking in but the fan wasnt working change the fan with an equivelant fan and then found my probs were solved. good luck. 12 volt circuits arent that hard to understand with a little know how. you definately dont have to be a leccy to do basic wiring.