Recently got a fridge for the truck. It runs 60w 7.6 amp off the cig lighter/also runs DC. Thinking it’s better to run it off a 3rd battery or portable power pack. What are you guys using? Thanks

 

I ran a pair of #6 gauge wires thru the firewall to the back of the truck.

no need for a spare battery.

my fridge/freezer is a DC motor type, works very well.

you can put it into 'power sipping mode' for overnight use with the engine off.

I also carry as 12,000 amp Jump Box, should I ever allow the battery to get too low, but actually the Fridge shuts off at 10.8 volts, so the truck will always start.

 

It’s best to run an “isolated house battery” that cannot run down the starter batteries when the truck is turned off. They make isolation switches where loads are small and you’re going to charge off of your vehicles alternator.

For my application, and higher amp loads i ran (6/2) 6AWG tinned marine grade cable to my bed, (pos & neg) to supply power to a Victron 12/12/30 smart charger. The model I used is called “non-isolated” as it is not a marine application and shares the vehicles negative (ground) system of the chassis, but when the vehicle is off it does isolate itself from thr trucks starter batteries.

it is also Bluetooth accessible allowing you to see the charging and charging level through a smart phone app (Victron) and I have a battery management (also Bluetooth) attached to my system which uses a shunt to monitor usage on the negative side of the circuit.

i am not all that tech or computer savvy but thr install is not all that complicated. There are lots of forums with electrical and solar charging threads and I received a lot of good advice and help as I was in new territory.

The nice thing about the Victron is it monitors the alternator output of your vehicle and only charges the house battery when voltage conditions are met so as not to take away from thr vehicles requirements.

For my house battery I am using a LiFePo4 280AH battery for camping, but battery type and AH can be selected based on your usage and amount of hours the refrigerator is left to run with the truck turned off.

heres what the iPhone Victron app looks like from both my battery management and smart charger……all data is Live

 

Your best and easiest option, really, is to run some #6 gauge wire to the back where the fridge it at. Then get an ecoflow/bluetti/jackery powerstation and install next to it. That way, when the truck is on, it will charge the powerstation and it will always keep your fridge running. This is the setup we did and it works very well. We can also power several other things.