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Author Topic:   12volt camping fridges

pete r posted 09-03-2013 07:40 AM ET (US)
It seems a lot of you guys rely solely on ice boxes as the main source of keeping thing cool on your boats.
Do any of you run 12volt camping fridges on your boats.
We use to do a lot of 4WD camping and our Engel fridge went every where with us.
In the future I plan to set the Engel up in the Whaler when we do some long boating trips.
I guess I would have to look into a larger second or look at a third battery to cope with the extra load.
jimh posted 09-03-2013 08:11 AM ET (US)
I see two problems with using an Engel cooler:
--the cost, and
--the battery drain.
Using Engel's MR040 model as an example--they say it is a very popular model--the price is $850. That will buy a lot of block ice, even at $4-per-block. Since we make our own block ice, the cost of ice for us is even lower.
The cooling mechanism is said to draw 2.5-Amperes at 12-VDC. That is a not a significant load if your outboard engine is running and providing charging current, which would be typical for a boat out fishing all day. When cruising, we might only run the engine for a hour or two per day. I don't know how much charge the outboard engine could push back into the battery during an hour or two. Could it keep up with the cooler discharge? I don't know. The compressor does not run continuously.
Also, the ambient temperature where the cooler is being used is a big factor. We just got back from cruising in northern Lake Superior. Among several boats, one cooler had ice still frozen after nine days.

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Author	Topic: 12volt camping fridges
pete r	posted 09-03-2013 07:40 AM ET (US) It seems a lot of you guys rely solely on ice boxes as the main source of keeping thing cool on your boats. Do any of you run 12volt camping fridges on your boats. We use to do a lot of 4WD camping and our Engel fridge went every where with us. In the future I plan to set the Engel up in the Whaler when we do some long boating trips. I guess I would have to look into a larger second or look at a third battery to cope with the extra load.
jimh	posted 09-03-2013 08:11 AM ET (US) I see two problems with using an Engel cooler: --the cost, and --the battery drain. Using Engel's MR040 model as an example--they say it is a very popular model--the price is $850. That will buy a lot of block ice, even at $4-per-block. Since we make our own block ice, the cost of ice for us is even lower. The cooling mechanism is said to draw 2.5-Amperes at 12-VDC. That is a not a significant load if your outboard engine is running and providing charging current, which would be typical for a boat out fishing all day. When cruising, we might only run the engine for a hour or two per day. I don't know how much charge the outboard engine could push back into the battery during an hour or two. Could it keep up with the cooler discharge? I don't know. The compressor does not run continuously. Also, the ambient temperature where the cooler is being used is a big factor. We just got back from cruising in northern Lake Superior. Among several boats, one cooler had ice still frozen after nine days.