Electrical 12 pin and fridge

[Roosterman]

Howdy all,

I have searched the forum with some succusses but in the main I need a basic view on whats the best.

As I have my van being built currently, im now sorting the best way to charge batts/fridge whilst travelling, and after speaking to the dealer on options, I am now even more confused.

To give you some back ground info, my veh has a dual batt system, with a basic red arc isolator incorporated, I currently run an Anderson plug to the rear of my veh to charge batts on the move...standard stuff. I also have a 7 pin plug for elec brakes and lights etc...

My basic understanding on the van set up for touring is that whilst connected I have power going to the batts/fridge, and when you stop you will still have power running to the fridge, therefore draining your batt unless you switch it off, or across to gas...??

So my questions are in a few parts I guess.

1. is it possible to keep my 7 pin plug and Anderson plug to charge the fridge and run the brakes, lights etc ??
2. do I need to an isolation/battery switch for when I stop driving to prevent problems etc
3. lastly, whats the best way to do this, what have others done with your set up's..

Thanks.

Rooster....

 

[chartrock]

G'day @Roosterman, you can run your 7 pin and an anderson, I still do although I run more than one. Does your fridge run through the 7 pin? Is the anderson purely for charging the van battery? (The fridge does not run off the van battery) I favoured an anderson for charging the battery enabling heavier wire than the 7 pin can carry and also an anderson for the fridge also for heavier wire but ran the wire straight from the main car battery via a relay from the ignition which meant that when the engine stopped current was cut off from the fridge.

I now run a 3rd anderson for the ESC on the new van so it can be disconnected when required.

 

[Crusty181]

Hi @rosterman. The van fridge power is separate on the van side anyway whether its wrapped up in the 7 pin, 12pin, Anderson. To run the fridge via your cars Anderson you should run a minimum of 6b&s twin core both pos and neg direct from the battery. My van came delivered with a 12pin. I opened the plug, separated the fridge poss and neg, stripped back the wire sheathing, put the fridge wires into an Anderson and taped it all back up. I knew if I asked for it be delivered with a Anderson, that work would have been done by the dealership and was happier and more confident knowing I done it. I was happier also after I rewiring the 12 pin myself as well.

The fridge will draw around a headlight worth of power, so while a healthy battery would be fine for some time such as lunch etc you wouldn’t take the risk just in case. There’s a number of ways to isolate the fridge, pulling the trailer plug being the simplest. A relay is the most common, switched via a live ignition wire on the car, although switching via the cars parking light as per @Drover is a pretty good idea. Having your parking lights on is a good safety tip anyway, plus you’ll know it the plug shakes loose when the van clearance lights go out, and you’ll know the fridge is also off. The days of stripping ignition wires to tap your relay into are over. You can now buy piggy back fuse holders that push into your ignition fuse of choice and they give you a second fused connection to run to your relay. The Setec 12v changing is very low, and you would have to drive for many hours to get any real value …. And it was pointed out to me by @boots that the Ctek Dual is only a 20amp most of which would be getting absorbed by the fridge. The most important thing is the size of the wiring to the fridge and both pos/neg direct from the car battery

 

[mfexpanda]

Howdy all,

I have searched the forum with some succusses but in the main I need a basic view on whats the best.

As I have my van being built currently, im now sorting the best way to charge batts/fridge whilst travelling, and after speaking to the dealer on options, I am now even more confused.

To give you some back ground info, my veh has a dual batt system, with a basic red arc isolator incorporated, I currently run an Anderson plug to the rear of my veh to charge batts on the move...standard stuff. I also have a 7 pin plug for elec brakes and lights etc...

My basic understanding on the van set up for touring is that whilst connected I have power going to the batts/fridge, and when you stop you will still have power running to the fridge, therefore draining your batt unless you switch it off, or across to gas...??

So my questions are in a few parts I guess.

1. is it possible to keep my 7 pin plug and Anderson plug to charge the fridge and run the brakes, lights etc ??
2. do I need to an isolation/battery switch for when I stop driving to prevent problems etc
3. lastly, whats the best way to do this, what have others done with your set up's..

Thanks.

Rooster....

We use this

 

[bigcol]

hiya @Roosterman
my system is a little (or a lot) different to @Crusty181

I have an Anderson plug at the rear, as well as a 7 pin and a 12 pin
my Anderson plug is wired to my 2nd battery - so it is getting power when its plugged in - all the time
it is a yellow top Ultima battery, so I have no problems with plugging it in and forgetting about it until I arrive

my 12 pin has the feed for the fridge coming from the Anderson plug
and the feed for the Electric brakes comes from the 2nd battery as well

(so does the Amp, 2 x Engels, 300Wconvertor, DVD head rests, etc)

I wanted to keep my 7 pin - incase I tow anything else apart from my Van
my Van came standard with 12 pin - so I had NO option

 

[dagree]

I wanted to keep my 7 pin - incase I tow anything else apart from my Van
my Van came standard with 12 pin - so I had NO option

Yes you did....... rewire the van

 

[bigcol]

Yes you did....... rewire the van

sod that for a game of cricket mate..........

 

[Roosterman]

Ok all thanks so far, ive been reading threads like mad over the last day or so trying to get a better understanding...its my intention to have a chat to one of our local auto elecs for some of there advise also.

The way im starting to lean is, and please correct me if im wrong, is that given I have an Anderson plug which runs of my aux batt in the car at the rear of my veh I will use this to power the fridge, I will ask jayco to have an Anderson plug fitted direct to the fridge, all in 6 B&S, fused, to power the fridge and avoid any voltage drop...I also run a fridge in my veh of the aux batt, so am thinking I will have a cut of switch/relay installed to cut power once the veh is turned off, again to avoid draining my aux batt.....just don't open and close the fridge in the van to much whilst the power is off...

Now given I have solar installed on the roof of the van, and the 12 pin fitted, both should charge the batts whilst on the move...???...so my thoughts are that I should well and truly have the van batt topped up at any stage....does this sound right ??

Also, has anyone had an additional Anderson plug fitted to the front of the van and run back to the solar reg so you can connect a portable solar panel to increase the charge rate for the van batt...??

Thanks all for the answers and your patients...

Regards.

Rooster..

 

[Drover]

I wanted to keep my 7 pin - incase I tow anything else apart from my Van
my Van came standard with 12 pin - so I had NO option

7 pin will plug into a 12 pin @bigcol......
...
I used to have van power thru a 12 pin for ages but a recent melt down due to loose pins made me go the Anderson plug for van power including for fridge which as @Crusty181 mentioned I wired a 30amp relay to activate with park lights to make sure I don't kill the tug battery or my aux, depends which one I end up running off once I finish the set up on the new tug.
$20 for the relay or $60 for fridge switch, a necessary item I believe.
I would point out that running an anderson thru a 12 or 7 pin could still allow a pin meltdown.
Far better to run 12v appliances than using an inverter, less power wasted and therefore needed, a mobile power station like some build is a hell of a lot of weight that all comes from your 300 to 400kg load capacity .

 

[chartrock]

The way im starting to lean is, and please correct me if im wrong, is that given I have an Anderson plug which runs of my aux batt in the car at the rear of my veh I will use this to power the fridge, I will ask jayco to have an Anderson plug fitted direct to the fridge, all in 6 B&S, fused, to power the fridge and avoid any voltage drop...I also run a fridge in my veh of the aux batt, so am thinking I will have a cut of switch/relay installed to cut power once the veh is turned off, again to avoid draining my aux batt.....just don't open and close the fridge in the van to much whilst the power is off...

Hi Rooster, if you are running your van fridge from your aux battery it will be difficult to have a relay from your ignition cut this supply to the van so the van fridge will still run from the aux battery when stopped and if you are running a second fridge from the same battery it will be flat very quickly. I would suggest hooking your van battery to the current anderson plug and wiring a second one direct from the main vehicle battery through a relay for the van fridge. The van anderson to the battery could be used to plug in a portable solar panel which, having its own regulator, can be used to charge the van battery.

 

[Roosterman]

@chartrock , for sure mate, with that in mind, 2 things, after talking to an auto sparky this morn, he advised that I could run the van fridge and the veh fridge of my aux batt, but would be best to fit a "fridge switch" at the fridge, haven't researched this yet, but his info is that it works like a motion detector of sorts, and will switch the fridge off when the vehicle stops, prob not the explanation but you get what I mean...

The other thing, would it be better for the Anderson plug from the van to be fitted/wired directly to the fridge, fused of course, with 6 B&S, this way, reducing voltage drop, and provided max power to the fridge, increasing its efficiency...

in terms of charging the van/house batt on the move, isn't this achieved via the 12 pin plug..???

or, I have got this all wrong....lol

Cheers for your replys to mate...

 

[Drover]

If you fit a fridge switch or a relay activated by your parking lights and fit it at the connector behind your fridge then it doesn't matter where the power is drawn from as stop moving or turn parkers off fridge is off.

To actually save money do a few trips and see how things work, you will find that running the fridge when on the road isn't really all that necessary so if you are going to pay someone a couple of hundred dollars to wire it up, it's a lot of $$$ for not much gain, I've forgot to switch mine on and it was 2.4deg when I left and it was 3.4deg when I parked up for the night at Julia Crk.
Don't use your van fridge for drinks, keep the kids out or it won't matter what you do it won't stay cold.

 

[chartrock]

@chartrock , for sure mate, with that in mind, 2 things, after talking to an auto sparky this morn, he advised that I could run the van fridge and the veh fridge of my aux batt, but would be best to fit a "fridge switch" at the fridge, haven't researched this yet, but his info is that it works like a motion detector of sorts, and will switch the fridge off when the vehicle stops, prob not the explanation but you get what I mean...

The other thing, would it be better for the Anderson plug from the van to be fitted/wired directly to the fridge, fused of course, with 6 B&S, this way, reducing voltage drop, and provided max power to the fridge, increasing its efficiency...

in terms of charging the van/house batt on the move, isn't this achieved via the 12 pin plug..???

or, I have got this all wrong....lol

Cheers for your replys to mate...

Rooster, your sparky is right, the fridge switch is another solution. But as @Drover says, it can be done with the parking lights lights as well. I would get the fridge directly wired to the anderson (or 12 pin) with 6 B&S if not already done that way.

The house battery probably is wired through the 12 pin but as others have found, the split in the pins can close up making a bad contact and causing the fridge to shut down, which is why I use a 7 pin and anderson plugs.

No, you haven't got it all wrong, I would say you are right on track.

 

[dagree]

@Roosterman there's many options and many prefer one over the other...

On our previous van the battery charging was left feeding from the 7 pin but I fitted an Anderson fed from the 2nd battery via the usual 6 B&S with an ignition switched relay. The only issue I had was that Mrs Dagree enjoys her music and would leave the ignition on for the radio when we stopped for breaks. Fixed that by fitting a cutoff switch to the relay power wire!

The current van was wired up by the dealer (At my request) with a 7 pin and 1 Anderson plug with the fridge, battery, break away brakes and pre-wiring for the ESC connected. Couldn't be bothered running more cables for a relay so fitted a fridge cutout switch close to the fridge. Works well and keeps everything else charged up when the car is off.

Fitted a second Anderson to the car and asked to have a second one fitted to the ESC when fitted (So it could be unplugged when required and not affect the other things wired in) but they didn't do it..... Just another job on my list when I get around to it!

 

[Crusty181]

.just don't open and close the fridge in the van to much whilst the power is off...

All good advice by the good folk above. If we stop for any length of time, say 3 or 4 hours especially if its a warm day I flick the fridge onto gas and then turn it back to 12v when we roll off. For a lunch stop etc, as @Drover mentioned, it will be fine without any power

 

[Crusty181]

The only issue I had was that Mrs Dagree enjoys her music and would leave the ignition on for the radio when we stopped for breaks

I over came the same problem by buying a $60k Behemoth caravan with a radio in it :doh:

 

[Drover]

Forgot to mention get a fridge thermometer you will be surprised by the temps it shows.

 

[dagree]

I over came the same problem by buying a $60k Behemoth caravan with a radio in it :doh:

She keeps hinting to me about fitting one...... I remind her the TV plays music CD's

 

[Roosterman]

All great advise, thanks for taking the time to contribute....haven't had a chance to talk to the dealer over the last day or so, but that's fine has given me time to absorb the info provided...I think I will go for and Ando plug direct to the fridge, with larger cable, fused, and a fridge switch..

This way I know I am guaranteeing that I get the best power source to the fridge, it should be more efficient, and with the fridge switch, prevent draining the batt...

I will talk to him about the 12 pin charging the van batt on the move and how efficient it does it, but as I have solar panel on the roof, the 12v drain will be minimal, I think this end of the power set up shouldn't be a drama...time will tell.

The other area to get my head around is how the breakaway sys, and ESC is powered and what is the most efficient way forward...does the 12 pin provide power for these...will they drain the batt..?? etc, etc,

Back at work tomoz until Mon, so will follow up Mon morn with the dealer and see what he says..

Thanks again all..

Rooster..

PS....go the Roosters...lol...

 

[mfexpanda]

I over came the same problem by buying a $60k Behemoth caravan with a radio in it :doh:

Yes a few of us did :greedy_dollars: