Fridge Battery
Submitted: Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 09:51
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westskip
Have just purchased a Waeco CF-50 together with their CoolPower 36 Battery.Also have a Honda EU10i generator.Question is which is the best way to recharge the battery? Direct from the generator or using a battery charger? Either way how long should it take to rec harge assuming the battery has been run
well down?
Reply By: Member - Paul P (Bris) - Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 11:02
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 11:02
G'day
Waeco states these are AGM batteries and max charge rate is 14.4volts. I use one of these to power my
camp lights. Being AGM they hold there charge
well and also store
well. (Much better than the previous Waeco effort in this area the "Thumper Packs").
I suspect it will only run your(pre cooled) Fridge for about 12 hours (or less) before needing a recharge. Two in parallel will give better run time.
I recommend a 3 stage smart charger (240 volt) of around 15amps. You can go smaller in amps but it will be slower to re charge. Read and understand the charger specs.
Do not charge from the 12 volt circuit on the Honda.
I would suggest a good read of this site Battery FAQ for a good understanding of batteries.
My thoughts. I am sure there will be many others....
Regards
Paul
AnswerID:
168560
Follow Up By: Rosco - Qld - Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 11:13
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 11:13
Agree with Paul. Don't charge straight from the genset as there is no regulator, hence you can over charge the batt and stuff it up very quickly.
Cheers
FollowupID:
423920
Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 13:18
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 13:18
Paul,
And what are you basing your comments on?
The "coolpower" is a 36 A/H portable battery pack and therefore not very big in capacity.
The "Thumper" is anything from a 24 A/H to a 110 A/H portable battery pack. (And they are still available, just not through Waeco)
I think you are perhaps giving a distorted view of the thumper product?
FollowupID:
423937
Follow Up By: Member - Paul P (Bris) - Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 13:33
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 13:33
G'day
I have owned and had the Waeco Thumper product fail.
Waeco did, after some negotiation, agree to a refund of purchase price under warranty but I had to return the product to Waeco, at thier (Waeco's) cost. A dealer would not accept or handle the warranty claim. I ended up having to cart the failed product over 5,000klm to finally get my money back.
My experience generated view!
Regards
Paul
FollowupID:
423940
Reply By: Sparkiepete - Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 13:18
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 13:18
No Idea if this would work but couldn't you run it from your car via jumperleads and run the car to quick charge the battery?
Regards
Sparkiepete
AnswerID:
168582
Reply By: Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 20:40
Sunday, Apr 23, 2006 at 20:40
Hi Westskip
The 36ah AGM inside the unit will only accept 10 amps charge. You can't fast charge any faster than that. Buy a good quality 3 stage charger around 15amps and run the Honda for 3 hours to bring it back up to charge.
Remember that as the Pack charges up it will accept less and less amps and depending on how low it was it may take 5 hours.
Regards Derek.
AnswerID:
168645
Reply By: Member - Des - Monday, Apr 24, 2006 at 09:13
Monday, Apr 24, 2006 at 09:13
The instructions that come with the CoolPower 36 say this:
- "The specified maximum charging current is 12A, however a 6A or 8A charger ... is recommended as adequate. An automatic cut-out charger must be used, otherwise irreparable damage will occur and your warranty voided."
- "Charging times will vary depending on depth of battery discharge prior to charging, but as a guide, assuming 80% discharge it will take the following times: ... [6A charger] - approx. 12 hours. [8A charger] - approx 11 hours"
They go on to say that the greater the depth of discharge, the fewer the number of cycles the battery will last: e.g. for a battery in continuous use, 80% discharge will give a service life of approximately 300 cycles; 30% discharge 1,350 cycles.
AnswerID:
168689
Reply By: Member - Mike DID - Monday, Apr 24, 2006 at 11:53
Monday, Apr 24, 2006 at 11:53
Lead-Acid batteries are self-regulating - if you connect them to a fixed voltage the battery will draw less current as the level of charge increases. A car Alternator puts out 14.4 volts - and batteres last 4 years.
The 12 volt chargers in the Honda/Yamaha/Kipor Generators or very crude and totally un-regulated. They do NOT provide a fixed voltage output - the voltage will rise as the charge level increases.
As the battery charges up, the current will remain high enough to
cook the battery.
Mike
AnswerID:
168698
Reply By: Member - Athol (NSW, 2527) - Monday, Apr 24, 2006 at 15:03
Monday, Apr 24, 2006 at 15:03
I wish I had read all this before I went and bought a new 40lt waeco and coolpower 36 at the show on Saturday.
Hey, the fridge is great but I went to buy a charger from batteryworld today to charge the power pack and the guy says "you didnt buy one of them did you they are crap".
Suppose thats what you get for listening to salesmen, I'd have been better of doing it properly and putting the money towards dual batteries in the ute.
Athol
AnswerID:
168714
Follow Up By: Member - Des - Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 at 09:18
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 at 09:18
Hope you didn't pay the RRP of $349 Athol! ($220 from fridgeshop.com.au).
But they aren't bad, really. The battery pack means you can run the fridge away from the vehicle - that's the big advantage over a dual battery.
Plenty of info in archives on the Coolpower and other battery packs, and the relative merits of dual battery systems. See, for example, posts 30041, 30304, 30805 and 31572 .
FollowupID:
424198
Reply By: Member - AVA 191 (QLD) - Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 at 10:57
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2006 at 10:57
Hi Westkip,
Good question and good answers :)
Thanks for the responses against charging a battery direct from genny - something I didn't know.
I have the same Genny and a Waeco 60CF, which I run straight off the genny. This works
well by running the Honda for a few hours in the morning and few in the afternoon - when noise is no issue. However, there are occassions when noise is an issue.
Can I add this to your question then - What sort of SOLAR set-up would be required to recharge the battery quietly during the day? How many panels of what size etc?
AnswerID:
168867