Caravan 3 way fridge

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Originally Posted by Bulletman

Thanks for the quick replies, confirmed what my brain was telling me .

New to the caravan life so trying not to learn to many things the hard way.

Cheers Bulletman

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Same here, picked up my van yesterday so still looking at everything. If the fridge dies i'll be going to 12V brass monkey from jaycar and upping the battery capacity.

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Originally Posted by loanrangie

Same here, picked up my van yesterday so still looking at everything. If the fridge dies i'll be going to 12V brass monkey from jaycar and upping the battery capacity.

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Yes I was looking at them today and that would be my option as well if the fridge dies.

Cheers Bulletman

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Originally Posted by loanrangie

Same here, picked up my van yesterday so still looking at everything. If the fridge dies i'll be going to 12V brass monkey from jaycar and upping the battery capacity.

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I have a small brass monkey fridge and it sure does chew through the power. More than double the power usage of my 12 yo 55l ebay fridge.

So those of you who have the 3 way fridge, do you choose a lower temp setting when driving and fridge on 12v to cut down on power consumption, or does your car alternator keep up with the demand

Cheers Bulletman

Mine doesn't use the thermostat on 12V, instead drawing full current continuously. The thermostat is only used for gas and 240V. My van was built in 2012 so presumably the fridge isn't much older.

I leave the fridge on 12V for lunch stops but switch to gas very soon after stopping for the night.

Thanks Graeme, my van is a similar age so I assume the same.

The plate on the fridge say max draw on 12v 23amp so I will just assume it will draw those amps at all settings.

Cheers Bulletman

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Originally Posted by 101RRS

I have a small brass monkey fridge and it sure does chew through the power. More than double the power usage of my 12 yo 55l ebay fridge.

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Most reviews that I've read say they are quite efficient.

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Originally Posted by Bulletman

Thanks Graeme, my van is a similar age so I assume the same.

The plate on the fridge say max draw on 12v 23amp so I will just assume it will draw those amps at all settings.

Cheers Bulletman

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Compared to our Bushman which uses less than 4A on 12V as per my amp meter,although it is probably a lot smaller than your caravan 3 way.

Is your Bushman a 3-way or 12V and possibly 240V? My Waeco compressor car fridge is 12v/240v and only draws a couple of amps as it cycles.

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Originally Posted by Graeme

Mine doesn't use the thermostat on 12V, instead drawing full current continuously. The thermostat is only used for gas and 240V. My van was built in 2012 so presumably the fridge isn't much older.

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The "new" fridge in my grandfathers Baravan was installed in 1981. He had Electrolux fit the "optional" 12V heater to it when he bought it. That draws ~12A continuously and is enough to keep it "cool" while on the road, but we really need to switch to gas or 240V as soon as we stop.

Oddly enough between the van fridge, boat fridge and camping fridges we've had over the years we've never experienced refrigerant fractionation. At worst, the van probably sat for 5 years unused and the fridge fired right up. I do know that can happen if they are run continuously and are not properly leveled however, and the cure is inverting the fridge to "burp" it.