Thread: D3 Traxide DBS question

I cant comment on to much , but what size fridge do you have ? My optima wont run our new fridge/freezer for any more than 10 hours, and that includes running the start battery down to 12v before the SC80 cuts out. Our old 40ltr Engel would run overnight but by 10am if there was now power to it then it would cut out.

I never had any issue's re-charging the optima, but it needed a good drive to get it fully recharged.

Prolly not much help but the optima is only 55ah. Don't think I have ever seen mine below 11V so cant help with any of your other questions. I am sure Tim will come along soon enough.

Cheers Ean

Hi Matt, 9.6v is way to low for the Optima and at that level, I would not be surprised if the initial inrush current went well over 100 amps.

With an Optima that low, when the SC80 turned on after you started your motor, the Optima would have draw all the current available from your alternator and pulled a fair bit of current from your cranking battery as well.

While not good for your Optima long term, you will be able to recharge it as you have been doing, but you really need to wire the 50 circuit breaker back in to the circuit.

It is there to protect.

Note, the CB can carry high currents for quite some time, before going open circuit. So for the circuit breaker to trip like that, your Optima must have been pulling well over 80+ amps.

Originally Posted by Ean Austral

I cant comment on to much , but what size fridge do you have ? My optima wont run our new fridge/freezer for any more than 10 hours, and that includes running the start battery down to 12v before the SC80 cuts out. Our old 40ltr Engel would run overnight but by 10am if there was now power to it then it would cut out.

I never had any issue's re-charging the optima, but it needed a good drive to get it fully recharged.

Prolly not much help but the optima is only 55ah. Don't think I have ever seen mine below 11V so cant help with any of your other questions. I am sure Tim will come along soon enough.

Cheers Ean

I have a bushman fridge in 45L configuration. Recently had the compressor replaced with a danfoss. It used to run on battery overnight until mid morning without charging. But since the replacement compressor the performance has been far less.

I put it down to 2 reasons. The compressor was set up to run at 3500 rpm. I have just reduced the speed to 2000rpm and it draws almost 1/2 the current while running and does not appear to run for much longer either. Other reason is the cutout was set to 11.7V. To me this is excessively high. I will purchase the correct resistor to set the cutout at a better level without damaging the battery.

Thanks for your input.

Originally Posted by juddo

I have a bushman fridge in 45L configuration. Recently had the compressor replaced with a danfoss. It used to run on battery overnight until mid morning without charging. But since the replacement compressor the performance has been far less.

I put it down to 2 reasons. The compressor was set up to run at 3500 rpm. I have just reduced the speed to 2000rpm and it draws almost 1/2 the current while running and does not appear to run for much longer either. Other reason is the cutout was set to 11.7V. To me this is excessively high. I will purchase the correct resistor to set the cutout at a better level without damaging the battery.

Thanks for your input.

I have gone the other direction, I should have my second auxillary battery fitted and connected today. My wife for some reason bought a - I think 90l or 95l dual compartment waeco fridge / freezer , so as you could imagine the yellow top doesn't last that long. I think I have that set at 11V or maybe 11.2V cutout.

Goodluck with the resetting of your fridge.

Cheers Ean

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Matt, 9.6v is way to low for the Optima and at that level, I would not be surprised if the initial inrush current went well over 100 amps.

With an Optima that low, when the SC80 turned on after you started your motor, the Optima would have draw all the current available from your alternator and pulled a fair bit of current from your cranking battery as well.

While not good for your Optima long term, you will be able to recharge it as you have been doing, but you really need to wire the 50 circuit breaker back in to the circuit.

It is there to protect.

Note, the CB can carry high currents for quite some time, before going open circuit. So for the circuit breaker to trip like that, your Optima must have been pulling well over 80+ amps.

Thanks for the advice Tim.

I will be putting the CB back into circuit. And resetting the fridge cutout. What would be your recommended voltage for the low-voltage cutout?

One other thing that I noticed; there was a large voltage drop from battery to the outlets in the back of car. Especially when fridge running. I found that the terminal block located behind the RH rear cover had come a little loose and the push on spade connectors for inline fuses were also loose. Tightening them all up made a big difference. It is probably something that should be checked regularly.

Cheers. Matt.

Originally Posted by Ean Austral

My wife for some reason bought a - I think 90l or 95l dual compartment waeco fridge / freezer , so as you could imagine the yellow top doesn't last that long.

Cheers Ean

Pretty huge fridge.

Where is the 3rd battery going? Charging both through the SC80?

Originally Posted by juddo

Thanks for the advice Tim.

I will be putting the CB back into circuit. And resetting the fridge cutout. What would be your recommended voltage for the low-voltage cutout?

One other thing that I noticed; there was a large voltage drop from battery to the outlets in the back of car. Especially when fridge running. I found that the terminal block located behind the RH rear cover had come a little loose and the push on spade connectors for inline fuses were also loose. Tightening them all up made a big difference. It is probably something that should be checked regularly.

Cheers. Matt.

Hi again Matt, when using an Optima as the auxiliary battery, the ABG-25 can be set to 10.5v.

All new ABG-25s are now fitted with Yellow Crimp Terminals, to get around the very issue you have, and to both simplify and speed up an installation.

Try fitting crimp terminals to yours.

Originally Posted by juddo

Pretty huge fridge.

Where is the 3rd battery going? Charging both through the SC80?

Yes I know , I made a battery tray to fit in front of the start battery and the yellow top is fitted there, the other battery is going in the battery box where yours is in the picture on the first post. I spoke to Tim and he said the SC80 will run it fine. The other battery is bigger so if my measurements are correct and it fits , then when my yellow top dies I will replace it with the same brand /size as the extra I am fitting.

Cheers Ean