Fridges

[Nonimouse]

Just an update on my Alpicool CF45

Camping on the welsh borders last week with outside temps at 34+ and inside temps over 40 every day, she never went above 4 degrees. I ran her for 24 hours on my 'camp battery' a 26amp hour, ten year old, resurected mobility scooter battery from Lucas, with a 7watt trickle charge, form a solar suitcase. No issues, although the battery was almost at cut off point when I swapped the firdge back to the Disco.  The fridge is now in the T5 over in West Wales, just doing it's job

I'm really pleased with it

[L19MUD]

Your update is timely. I have had my CF55 for a few months now and used it on a handful of camping trips, it seems easily capable of sitting at 2 degrees whatever the outside/inside temperature is and I used it during the hot spell just like you. I run it using the 240v to 12v adaptor for the majority of the time.

I have had one fairly major issue though which is the latching handle has broken. The Plastic is quite thin where the metal rod goes through and it has broken after only a few uses which is quite disappointing. I contacted Alpicool through Amazon asking for a replacement handle and said I would be happy to fit myself if they sent instructions. They were very responsive and sent instructions immediately, they did not have a handle but asked if they could send a used/returned working fridge for me to use the handle from instead

I agreed to that thinking I would have a spare I could keep or sell. We chased this for 5-6 weeks but it never arrived. I put my foot down a little firmer last week as I felt we had waited long enough and they immediately came back apologising and asked if a full refund would suffice for the aggravation caused!!  I agreed and they sent immediately! Nice free fridge 🙂

I think I can easily come up with a solution for the handle but in all honesty it does not really matter too much as long as you are not over filling and trying to use the catch to hold the lid down

 

[Nonimouse]

I will admit to having treated the handle with extra care. It doesn't seem that strong...

[FridgeFreezer]

17 hours ago, L19MUD said:

I think I can easily come up with a solution for the handle

Know anyone with a 3D printer?

[L19MUD]

8 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Know anyone with a 3D printer?

No, but I am not sure that is the answer either as the design is quite poor and replicating it is probably not the answer. Will pull it apart and post some pictures so we can have some collective wisdom on a solution. Will also be helpful for @Nonimouse when his breaks 🙂

I am 99% certain that SWMBO broke it by allowing it to slam shut but I have no evidence of this.......

[simonr]

I'd be happy to assist with designing / making something as a replacement.

I've made a couple of replacement slam-latches out of laser (or Plasma) cut & folded stainless, for other things.

[tommobot]

On 8/17/2022 at 5:01 PM, L19MUD said:

I agreed and they sent immediately! Nice free fridge 

🙂

 

I must admit, a brought my alpicool fridge through Amazon, supposedly next day delivery. It turned up about a week later and I kicked off at Amazon and they gave me a full refund prior to it arriving and if it arrived I could keep it as a gift...

Turned up next day!

[Northwards]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:58 AM, Bowie69 said:

Well, what a lovely week in Cornwall, dry every day except the day I left (Saturday), fairly constant temp 16-18C, and got some good day to day running data.

So a few key figures while running 4C fridge and -12C freezer:

• Power use went up as expected to between 450Wh and 530Wh, or about 40Ah
• Solar system never failed to keep up, fully charging each day easily, even on one of the more overcast days

The final two days I switched the freezer compartment to 4C, as I wanted to defrost the remaining food in there for barbecuing, this dropped power usage to around 250Wh or 20Ah per day. Pretty significant, though on balance not unexpected.

The fridge was quiet, and kept things at just the right temp, only issue was when I failed to pull the curtain late in the day, and the outside of the fridge was hot to the touch(!), that pushed the power usage up a bit -so yes, as someone above mentioned, shade is a significant factor in power use.

All in all very happy with it, and the solar set up. If running in fridge mode I could get maybe 4-5 days out of my 110Ah battery without any charge, albeit dropping the voltage lower than ideal, but it would do it. With solar, I am pretty certain there would be no issues to run it permanently like this. If running in just fridge mode, very much suspect 100W panel would be sufficient, especially in summer, freezer, maybe.....? 200W feels safer.

Hope that's useful

 

 

This post, and the preceding ones with 'real data' have probably been the most useful things I've read in researching my own solar/fridge set-up. Big thanks. 

I know it's not the time of year to be worrying about car fridges... or solar power up here! ... but I'm planning to rework what I have and am busy planning and getting stuff in so that it's all to hand when I do the work, possibly over the Christmas break. 

We have a split charge system. Leisure battery is an Optima Yellow - 55Ah. (Maybe wouldn't go this way next time, but hey ho.) This year we were running a 'peltier' coolbox, off campsite power and the alternator. As you guys will know, in high ambient temps, as they were in Europe this year, the coolbox is better than nothing but struggles to keep stuff properly cold and drips condensation everywhere. 

So I now have an Alpicool T50 and am planning a solar system for any 'off grid' stops, or more basic campsites. I think Bowie69s posts in this thread probably give me all the information I really need, but would just like a 'sense check', confirmation or alternative opinions before I spend my pennies... (pounds!). 

If we're on campsites with power, then I've no worries about plugging into that, but we've found that sometimes the power 'pillar' is a long way off. 

I think the 'extreme' end of our usage might be 2 or 3 days/nights 'off power', and almost certainly in 'fridge' mode most of the time. Looking at France/Spain/Portugal sort of trips - late spring to early autumn so hopefully plenty of sunshine. We tend to get moving about 10am, and normally park up about 3 or 4pm-ish. There will be very little else drawing current - maybe some LED camp lights, couple of phones on charge, and possibly some music. 

I had been looking at 200W suitcase panels, but based on the info above that's maybe unnecessary. Possibly something in the 100-120W range would meet our needs. 

I had also been considering 'magcode' magnetic connectors  for the panel to car connection, on the basis that they'd cope well with the frequent connect/disconnect cycle we might have. Also hoping I can manage a 10-12m cable run between panels and car. For our own comfort we'll park the car in the shade if it's available, so longer cables to try and get the panels into the sun. This is also the main reason I'm looking for a suitcase/folding panel - the car itself will hopefully not be in the sunshine when we're camped up.

I suppose the only other 'wrinkle' I might throw in here is that it's possible we'd do a 'Scandinavia' trip or two. Summer only, not winter. That would mean less sunshine, but maybe also more 'off grid' stops? 

As I say, I think the detailed posts in this thread probably give me the info I need, but just asking for comfort's sake.

Ta

Donald 

 

[Bowie69]

Certainly I think your spidey-sense is about right. Battery would probably do you 2-3 days if in fridge mode even if you had really cloudy days -bear in mind a lot of my figures were from predominantly sunny days.

Are you charging the 'house' battery when driving the car as well? Then the solar really is only for top-up when parked. You will replenish the battery quickly (10-20A) from the car alternator.

If you add an extension, use FAT cables, 4mm2 at minimum or the voltage drop will really hurt efficiency.

 

 

[Northwards]

Thanks Bowie.

Yes, the house battery is being charged when running, so it's all about the actual camping hours - ca. 3pm to 10am.

If I had a 110Ah battery I'd be less bothered I think - and maybe I should just bite the bullet and replace the 55Ah Optima, but it's pretty new and I've had other opinions that it should be OK for my usage. 

I was aware of the need to beef up the cables depending on the length, ta. 5 or 6mm2 was my thought. I believe that would be OK for a 200w panel, and should easily cope with a 100/120w one. I've been surprised by the price of the panels, but I suppose energy costs have sent everyone looking at solar. 

 

[Peaklander]

As well as all the good info on here, my advice when travelling in heat, is to have a foil cover for the fridge when moving, if there's any chance of it 'seeing' direct rays when in the vehicle. We use one of the window blinds for that and then when we stop en-route, they all go up on the windows, as it's usually sunny 😀

The irony when in warmer climes is that you are looking for shade - which doesn't necessarily suit the panel as you need the amps! The suitcase approach will allow you to park under a tree yet capture the rays, just as you say.

The biggest overall drain in our experience is simultaneously using the fridge and the heater and the days are short. We have managed to squeeze a new and bigger Ah battery in as our house battery. It's a Varta LA80 Dual Purpose AGM Leisure and it has made a big difference, as the volts hold-up for longer on dull days.

[Bowie69]

I reckon 55Ah will likely be perfectly fine for your use.

[elbekko]

3 hours ago, Northwards said:

suppose the only other 'wrinkle' I might throw in here is that it's possible we'd do a 'Scandinavia' trip or two. Summer only, not winter. That would mean less sunshine, but maybe also more 'off grid' stops? 

Scandinavia in summer has more sun, not less. Winter would be a bigger issue.

[Northwards]

hi folks - thanks for the replies. I think I'll crack on then and see what's available in the 100/120W panel size. 

Good shout too about the foil reflectors - in fact your mentioning that has given me a very good idea how I can make something up to stick to the inside of the rear windows, but also how I could rig up a 'bespoke' windscreen shade. I've a roll of that silver 'bubble wrap' used to insulate under floorboards, some of that and some window suction stickers and I'll be sorted. 

1 hour ago, elbekko said:

Scandinavia in summer has more sun, not less. Winter would be a bigger issue.

Indeed - that's 'my bad' - I knew what I meant but didn't explain it very well. I meant that Scandinavia would have less powerful, less direct sunshine and made the assumption this would generate less power via a solar panel. Perhaps meaning that a 100/120W panel wouldn't be enough. But I'd be happy to admit that I don't know exactly how photovoltaic works. We have 'solar thermal' on top of our house, which I think needs some heat as well as light; do photovoltaics just need light, irrespective of its strength? 

[landroversforever]

1 hour ago, Northwards said:

hi folks - thanks for the replies. I think I'll crack on then and see what's available in the 100/120W panel size. 

Good shout too about the foil reflectors - in fact your mentioning that has given me a very good idea how I can make something up to stick to the inside of the rear windows, but also how I could rig up a 'bespoke' windscreen shade. I've a roll of that silver 'bubble wrap' used to insulate under floorboards, some of that and some window suction stickers and I'll be sorted. 

Indeed - that's 'my bad' - I knew what I meant but didn't explain it very well. I meant that Scandinavia would have less powerful, less direct sunshine and made the assumption this would generate less power via a solar panel. Perhaps meaning that a 100/120W panel wouldn't be enough. But I'd be happy to admit that I don't know exactly how photovoltaic works. We have 'solar thermal' on top of our house, which I think needs some heat as well as light; do photovoltaics just need light, irrespective of its strength? 

PVs just need light. More the merrier, but aren’t worried about heat. 

I think what Elbekko is meaning above is that going that north in the summer will mean longer days so more sunshine. 

[miketomcat]

The Futher north you go the more upright the panel needs to be. UK is around 45° ideally and tracking the sun makes a huge difference. We have 100w on the trailer, left flat we get 2-3amps, lifted to 45° nearer to 6amps however if you don't follow the sun it drops back to 2-3amps fairly quickly.

We ran our panel fixed at 45° set at midday direction on holiday in the Hebrides, with a 110amp battery and a waeco cf35 fridge. This coped for 2 weeks with no extra charge. It did drop quite low on wet days but ultimately stayed above 70%.

Mike

[elbekko]

8 hours ago, landroversforever said:

I think what Elbekko is meaning above is that going that north in the summer will mean longer days so more sunshine. 

Indeed. I think the longer days will make up for the angle of the sun. And as Mike says, you can try to angle your panels when parked.

[Northwards]

Thanks guys,

Yeah, living away up here I get the thing about length of daylight - the "simmer dim" as they say in Shetland. We don't quite get it that bright, but a long enough day. What I really did not know was that photovoltaics just need light. That gives me even more confidence to crack on and get something ordered and set up. 

As someone who more-or-less belongs to the west side of the Hebrides I also didn't think that a solar panel would be so effective out there! I've seen July days look like a mainland winter! 

[Peaklander]

Ideally you want the solar panel angled at 90deg to the rays from the sun. In that way you are capturing the maximum number of photons in the smallest area of the panel. I suppose if you drew it out, an area that's a perfect circle when at 90 becomes a very long oval, as the panel angle moves from 90 towards 0. So the panel can't capture as many photons as it is moved away from 90 degrees.

[tommobot]

Potentially a silly question, but i've never used one of the camping hook'ups in my life? - Would the electrical hookup be able to just charge the battery / keep them topped up or am I missing the point somehow? 

[Northwards]

^^ Not a silly question as far as I'm concerned, and I'll look forward to see what others' replies might be. 

I'd never used one either until this year when our 'house' battery died during our trip. The easiest solution was to go into a French supermarket and buy a long extension cable with suitable plugs, and a 12v transformer. Worked quite well really. Our off-season discount card meant we were paying for the power anyway. 

I did wonder about having the option to charge the house battery from mains power, but I'd need to incorporate another charger somehow, and it wouldn't be any use if 'off grid'. It's for those locations that I'm really looking into solar - wild camping in Europe, Ireland, Norway/Sweden. 

 

[landroversforever]

20 minutes ago, tommobot said:

Potentially a silly question, but i've never used one of the camping hook'ups in my life? - Would the electrical hookup be able to just charge the battery / keep them topped up or am I missing the point somehow? 

Yes it would if you had a suitable charger installed. Same as any caravan/motorhome will charge the battery when you’re plugged into the site hookup. I think most of the chat here is based around those camping off-grid.

[elbekko]

I've been carrying my CTek charger around when out camping. Realised that I didn't carry a blue plug though, so that was moderately useless 😛

[Peaklander]

Electrical hook-ups (EHU) was something that we moved away from once we got the fridge (rather than coolbox) and the solar panel. However increasingly in the UK, the sites are bundling it into their pitch fee and I've not always been able to get any 'discount'. So this year we started to carry a lead again but also a small electrical kettle. A bit annoying but if you've paid for what is now expensive energy then you may as well use it.

You need a 13A socket, preferably waterproof, on a cable from a blue plug for the UK. I have an in-line RCD unit in the cable near the blue plug. Then an adapter from blue socket to Euro plug when 'over there'.

 

[tommobot]

Hmmm, that sounds a bit more of a hastle than I was hoping. I was hoping for an all in one solution / less flappy solution but I guess in theory I could fit a C-tek in the battery box and put a blue connection plug externally?

So by hooking up a to the electircal hook ups I'd be essentially rtrickele charging the the car whilst parked up - An onboard inverted could covert any plug issues / requirements if I've understood correctly?