I have a Dometic Waeco CFF45 fridge freezer. Has anyone tried powering the fridge with a Gooloo jump starter? If so what temps for how long? I just need it to last about 4-5 hours.
Can You Power a Camp Fridge with Gooloo Jump Starter?
zealmax on 25/08/2022 - 11:36
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I normally go to powered sites. Just need the fridge running before check in time.
How do you run it before that? Your car?
Well yes, but not for long. You need to know the current draw of your fridge to start to work out what a battery will provide.
looking at Gooloo specs the top model has a 27000 mAh battery (27 Ah).A 50l fridge in moderate use will use round 35-45 Ah (once at temperature), so you might expect about 1/2 a day. If the fridge is not at temp then probably half it again as the compressor will run constantly until temp is reached.
Must count watt hours. It's likely that 27Ah is at 3.7v which is only 100wh which is the equivalent to an 8Ah 12v system.
Fridge will likely run at about 40-60w so you'll get about 10min of running time.
On top of this, USB 12v is only handled by either QuickCharge (QC) or Power Delivery (PD) which the fridge won't have. Typical USB port will only provide 5.1v
I saw a youtube video that showed a fridge running for 4 hours on a a jump starter. I don't think the fridge draws constant 60w. My fridge states 0.88Ah 12V average at 4 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius ambient temp. That is about 10 watts per hour.
it would be better if you can use a buck converter, to drop the 15V output to 12V. You would have better current when the fridge power spike.
Another option, which I am currently using for my 12V camping fan, is to get cheap knock off Milwaukee M12 battery from ebay.
Then I used this adaptor cap to supply 12V out from the battery.
6.0aH 12V will give you 72Wh per battery.
@ausdday: I was thinking about this too and attaching a cigarette socket to it. The fridge is 12/24V so should be OK to handle 18V. How did you wire up the cigarette socket, do you need any electronics in between for protection?
@zealmax: nope. just straight connection. You can add a fuse in between if you want some protection.
Those batteries usually just using a few 18650 connected in series (3x 18650 for 12V, 5x 18650 for 18V), and few sets in parallel to provide more "Ah".
18650 usually has a fully charged voltage of around 4.2V, and flat around 3.2 - 3.3V.
So for 12V (3S configuration), the voltage can range from 12.6V full down to around 10V flat.
for 18v (5S configuration), the voltage can range from 21V full down to 16.5V flat.edit: Since your fridge can take 12 / 24V DC, you can just use the jumpstarter 15VDC out straightaway. However, it's not cheap when you are thinking to scale up the Ah, as your basically need to get another jumpstarter power bank.
@ausdday: I wonder if you can charge the Gooloo jump starter while the 15V is in use. I could string up USB PD powerbanks that I have amassed over the years.
Why not just plug it into the car?
Car needs to be running for 12V to kick in. Need a visit to the auto electrician to add a new socket that runs straight to the battery.
I can power my electric blanket for around 60 minutes with my smaller Gooloo.
Wow, I would think electric blanket power draw would be higher than a camp fridge.
Make sure you pre-cool and keep the fridge full. It’ll use less power to keep a full fridge cool than to cool it down or run it empty.
FWIW I precool and fill our caravan fridge before we depart and leave it turned off while we travel. It’ll keep stuff cool for a good few hours without any power. Maybe it doesn’t need power for half a day if you plan properly and don’t leave it in the sun.
Cool the fridge down to 2 degrees and the freezer to -12 (or less) while driving and it will survive a few hours without power. Just don't open it.
This is the best bet I think. Otherwise invest in a second battery setup for your car (depending on what it is)
Or I think you could run it off one of those Cygnett power stations right?
How hard is it to wire up a 12V socket on circuit that doesn't require ignition? Is this a DIY project or straight to auto electrician job?
It’s typically not hard to DIY. You’ll need a decent sized cable to limit voltage drop and will need a fuse near the battery. The hardest part is running the cable through under trim and stuff so it is neat.
You need to be aware that a fridge will flatten your battery fairly quickly. If you are keen you can put in a voltage sensing switch that’ll shut off the circuit if the battery goes low. Your fridge may also already have a low voltage cutoff.
The fridge has low voltage cut off. Started looking at LiFePO4 batteries. There is a 12Ah one on Amazon for $89 and only weighs 1.5KG. That should be able to run the fridge for 5 hours.
If it’s already cold, just connect it to the car battery. A couple of hours should be Ok, especially if you set the low voltage right.
I leave our fridge in the car for a couple of hours while setting up, but only if it’s been runnin in the car while travelling and the car isn’t in direct sun. I’ve also left it off for an hour or so with no issues other than it running a bit longer when reconnected.
So I tested with with Gooloo GT4000S on Dometic CFF45.
If the fridge is not already cool and the jump starter has to cool it, then it takes a good junk of battery to do that; approx 30% or so to reach the desired temperature.
However, if the fridge is already at the desired temperature (say 8.0C) and the jump starter is just maintaining the temperature then it seems to use roughly 45-50w as soon as it gets above the set temperature and then idles at 1w once it reaches the set temp. This way, you can easily get 3.5-4.5hrs of use out of it.
Perhaps check out an Ecoflow or similar
Gooloo jump starter works with the fridge. Also tried hooking up Ozito 4ah battery. It turns on but the compressor doesn't run due to low voltage protection on the frudge. It thinks the battery is a flat 24V battery. Next I will try using a buck converter to step down the voltage to 12v.
I’ve just seen a ryobi fridge at Bunnings. Sure it’s not real big, but it apparently runs on 18v. No indicator for how long you would expect it to run on the box however.
Fridge manual states 0.8A @12V. From memory 4 degrees temp @32 degrees ambient. This is the average drain on the battery. Assuming worst case 20% loss going from 18v to 12v. 4ah battery should be able to keep the fridge going for 4.8 hours if the fridge has been pre cooled to temp.
The usb out supports up to 12v, should be enough for the cig socket if you have an adapter though (unsure if limited to 100w on the usb part)
answered myself but looking one page further down on gooloo
"15V 10A DC OUTPUT POWER UP THE TOUGHEST BATTERIES.
Connect the 12 V devices that need to be powered by a cigarette lighter socket(the cigarette lighter socket adapter is included). It can output 150 W Max. "