making an Engel DC powercord?

[cruisertoy]

So I picked up a 45qt Engel with the travel bag at the Outdoor Retailers show. I'm leaving on a trip to run the Zions Narrows, North Rim of GC and then off to Farmington. I leave late tuesday night or the next morning. The problem is the Engel guys didn't bring the 12v DC power cord with them. I've got to prove this things worth or the wife will make me sell it. I used a little money out of her Kitchen remodel fund. Any way to make a power cord? Anyone know what the technical name for the plug end Engel uses is?

[mike_ie]

It's pretty much that simple. One wire positive, one wire negative, fuse on the positive line if you want to be safe. If it's the older style engel plug, if you look into the DC socket with the pins oriented as shown below:

l l
_


the top right is the positive terminal.

[cruisertoy]

Thanks Mike. Everyone I know is using thier fridge this weekend so it looks like I may be rigging my own wiring. What size wire should I run from the front of the FZJ80? If I calculate it right #14 or #12 would be ample for the 2.7 amp draw. Sound about right?

[cruisertoy]

Tell me if I'm thining right on this. If I take two wires with a 10amp fuse on the + from the battery to the back of my rig and put a stardard female 110v cord end on it (even though it is 12v DC), couldn't I attach the 110v Engel powercord to that? I believe I read that the MT45 Auto senses when it it getting 12v DC and 110v AC. The only difference between the 110 cord and the 12v cord is the fuse and the cig vs. wall plug. I basically just need a 2 wire supply that plugs into the Engel, right?

[roamingaz]

My Engel has 2 seperate plugs. 1 for 12 volt and the other for 110v. I don't think connecting 12 volt to the 110v plug is a good idea.
If you burned something up then you have a really expensive paper wieght.

I would just run a fused wire to the 12 volt side of the fridge and find a connector that will work, I know Radio Shack has all kinds of oddball electrical fittings that may work for you.
Good luck.

[cruisertoy]

Tell me if I'm thining right on this. If I take two wires with a 10amp fuse on the + from the battery to the back of my rig and put a stardard female 110v cord end on it (even though it is 12v DC), couldn't I attach the 110v Engel powercord to that? I believe I read that the MT45 Auto senses when it it getting 12v DC and 110v AC. The only difference between the 110 cord and the 12v cord is the fuse and the cig vs. wall plug. I basically just need a 2 wire supply that plugs into the Engel, right?

Yeah--I hadn't loooked too close at the fridge yet and was thinking that there was just one plug outlet. I definitely don't think pluggin 12V DC into the 120v AC would be kind to the fridge. I'd have to fill it with ice and make a humming noise the whole time I was driving just to make my wife think it was working. Back to the drawing board.

[cruisertoy]

If the top right is pos, is the top left or the lower pin negative?

It's pretty much that simple. One wire positive, one wire negative, fuse on the positive line if you want to be safe. If it's the older style engel plug, if you look into the DC socket with the pins oriented as shown below:

l l
_


the top right is the positive terminal.

[cruisertoy]

Big thanks to Gary in Wasatch Cruisers for lending me his power cord. After adjusting the dial too high and having partly frozen milk the first day everything was great. I'm going to have to pick up one of those retainers for the hinge though. The fridge was the most successful part of the trip.

A trip report will follow and involve a dead mountain lion, only hearing english spoken a handful of times in our national park system, getting lost on a short cut accross the Res outside Page at 11 pm , having my hiking gear stolen out of the cruiser, arriving in Cortez at 2am to find every hotel room in the town booked for the Special Olympics and finally and my most favorite-- finding out about Identity theft while getting gas in Moab. All the makings of a great movie or what I like to call a normal vacation.

[gabepari]

Big thanks to Gary in Wasatch Cruisers for lending me his power cord. After adjusting the dial too high and having partly frozen milk the first day everything was great. I'm going to have to pick up one of those retainers for the hinge though. The fridge was the most successful part of the trip.

A trip report will follow and involve a dead mountain lion, only hearing english spoken a handful of times in our national park system, getting lost on a short cut accross the Res outside Page at 11 pm , having my hiking gear stolen out of the cruiser, arriving in Cortez at 2am to find every hotel room in the town booked for the Special Olympics and finally and my most favorite-- finding out about Identity theft while getting gas in Moab. All the makings of a great movie or what I like to call a normal vacation.

A good portion of that sounds like a typical day in Southern Calif.

[cruiseroutfit]

Major bummer dude!

Is Engel setting you up with a new 12V cord? If not I'm back in town and have the cord as well as plenty of the hingelocks here.