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Is my fridge gas or 12 volt?
Hi I hope one of you nice folks can help me. I got a Electrolux fridge from a caravan. It runs on both gas and 12volt. I do not want to run it on gas I preferr 12volt. On the back there is a dip stick but inside where the dip stick goes there is no liquid. Does anyone know what liquid goes in there? Also if I run this on 12 volt will it kill the battery? I cannt find a manual for this on line. I would like to have a battery operated fridge. Anyone got any tips on where to get a good one that is not super expensive. Thanks all.
Electrolux
Prod No. 9281131
Unit Type. 113A1
I only run mine on gas. did a test to see how much current is used on 12v, and it was somewhere in the region of 12 amps. heavy on the alternator and not fuel freindly!
gas is faster too.
Hi guys thanks for the speedy responce. I checked the fridge I have and it uses 17.5 watts. The only problem is what does this mean. Rick you said that your fridge uses about 12 amps. What is this in watts. Also what is a watt and then I can figure out what to do. What you say. I mean i have no idea of watts or amps. Can anyone tewll me if the fridge uses 17.5 watts is this good or crap. Thanks.
Watts = Volts x Amps
or
Watts / Amps = Volts
or
Watts / Volts = Amps
Most caravan type fridges run on 80 - 100 watts.
100/12 = 8.5 Amps. We divide by 12 as I am assuming it is a 12v system.
Pacman, your fridge is 17.5 watts, therefore
17.5 / 12 = 1.5 Amps. This is very low. Either you have a modern efficient fridge, or the watts reading you have is wrong. Hopefully the former :)
Caravan fridges are only designed to use 12v when you are driving the vehicle and the engine is used to provide 12v. In 12v mode the fridge is unregulated, so it is just on all of the time. It will flatten a battery pretty quick.
For long tem use gas is much better.
There is a significant difference in the current draw of the different types of fridges available. The combo ones that use gas and 12volts have as has already been said draw large current, 12amps. However those that are designed to run purely on 12volts like mine draw much less. Mine only draws 0.75amps when running, but does draw more on start up, 4 amps, also mine is regulated and is not on all the time. As to whether or not you can get combo fridges that are efficient on 12volts too, i see no reason why not although i do not know of a make myself.
KS
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Not sure about the dipstick. However, 12v caravan friges are designed te be run off the 12v when driving, as the gas must be turned off. Therefore they are powered by the car/van engine, so they are not energy efficient. It is likely to drain a leisure battery pretty quickly.
There are much more efficient modern fridges, used in yachts and more-so motorhomes these days. But they are expensive.
I am soon to fit a fridge to my van and will be going for gas when parked, 12v when driving. It's generally the best combination.