homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby MtnDon » Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:52 pm

$1000+ is high, but that is the fault of Canadian import duties. Question: does that $1000+ price include the GST? Then provincial sales tax on top of that?

Here in the US we paid no sales taxes as this was an interstate transaction and the seller has no physical presence in our state; no sales tax collection agreements. Plus $100 freight costs.


Note regarding the linked to compressor. A big part of what makes these efficient is the electronic control box, which is not included in that link. The controller allows a soft start reduce power up surge and programming the run times, motor speeds, etc.

That compressor technology is not new. ARB and Engel were using it 15 years ago.
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby Vedette » Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:06 am

Hi Don
If the item was made in the USA or Mexico, there is no import duties. (unless it is a self propelled piece of equipment, then there is a USA imposed registration fee)
But, it is our Canadian $ that is making the difference. We had the good fortune of having our $ Higher or at par with the US $ for the past couple of years.........but now........our $ is only worth $0.72 against the US $.
ie. $250.00 US costs us over $350.00 Can. :cry:
But your beer, wine , and gas is so cheap that it is still worthwhile for us to travel and camp in the USA! :thumbsup:
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby MtnDon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:18 am

I've been told the truckfridge is actually a rebadged indelB product (indelB is an Italian company), made in a Chinese factory under indelB supervision.

I forgot about the CDN$ value. Bummer on that
Our 6x12 deep vee nose cargo trailer camper conversion... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=58336

We have a small off grid cabin we built ourselves in the NM mountains; small PV solar system; 624 watts PV, Outback CC & inverter/charger ... http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2335.0
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby MtnDon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:22 am

I went out and looked at the label inside our truckfridge. "Made in P.R.C." So looks like a double whammy; import fees and the dollar
Our 6x12 deep vee nose cargo trailer camper conversion... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=58336

We have a small off grid cabin we built ourselves in the NM mountains; small PV solar system; 624 watts PV, Outback CC & inverter/charger ... http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2335.0
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby OP827 » Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:58 am

MtnDon, can I ask you for a favor to photograph or write down the compressor label with its model number, I have a suspision it may come from same Chinese factory I gave the 12V compressor link to. Thanks!
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby OP827 » Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:07 pm

MtnDon wrote:$1000+ is high, but that is the fault of Canadian import duties. Question: does that $1000+ price include the GST? Then provincial sales tax on top of that?

Here in the US we paid no sales taxes as this was an interstate transaction and the seller has no physical presence in our state; no sales tax collection agreements. Plus $100 freight costs.


Note regarding the linked to compressor. A big part of what makes these efficient is the electronic control box, which is not included in that link. The controller allows a soft start reduce power up surge and programming the run times, motor speeds, etc.

That compressor technology is not new. ARB and Engel were using it 15 years ago.


Local provincial tax(es) are not included in that price, they vary from 5 to 15% on top of that I guess. The compressor in the link does come with electronic control board for changing the rpms and driving the brushless motor in the compressor. And or course the Canadian dollar is weak to USD now as mentioned. When I said its a new technology I meant it is not widely used in the marketplace yet, so the goods, 12VDC compressor plus controller price is still high comparing to 115VAC one.
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby Socal Tom » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:04 pm

OP827 wrote:Approximately 3-4 cu. ft. would be nice for my trailer.


So 80 to 120 qts.
Here is an Edgestar 80 Qt
http://www.compactappliance.com/on/dema ... Ag0f8P8HAQ

Heres an 85 at Home Depot
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whynter-85-q ... /202555700


I didn't find anything bigger than those.
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby daveesl77 » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:42 pm

I have a 3.3 ft3 Haier dorm fridge got from WalM for about $100. I have the 2k watt Centech inverter, about $60. I have one of those indoor/outdoor thermometers, also from wally world, about $15
When towing, my truck charges my battery, the battery runs the inverter, the inverter runs the fridge. The outdoor component of the thermometer goes in the fridge, the indoor part in the truck so I can monitor the temps. With the fridge on full it will drop to 0 F, at less than half throttle, it will maintain about 28 F with 95 F outside temps while driving. I'll prerun the fridge before the trip to get the temps down, but then cycle it down alot. It really doesn't use that much juice as it only runs about 4-8 minutes per hour.

Some folks will also take the box, rotate the compressor unit carefully, and then remount so the fridge becomes top loading. I haven't found a need to do that yet.

Total cost is under $200 and works great.

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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby OP827 » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:57 pm

Thanks Dave for sharing your expereince in this thread. Could you tell what is the input power (in Watts) of your Haier fridge compressor, it should be somehwere in the manual or on the fridge label? I think if the compressor is small enough, you are right, it would not draw a lot of power. If you have a link to a top load flip you mentioned above, I would also appreciate that too, as this is something that I am considering.
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby MtnDon » Mon Jan 04, 2016 6:06 pm

OP827 wrote:MtnDon, can I ask you for a favor to photograph or write down the compressor label with its model number, I have a suspision it may come from same Chinese factory I gave the 12V compressor link to. Thanks!



I will be pulling the fridge out of its "nook" in a month or so when I go to make a couple small changes. I'll do it then. Hope it can still be of use then. There are trim pieces I need to remove; not a simple slide out.
Our 6x12 deep vee nose cargo trailer camper conversion... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=58336

We have a small off grid cabin we built ourselves in the NM mountains; small PV solar system; 624 watts PV, Outback CC & inverter/charger ... http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2335.0
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby OP827 » Tue Jan 05, 2016 1:28 am

Thanks Don, I have more than that time with my build to progress before making the decision.
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby OP827 » Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:36 pm

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Last edited by OP827 on Fri Feb 12, 2016 1:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby Vedette » Thu Feb 11, 2016 3:25 am

With Gas costs in Alberta down to 57.9 ........you are saving enough money to just go out and buy a fridge??? :R
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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby daveesl77 » Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:39 am

Slow, our refrigerator runs off of 120v. It is fed by shore power when available, or like when travelling we have it running from the inverter/battery hookup being maintained by the tow vehicle. If parked with no outside power, we have solar, which I'm now doubling to 100watts. Once the fridge is cooled down, it only runs about 8-10% of the time to maintain a temperature of 29F with outside temps of 90+F. Using just a 50 watt panel, I ran it for almost 12 hours before the battery draw dropped to below 12v. My present battery is just a 6+ year old Mopar truck battery my neighbor gave me, so a true deep cycle that is new would do lots better. In addition, we can attach to the tow vehicle to top off. We also carry a mid-large ice chest.

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Re: homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

Postby Gettin Started » Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:28 pm

OP827 wrote:
GuitarPhotog wrote:In general compressor fridges and AC units don't run well off inverters because of the large peak current demands when the compressor starts up. If the fridge draws 8A running, a 1KW inverter certainly won't cut it. You'll need twice that.

Search here on running a fridge off an inverter. There's a reason it's not done much.

<Chas>
:beer:


You are right 2000W seems to be the smallest invertor required. Some people were happy with them and I was considering the smaller fridge than in this link, with possibly a smaller fridge (1.4cu.ft) compressor if I can find it. http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=63505&p=1132382#p1132342



I'm running a 3.8 cu ft Danby chest freezer with a refrigerator thermostat. 800W inverter would overload, so upgraded to a Whistler 1200W which is running it fine. YMMW depending on the fridge.

Update:
Just ran my fridge (converter freezer) for a 24 test. It used 160 watts in 24 hours, with fridge temp set around 37 degrees. Outdoor temps were in the mid-80's during the day and mid-50's at night. You can buy a chest freezer, fridge thermostat, solar panel, charge controller, and inverter for less than the price of a 3-way 12V/110V/gas RV refrigerator. IMO this is the way to go if the freezer size fits your available space.
Last edited by Gettin Started on Sat Jun 18, 2016 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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