always on bed power for fridge

Hi All,

The previous owner of my truck ran a piggyback fuse from the main in cab fuse panel to an AC/ USB panel in the bed. Now that I have a dual battery system, I want that power to come from from the accessory back up battery. My plan is the just run 10 or 12 AWG inline fused wires from the accessory battery directly to that AC/ USB panel in bed. 15 AMP seems to be the go to and it's ARB puts in there harness, but do you all agree? Any issues with my plan in general? Really trying to keep it simple and have no need for the Blue Sea substation with fuses as I don't need to power anything else back there. I would just buy the arb wiring harness they make for this, but it seems the plug is only for their fridges. Thanks in advance!

-JA

 

You have a battery selector switch so you don't drain both?

 

not an issue. my ACR automatically disconnects the batteries when truck is not running

 

Pretty much the same set-up that I have.
Dual batteries with ACR.

For bed power I have a switch-pro connected to my 2nd battery (protected at 18amp) with 10ga wire and an additional 15amp fuse in a blue sea box going to an outlet for the fridge. Works perfectly and the fridge will run all night.

 

thanks, trying to avoid putting one of those boxes in and I don't want it connected to my SPOD.

 

You definitely don't need to run it thru an additional switch/SPOD - I just have some other lights connected on the same circuit that I wanted to be able to control from in the cab.

 

cool. I truly want this to be an always on.

 

Before running your wires, ask yourself if you want room for additional accessories in the future? Use larger gauge wire if so. If just for the fridge and it’s for 15amps, you may need bigger wire:




Use this for reference:

https://www.wirebarn.com/Wire-Calculator-_ep_41.html

 

I know I asked for help, and I appreciate you lending your insight, however, arb uses 10 gauge with 15 amp. you and/ or that online calculator know better than them?

 

You might add an LED somewhere conspicuous so you know it really is on. Unless the fridge has one.

 

good call, forgot to mention my little AC/ USB panel has a volt. meter. fridge also has one.

 

So any future upgrades? If ARB based their measurements on a shorter wire than 20ft, 10ga would work. If you want to add future upgrades like a battery charger, amp, or whatever, and want a longer cable, take that into account.

 

Just run a pair of 10ga wires in a loom back along the frame and up to your panel. That’s what I did and it worked fine for years.

 

Perhaps another accessory you may want is something like this too:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...table-power-battery-for-less-than-100.631427/

I put together this third portable battery that will allow my fridge to run longer while parked, and I can charge my drone batteries and run my compressor off it, and can emergency jump the truck too. It charges either off my truck’s second battery, or from a solar panel. 15amp refrigerator plus 20amps for the battery required me to put in 4ga cables in mine, as I knew I would be putting all the above accessories including LED back up lights sometime...

So yeah, I know a bit about it too. Perhaps not quite as much as ARB, but I do know both ARB and I have no way of knowing what other types of accessories you would like to put in back of your truck that may require higher amperage wires to be strung, so that’s why I was suggesting it.

 

Yeah but fuses are a good thing.

 

Yeah, I left that out because you said you were going to fuse it already. A 15amp fuse in-line a few inches off the battery is what I did.

 

Ah gotcha, yes indeed

 

So if I got a fridge, I could use some 10ga wire directly to my switchpro? Thanks

 

Maybe, but why? The switchpro is for controlling power to something and being able to turn it on/off. The fridge should be connected to constant power since it requires constant power to run.