Has anyone converted a small AC 110 volt fridge into a DC 12 volt fridge?

[TACTICALJEEP]

I was reading this post when one of my customers came in who used to be a longhaul truck driver for 25+years. when asked, he said he just used a regular little "dorm room" fridge (truck had 110v plugs already on board). On average they lasted about 10yrs. He started his own pilot car service using 2500 pickups and Escalades. He took one of the Escalades, threw a fridge in the back with a 2000w inverter, and used it for 5-6 years before he sold the business. When asked about vibrations induced by forest roads, etc. he said "hell, that thing vibrated in that semi everyday and lasted over 10 years and 1,000,000 miles...it'll be fine in the back of your jeep!"

That being said, his tractor trailer and pilot cars always idled day in and day out so battery / electricity consumption wasn't an issue. I figure if you don't want to pull the battery down when your not idling, just unplug it. As long as someone isn't opening it all the time, it should stay cool inside until you fire up the engine the next morning.

 

[magentawave]

I considered doing that but AC with inverter is apparently 30% to 40% less efficient. Not a big deal if you're driving everyday and charging it with your alternator, but when I find a place I really like with good uncrowded waves then I'll probably chill for a while until I feel the restless urge to see whats beyond. And even if I'm hanging for a while I can charge the batteries with the engines alternator. I'm thinking of replacing the stock Toyota alternator with a high capacity 200 amp GM alternator.

I was reading this post when one of my customers came in who used to be a longhaul truck driver for 25+years. when asked, he said he just used a regular little "dorm room" fridge (truck had 110v plugs already on board). On average they lasted about 10yrs. He started his own pilot car service using 2500 pickups and Escalades. He took one of the Escalades, threw a fridge in the back with a 2000w inverter, and used it for 5-6 years before he sold the business. When asked about vibrations induced by forest roads, etc. he said "hell, that thing vibrated in that semi everyday and lasted over 10 years and 1,000,000 miles...it'll be fine in the back of your jeep!"

That being said, his tractor trailer and pilot cars always idled day in and day out so battery / electricity consumption wasn't an issue. I figure if you don't want to pull the battery down when your not idling, just unplug it. As long as someone isn't opening it all the time, it should stay cool inside until you fire up the engine the next morning.

 

[magentawave]

matthewp and pugslyyyy - Why don't I just buy an ARB or Engle? Well I might still get one of those (probably ARB cuz its more efficient than Engle) but what I like about the Vissani is that it has twice the room of the largest ARB...and with a freezer...and it will fit behind the wall of my bathroom perfectly. The guys that do the AC fridge to DC conversion say that all the AC stuff is yanked out and replaced with DC and even the compressor is put on little rubber bumper legs like they do with the mobile DC fridges to protect them from vibration and shock, etc. They assure me that their customers are getting years and years of use out of these fridges in RV's and boats. As much as I prefer the convenience of an upright with a freezer (not having to dig through a pile of stuff to get what you want), I am aware that they are less energy efficient cuz all the cold air dumps out every time you open it. The problem with every chest style fridge I've seen is that it won't fit in the interior of my Sunrader as well as that upright Vissani will. I'm still figuring this out.