Backup power solution.

[rafaelsmith]

I am still looking for a solution keeping a portable fridge powered when the bed outlet shuts off.

I often use my portable fridge I keep in the bed of the JT plugged into the bed AC outlet.

However, as we all know that outlet is only active when the JT is running or for about 20min when its in ACC.

Looking for some type of "UPS" solution i can use for those times the JT will be "off" for more than 30min. This fridge does not draw much power so dont need anything hefty. Just something that will keep it going for an 1-2hr or so which is usually what I need when I road trips.

Ive looked at some of the power stations from Jackery and Yeti but they all advice against using passthru and I am not even user they are auto switching. (i.e will it work seamlessly).

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[ChrisNLA]

You can pass through with many of the lithium power boxes, it's just not very efficient. I wouldn't buy the Goal Zero or Jackery brand (myself). Last I checked they are still using older battery tech when many other companies have moved on to LiPo4 (like EcoFlow, Bluetti, etc.). The lifepo4 batteries can take the pass thru abuse better - they can withstand the constant charging more reliably. The older standard lithium ion tech can't as well.

Personally I just plug mine into 12V power on the truck and let it run on that full time. It can run all night with hardly an impact on the battery with the truck off. If your fridge has the 120V and 12V input, you could add a 12V outlet in the bed and plug both cords in. My last fridge (an ARB Classic II) would default to 120V if both were plugged in and switch over to 12V if it lost 120V.

Edit: Of course - if you ran it on 12V there wouldn't be any reason to use the 120V - ever.

 

[jwilson2899]

I would add a !2V plug to the bed and run it that way. It's way more efficient running it that way.

 

[hjdca]

Hook up both the AC and DC to your fridge from the AC bed outlet and DC from your power station -- and passthru is never used. You need an octopus on your bed outlet, one for the fridge and one to charge the power station. The fridge will automatically switch from AC to DC when the AC switches off. Almost all the fridges work that way now. Mine works that way, and it has been running in my bed 24/7 for 1.5 years.

Note: My setup below pulls 230 watts when the truck is running. 30 watts for the fridge and 200 watts to charge the Bluetti power station.

 

[LF_Rugged]

I do not have an inverter and in the future I will mount a 12v socket in the bed. For now I connected my refrigerator (Dometic CFX3 35) to a Bluetti AC200max (I am in Italy and the AC is 220V) and this is connected to the internal cigarette lighter socket so that when the Gladiator is off the fridge takes energy from Bluetti, in motion the engine loads the Bluetti

 

[keithcroshaw]

I really like my EcoFlow River Max (last gen), the new ones are the iron phosphate cells which will last longer. I'm currently working on a bed 110V to shore power 110V transfer switch to keep in the bed so I can plug in at home or a camp site or a generator, then when I'm on the go just switch it to bed power. (I have the 110V bed outlet, I have to switch the battery into slow charge mode since the bed outlet only does like 600w and the battery wants to charge at like 1200w at full speed)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You can pass through with many of the lithium power boxes, it's just not very efficient. I wouldn't buy the Goal Zero or Jackery brand (myself). Last I checked they are still using older battery tech when many other companies have moved on to LiPo4 (like EcoFlow, Bluetti, etc.). The lifepo4 batteries can take the pass thru abuse better - they can withstand the constant charging more reliably. The older standard lithium ion tech can't as well.

Personally I just plug mine into 12V power on the truck and let it run on that full time. It can run all night with hardly an impact on the battery with the truck off. If your fridge has the 120V and 12V input, you could add a 12V outlet in the bed and plug both cords in. My last fridge (an ARB Classic II) would default to 120V if both were plugged in and switch over to 12V if it lost 120V.

Edit: Of course - if you ran it on 12V there wouldn't be any reason to use the 120V - ever.

And that's why I put a 12v outlet back there and skipped the 110v thing. No use converting 12 to 110 then back to 12 again at the device.

 

[keithcroshaw]

Yea I just thought it'd be more than 600w
Plus I'm not great at wiring, so less for me to mess up...

 

[chorky]

I am still looking for a solution keeping a portable fridge powered when the bed outlet shuts off.

I often use my portable fridge I keep in the bed of the JT plugged into the bed AC outlet.

However, as we all know that outlet is only active when the JT is running or for about 20min when its in ACC.

Looking for some type of "UPS" solution i can use for those times the JT will be "off" for more than 30min. This fridge does not draw much power so dont need anything hefty. Just something that will keep it going for an 1-2hr or so which is usually what I need when I road trips.

Ive looked at some of the power stations from Jackery and Yeti but they all advice against using passthru and I am not even user they are auto switching. (i.e will it work seamlessly).

If you only need to be able to power the fridge for 2 hours with the engine off then the factory battery is plenty sufficient for this task. You could run a couple of 14 ga wire for power and ground to the bed and connect your fridge to that.

HOWEVER, if you do plan to utilize the fridge for more than that when the engine is off it is advisable to pick one of the many options people have mentioned. Another option is putting a second battery in the bed and wiring to the main battery with appropriate wire size.

The key here is be truly realistic with your worst case situation (as in the maximum power need) to ensure you dont drain whatever battery/power option you decide on.

 

[danimal2000]

And that's why I put a 12v outlet back there and skipped the 110v thing. No use converting 12 to 110 then back to 12 again at the device.

This is EXACTLY what I'm looking to do. Would love your advice. I have the switch, outlets and voltmeter combo, same as you. How did you wire it up? Straight to battery with in line fuse or fusetap in the fusebox, or something else? Not sure if I want "always on" and rely on that switch, or fusetap fuse52 so it's powered with ACC on only.

Also the square "plug" was unfortunately left on when I got bedliner added. How hard is it going to be to get that out?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This is EXACTLY what I'm looking to do. Would love your advice. I have the switch, outlets and voltmeter combo, same as you. How did you wire it up? Straight to battery with in line fuse or fusetap in the fusebox, or something else? Not sure if I want "always on" and rely on that switch, or fusetap fuse52 so it's powered with ACC on only.

Also the square "plug" was unfortunately left on when I got bedliner added. How hard is it going to be to get that out?

I used a new blade in a stanley box cutter type knife and scored around the plastic plate inside the box.
Then from the side looking up I found the back side of that blank plate, worked the tabs a bit to make sure they were not stuck, and pushed around the perimeter of that blank from the back side. It's easy to access up behind the right rear tire, between outer fender and side of the box. It popped out.

The square plate the outlets and switch and such comes with space those pieces out a bit far so I made a plastic plate to put them closer together so I'd not have to trim so much out of the side of the box (I figured if I trade the truck in the future, I could pop this out and put the blank back in)
As far as wiring, I ran the wires to power it all along the right frame rail, along the factory wiring.
I have it powered via one of my aux switches so it's fused in that manner - and I programmed the aux switch to work with the engine off - battery power.
You can use any switch you want, but I had the aux switches and figured I'd use one of them for that since I don't have a lot of other stuff like other lighting and all.

I see I messed up on the edge of my plate a bit but once installed, it's hard to tell.
I painted it with a texture paint I use to retexture parts before painting so it would not be smooth finish back there with the bed liner.

I'd need to get pictures of the wiring behind this panel but after several months, including gravel roads, snow and rain and salt, it still is clean up in there.

 

[danimal2000]

Thanks, looks nice and clean well done.
I don't have aux switches so not sure how I'm going to wire it yet. I think I'll fusetap to an ACC only fuse for now. If i don't like it, easy enough to move it to the battery later.
Hoping I can get that blank out cleanly. Then I might just drill 4 holes in the black for these outlets and such and pop the blank back in place.

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