New projects
Here's an update on my 12v project:
In Fall 2014, I completed my most expensive project to date: a dual battery + fridge setup. This one may have stretched my interpretation of a "budget build"; however, I still tried to remain conscious of my somewhat limited funds by selecting cheaper components that would work for me in the short-term and could be upgraded in the future. I owe a lot of credit to this forum for many of these ideas as well.
The basic components:
Total: ~ $860
The toughest pill to swallow for this project was buying the open box Edgestar fridge. I had previously read some horror stories about these units being DOA or having issues in a matter of days, but when my unit arrived I was pleasantly surprised. It had only a few minor dents and dings, and fired right up when I hooked it up to the battery. It went from room temp to 37 degrees in about 15 minutes.
I then modified one of my storage boxes to accommodate the fridge and a fridge slide. I simply cut half the lid off one of the boxes for the fridge platform and added drawer slides to it. The fridge fit perfectly! Of course, I had done some prior research to ensure this...
Added some marine tie downs, new stainless steel handles to replace the cheapo plastic ones, and a couple latches to keep the fridge slide in place. When the fridge slides out, it rests on the tailgate, so it decreases the stress on the drawer slides.
The fridge is hardwired to the Blue Sea fuse block with 10 gauge wire, which sits with the battery in their own separate compartment of the left-side storage box near the cab. The battery is then wired to the solenoid under the hood with 4 gauge wire and inline fuses near the battery and solenoid. The solenoid engages with ignition and charges the aux battery while the truck is running. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this, but the thread linked above has lots of examples.
All in all, the setup has worked wonderfully for the last 18 months, including one 6000+ mile trip. So long as ambient temperatures aren't incredibly warm, I can run the fridge for about two days before the battery is depleted to nearly 50%. It has made cold food storage so much easier to deal with. No more ice or soggy food! I also like how the fridge isn't very "flashy" looking like some of the others out there. I've had people tell me I've got a "sweet cooler" only to be surprised when I tell them it's actually a fridge.