Second battery to run refrigerator

Guys, I talked to Jackery and the guy seemed to be an engineer... the scoop is pretty much good news. Basically, yes, the unit is designed to run in pass thru mode but its not perfect and you will slightly degrade the batteries faster over time if you run in pass thru all the time but the difference will not be THAT much... the batteries will degrade anyway over time and he said unless you are very closely monitoring them you might not even notice the difference. they are planning to incorporate better pass thru charging circuitry in the future to further minimize this. There is no reason not to run these in pass thru. In talking to them they are a great company that we want to support and they made a solid product. Right now if you register your gear the week it arrives you get an extra year warranty... also they like to work with folks offering them trade ins and upgrades, that sort of thing.

I have ran the Jackery from the solar panels and the AC wall power and the 12 volt outlet from the truck and all seems solid so far and it runs the fridge for a couple days from a full charge. The only complain is the 12 volt DC plugs and sockets. OMG, these things are sketchy. Actually, not all of them are that bad, the Jackery ones are solid and the ones from Whynter were solid but third party one from Amazon was junk. These things just fall out of the socket it seems. I am going to go with either power poles or the 6 mm DC plugs when I get time. the 12 volt plugs are a ridiculously flimsy connection and seem to be prone to pop right out.

I can see why some of the guys on here use them instead I should have listened the first time.

 

do you charge with 12 v or the bed AC while driving? I was planning AC and that works just fine, but when I had Jackery on the phone they indicated DC was a bit more efficient overall. Which I am planning to do but unfortunately I don't have time to use the 6 mm plugs. I have recently discovered how terrible the cigarette plugs are, I suppose I have not used them much and got a few crappy ones from China on Amazon. thanks,

 

I was planning on buying the smallest dometic fridge in my taco but went with the Yeti Roadie 24 itll last me 2 days and thats all i need tbh im a weekend warrior I live in los angeles mon-fri i have a job to do, if you get a fridge go with dometic theyre pretty good, but i didnt want a second battery and an inverter, overkill for me, but if i was living out ther for a whole week multiple times a year then yeah

 

I've been following this thread because I was about to post the same question about powering a fridge, when camped for a week, and zero driving planned for the duration. In regard to pass-through charging on the 240, Jackery's 240's homepage has the following question under the FAQs where they confirm it supports pass-through charging, so I'm not surprised you're not seeing any issues -

Can all the ports be used at the same time as it's charging?

Yes, the product supports pass-through charging, Which means you can use all the ports while charging, both from wall outlet and a solar panel (sufficient sun power needed). Only the recharging speed will be reduced, as all the ports are also discharging the battery because of devices you plugged in. How much slowly also depends on the devices you 're plugging in.

 

Thanks to @denver osborne for the communication to get us some info directly from the manufacturer.

I recently used the Jackery 500 to power my Iceco JP40 for a 3 day weekend trip and it worked great. I had the Jackery plugged into the 12v outlet in the center console and the fridge plugged into the 12v outlet on the Jackery.

I'm leaving this Saturday for a week-long UP MI trip and will have the fridge and Jackery in the bed this time. I plan to power the Jackery via the bed outlet while driving everyday and power it via a 100w solar panel I mounted on the roof rack while stationary. I will update back here on how that worked out when we get back.

Question, does anyone else's AC adapter to charge the Jackery off of a wall outlet get really hot after a while?

 

Does anyone have a reference to purchase the 6 mm Jackery plugs. Jackery does not list them, Amazon really doesn't find them on a search and there really are dozens of plugs and small connectors out there similar to this. I am surprised Jackery does not list them, perhaps I should look on their Q/A again. But perhaps someone here has found them. The cigarette lighter male plugs and sockets are a complete joke... the most unreliable connector still in use on the planet

 

yep, gets really hot... but its putting out 24 volts, not 12 so it will charge the Jackery twice as fast from the tests I did. That little power supply also got surprisingly hot which is why I looked at the specs on it. The little switchers like that are designed to run pretty warm so I think we are ok but it caught my eye as well.

 

Anybody have any experience with the Jackery 1000?
https://www.jackery.com/products/explorer-1000-portable-power-station?gclid=Cj0KCQjwu8r4BRCzARIsAA21i_B8JvHlszpYw9uSJKdGF-DKLNRx2n3xbA4PoOvgijyOUugMPxtVS7gaAnwmEALw_wcB

Trying to decide between that and the Dometic PLB40 to keep our Dometic fridge powered when we’re not on the go. Have heard good things about the Dometic but nothing on the Jackery 1000 just the 500 which is not nearly as powerful as the Dometic.

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/pr...and-lighting/batteries/dometic-plb40-_-197468

 

Jackery 1000 is Lithium Ion. Dometic PB40 is Lithium Iron Phosphate. You’re only going to get about 500-1000charge cycles out of the Jackery vs the near 10,000 of the PB40. The lithium ion batteries also run at a lower voltage 11.1 so you will need a voltage regulator to boost the voltage to run a fridge (note this consumes a bit more power as well). Lithium iron phosphate do not have this issue. The one draw back of the PB40 is that is does not have an internal inverter and you can only run an external 150W inverter connected via a 12v socket. IMO if you need a 1000w inverter, you only have one choice. If an inverter isn’t a must have, your best bet is the PB40 as it’ll last 10 time longer than the Jackery. I love my 2 PB40s

 

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.

I was already leaning towards the Dometic but now I’m just about convinced that is the way to go. So how do you charge yours? Do you have a solar panel? And what kind of set up do you have that requires two of them?

 

I use solar for both...I have two of these guys: Renogy 100W Eclipse Lightweight Suitcase Without Controller, Panel Only, Black

Renogy Eclipse Lightweight Suitcase Without Controller, 100W Panel Only, Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HN5R2KX/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_i_ZvgfFbGD8HA2D

note you will need an MC4 to Anderson SB50 cable to connect the panels to the PB40. The SB50 will need to be either the black or grey to work. Also pay attention the male/females on the MC4s that feed into the SB50 as they will need to be opposite of those coming off the Panel

I have two PB40s bc I keep one dedicated to my ARB50 fridge and the other to either power my Iceco GO12 (small fridge) that I use from time to time as a freezer for ice cream or freezie pops for the kids while camping or I use it as my power source for lights, device charging, etc.

I carry a Samlex 150W PST-15S Pure Sine inverter for the times a night need an inverter. This is the only pure wave inverter at 150W I could find. Samlex makes a much smaller 120w pure sine wave inverter (pst-120) as well which is nice too. Again the PB40 is limited to an inverter with a maximum of 150w via the 12v sockets

 

Previously in this thread I shared my experience using a Jackery Explorer 240 to run my Dometic CFX 35 on weekend trips. I typically only do one or two night trips where I offroad most of the day. I have it setup in the bed where I "pass-through" power the fridge as I charge the Jackery. For those trips where I drive most of the day the 240 does great.

So recently I took a 10 day trip in mostly 90 degree weather. on this trip I had days where I didn't drive and the Jackery 240 was lacking. I wish I would have bought the 500. The 240 is great if you are driving everyday but on the days I skipped the trails the jackery 240 didn't hold me over. I'm still happy with it for short trips but if you are planning on running your fridge more than overnight after a day of driving than I would look at a larger capacity solution.

I believe if I supplement my 240 with a 100 watt solar panel it will do just fine for me. If that doesn't work I will be looking for another solution. Maybe upgrading to the 500 or another system all together. But I think if I had a solar panel on my 10 day trip the 240 would have been fine. It was really only an issue on the days I didn't want to drive around.

 

Have you looked into the Dometic PLB40? Much better option than the Jackery 240 and even the 500. I thought I’d save a little money and got a 500 and had the same problem trying to power our Dometic 55 fridge. Just sold it and bought the PLB40. Looked into the Jackery 1000 also but the Dometic has similar output for less money and was designed to power these fridges so figured it was the better choice. It also weighs less and is more compact.

 

Hey man I wanted to see if you went the solar route yet? Reading your story on here you inspired me to get the 240. Mine is in the cab though. Jackery in outlet and charging my fridge. But like you discovered, the 240 does great unless stationary for a period. I experienced that at our family lake day this past Sunday. Temps in the 100s and about 6 hours later Jackery was around 28%. I'm looking at the 100w renogy suitcase solution. Figured while I'm stationary, I could do pass through solar while charging the jackery. Also leaning towards a another 240 as a backup..or to be used during day while other is charging. Or get a PLB40 and use jackery as backup. I'm winning the lotto Saturday so may do it all. ...and then I woke up.

 

I'm still looking around for a 100w solar panel. I like the foldable Rockpals 100W or the Jackery SolarSaga 100W. Have you looked into those? I'm waiting for one of them to go on sale or I will buy one on my next long trip for sure. I think with a solar panel I'll be good with the 240 for how I use it.

Edit: When you win the lotto maybe you can hook me up too!

 

I'm leaning this way and with the adapter for the Jackery. I've got to make my choice by mid-September so I can test before trips in October. And I wish on lotto!

$149 Renogy 100 Watt 12 Volt Portable Solar Panel for Power Station, Foldable 100W Solar Panel Suitcase with Adjustable Kickstand, Solar Charger for RV Camping Off Grid System,Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LXG4AXS/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
and

GRAYBULL Solar Panel Kits to 8mm Adapter Cable Compatible with MC4, DC 8mm Converter Connect for Explorer 160 240 500 1000 and GZ Portable Backup Power Station Solar Generator Heavy Duty Wire

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZPF51N6/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_5?smid=A1UKDMBSTCDP4U&psc=1

 

Dude I need to get at you to do the same when I make the purchase!

 

Let me know. We can work something out

 

I'm late to the party but like others have said a secondary battery isnt really needed. I'm running an 63qt ARB Element on the OEM battery. Power draw on fridges is super low, like an amp so it would take a few days of no driving or charging to kill the battery.

Real Story: My buddy left his on in his LC100 for 5 days and and it started right up.

 

Do you mean Blue Smart IP65 by Victron? What is the amps of Victron charge controller for two 160w panels you're using?