I am going to get one of these three-way fridges as I am fed up with warm beer and limp lettuce at Le Mans ! Planning on more UK camping too...
I intend to cool the fridge off the mains the day before, and run the fridge off the gas at the site, but would like to keep the fridge cool on the way to France, Wales, Cumbrai etc. How long is the 12V cable ? That is, will it reach from the boot of a family saloon/hatchback ? If not, how easy is it to get some 12V cable to lengthen the cable ?
You should have no problem with the length of the cable; but in any event it is easy to buy a plug/socket and cable from any car accessory shop and make an extention of any length you require.
Car accessory shops sell extension leads but be careful, you need a heavy duty one that can carry the current required by the combicool. you want 7+ amps at least or the cable will melt as the fridge draws more current than the cable can cope with. As with the above post it might be better to make one.
------------- DELTA..
aka Paul
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.”
You will have problems if you use the wrong type of cable.
The problem is not so much that the cable will overheat (unless its VERY thin) but if its not thick enough and its fairly long there can be so much voltage drop that the fridge may not work properly.
You could also consider running a new cable direct from the car battery and installing a dedicated socket in the boot. Maplin sell the sockets. Some cars are now coming with these sockets , and it certainly saves having wire trailing through the passenger compartment.
I have an Electrolux RC1600 3 way and have sold many different makes but they all basically work the same way.I have tried running mine from the cigar socket and the 12v plug gets very hot after about 15 mins(the fridge is already pre cooled,there is no thermostat control on these fridges for gas and 12volts only on 240v mains) and I am afraid to use it any longer for fear of melting the plug.I have an Audi A4 and the hand book says the socket can supply easily 10Amps or more so I am not sure if the socket itself is dirty and makes a bad contact with the fridge connector?
towsure.com now sell heavy duty 12volt extension leads as I have purchased one.
I now pre cool my fridge overnight with the items in I am taking then load it n the car and put 4 frozen ice pack in and by the time we have travelled and set up camp the contents are still nice and cold even after 4-5 hours.I have run mine off Butane gas for 4 days on the high setting and the box remains cold but won't freeze as it can off mains.The best is to run off mains hook up and it become thermostatically controled.There is nothing like cold beer and wine!
You mentioned that there is no thermostat for the fridges on gas or 12V, but you said you ran it off gass on "high setting". Is there a dial for gas or 12V and a seperate dial for 240V ?
Sorry, just want to understand properly before I buy.
there is a dial for when you are using gas witch ranges from low-high and there is a dial for using 240 which i think ranges from 1-5. not sure about 12v i think it may just run at a pre determined level,
p.s i have the sibir fridge but pretty sure its the same dails as combicool.
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Topic: RC1600 - length of 12V cable
