12v Advise needed

[MunkeyBoy]

I am a newbie to 12v and need some advise so please bare with me.

If I have a leisure battery and I want to run a 12v compressor fridge,plug in a mobile phone what sort of setup do I need to install?

For example do I need to buy a fused 12v panel that has cigerette type sockets thats connected to the battery?

I want to keep things as simple as possible if such a thing is possible.

Is there a good guide or book with lots of pictures to follow anyone recommends?

thanks.

[Naughty Cal]

For starters how is your boats system set up?

[MunkeyBoy]

For starters how is your boats system set up?

It just has 12v lights and a switch for the showers bilge pump.

[Arthur Brown]

Start with the charging of said batteries. Generator, mains, solar etc.

 

Yes you will need some switches and fuses and some cig lighter sockets, but the sockets are unreliable in regular use so wire in all you can. Use thick wire 2.5mm for a start as volts dropped across thin wires stops things working.

[ditchcrawler]

The OP says "a"leisure battery, if there is only one an electric fridge wont run for very long

[MunkeyBoy]

The OP says "a"leisure battery, if there is only one an electric fridge wont run for very long

The fridge is 35 watt and runs about 5 mins in every hour.

I have a solar panel I wish to connect too but I'm just giving the one battery as an example I just want to know how to connect everything up.

thanks.

[Naughty Cal]

It just has 12v lights and a switch for the showers bilge pump.

So how do your lights work?

The OP says "a"leisure battery, if there is only one an electric fridge wont run for very long

NC originally had one leisure battery and the fridge worked fine.

The fridge is 35 watt and runs about 5 mins in every hour.

I have a solar panel I wish to connect too but I'm just giving the one battery as an example I just want to know how to connect everything up.

thanks.

Do you really mean 35 watt.

[frangar]

The fridge is 35 watt and runs about 5 mins in every hour.

I have a solar panel I wish to connect too but I'm just giving the one battery as an example I just want to know how to connect everything up.

thanks.

I'd be amazed if it really runs for 5 mind every hour unless it's not getting very cold....most run for at least 30-40% of time depending on type/ventilation/ambient temp etc.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Keeping Up]

Start with the charging of said batteries. Generator, mains, solar etc.

 

Yes you will need some switches and fuses and some cig lighter sockets, but the sockets are unreliable in regular use so wire in all you can. Use thick wire 2.5mm for a start as volts dropped across thin wires stops things working.

That's not thick wire for a fridge. It will be OK for a fridge that is within 2.5 metres of the battery but no more. Simple guideline is 1 square mm for every metre of wire between the fridge and the battery. The only other essential is a fuse, a switch is useful but not essential. Edited January 12, 2014 by Keeping Up

[Naughty Cal]

I'd be amazed if it really runs for 5 mind every hour unless it's not getting very cold....most run for at least 30-40% of time depending on type/ventilation/ambient temp etc.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Our 12v compressor fridge runs for about 25% of the time on full at this time of year and maybe 40% of the time in the summer when it is warm.

 

Draws 4 amps per hour.

 

So depending on your fridge they can be reasonably efficient. I will add though that this ain't a cheap fridge!

 

It's the standard Engel that Sealine used.

[MunkeyBoy]

I'd be amazed if it really runs for 5 mind every hour unless it's not getting very cold....most run for at least 30-40% of time depending on type/ventilation/ambient temp etc.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

Hi its like a coolbox but it has a low power compressor its a Waeco cool freeze, even in Spain this summer in my van it probably came on 5 times an hour!!

At this time of year I wont even use a fridge though.

[frangar]

Mines a Waeco so not a cheapy either!....think we need some more info on the type of fridge that the OP has before we give any more advice cos something doesn't seem quite right.

 

On most boats the fridge is the biggest consumer of power esp if you have LED lamps.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Keeping Up]

Our 12v compressor fridge runs for about 25% of the time on full at this time of year and maybe 40% of the time in the summer when it is warm.

Draws 4 amps per hour.

The 25% and 40% figures sound about right. But amps per hour is a meaningless phrase; you can have ampere-hours per hour but a quicker way to say that is just amps. 4 amps when running is typical so an average of 1 amp now and 1.6 amps in summer would be common.

[Alan de Enfield]

Draws 4 amps per hour.

 

So depending on your fridge they can be reasonably efficient.

 

That would appear to be 'marginal' if running from a single 100 aH battery.

12 hours would take the battery down to the 'suggested' 50%, and thats without lights, charging the mobile, pumps etc.

[nb Innisfree]

Our 12v compressor fridge runs for about 25% of the time on full at this time of year and maybe 40% of the time in the summer when it is warm.

 

Draws 4 amps per hour.

 

So depending on your fridge they can be reasonably efficient. I will add though that this ain't a cheap fridge!

 

It's the standard Engel that Sealine used.

I set up a timer to monitor our 12/24v compressor fridge. 12 hours running per 24hrs, winter and summer! Weird, never did work out what all that was about.

[MunkeyBoy]

Its this one http://www.waeco.com/ae/3122_481.php

thanks.

[Tony Brooks]

snip

 

Is there a good guide or book with lots of pictures to follow anyone recommends?

thanks.

Try the electrical notes on www.tb-training.co.uk. These should explain how to wire generic circuits, work out cable & fuse sizes etc. Is a free download.

Edited January 24, 2014 by DHutch
Unnecessary personal snipe removed.

[MunkeyBoy]

 

Try the electrical notes on www.tb-training.co.uk. These should explain how to wire generic circuits, work out cable & fuse sizes etc. Is a free download.

 

However inferring form the tome of the tonne of the question you may have problems with any book.

Its not a case of having problems with any book at all Tony its a case of never done this before so just need to learn.

thanks

[smileypete]

With the fridge best stick religiously to the manufacturers instructions, they mention a fuse of 5A and in their FAQ they seem to suggest a cable size of 6mm², which will do for up to 6m if following the '1mm per metre' rule of thumb:

 

http://www.waeco.com/tmp/cdf_b_15s_07.pdf

http://www.waeco.co.uk/page.aspx?page=faq

 

With the cigar lighter sockets a cable size of 4mm^₂ cable fused at 10A will run a couple of sockets up to 6m from the batts.

 

Fuse holder always go in the positive near the battery end, there's a bit more info on a recent thread here:

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=62974

 

Plus plenty of blade fuse holders on Ebay:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Vehicle-Parts-Accessories-/131090/i.html?_sop=15&_from=R40&_nkw=blade+fuse+holder+way&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1

 

For more specific advice, would be good to know the distance between cigar lighter sockets and batts, and fridge and batts, and any details or pics of the existing install. Or maybe post a sketch and details as well of how you plan to do it for comments.

 

There's a few boat electrical books out there, maybe get a copy of one through the library or second hand.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited January 12, 2014 by smileypete

[MunkeyBoy]

With the fridge best stick religiously to the manufacturers instructions, they mention a fuse of 5A and in their FAQ they seem to suggest a cable size of 6mm², which will do for up to 6m if following the '1mm per metre' rule of thumb:

 

http://www.waeco.com/tmp/cdf_b_15s_07.pdf

http://www.waeco.co.uk/page.aspx?page=faq

 

With the cigar lighter sockets a cable size of 4mm^₂ cable fused at 10A will run a couple of sockets up to 6m from the batts.

 

Fuse holder always go in the positive near the battery end, there's a bit more info on a recent thread here:

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=62974

 

Plus plenty of blade fuse holders on Ebay:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Vehicle-Parts-Accessories-/131090/i.html?_sop=15&_from=R40&_nkw=blade+fuse+holder+way&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1

 

For more specific advice, would be good to know the distance between cigar lighter sockets and batts, and fridge and batts, and any details or pics of the existing install. Or maybe post a sketch and details as well of how you plan to do it for comments.

 

There's a few boat electrical books out there, maybe get a copy of one through the library or second hand.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Many thanks Pete that was exactly the kind of info I needed thank you.

Would I be better off using 6mm cable for the sockets too just to play it safe?

I will get some pics when I go back to the yard.

thanks.

[smileypete]

Many thanks Pete that was exactly the kind of info I needed thank you.

Would I be better off using 6mm cable for the sockets too just to play it safe?

I will get some pics when I go back to the yard.

thanks.

 

Good point you may find a small reel of 6mm² is cheaper than cut lengths of 4mm² and 6mm², Ebay or maybe a online or nearby discount motor factors can be a good source.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited January 13, 2014 by smileypete

[Naughty Cal]

 

That would appear to be 'marginal' if running from a single 100 aH battery.

12 hours would take the battery down to the 'suggested' 50%, and thats without lights, charging the mobile, pumps etc.

It worked fine for us at the time as we tended to cruise everyday.

 

We did in the end upgrade the battery bank to 2 x 105 batteries though.

[Paul C]

Battery ---> isolation switch ---> fuse panel or fuse box or circuit breaker panel etc

 

from the fusebox/etc, take a feed to the fridge and a feed to a 12V socket of your choosing (match it to what you can obtain as a 12V charger for the phone). And of course, you can feed many other electrical devices from the fusebox (size it depending on the amount of stuff you have).

 

For charging, connect whatever is charging, via an inline fuse, to the same place you are taking power from, eg 2 connections on the battery post. I imagine you'll at least have an alternator.

[Captain Fizz]

Have a look at www.vehicleproducts.co.uk for the bits that you need.

Reasonable prices and good service.

[PhilR]

:-)

Edited January 14, 2014 by PhilR