Second battery to run refrigerator

Does anyone have any solid feedback on adding a second battery to run a refrigerator mounted in the Bed? Many of the fridges have AC and DC power options, it seems the best route is to not tax the built in inverter of the truck and run a second battery that just runs the DC powered fridge. Wondering if there are any trick under the hood installation options. I suppose down the road it would be nice to add solar charging to this battery as well.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, would save me a lot of time. Am having to travel across the country this summer with my family and would rather bring all our food in general rather than be stopping all the time to purchase.

 

You could either run a dedicated second battery, or run a larger main battery like a group 31 instead of the oem 24 or 27. A second battery would have the benefit of giving you self jumping capabilities as well as the safety measure of depleting a house battery and being able to start the truck.

Most install kits are pretty straight forward, so not much advice to give there, just follow the instructions.

 

I run mine 24/7 off my main Northstar Battery without issue. I do have a second Northstar Battery in the bed not integrated yet.

 

My plan to run a fridge (though in cab) was a jackery 500 watt battery and a solar panel on the roof if you're interested in that option too. Then you can also charge your other electronics too

 

As long as you use an 8 ga wire to run the fridge, and have the battery saving function set to at least "Ned" you will be fine without a second battery.

 

I just ran my ARB 37qt off my stock 24f battery for over 23 hours and the truck started just fine. You might not need a dual battery for a fridge....just saying.

When my battery needs to be replaced I will get an AGM (northstar, x2, etc) and call it a day.

Edit - make sure to keep your fridge as full as you can so it will be more efficient. Air has horrible thermal properties.

 

I also run mine off the main. Put in a x2power 27f and get plenty of run time.

 

X2 Group 31 here. It's a heavy mofo, but power for days and starts the truck with authority since the CCAs are like 2x the oem one.

 

What fridge do you have? There are wildly difference energy consumption rates depending on what fridge you have and what temp setting you plan to use.

For everyone claiming to run it off their main battery, that's fine but you are likely destroying your battery. A starter battery isn't designed to be drained repeatedly. You might still be able to start your truck, but that doesn't mean the battery is happy about it.

Example, my CFX-75 set at 37° can burn through the usable energy in a 100amp Northstar in about 24hr. If I have one of the zone on freezer mode than I can deplete it in under 12 hrs. A typical starter battery isn't going to come close to powering it regularly without killing it.

So be forewarned, know your batteries and know how much energy you are using or you'll find yourself stranded.

 

Noted. I look forward to upgrading my battery when I kill the stock one.

 

Hey gunshot, thanks for the input... hey I am a hokie as well... going back there this summer to visit friends... love the Berg, hope to retire there some day.

 

Sorry, please explain, what do you mean the battery saving function set to 'ned'? I don't think the 2016 Tocomas have that feature?

 

Thanks for asking... as a matter of fact I am in the process of trying to figure out which fridge to purchase. Everything I find of decent size has a freezer as well and I don't want a freezer, I would much rather have more refrigeration space...we don't need ice cream and frozen meat... anyone want to recommend a good size fridge that doesn't require the freezer. Everything on Amazon has the freezer as well. thanks so much for everyones input.

 

Presumably he means battery saving function set to “Med” as in medium on the fridge.

 

All of them can be used as a freezer. Mostly are just a single compartment that can be set to -8° to 50°F. What size cooler do you typically take camping?

 

I am thinking of adding an Aux battery as well but was looking for a beefier Alt to charge both

 

I run mine off a secondary AGM battery, which is electrically separated and charged via a CTEK D250SA.

If you want more information about my setup let me know.

 

Tons of info available on this subject, Genesis Offraod and Offgrid Engineering are just to of the manufactures of a plug and play duel battery system that will place your second battery under the hood. Personally I wanted my house battery to be compleatly independent from the truck battery to avoid the headache of dealing with the "smart alternator" so I am using a 120v charger plugged into the factory inverter in the bed as well as solar. I have been running my Dometic DZ75 fridge/freezer in my garage the past two weeks hooked up to a standard led acid 100ah battery and I get roughly two and a half days run time before battery voltage drops to 12-12.3 volts and needs to be recharged to avoid damage to the battery. Using a Victron 120v charger it takes four to five hours to charge the battery all the way back up.

 

I think he means "med" as in medium. The ARB fridge I have has a low, medium, and high battery saver function where the fridge shuts itself off to save your battery for starting at 12.0v, 11.5v, and 10.6v or something along those lines. high or medium is for sure plenty to start the truck still. The 10.6 is more to keep the battery healthy if you are running it off a second battery and really drain it down.

 

I built my own system into a plywood and 2x10 box that I set my Fridge on. Added two Optima D27Ms and connected them to the main starting battery under the hood through a Blue Sea ML-ACR and some cheap LONG jumper cables cut to fit with Crimped on lugs. Obviously I've also got Solar, a battery charger, and a fuse panel, but that wouldn't be necessary, as you could simply run a 12v plug with an inline fuse to your Fridge. You don't have to be crazy fancy.