Do you wish you had went with the 50?
ARB/Engel Fridge - Who's Got One??
- Thread starter epiclr4
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Do you wish you had went with the 50?
NASdiesel
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Good question. Sure, I would love more room, you always could carry more food and drink. But I like that I can close the cargo cover in the rear with the fridge in when driving around town. And I can fit more gear in my d-90 without a larger fridge in the way.
I would be curious is anyone while doing fridge research has discovered if a fridge is rated for marine environments (corrosion and water exposure). I have a perfect place to mount one on my boat but don't want to take the chance.
umbertob
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Could be because even the best 12V sockets / plugs tend to get loose and dislodged when off-roading or extended driving over broken pavement (also, in stock form the 12V outlet in the back of the LR4 will shut off when the engine is not running to prevent battery discharge, but there is an easy workaround for that.) I am thinking of chopping off the plug and hardwiring the power cord that came with the fridge with an in-line fuse, I'll just tuck the cord away in the trunk when not in use and will never again wonder whether my fridge is getting power back there.
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Daniel Hull
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I have the Arb 50 or whatever is close to that. It fits great between the two 2nd row seats if you take the center seat out. I run it on either the console socket or if it is all the way in the back then on the rear socket. No problems except I didn't realize the LR4 shuts off the sockets when it is off until I was out on a camping trip. Fortunately, I also bring along a deep cycle battery in a box (I made) with a 12V socket, so I just run it on that when the truck is off....but it's a pain to have to bring the battery. A lot of people add the deep cycle battery and another socket to the truck permanently, or I guess there is a relay you can short that will leave the starter battery enabled. Theoretically you should be able to run the fridge easily overnight on a fully charged starter battery, but I'm somewhat concerned about draining the battery I rely on to get me out of the woods. The ARB does have a feature to turn itself off once the battery voltage gets low (you can chose how low). I've had the "low battery" warning in the truck come on just sitting in a drive-in movie theater with not much besides the radio running for an hour, so I'm not looking to add any extra loads to the battery when I'm out camping. I use a large deep cycle battery....Group 32 I think, and it will run the fridge for about 3 days on it's own....but it weighs like 80 lbs.
Daniel Hull
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One other comment....it's very ******* a starter battery to deep cycle discharge it. You will wear out your starter battery quickly if you do this frequently. Just another reason I personally don't recommend the "fix" to keep the rear socket live when the car is off.
Trekker
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I run a similar setup with my ARB and absolutely love it! I've powered my ARB with a single deep cycle battery for over 3 days on camping trips with no problems. The draw on the ARB fridges is pretty minimal.
I also have the ARB 37 and it works great. However on the 2013 LR4, the car shuts off all power after a few minutes so I am unable to keep the fridge running unless I keep the car on. I think there is a fuse I can pull to bypass that.
umbertob
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Actually, you pull a relay from the passenger compartment fusebox and jump it:
The "offending" relay (photo is from a RHD Sport, but besides the surrounding wires the fusebox is the same on "our", LHD LR4):
This is the relay you remove. The arrows show the two contacts you need to bridge on the fusebox to get permanent power to the 3, 12v sockets it controls: front, rear passengers and cargo area. Basically all of them except the front cigar lighter on the driver's side.
Make a short wire bridge - 8 or 10 AWG will work - with a male spade connector at each end and plug it into the female connectors on the fusebox to jump the relay. It helps to have Cinderella hands as space is super tight, especially on LHD vehicles. Or, you can use needlenose pliers, but be careful:
If you own a diagnostic tool such as IIDTool, you will routinely retrieve a stored fault as the electronics detect the relay is missing and think it's defective, but other than that (and the possibility you will run your battery flat by leaving a device connected to one of those sockets long enough), no adverse effects. The 12v sockets are still protected from overloads by their own separate fuses.
The "offending" relay (photo is from a RHD Sport, but besides the surrounding wires the fusebox is the same on "our", LHD LR4):
This is the relay you remove. The arrows show the two contacts you need to bridge on the fusebox to get permanent power to the 3, 12v sockets it controls: front, rear passengers and cargo area. Basically all of them except the front cigar lighter on the driver's side.
Make a short wire bridge - 8 or 10 AWG will work - with a male spade connector at each end and plug it into the female connectors on the fusebox to jump the relay. It helps to have Cinderella hands as space is super tight, especially on LHD vehicles. Or, you can use needlenose pliers, but be careful:
If you own a diagnostic tool such as IIDTool, you will routinely retrieve a stored fault as the electronics detect the relay is missing and think it's defective, but other than that (and the possibility you will run your battery flat by leaving a device connected to one of those sockets long enough), no adverse effects. The 12v sockets are still protected from overloads by their own separate fuses.
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Surfrider77
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I've seen somewhere else on this forum, someone linked a walkthrough to accomplish this. Off the top of my head, it's basically a square relay with a few flat pins plugged into a block somewhere under the dash. You can remove the relay and put a wire across two of the terminals and it will keep the sockets alive 24/7. (Will only drain if you have stuff plugged in)
I am tempted to do this myself, as I like my phone charger running when my car is turned off. Cell charger is absolutely nothing in terms of power draw, so there should be no harm.
**EDIT** ...aaaaand... Ubertob explained exactly what I was thinking about.
mbw
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I have had my eye on the ARB 63 quart. i think I figured out at one point that it would sit below the little cargo cover track in case I wanted to put in a plywood shelf between the sides at some point. Still working on all the gear I want for next summers more ambitious camping trips.
edit: the dimensions are a bit odd on them.
Model: 10800352. Weight: 45.6 lbs. Capacity: 37 qts. External dimensions: H16.9' x W15"' x D27.8"'
Model: 10800472. Weight: 53 lbs. Capacity: 50 qts. Dimensions: H20' x W27.76"' x D14.96"'
Model: 10800602. Weight: 54 lbs. Capacity: 63 qts. Dimensions: H 16.9" x W 17.7" x D 33.3"
The big 63 qt may be too big, how much can you fit in a 37? The 50 is taller than the 63 and 37.
edit: the dimensions are a bit odd on them.
Model: 10800352. Weight: 45.6 lbs. Capacity: 37 qts. External dimensions: H16.9' x W15"' x D27.8"'
Model: 10800472. Weight: 53 lbs. Capacity: 50 qts. Dimensions: H20' x W27.76"' x D14.96"'
Model: 10800602. Weight: 54 lbs. Capacity: 63 qts. Dimensions: H 16.9" x W 17.7" x D 33.3"
The big 63 qt may be too big, how much can you fit in a 37? The 50 is taller than the 63 and 37.
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