Portable Battery packs (Engel , Waeco etc)

[NAGG]

Hi All

I'm just wondering if these portable battery packs are worth buying - I need a portable system to run my Engel fridge for maybe 24 - 36 hours only. I've seen the Engel 28amp , Waeco 36amp ..... and one other 40amp (B.C.F) - The Waeco & the other 40amp run Gel batteries ..... & so in theory will meet my requirements - or will they :-/

Looking forward to your opinions & comments

Chris

[ahamay]

I use a waeco 36 on my engel 32L fridge to run it overnight then use the generator during the day. The 32L engel will run on refrigerate (1-3deg) for 24hrs continuous on that battery pack.

[Dan5]

Hey Chris i have a 90 amp hr GNB deep cycle which i run my 55ltr Trailblazer set at -10 and use as a freezer.......I have just been away for a week camping and using it as a freezer i was getting around 20hrs running ......as a fridge i've set it up in the shed for beer and get around 35hrs set as 2deg.

The battery model is.........GNB..marathon....M12V90F....12v..90amp hr....8hr rate to 1.75vpc.

It's one heavy mother but it does last along time.

Cheers Dan

[TheRealAndy]

What size waeco will you be running?

[Matt76]

For the same sort of money can you just buy a battery and wire up a simple connection with fuse etc? I run mine off a 120ah AGM, it will go for 3 days or so.

[FNQCairns]

60 amp absolute minimum to probably not even get 24h at freeze with opening/some freezing possibly (in strict terms) unless possibly if it's the smallest engined Engel 15/27?.

IMO Be careful of the possible grose false economy here, buying a too small highly value added battery pack for not that much less than an appropriately sized bare battery and battery box means in theory a person could rip the guts out of 5 of the battery packs before the bare battery should be replaced and even then the possibility of another 2 battery packs before the bare battery behaved no higher than a new battery pack.

I assume above that the bigger bare battery would be treated properly and recharged each time at close to 12v across the terminals.

cheers fnq

[NAGG]

What size waeco will you be running?

80lt Combi

[NAGG]

For the same sort of money can you just buy a battery and wire up a simple connection with fuse etc? I run mine off a 120ah AGM, it will go for 3 days or so.


That's an option for sure - I'd rather have a 100amp AGM sitting around - than 36 or 40amp

Chris

[chisel]

Check the "Flyer" boxes on the sidewinder site. I have one which I use to put a 120AH AGM into. That would last quite a few days with the Waeco CF50. Box plus AGM would be in the $700-800 range so not cheap but the Engel/Waeco versions aren't cheap either.

I'd be a bit skeptical of anything in the 30-40AH range. Even with an AGM you shouldn't regularly run it below 50% of charge so that's a max of 20AH which is less than 24hrs worth.

[BR65]

Buy a decent esky ya tite wad!

In all seriousness, my Evakool with home made ice lasts a few days easilly.

[Pete62]

Hi All

I'm just wondering if these portable battery packs are worth buying - I need a portable system to run my Engel fridge for maybe 24 - 36 hours only. I've seen the Engel 28amp , Waeco 36amp ..... and one other 40amp (B.C.F) - The Waeco & the other 40amp run Gel batteries ..... & so in theory will meet my requirements - or will they :-/

Looking forward to your opinions & comments

Chris

Perfect one, called a Prado, mobile, runs on diesel, and can be used to dry out wet mattresses too..................;D

[BR65]

Hi All



Looking forward to your opinions & comments

Chris


Theres your first mistake right there!

petes on the right track, why not a duel battery set up in the car?
Noel gets 2 to 3 days out of his second battery running his Engel, and its a big biatch!

[NAGG]

Buy a decent esky ya tite wad!

In all seriousness, my Evakool with home made ice lasts a few days easilly.
Listen bucko ..... You see that big esky in my boat - EVAKOOL ::););D but that's for the beer :P

Nah , seriously - I have the engel , but if I'm on an unpowered site , Its useless......... yeh , I could go a duel battery set up at $700ish - but that means the Engel stays in the car.

That's why I'm after portable power

Chris

[oldboot]

I've seem quite a few of those " battery packs" arround.......I just don't get it........all right I do...they are for selling to those who want to buy a "product".

Personaly I would rather make my own choice of battery and stick it in a standard marine battery box, with a few simple connections and a fuse or two.
I can charge it off the car or with the mains charger I already own.

Hell some of these fancy products with the glossy brocures are nothing more than the above... but you don't get your choice of battery.

cheers

[liltuffy]

Chris, I have an 85 litre evakool fridge/freezer, sucks some juice I can tell you.

Some time ago I also set up a portable power supply for the fridge, good idea at the time I thought.

I bought a 90 amp hour AGM battery (runs the fridge for about 36 hours) , a battery box, a circuit breaker, some cable I had in the shed and a polarised 12 volt outlet (I standardised on these outlets in the car, boat and camper trailer about 4 years ago).

I basically droppped the AGM in the battery box and screwed the outlet to the outside of the battery box via the circuit breaker. The battery is the expensive part obviously, the box, breaker and outlet cost about $40. The whole unit was far cheaper than a store bought model and also has a much greater capacity.

Also if you want to really get fair dinkum get yourself a solar panel to hook to the battery terminals that pumps out about 5 amps (80 watt unit) and you will go forever.

Best of luck.

Craig

[NAGG]

I've seem quite a few of those " battery packs" arround.......I just don't get it........all right I do...they are for selling to those who want to buy a "product".

Personaly I would rather make my own choice of battery and stick it in a standard marine battery box, with a few simple connections and a fuse or two.
I can charge it off the car or with the mains charger I already own.

Hell some of these fancy products with the glossy brocures are nothing more than the above... but you don't get your choice of battery.

cheers

The more I look into it ( & read here) I'm certainly not feeling the love when it comes to the commercially available ones ........:( I think I'll save my money & knock up my own - Engel 56amp (approx $600) - yeh right! .

Thanks heaps everyone

Chris

[leelee]

Chris.

As many have mentioned get yourself a 140ah deep cycle, a solar panel, battery box and some cables, fuses and its all done.

Whilst being inventive, why not also add in some extra cables that enable you to lift the bonnet, turn on the car and start to charge the battery (last resort of course) when levels get low.

Cheers

Lee

[BR65]

Can the charging solar panel be connected to the battery while the fridge is running? Is it just a matter of piggy backing at the terminals?
Also, with the solar panels, do they need to be moved around during the day to follow the arc of the sun (Im thinkiing of a panel at a camp ground not mounted to a car or van).

Its something Ive been pondering my self for a bit for my Engel when Im on non powered sites

[oldboot]

You can more or less hook the solar panel up in paralell to the load and the battery, you are best off using some sort of regulator between the panel and the battery ( cheap anyway).

In times past most people would have told you you had to track your panel with the sun.......these days most don't bother......the panels are a hell of a lot cheaper and more powerfull than they were in the past.

But you will get better performance if you at least make some attempt to tilt and track the panel... particularly in the south, where the radiation is lower.

cheers

[FNQCairns]

What physical size would a 5 amp solar panel be?

cheers fnq

[YOOT]

Hi All

I'm just wondering if these portable battery packs are worth buying - I need a portable system to run my Engel fridge for maybe 24 - 36 hours only. I've seen the Engel 28amp , Waeco 36amp ..... and one other 40amp (B.C.F) - The Waeco & the other 40amp run Gel batteries ..... & so in theory will meet my requirements - or will they :-/

Looking forward to your opinions & comments

Chris


In short they will.

I have a Waeco CF-60 and I can run that full of food and beer for 4 days in cool conditions on the RAPS-36 power pack you are refering too.

In reality, out in the sun, int he back of the car etc, it will run happily for 2.5 days.

I went to Fraser Sep last year where the temp was 28 degrees, parked in the shade, windows down etc, and I got 5 days out of two RAPS-36. So thats 72AH al up for the week.

The fridge averages less than 1AH when at 4degrees. It is advertised to average 0.8AH, in cool conditions (ie in my house) it will use less than 0.5Amps but this is not realistic.

I only paid $230 for each RAPS-36, google and search around because places life BCF try to sell them for over $350!! Each!

I sold my second one when I got back from Fraser for $290 on ebay, so I actually made money of that one!

The 36AH unit is fine for 2 days, but any longer and you'll need a way to recharge it. The built in 12v charger is painfully slow, it only charges at about 2-4amps and hour. And thats not including your fridge draw.

Any larger battery option with in car charging will set you back $700-$1000, so unless you use it all the time, try out the smaller packs first. They can always be used for lighting later on when you upgrade to a proper dual battery.

Blue apple make thumpers which can go up as high as 120AH, and they come with 40amp charge kits and isolator for your car. Great option as a dual battery portable kit, can be moved from car to car etc. I am looking at one of these as I am changing cars in the next 6-12 months so I don't want install and uninstall in such a short period. The RAPS-36 will cover me for now, especialy through winter.

[YOOT]

Chris.

As many have mentioned get yourself a 140ah deep cycle, a solar panel, battery box and some cables, fuses and its all done.

Whilst being inventive, why not also add in some extra cables that enable you to lift the bonnet, turn on the car and start to charge the battery (last resort of course) when levels get low.

Cheers

Lee

Nice, I wonder if he has $2000 spare for all of that!

[TheRealAndy]

My 50l waeco runs about 24-36 hours as a freezer (flat out at -20degC) with no charge on a 90ah battery. Its a second battery in the car. I have a semi portable setup, the battery is in the tray, connected to the main battery via anderson plug. If I wanted to remove it to a camp site, i could. But I never do. The fridge stays in the car. bonus is my lunch travels with me, so does my beer!

My battery is a standard deep cycle lead acid battery. Its been going for 3 years now, no problems. SLA batteries are only worth it if there is a chance of acid spills.

Honestly, try running it in your car. You will find that you dont spend much time walking to the car to get stuff. No different to getting up and getting a beer from the beer fridge at home. Plus everytime you go for a drive you give the battery a charge.


BTW, my battery is in one of those boxes you can get from b c f , they have a ciggie lighter socket (crap) a circuit breaker, a voltage display and a couple of wingnut battery posts. I added a anderson plug to mine, with a 50Amp fuse inline, and a 12V DC socket. The socket is like a 240V plug, but the low voltage 'T' type. The anderson plug connects to a charger lead using a dualt voltage kit from super sweet auto. Total cost was about $200. You could fit a larger battery at extra cost.

[leelee]

Can the charging solar panel be connected to the battery while the fridge is running? Is it just a matter of piggy backing at the terminals?
Also, with the solar panels, do they need to be moved around during the day to follow the arc of the sun (Im thinkiing of a panel at a camp ground not mounted to a car or van).

Its something Ive been pondering my self for a bit for my Engel when Im on non powered sites

You do need a regulator and that piggy backs onto the terminals.

Not to sure about the effectivness of rotating solar panels though but have a mate who has a panel setup on his boat to charge his electirc motor battery and it works well and its mounted on the front of a console.

Cheers

Lee

[StevenM]

Check this out

http://www.sidewinder.com.au/page133.html

Now have another real good look. Real easy to make. I did.

BLA Battery Power Box with fuses $100
VRS under lid $100
Wiring , bits and bobs $ 25

So you have now spent 225 shiney coins,

Go get your self what ever size (Up to 120amp hour) battery to fit inside.

I got a allrounder 105 amp for 110 bucks.

[griz066]

What physical size would a 5 amp solar panel be?

cheers fnq

http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/freedom.htm