Run Fridge with engine off

I have a 2021 Tacoma and want to plug in a fridge in the bed via the outlet. Is there a way to power the fridge when the engine is not on with a stock setup?

 

It can be done, the real question though is how much do you like dead batteries and jump starts?

 

Not with the outlet in the bed. However you can run power straight from your battery and go that route. I ran an ARB 37 on my stock 3rd gen battery for 4 days (without starting the engine) with no issues though I wouldn’t suggest doing it unless you have a jump starter or another vehicle around.

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/coolers/accessories/dometic-hwk-dc-222471

 

Do you want a standard household fridge, or a mini fridge?

 

It is a mini fridge. A Alpicool. From what I can tell with a stock setup there is no way to power the fridge with the car off. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

That's correct. The truck has to be running in order for the bed plug to work.

 

If it's an aplicool it's probably a 12v fridge... No bed outlet necessary. There still isn't a 12v plug that's hot when the truck is off though.

 

It's not all that hard to run a direct-wired 12v outlet from the battery to the bed to do that. Running a 12V fridge off of the inverter outlet would be insanely inefficient power-wise, and wouldn't be a good idea even if it were possible.

The battery-protection circuitry in the fridge might prevent it from running for very long with the engine off, though. If you're fairly handy, it's possible to mount a solar panel on the roof of the cab which would be plenty to power the fridge when the engine is off, and you could even wire up a 5-lead relay and a smallish dedicated battery (maybe one or two 20 Amp-hour SLA packs depending on the size of your fridge) that would switch over to power the fridge off the engine while running and allow the solar panel to charge those extra batteries. If you're really handy with wiring, it's probably also possible to divert some of that solar juice to act like a battery tender on your primary battery when you're parked.

 

I have an Alpicool fridge and I just ran some wires to a 12 v outlet I put in the bed. Runs for 6 days before the battery is dead, depending on the temps outside. I carry a jump starter with me all the time.

 

I’ve had a dometic in my bed, with a constant 12v supply on for weeks now. I do have two batteries and solar panel on the hood. nothing beats ice cold sodas at lunch. None of this is stock though.

 

Just put another 12v battery in the fuckin bed and run the fridge off that. Hook up a charger to the outlet in the bed to charge the second battery while the truck is running.

/thread

 

Da-um. Did you just drop your keyboard and walk away?