BattleToad 2 Posted March 19, 2024 Hello, first post! Ok, so what I want to do is add a small battery under my seat, and have it charged by solar. The only thing it will power is my alpicool dual 35qt fridge. Running it full time if needed. I picked out some parts, but unsure if it all matches and such. Would the items I've picked work or cause a fire in my vehicle? Thanks in advanced! Hope to learn from you all. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,778 Posted March 19, 2024 (edited) welcome to the site! i don't know those brands personally, but your component selection seems to make sense. just use the minimum amperage fuse necessary on both your input and output lines. regarding the charger, I doubt anything that small would produce a ton of current - but you should double check its max charging rate versus the battery makers suggested charge current. then the biggest concern i'd have is making sure the battery is securely mounted and the terminals covered so that nothing metal could accidentally come in contact with them and cause a dead short (which could easily cause a fire). also, just FYI, most cigarette lighter style sockets aren't great in terms of surviving road vibrations, nor making a good low-resistance electrical connection. i'd recommend you modify your fridge's existing DC power cord to use one of those same 12v SAE connectors instead of the lighter plug. however, unless space or money is really tight, you might consider a pre-made battery bank instead of a custom solution. you would be getting a nicely packaged, portable unit with way more features... your proposed battery is 640 Watt-Hours. a quality "solar generator" (i.e. battery bank with solar and wall charging, inverter, capacity gauge, etc.) with a similar capacity would run you $350 to $550: Ecoflow River 2 (512 Wh)... Anker 535 (512 Wh)... Bluetti EB70S (716 Wh)... Edited March 19, 2024 by theksmith 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BattleToad 2 Posted March 19, 2024 5 hours ago, theksmith said: welcome to the site! i don't know those brands personally, but your component selection seems to make sense. just use the minimum amperage fuse necessary on both your input and output lines. regarding the charger, I doubt anything that small would produce a ton of current - but you should double check its max charging rate versus the battery makers suggested charge current. then the biggest concern i'd have is making sure the battery is securely mounted and the terminals covered so that nothing metal could accidentally come in contact with them and cause a dead short (which could easily cause a fire). also, just FYI, most cigarette lighter style sockets aren't great in terms of surviving road vibrations, nor making a good low-resistance electrical connection. i'd recommend you modify your fridge's existing DC power cord to use one of those same 12v SAE connectors instead of the lighter plug. however, unless space or money is really tight, you might consider a pre-made battery bank instead of a custom solution. you would be getting a nicely packaged, portable unit with way more features... your proposed battery is 640 Watt-Hours. a quality "solar generator" (i.e. battery bank with solar and wall charging, inverter, capacity gauge, etc.) with a similar capacity would run you $350 to $550: Ecoflow River 2 (512 Wh)... Anker 535 (512 Wh)... Bluetti EB70S (716 Wh)... Ah I have an ecoflow, but was hoping to go cheaper. The only function of the battery would be to power the fridge, and use my ecoflow for other things, like powering my heated blanket, diesel heater, electric stove, electric kettle and such, so I don't have to move my fridge at all. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
