Massimo 12v fridge

TRD270

Emptying Pockets Again
Supporting Member
Location
SaSaSandy
So my battery lasted <24hrs in my dry run, with the low battery threshold setting. Voltage reading on the cooler is accurate except when the cooler is running. When I checked on it this morning, the cooler would turn on for a few seconds, and voltage reading would drop below the low setting and turn off.

One caveat is that my garage is hot, so I included the garage temp...

(Ophie is the vehicle’s battery voltage)View attachment 129491


41?

We drinking beer like the Brits?
 

Corban_White

Well-Known Member
Location
Payson, AZ
The discrepancy between the battery voltage and the fridge voltage is probably due to the wire size being too small. Was this plugged into the cigarette lighter or clamped directly to the battery? What is the wire gauge on the fridge cord?
 

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
Since I keep my fridge at the back of my truck bed I fished a 10ga hot lead from the battery, through the frame, to a cigarette lighter receptacle in the side wall of the bed. I used the frame for ground. Over 20' of wire.
 

frieed

Jeepless in Draper
Supporting Member
Location
Draper, UT
Since I keep my fridge at the back of my truck bed I fished a 10ga hot lead from the battery, through the frame, to a cigarette lighter receptacle in the side wall of the bed. I used the frame for ground. Over 20' of wire.

I'll add that recent vehicles (mine is a 2013) are very picky about making sure that the return path (ground lead) of any added electrical devices pass through the current sensor on the negative terminal of the battery.
 

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
So my battery lasted <24hrs in my dry run, with the low battery threshold setting. Voltage reading on the cooler is accurate except when the cooler is running. When I checked on it this morning, the cooler would turn on for a few seconds, and voltage reading would drop below the low setting and turn off.

One caveat is that my garage is hot, so I included the garage temp...

(Ophie is the vehicle’s battery voltage)View attachment 129491

Mine lasted four days, inside, before I got bored and pulled it off. I had it set to 36* on the low battery protection mode. I bet those outside temps made a huge difference.
 

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
Greg's thread reminded me to update this one. Fridge is still running, spends 24-7 strapped down in the back of the truck although I unplug it when I'm not using it. I keep it set to the lowest voltage protection and run it off a deep cycle aux battery to protect the starting battery, and it runs for about three days on that setup before it gets down to triggering the voltage protection when it starts it's cycle. I wouldn't hesitate to let it run overnight and then some on the starter battery in a pinch. On a recent backpacking trip we left my truck at the far end of the trail, and I set up a second deep cycle battery in parallel to the aux battery (so roughly 200 amp hours total?), we came back to my truck four days later and it was still running. The cold drinks were awesome.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
I decided to order one today off of the Costco website. I have looked at a couple on Amazon and just about pulled the trigger a couple of different times, but the return policy of Costco put me over the edge to go ahead and get it. Plus it essentially cost me nothing with my Costco Cash I get with my Costco credit card I use for business.
 

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
Well, I got four years out of it. First trip in the LX470 was on that busted suspension and the fridge did not like that at all, it broke something loose and it's been rattling back there - working, but I knew it's days were numbered and when I went to load it up today it wouldn't get cold. The compressor tries to cycle but gives up after ten seconds or so.

So, four years for $269, not bad. The wife says a brand name isn't in the budget right this second and I'm not going back to a cooler like a cave man, so I found the best cheap fridge Amazon has that'll get here tomorrow and we'll see how many years I get out of $229. :cool:
 

Trate D

Well-Known Member
It’s irrelevant to this fridge but I bought a Black Forest gear fridge when the first came out. I bet it was 8 years ago and it’s still working awesome. It’s a 31 qt with a slide but I have been impressed with it. I am pretty sure I paid like $650 though and they are now discontinued.
 

The_Lobbster

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about the old unit.


Any chance you’d wanna donate it to me so I could tinker with it? I’d trade a 6 pack of beer for it!
 

The_Lobbster

Well-Known Member
Crap... Nope, it's gone. As soon as I looked at the spot where it was I remembered tossing it in the spring cleaning dumpster a few months ago.

- DAA
Darn! As a commercial HVAC tech, the micro refrigeration systems these have intrigues me.

I have a 12vdc fridge myself, but since it’s still working, I’m not yet keen on cutting it apart just yet!
 
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STAG

Well-Known Member
Darn! As a commercial HVAC tech, the micro refrigeration systems these have intrigues me.

I have a 12vdc fridge myself, but since it’s still working, I’m not yet keen on cutting it apart just yet!
As a professional HVAC user, all A/C and refrigeration is voodoo black magic to me. I mean I get the thermodynamic principals of it, but it’s still magic.
 

The_Lobbster

Well-Known Member
As a professional HVAC user, all A/C and refrigeration is voodoo black magic to me. I mean I get the thermodynamic principals of it, but it’s still magic.
It’s really just a glorified version of suck, squeeze, bang, blow.

Some very interesting physics to it. I love cutting apart the compressors to investigate when they fail.
 
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