Renogy 6 volt agm 260AH

[tx2sturgis]

Have you considered a lifepo4 battery or two? You would likely have to use a different solar charge controller but the advantages would be much lighter weight, quick re-charge times, and no out-gassing.

A single 100ah lifepo4 battery will be about the same cost as your budget for the 4 Renogy lead-acid batteries you looked at. And that single LFP battery will get you started and might even be all you need for awhile. I have a BattleBorn 100ah battery that I bought brand new for $800....the deals are out there.

Two of them will get you right in the ballpark (usable capacity) range that 4 of the Renogys you are looking at would, and less than half the weight.

Rated usable lifetime is much longer also.

 

[MotorVation]

Have you considered a lifepo4 battery or two? You would likely have to use a different solar charge controller but the advantages would be much lighter weight, quick re-charge times, and no out-gassing.

I was looking around at them. My fridge on a hot day will eat about 70AH. I'm starting to regret I didn't buy a smaller one but it is what it is.  So, I'd need two 100AH for 200AH or one 200AH. Too expensive right now. Thanks

The rep from the west coast Trojan distributor called me today instead of emailing. The seller I had asked her about isn't a Trojan dealer. I'm assuming I'd still get the batteries but if I'm gonna spend that kind of cash I'm going to stick with an actual dealer so there are no problems down the road. Absolutely excellent customer service. I'll never hesitate to deal with Trojan.
So, back to the drawing board on battery selection. Good thing I don't need them right away.
If I buy good batteries they should last long enough that deep cycle batteries of all types are more affordable as the whole renewable energy thing catches on..

 

[XERTYX]

I cant make heads of tails of that diagram for the fridge. Its dual zone and it lists an Ah for 39.2°, fridge 10.4° freezer, and -0.4° freezer @ an ambient temp of 109°.

Does that mean if both zones were a 39.2° fridge you double that? Or that's the Ah of both zones @ 39.2° so use half of that figure and half the figure of the freezer Ah rating for fridge/freezer?

109° ambient 39.2 fridge 48Ah
10.4 freezer 80Ah
-0.4. Freezer 91.9 Ah

So does that mean each zone in fridge mode is 24Ah for a total of 48Ah or 1 zone fridge is 48Ah and one zone freezer is 80-91.9Ah depending on how cold you want it? That seems like a crazy high consumption if that's for each zone.

 

[MotorVation]

Thank you. Now I don't feel like an idiot. I can't figure it out either.   :thumbsup:

 

[XERTYX]

I would have to assume the figures are for both zones in that one configuration as they reccomend 150Ah battery and 150w solar. Those numbers still dont add up even with their recommended battery size and solar array.

If I remember correctly the alpicool fridges draw over 20 Amps a day and they are smaller at 21 quarts I believe. But a 26 quart zone drawing 24 Amps a day seems comparable.

Then again the alpicool test I saw by slim potato head wasnt in 109° weather. I think HDR has whynter fridges X3. Maybe he can chime in.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I was looking around at them. My fridge on a hot day will eat about 70AH. I'm starting to regret I didn't buy a smaller one but it is what it is.  So, I'd need two 100AH for 200AH or one 200AH. Too expensive right now. Thanks

Just to clarify my point a bit:

On a hot day the fridge will not 'eat' 70 ah from the battery. It will use power of course, but on a hot day, that usually means you have plenty of sunlight. During those 5-10 hours of bright sunlight, the 590 watts of solar will be producing more than enough output to charge the batteries AND power the fridge. 

So, unless you are camped in dense overhead tree canopy or have very hot, but very cloudy days, the power produced will balance out the overnight consumption. Overnight consumption will be fairly modest because ambient temps are usually lower.... most of us tend to camp most of the time in places where night-time temps are reasonable. And most of us don't open and close the fridge much during the wee hours.

I have a total of 250 watts fixed plus 100 watts portable and my Dometic 12v fridge set to freezer (about 5 degrees and about the same ah use) has no problem running on a single lifepo4 battery, with plenty of surplus power for other items. In fact, the drain on the system is almost un-noticeable unless I have a few days of cloudy and/or rainy weather. I have also powered the fridge with ONLY the 100 watt portable panel for days and the battery and fridge were perfectly happy.

I have not operated it yet in a week or more of cloudy weather, but in that case, I have a small generator to keep things running smoothly.

Just a bit of real world use to go by.

 

[XERTYX]

Thank you for that bro. Seriously.

Does anyone with this particular fridge (or similar model dual zone whynter fridge) also have real world figures regarding the amp draw in warm conditions?

The pdf file linked from the whynter website didnt clarify at all if the amp drain was was for both zones in the same mode or those were separate figures for each zone.

590 watts is a great deal of solar and absolutely will power the fridge and charge the batteries on a 109° day and a day in that range is very likely going to be sunny, but if those numbers are for each zone in the fridge we might need to consider redundancy for the OP as Florida can be exceptionally hot and cloudy at the same time.

Also and I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds but the OP will be reaching retirement age and perhaps the fridge will also be used for medicine storage as well as food and drink.

If that is the case the fridge cant fail. Spoiled ice cream and sandwich fixins is easily replaced down at Wally world or publix. Insulin on the other hand not so much.

 

[highdesertranger]

I have 3 Engel's. I have never actually put a meter on them never found the need to. they are the 40qt models like this,

https://www.engelcoolers.com/engel-mr040f-u1-ac-dc-fridge-freezer.html

they are rated at 2.7amps they run about a 30% duty cycle, so about 22Ah a day.

I use 2 as refrigerators and 1 as a freezer. as a side note I turn the freezer one on max for 12-24 hours until the contents are rock hard. then I can turn it way down. the duty cycle works out to be about the same as the refers. even if I turn it all the way down the contents won't defrost totally for over a week in 90° temps.

highdesertranger

 

[XERTYX]

Thanks HDR that's likely what the OP will see I'd say. Although theirs is rated at 5A in the manual so maybe double your draw. But 44Ah is still not an insurmountable obstacle. Also for darts and giggles I looked at their forecast for the next 10 days. Isolated and scattered thunderstorms for 10 straight days. It might be worth considering a secondary and tertiary charging method if still staying in FL but I believe they indeed to travel.

 

[jimindenver]

I have a Engel 40 qt that is listed slightly lower than 5 amps in freezer mode. My issue is in hot weather it runs ALL the time.

 

[XERTYX]

Jim is that a constant do you think? An issue with that individual device? Or any other variable (s)?

When I build out my trailer I intend to buy an alpicool and when funds allow a second unit. One as freezer one as fridge. If one dies early then I have redundancy. 

I'd love to have a sundazer deep freeze too but as I've always heard people in hell want ice water too.

 

[jimindenver]

I think that it is because to keep it a portable the insulation had to be thin. I keep a 1 inch piece of foam on top of mine covered by a blanket. Stick your hand under that piece of foam and you will feel that it is nice and cool. It is that way on the sides too. Adding foam is the cure if you have room.

 

[MotorVation]

I bought the fridge from Amazon warehouse 13 months ago. I had 30 days to return it in case of defects. I put it in the van (June in Florida) and let it run non stop off shore power for a month. No problems. I don't have a kill a watt meter but it ran pretty much non stop during sunny days  but cycled at night when the ambient temps dropped. Later on I bought the insulated bag Whynter sells for it. It's not very thick but it makes a difference. I'm also going to try to layer something in between it and the the fridge. In heat, extra insulation is mandatory with this thing. It's easy to defrost due to the drain holes. I just let it drain into the door step of the side doors

 

[XERTYX]

That is interesting that insulation helps that much. I mean it makes sense obviously but in build videos where they use the pink styrofoam around their fridge I'm thinking they're going overboard. Interesting to know that in a real world application it's not only a noticeable difference but almost a necessity.

 

[MotorVation]

I know what you mean. The door on my residential fridge at home is about 1 1/2"- 2"  thick.  I thought wrapping the 12v fridges in polyiso was over the top but I see now that it isn't. I don't intend to be in the van in 94 degree 90% humidity weather just running off solar but I can see being in 90 degree dry heat during the day where it cools off at night. There are plenty of people doing it so it's obvious it's doable. The humidity is ridiculous in Florida

 

[XERTYX]

Yes Florida is a whole 'nother planet in relation to heat and humidity. I cant see how you stand it. I havent been to Florida in a few years now but I used to stay a week with family near Sarasota a few times a year. Crazy heat. Beautiful place but crazy heat.