ARB fridge and a suspected weak Yellowtop battery - advice wanted

[Rev]

You know, that is exactly what I was thinking. Will post up afterwards.

 

[teotwaki]

I would throw in that once you have checked the physical connections see if you can measure how much current the fridge is drawing and what voltage that was at. If things ran fine for a while I am wondering what has changed. My opinion of Optima batteries is low but it sounds as if you were fine for 3.5 years so you'll want to check out all aspects of your system including the alternator and make sure the Yellow top and fridge are solidly connected.

looking forward to your next post!

 

[Rev]

I don't have much to report because I need to borrow my neighbour's meter and he is at work. However, I did check my connections at the new battery. All was solid. The new battery has a crazy 120 AH rating. I then took the fridge out and inspected my fuse block for any loose connections, including ground. All was well. I had the fridge wired to the aforementioned fuse block as of last week in hopes of curing the problem. So I thought I'd try the aux outlet in the trunk again. It ran the fridge for one minute. Shut off.

I plugged it back into the fuse block and set it to low. It got it from 26 down to 7 in about 20 minutes (empty) and kicked off as it maintained the temp. I turned it off since it was empty.

I hope to test voltages soon.

The weird thing to me is that this problem began intermittently last summer and seems to be getting worse and worse. Did my aux line degrade perhaps? An ever loosening ground?

 

[Rev]

I know this doesn't make for exciting reading but if only for my own future recollection here is an update. Started the fridge at 7pm and drove for 45 minutes while Plugged in to the fuse block. Parked it until midnight. Fridge was running strong. Now it is not hot outside, but it hasn't been all week and the fridge still died. Perhaps the new battery is a solution after all. Still not sure why it quit after the first install. Maybe because it was brand new it needed to be driven and topped up?

 

[teotwaki]

Another thought: Inside the fridge cigarette lighter style plug should be a fuse. Check to see if it is intermittent or lossy (should be close to zero resistance) and that the plug is screwed together tight.

 

[Rev]

Good thought


Well, I have run the fridge for hours in 30 degree heat with no issues. It runs like a champ. I am camping this weekend so that will be the test. But it looks like it was the old battery. I think the reason the new one gave me trouble at first was due to it not being fully charged off the shelf. I should have driven the truck for a while first, or put it on a charger.

 

[Rev]

Update

Ran the fridge for four days camping without issue. (Clarification: the truck was driven twice during that time for about 30 minutes each time) Seems it was the battery.

Once I found it had turned off but when I opened the lid it came on and read the correct temperature, so it hadn't been off long . Maybe I jarred the cord.

 

[overlander]

In all fairness to my Optimas, this thread had me investigate my connections and supply to my ARB fridge. While I had no voltage loss all the way to the socket, my non-locking socket needs to get swapped. slight movements in my ARB 12v plug will cause voltage loss, which explains why I've had the fridge red error light come on so quickly sometimes. I don't think I could go 4 days on my yellowtop 34 group, but I'll be solving that soon with a permanent solar setup. Those Optimas will still get replaced with Sears Diehard Platinums thought when it is time. If nothing else, they have more reserve cap.

 

[Rev]

Clarified my previous post. I don't think my battery would do 4 days straight either. I never stay out of my truck long enough to find out.