Recharging Tab battery from TV

Good advice above!

You can also charge your battery at home by purchasing a plug adapter for the power cord on your trailer. These are available at Walmart or places like Home Depot and Lowe's. Just look for a 30 amp plug adapter that matches the male end of your trailers power cord. This will allow you to plug the trailer into any electrical outlet in your garage. The electric converter on your trailer is basically a battery charger that will float the charge and maintain the health of the battery.

if you have a dedicated line run back from the cars battery and they don't install an isolator you can accomplish the same result (of not worrying about draining the car battery ) by always unplugging the trailers wiring harness from your tow vehicle.

Obviously, if you unplug or switch off the battery, there will be no issue.  If the alternator is not running, and the TV battery is not switched off, the T@B will draw power from both batteries. I personally do not want to take the risk.  

Having said this, my biggest issue has been forgetting to turn off lights in the TV and having it drain...  I carry long battery cables to hook up the T@B to charge the TV from the T@B battery.   Saved me more than once when boon docking and foolishly forgetting to check the TV lights at the end of the day and facing a battery drained in the TV.  

ZTab said:

Thanks so much for everyone's comments. We're looking into taking the car to an automotive electrician. We are going to largely be camping at sites without shore power. I'm wondering if we get solar panels if we really need to do this. Does everyone feel that it is neccessary to install this hot wire option?

It depends on your camping style. If you take short trips and camp at locations with shore power, you probably can get by without it. The fridge will keep your food cool if left closed, for most of the day. If you like to boondock and take longer trips, than yes, you will probably want to arrive at camp with a full battery, especially if you are sticking with a 100ah battery.

ST_Bob, I leave the choice of traveling with the propane on for the fridge to each owner, but I wish to point out, we have traveled in excess of 12,000 miles, from low altitude to over 10,000 ft with our T@B, with all highway time on propane.  Never a problem.  Possibly, because our TV was a 2 dr and now 4 dr Jeep Wrangler, we don't experience the failing of the fridge on propane.  The front vent design, has not been a problem for us.

SAM said:

While we are on the subject of power supply adequate for a frig, does anyone have experience of running while driving a Tab installed ARB?  We hope to use an ARB as our permanent refrigerator using a Toyota Sienna as a TV.  Any thoughts?

I have an ARB in the back seat of my Tacoma. It has been in constant use since Jan 1, and it is doing just fine, keeping meat frozen on the bottom and lettuce fresh on the top. I use the 3-way frig for drinks, and leftovers, plus I keep two 1/2 gallon jugs of frozen water in there to help keep it cold during the day when I'm driving. 

The ARB would be my choice to be permanently installed, but I do like the added propane feature of the 3-way.  During nightly stops and multiple days at campsites, I run the ARB extension cord out the window and plug it into a 2nd Zamp plug on the tub of the T@B. It is such a miser on 12V. Love it'

So Verna, it sounds like no problems running the ARB off the TV.  That is good because I am concerned about the lack of ability to charge a 2-way frig while driving a Toyota Sienna.  From everything I have read, the 2-way frig that comes with the CS models are power greedy.  Do you start off by cooling the ARB on shore power before turning it over to the TV?  Have you ever just hooked it up without pre-cooling? 

I've run my ARB right out of the gate (stuck it in the TV without any pre-cooling), loaded it up with food and took off on a trip without any issues.  The ARB doesn't take long to cool down and given the frig contents are cool, it doesn't create any issues for preserving the contents placed into the ARB as it will get to the proper cooling temp in short order so that has never been an issue for me personally (e.g., no spoilage, no issues with perishables, etc.).

I had really become very trusting of my ARB and have run it overnight on my TV battery.  I did however get a bit lax and in a comfort zone if you will (thinking it would shut off on its own) last summer on my 5-week trip up to Alaska.  I found out that the ARB kept running for nearly two days before completely draining my vehicle battery and it was deader than a door nail.  With that said, check your settings and adjust them accordingly so that the ARB does shut off before it drains the vehicle battery, not allowing for the engine to turn over.  That was my prior point in the post above.  

Thanks everyone.  Verna, I will make a note to look under the lid and measure for temperature accuracy.  Mike - what TV are you using when you do not pre-cool the ARB?  My biggest concern is if a 2015 Sienna will provide enough power for the ARB and Tab battery charge at the same time. 

Thanks,

Sharon

@SAM, Michigan_Mike & I talked with Scott Hubble at LG about ordering a CS with the ARB and they wouldn't do it. They would, however, build a custom cutout for it if I gave them the measurements needed as well as install proper 12V  and 110V outlets to plug in the ARB. If you go that route, remember that the ARB brand slider rack pulls out lengthwise and there's not enough room in the CS galley to install it that way. You would have to install it widthwise and build a custom tray with sliders. I found another trailer company that has an ARB installed horizontally in their teardrop and they were willing to sell their slider-rack separately. I think it was around $300 - $400. We just opted to go with an Outback S and will run an LP hose to a camp stove for outdoor cooking. Let me know if you need more info.

@ST_Bob, Michigan Mike and Verna may be able to provide more info on startup. My info came from ARB on 66 hr tests. In talking with the folks at ARB, they said on startup, a 50qt unit (the one I was looking at putting in the CS galley) on 12V may peak around 7 amps on startup but then quickly drop to 5.1 amps until it reaches the desired temp, then .87 to 1 amp to maintain. There are so many variables to get the contents to the desire temp, such as ambient temp, initial temp of the contents, etc. Hopefully Sam isn't looking to take a couple of cases of beer from 90F to 42F. Ideally he'd want to pre-cool the ARB and contents on 110V and then switch over to 12V.

Mr_Mrs_Gnome said:

@ST_Bob, Michigan Mike and Verna may be able to provide more info on startup. My info came from ARB on 66 hr tests. In talking with the folks at ARB, they said on startup, a 50qt unit (the one I was looking at putting in the CS galley) on 12V may peak around 7 amps on startup but then quickly drop to 5.1 amps until it reaches the desired temp, then .87 to 1 amp to maintain. There are so many variables to get the contents to the desire temp, such as ambient temp, initial temp of the contents, etc. Hopefully Sam isn't looking to take a couple of cases of beer from 90F to 42F. Ideally he'd want to pre-cool the ARB and contents on 110V and then switch over to 12V.

Since Jan 1, my dual 6V golf cart batteries have used approximately .3V to .4V overnight. This includes phantom draws, the 50 qt ARB, the ignition for the 3-way fridge on propane, the ignition of the Alde on propane, interior lights, phone charging, and watching a basketball game or two. I have been without electricity for the most part since Jan 10th, until this week as I'm returning home from AZ.  (Maybe a total of 3 weeks with electricity at my campsite.)

The ARB is set for 27*, measured at the bottom of the inside. I have the factory insulating cover, plus I keep a reflective shield fitted to the passenger rear door window, and I have a flannel quilt over the ARB with a thick dog bed as the top layer. 

I have purchased groceries about every 7 to 10 days.  The meat is repackaged and put on the bottom (it freezes by the next morning) and veggies and salads are kept on the top of the other food and it can last a week or so.

The ARB is great!  

Yes, SAM, I highly recommend the stock cover. Plus, if you can add Reflectex insulation, it will help. I have on occasion, put a windshield sun shield over the ARB when outside temps were over 90*. I have never had a "meltdown" occur--I just tried to help the ARB keep it's cool

The 12V plug is a cigarette lighter type plug, no, it's not flush. I cannot remember if the 110V plug is flush or sticks out. I'm not home yet and I cannot get to that plug right now. Ask
me Monday and I can tell you. 

Ratkity said:

Verna, I have a Coleman refrig/cooler. While I know it's apples and oranges to compare the ARB to it, I was wondering if the brick on the 110V cord gets hot or warm for the ARB. It does on that cruddy little Coleman cooler. BTW, the Coleman worked well on long trips, but was an energy hog and couldn't be left plugged in. I might be making an assumption that the ARB has an unattached brick on the cord when it doesn't; however, the question sorta still stands. Does it get excessively warm to the touch near the vents? It sounds like a wonderful unit!

There is no "brick", just cords since there is a compressor. There are air vents that must be kept pretty much unobstructed, but they are very forgiving in my back seat

Ratkity, this ARB makes the difference between night and day, to have continual
cold and/or frozen food. One super hot day, I put a bag of ice someone gave me in the ARB. I had ice in my water that day and the next. The guy said he needed more ice, so I gave jim his bag of ice back (minus some), and it was frozen solid (like straight out of the bagged ice machine). That is pretty good. I need to remember to put my small silicone ice trays in the ARB for cold drinks next winter. 

Verna,  hubby found very detailed pictures of the ARB plug etc.  Now I know what we are dealing with.  There is a very nice plug-in remote temperature monitor, too.  Very well outfitted unit.