Van Conversion Electric Fridge

Teddy B

Teddy B

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Just picked up a Van Conversion a week ago.
Always had a MoHo with a Gas Fridge.
Now we find the Electric Fridge is draining the battery, totally useless for a Rally or off grid.

Dealer has said the Fridge would only last 2 days even though we have solar panels. Can’t be converted to a gas fridge a no vents in the Van.
Has suggested a further Leisure Battery. Definitely not recommending a Lithium Battery, says they are in their infancy and you need a special dealer to fit it.
Even if you found one that fitted. I know some people are quite keen on these?

How do other people manage? Massively disappointed at the moment and need to speak to manager tomorrow as feel rather fobbed off at the moment.

Unable to use a generator. Your thoughts please.
 
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EuroTrotters said:
thats fine, I am familiar with the range . just wondering so I could help. There should be no problem running that for a day or two. Unless there is an issue with it.
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I never said there was! I'm not the OP :)

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Teddy B said:
22reg. 3000 miles
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So the leisure battery is 3 years old ?
I'd bank on it having reduced capacity due to having been previously flattened/left partially charged.
The battery needs a proper capacity test, not a drop test which is only good for starter batteries.
However as a capacity test takes a long time to do I doubt your dealer will do that and based on what he has already told you I doubt he would know how to do it.
 
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Teddy B do you have multimeter ?
If not get one, a £10 meter will be good enough for basic testing and really everybody should have one in their van.
With the meter you can check the basic health of your battery and also if the solar is working.
 
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Teddy B this would do.
1000010078.webp
 
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I used to have a campervan (T5) with a 50l compressor fridge powered by an 80W solar panel and an 85Ah lead acid battery. I don’t every remember ever having a flat battery and we used to go away for long weekends without EHU.

My current motorhome has a compressor fridge/freezer that uses about 45Ah a day but is powered by 210Ah lithium batteries and a 240W solar panel.
 
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Teddy B said:
Thanks. I have a multimeter
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Then disconnect the battery and fully charge it.
Leave it off charge for several hours, I like to leave them overnight, then see what the batteries resting voltage is.
You should see about 12.8v on a good battery.
Admittedly you can see good voltage but the battery capacity can be down and voltage testing won't show that but if the resting voltage is down it is a good indicator that the battery needs replacing.
Reconnect the battery and in sunshine you can check whether the solar is charging your battery.
Anything over about 13v at the battery posts shows it is receiving charge from the solar.
 
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PeterCarole29 said:
I have been thinking about one for ages but never know what to buy for the best not haveing much knowledge looking at this example looks no different from ones advertised on ebay for £11.99 Im happy to pay £50 but would be gutted if a £12 one was the same
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Most of the cheap clamp meters only work on ac current. That one does DC as well.
 
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PeterCarole29 said:
I have been thinking about one for ages but never know what to buy for the best not haveing much knowledge looking at this example looks no different from ones advertised on ebay for £11.99 Im happy to pay £50 but would be gutted if a £12 one was the same
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It's a trap some fall into. The cheaper ones don't do DC amps. Only AC and DC voltage. The Uni-t also has a small 2 amp DC scale and all the multimeter ranges 🤩 a few of us on here use it
 
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Richard n Ann said:
It's a trap some fall into. The cheaper ones don't do DC amps. Only AC and DC voltage. The Uni-t also has a small 2 amp DC scale and all the multimeter ranges 🤩 a few of us on here use it
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Thankyou for the explanation i shall order one now while Caroles not looking
 
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PeterCarole29 said:
I have been thinking about one for ages but never know what to buy for the best not haveing much knowledge looking at this example looks no different from ones advertised on ebay for £11.99 Im happy to pay £50 but would be gutted if a £12 one was the same
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That clamp meter is very good for the money.
I've had mine for about 6 years now, very useful piece of kit.
 
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oldiesontour said:
I bought one from AliExpress under £20 upto 600amp DC/AC has all the usual and a temperature prob and non contact voltage. I've checked it with my shunt meter and against the BMS and accuracy is good
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Put a link up 👍

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PeterCarole29 said:
I have been thinking about one for ages but never know what to buy for the best not haveing much knowledge looking at this example looks no different from ones advertised on ebay for £11.99 Im happy to pay £50 but would be gutted if a £12 one was the same
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The one I have was from B&Q, cheap and works fine, I went onto YouTube for instructional video's.
 
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Teddy B said:
Just picked up a Van Conversion a week ago.
Always had a MoHo with a Gas Fridge.
Now we find the Electric Fridge is draining the battery, totally useless for a Rally or off grid.

Dealer has said the Fridge would only last 2 days even though we have solar panels. Can’t be converted to a gas fridge a no vents in the Van.
Has suggested a further Leisure Battery. Definitely not recommending a Lithium Battery, says they are in their infancy and you need a special dealer to fit it.
Even if you found one that fitted. I know some people are quite keen on these?

How do other people manage? Massively disappointed at the moment and need to speak to manager tomorrow as feel rather fobbed off at the moment.

Unable to use a generator. Your thoughts please.
Click to expand...
So I have just replaced our 3 way with the equivalent Thetford compressor fridge and it is a revolution or revaluation depending on your point of view.

I connected it up nearly 3 weeks ago. Just running the fridge it uses about 4% of my SEt Energi 300 Ah lithium battery. The fridge uses less in a day than the hifi. The 120 W solar fully charges the battery each day and on many days actually dumps several Ah. The real benefit over a 3way is when driving, some 20A of the B2B charger were being used by the fridge, 2.5 by the hifi leaving about 7A to charge the hab battery. Now >20Ah goes to charging the hab battery so happy days.
 
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Teddy B - might be a good idea to have a chat with these guys, very knowledgeable, helpful and located not too far from you (as are we)…

offgridpower.solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions We are specialists in LiFePO4 batteries & Victron Energy systems. We’re here to help build the best offgrid electrical systems so you can focus on your adventure without stressing about how much power you have left! Get in touch with us about how we can help
offgridpower.solutions offgridpower.solutions

They fitted our 280ah Fogstar lithium battery, a suitable mains charger and expanded roof mounted solar. We already had lithium compatible solar controller and B2B onboard.

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I fitted a compressor fridge back towards the end of last November. powered from 2 x lead acid totalling 160Ah capacity, charged via 2 x 100w panels . Ran perfectly , although I do live in spain so i don't even worry about them charging. Changed the 2 x 100w panels in late january for 2 x 195w ones & last week changed the two lead acids for a 280Ah lifepo4 battery.
Fridge has never been turned off since it was installed.
Teddy B said:
How do other people manage? Ma
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as above. Dealer appears to be out of touch
 
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Don't despair, you'll be fine for a rally and for a few off-grid days without moving.
I have a van which has a compressor fridge and I survived many long weekend trips with a 95ah battery in my pre-solar days. I came from a van with an unpowered cool box, which I also used for long weekend trips without ever giving myself food poisoning.

A few things to consider:
  • Is the battery working efficiently? I knackered one of mine because it dropped the voltage too low, once too often! There are good comments already in the thread about checking, but once you know your battery is fine (or you've replaced it!) you'll need to make sure it's maintained between trips either by plugging into EHU periodically at home (I used to plug mine in each Sunday if I was at home) or by giving the van a decent run out at regular intervals.
  • What temp is your fridge running at? I turned my down considerably from the 'dealer setting', working on keeping food safely chilled, not 'commercial beer chiller cold'! 😆
  • On departure for a trip I would pre-chill the fridge at home on EHU, then load it with chilled and frozen foods, and freezer blocks. The latter helping keep the temp down. Sometimes some items would still be part frozen at the end of my long weekend.
  • Try to avoid opening and closing the fridge every five minutes.
  • I always turned my fridge off at night. It saved power, and stayed cool as obviously wasn't being opened!
On that basis I managed for about 6 years of trips and events, often off-grid, before adding solar and a (slightly) bigger capacity battery.
I've just (this January) had lithium fitted which has been transformational. Lithium certainly ISN'T in its infancy! BUT it also isn't essential for everyone to fit.
 
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Teddy B said:
Just picked up a Van Conversion a week ago.
Always had a MoHo with a Gas Fridge.
Now we find the Electric Fridge is draining the battery, totally useless for a Rally or off grid.

Dealer has said the Fridge would only last 2 days even though we have solar panels. Can’t be converted to a gas fridge a no vents in the Van.
Has suggested a further Leisure Battery. Definitely not recommending a Lithium Battery, says they are in their infancy and you need a special dealer to fit it.
Even if you found one that fitted. I know some people are quite keen on these?

How do other people manage? Massively disappointed at the moment and need to speak to manager tomorrow as feel rather fobbed off at the moment.

Unable to use a generator. Your thoughts please.
Click to expand...

Your dealer are absolutely rubbish… and they call themselves “professionals “…:doh::doh::doh::doh:

Give these a call and get a sensible answer…..👍🏼

offgridpower.solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions

Offgrid Power Solutions We are specialists in LiFePO4 batteries & Victron Energy systems. We’re here to help build the best offgrid electrical systems so you can focus on your adventure without stressing about how much power you have left! Get in touch with us about how we can help
offgridpower.solutions offgridpower.solutions
 
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I threw my 3 way fridge down the tip as it was forever giving me issues.
I installed a 240 under counter fridge brought a 2nd battery and fitted a 1200 inverter + socket to plug it in
Solo panel fitted.
Spent 8 weeks in Spain no issues at all



IMG_4474.webp

IMG_4471.webp
 
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Conniedriving said:
I threw my 3 way fridge down the tip as it was forever giving me issues.
I installed a 240 under counter fridge brought a 2nd battery and fitted a 1200 inverter + socket to plug it in
Solo panel fitted.
Spent 8 weeks in Spain no issues at all



View attachment 1047194

View attachment 1047195
Click to expand...
Same here but 240 fridge /freezer been in Spain a month and running off grid bungalow off van inverter... don't know why anyone would want 3 way or pay silly money for a 12v compressor

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Get yourself to Offgrid, as the others have said.

In Wantage, not too far from you.
 
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