fridge using a lot of power - am i doing something wrong?

**Eevo** · 23rd September 2017, 09:48 AM

Hi Guys.
I installed an connected up my fridge during the week.
its a 40l engel of the mid 80's era. (i think its older than me!)

i installed a wattmeter last night.
between midnight and 10am, with the fridge on setting 2, the fridge consumed 17Ah
temp was between 18 and 12 degrees/

10Ah in 10hours
is this amount of consumption normal or high?

**Phil B** · 23rd September 2017, 10:00 AM

Sound high
Is the fan working?
My Waeco started using a lot more power due to a faulty fan
Replaced- problem solved

**trout1105** · 23rd September 2017, 10:10 AM

Using 17 ah in 10 hrs works out at 1.7 per hour which seems to be pretty good

I have an 80l waco that uses 2a per hour at -3 and a 40l Primus that uses about 3.5a per hr at -15 So your 30-40 year old Engel at 1.7a per hr is running pretty sweet compared to mine that are only a couple of years old .

**Eevo** · 23rd September 2017, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Phil B

Sound high
Is the fan working?
My Waeco started using a lot more power due to a faulty fan
Replaced- problem solved

i put my hand across the vents and coudlnt feel any airflow. so you could be onto something.
now to find a wiring diagram.

**Eevo** · 23rd September 2017, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by trout1105

Using 17 ah in 10 hrs works out at 1.7 per hour which seems to be pretty good

I have an 80l waco that uses 2a per hour at -3 and a 40l Primus that uses about 3.5a per hr at -15 So your 30-40 year old Engel at 1.7a per hr is running pretty sweet compared to mine that are only a couple of years old .

1.7 per hour does sounds good.
which means 40 per 24hours

but the other day, it took 44 hours for the batteries to go from 12.6v to 11.4v
given that i have 160AH available to me, they should have lasted 4 days, but only lasted 1.8 days.

**Eevo** · 23rd September 2017, 10:49 AM

althoug the water bottles i put in were still liquid, the inside of the fridge was between -2 and -4. so i can turn down the setting a little.

DiscoMick · 23rd September 2017, 01:54 PM

We have a Engel of same size and similar age and run it on 1 because above that it starts to freeze, so you could turn it down. When I got ours serviced last year the fridge tech said it was running within the manufacturer's specs.

**scarry** · 23rd September 2017, 06:07 PM

There is no fan in the Engle so that is one less thing to worry about.

My 29litre,same age,lasts around 3 days in summer(on number 1) on an Optima 55Ah,and the standard battery in the D4,whatever it is,using the dual battery Traxide kit.

very difficult to work out amp hours due to the way the Traxide kit works,so not much help.

Many say the old Engles use more power than many of the newer brands.