ARB Power Usage - 37 vs. 50 Qt

jkjenn

https://youtu.be/6Eob70bJdCU

Also, I think it holds its temp better if full. 

BrianZ

Awesome!  Thanks, @jkjenn & @Verna!  That would explain it!  I guess I haven't studied that manual enough.
Thanks again.

cmac

My 2018 Colorado's 12v ports were only live when running. 

I did some google research and found in the Chevy Colorado forum a discussion group that found that moving one fuse to a new location would make the outlets hot all the time - good for my USB devices to charge overnight! - real easy to do!

GM doesn't always have the best idea or they think we have to be protected from ourselves!

So, you may want to do the same or have a heart-to-heart chat with your dealer.

jkjenn

cmac said:

My 2018 Colorado's 12v ports were only live when running. 

I did some google research and found in the Chevy Colorado forum a discussion group that found that moving one fuse to a new location would make the outlets hot all the time - good for my USB devices to charge overnight! - real easy to do!

GM doesn't always have the best idea or they think we have to be protected from ourselves!

So, you may want to do the same or have a heart-to-heart chat with your dealer.

Grand Cherokee is the same way.

Verna

Toyota Tacoma is the same way. The service writer threatened to void my warranty if I made the 12V Accessory plugs live all the time. That’s why I chose to run a 10 gauge cable from the battery, through the firewall and to the back seat. It works wonderfully with my new Interstate AGM truck battery.

Ratkity

I put 3x 12V live-all-the-time cig plugs with covers in the bed of my truck (with fuse) direct to battery with properly gauged wired (actually paid the Leer guys to do it, best $$ spent).

BrianZ

Correction:
I went back through the manual again, and I cannot find the temperature calibration procedure shared in the video anywhere in the manual.  It's just not there, not even in the troubleshooting section.

Verna

@BrianZ, look at the under side of the lid.

BrianZ

Thank you, @Verna.

I looked again under the lid, but there are no instructions there either for the procedure to recalibrate the built-in temperature sensor by entering an offset to make it display accurate readings.
I now have two manual thermometers inside it and will give the recalibration a try after adequate time to cool down again, since I just brought it inside from a hot car.

Has anyone had trouble unplugging the DC power cable from the frig?  I wanted to leave the DC cable in the car, and it was a struggle - I had to pull very hard & pry a bit in different directions.  Never experienced anything like that with any kind of power cord.  Almost like it was welded on there.

BrianZ

Ok, after letting the ARB cool down for a couple hours on AC power in our house, set for 38° target temp, it was displaying 40°.  The fridge thermometer placed inside hanging from the divider about 3" from the bottom was reading 51, while an oven thermometer inside read 56 (probably not as accurate due to its large scale).  I  wanted to adjust it to read at least 10° higher, but it would only let me adjust the offset by a max of 8 degrees.  Then the display showed the temp as 47°.  Set the target temp to 36°, so we shall see where it goes next.

Verna

@BrianZ, I put my thermometer on the inside “floor” of the ARB. That is where the temp inside agrees with the display on the outside. 

Verna

Here’s the instructions from my under side of my lid. 

BrianZ

Right, I have the same instructions under my lid, but they don't include the temp display calibration procedure described in the video Jenn posted.

The last adjustment I made resulted in temp dropping to 25° on the actual thermometers, but display read higher, so I reset the calibration adjustment to 6 instead of 8.  This seems to have brought the displayed temp closer to the actual temp; however, the target temp is another story.  Regardless, if I can get the displayed temp adjusted close to actual, then I can just accept that the target is always going to need to be set for X degrees lower than desired. 

Still monitoring, but currently (with +6 display offset) I've had the target temp set to 32° and temp display is 25° and thermometers also show 25° near bottom.  So this may be as close as I can get, and I will now have to set my target temp to 7° higher than desired, as a general rule.  Will have to monitor & test with food & drinks loaded to see if the relationship holds, and whether it still holds at higher target temps.

Resetting target now to 38° to see if display temp rises accordingly & whether thermometers will still agree with display temp.  Will check again tomorrow.

jkjenn

I am wondering if you have it in the wrong battery protect mode. There is one that is uber conservative with your battery and one that is just sort of conservative. 

BrianZ

Thanks, @jkjenn.  We have the battery monitor set to Medium.  Was thinking of setting it to High, because all of the modes have a pretty low "switch off" voltage (11.4V & 11.8V for med & high), but high has a pretty high "switch on" voltage that could leave it off much longer while charging. 
They recommend med or high, and low only if using a dedicated separate battery.

This morning after leaving it set for 38° target temp overnight (with +6 offset), temp display was showing 31 and thermometers placed inside showed 31 & 32.  So, it appears the temp display at least is now reliable, but the target temp still needs to be set about 7 degrees higher.  I'm ok with that, as long as the behavior is predictable. 
It may appear that the higher offset is making the target higher, but no, my observations are that it is the temp sensor display that is directly & immediately changed by changing the offset.
The thermometers were close to the bottom, like within an inch, so it's possible that higher up somewhere the temp could actually be 38.  A small plastic water bottle left inside overnight was not frozen.

My other observation is that ARB only spends a relatively small amount of time actively running its compressor, but when it does, it cools down fast and even overshoots some.  So, temperature readings may vary, depending on timing of the measurement.
Glad now to have that offset adjusted to a setting that makes more sense out of the displayed numbers.

jkjenn

It won't stay at a set temp it will have a range. But, I think the range is smaller if full.

Sharon_is_SAM

@BrianZ, we used an Accurite thermometer with remote to keep track of the display temp vs the inside (Accurite) temp.  As Jenn said, we noticed that it hit it’s mark, turned off, then after the temp. rose, it would turn back on again - a range noted.

BrianZ

For those of you who have a GZ Yeti battery, can you plug a solar panel directly into it?
Also, I see a sale price of $750 for a yeti 1250WH model.  Does that sound like a good deal?  Regardless price $999 I think.
I just noticed the 1250 model is just a lead-acid battery.  I had thought they all used lithium batteries.

BrianZ

Also, after seeing the Yeti 1000 ports, I have some questions..

What country are we in? 🤪
I'm guessing the charging plug socket at top is for an AC to DC adapter cord?
Large round socket is for a cig lighter plug, like the ARB fridge would use?
At the bottom, left & right, these black & red connectors look like the Anderson type?
Would a solar panel go in the bottom left input?  
Would a solar panel require a charge controller & will the Victron MPPT work?
What type connector are the other sockets for?

jkjenn

A is for the AC wall adapder

B is a proprietary GZ 12v port. I believe 8mm.

C is an Andersen connector, but a special GZ version (you can make your own or have one built on Powerwerx.)

BrianZ

@jkjenn, so how do you connect your ARB, and your solar if charging?

jkjenn

BrianZ said:

@jkjenn, so how do you connect your ARB, and your solar if charging?

ARB into the cigarette style 12v plug (using Goal Zero provided adapter) and solar 1 of 2 ways. I have a Goal Zero MC4 to 8mm adapter or via the MPPT expansion module using the 8mm adapter.