engel fridge

I agree with Steve with battery.

Not a good idea to run fridge directly from solar.....likely to blow the motor in a fairly short period of time.

A battery must be in the loop between solar and the fridge.

BW

Just asked this question of the engel rep at the engel stand as I post this, at the camping show.
Engel will not warrant fridge unless it goes through a battery, as direct connection to solar, can cause a motor malfunction due to surges from solar panels going in and out of shade/sun.
So there you go. Best to use battery....which makes sense. Similar to connecting and disconnecting battery on an ongoing basis.
BW

hi bush wanderer
so thats two different opinions from engel salesmen at the mandurah boat show they had an engel set up and running off a solar panel without a battery
i saw it and listened to it running and also checked out it didnt have any hidden other connections going to it
the guy you have spoken with says no not to do it and its not covered by warranty
thats just typical of salesmen and their b-s technics to sell something

what camping show are you at
cheers
barry

Hi Bush Wanderer

What type of solar panel was he talking about? If it was the standard panel, then yes it must go via a battery first.

Engel now import the new Power Film fold up panels, they can be connected directly to a fridge, see the link and look near the end of the wording...


Power Film can connect to Engel Fridge


Cheers


Stephen

hi stephen l
the solar panel that was connected and endorsed as not to void warranty at the mandurah boat show was a power film roll-up type and was told it is ok with-out battery so all salesmen arent equal in their knowledge it appears
thanks for the back-up imfo
cheers barry

How bad is this....I am at claremont show grounds, hopping onto exploroz while snacking.
The other engel guy has just corrected the guy I spoke to....I overheard a conversation.
They do have another panel that is ok to run the engel off, but they still recommend unless you want to chase the sun, hook a battery into the loop.
They other guy did make it clear that they will not warrant other panels though. This new panel switches off without allowing voltage surges which apparently other panels can have. So that makes sense now!
Anyway...time to head home as I have spent too much....again.
BW

Hi
The point that seems to be missed is that alll solar panels are not the same
The load voltage can vary considerably depending on the panel number of cells

It is not the motor that will blow but components in the electronics of the Dc to Ac inverter
Standard solar panels for battery charging can have a load voltage of 17v & open circuit voltage of around 21v.
With those types of panels I would suggest always use a battery & regulator

The Engel will not actually switch off if the sun goes behind a cloud etc but it will not pump efficiently .
Unlike other type compressor fridges ,this will not harm it.

The problem is over voltage from the non regulated & smooothed solar panel

The panels supplied by Engel a designed with the correct number of cells to produce a voltage around 12v under load
Most salemen are just that, full of bull & little technical knowledge

Peter