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Fridge / Freezer

Fridge / Freezer

Jan 14 2015

The first time I did a measure up for where the fridge freezer was going to fit, I thought I was going to be 25mm out of luck!  Which was going to be a pity as my "theoretical measurements" said it would fit and it wasn't a cheap unit.  In the end, it j...u...s...t... fitted with a bit of tweaking, so that was a relief.

The unit is an 80 litre Engel Combi, which has both a freezer and a fridge side by side in the same unit. This fridge is in addition to the internal "normal" camper fridge inside the cabin, and will be for more 'long term' items like bulk frozen meat. It might possibly get used for beer for thirsty back seat passengers too!

It lives in the rear of the double cab, between the seats. I had to remove one seat to get access to do the wiring and measure up the brackets.

 

I made up some custom aluminium brackets to keep it in place, so it is held down by the 8 bolts that held the original handles on, plus a big bracket at the top to stop it moving up or down. The power is 24V and I've fitted a solid state low voltage cut-out device to disconnect it if the voltage drops to 22.8V.  Once the power is cut, it stays off until the engine is started (or the solar panels kick in) and voltage rises over 26v.  The 24v system has 200W of solar panels feeding it, so it should never get low enough to get switched off, as long as it gets a bit of sunlight during the day.

 

Internally, it has a divider with a computer type fan in the middle, so one side freezes and the other is a fridge.


 

 

Seeing as I had a handy 24V supply, I added a USB charge point into the back, so any passengers can re-charge their mobile or laptop.

 



Power comes from the main 24v battery system that starts the truck. I installed a small fuse block for a few things that I want to run 24v, such as the outside lighting, the fridge and the two monster truck horns I've bought!


I made up a stainless steel bracket to put the fuse block at a suitable angle.
 

 

 



Because the cab has to open to get to the engine (it pivots from the front bumper) I needed a quick disconnect system to detach the 24v feed to the fridge, so the simple solution was a 50A Anderson connector. 

I'm using blue connectors for 24v and grey for 12v.

If I forget to disconnect it when I lift the cabin, it should pull apart with no damage.

We'll see if the corrugations dislodge the connector, and if so I'll have to make some sort of clipping system, but I think it will be fine.

 


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