4x4 Action Group

That could be a good deal and a cheapish solution but I'm a firm believer "Goedkoop koop, is duur koop". Do you have a link to the battery?

Sounds pretty fair for a weekend warrior, simple amd definitely effective.
Just before my namib trip found a 100aH LI-PO around R3k. Slaped it in the bos trailertjie with 2x100A solar pannels and didnt give us any issues for 27days. Running lights ,chargers and a 65l NL fridge/freezer.

So yeah 300ah fully charge would probably pull you through any long weekend for a few lights and a 12v fridge/freezer.

Sounds about right, Li Battery prices have gone down, even more for Residential Solar Installations, a 48V-100Ah is now around R16k. A 12V-300Ah LiFePO4 Battery for that price is definitely not bad at all, I'd recommend it.

Samaya wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 11, 2025 3:09 pm

That could be a good deal and a cheapish solution but I'm a firm believer "Goedkoop koop, is duur koop". Do you have a link to the battery?

https://www.geewiz.co.za/lithium-ion-ba ... ycles.html

I'm still busy building out my bakkie and the budget isn't big so at the moment I only have the power cable coming from the main battery to the back. I bought my Snowmaster 66l a few months back when Checkers Outdoor had their special, it runs directly from the main battery and when the bakkie isn't idling the fridge screen flashes the battery icon and shows half charge so maybe my battery is on it's way out. I did plan ahead though and put proper cable and fuse so I can eventually fit a lithium battery box in the rear to keep the fridge running for longer and possibly add some camp lights to the roof rack. The box I'm considering comes equipped with the battery, charger and inverter and it's solar ready as well. Maybe it's overkill but I'd rather pay once and have something that won't let me down in the long run.

Mad Manny wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 11, 2025 6:35 pm

Nico, I have had my Snonaster running off the Cranking battery for over 24 hours without issue...

Nico
Manny does not drink his beers cold so fridge never reaches temp

Haha funny, ja I like my beers ice cold so I'll continue saving for that battery box.

My CF50 pulls around 45w when the compressor is running.
A 300AH x 12V is 3600w. Since we dont want to use 100%, maybe work on 90% of that @ 3240w in a lossless system.
So if my compressor was running 100% of the time, I can get 72 hours of runtime worst case.

I would guess my compressor runs 1/3 of the time at night, half the time during the day if it isnt sitting in a hot car and set to -5C.
So maybe 10 hours runtime in a day?
That gives me a full week on 1 charge with a few assumptions but typical conditions.

Definitely getting easier and more affordably. Especially for newbies who don't necessarily want a complicated system.

Add to this the price of solar panels coming down as well as some relatively cheap basic controllers it will be quite a nice way of building up your system little by little.

I hear you Manny

For all that money, only wanting to spend 3-4 days on a "charge". Batteries take up a lot of space, fridges with compressors are large and bulky. Thus two years ago I did a test and did Rivertrip only with a coolerbox and dry ice. 6kg of dry ice, covered it inregular ice blocks, then stacking from colder items(like frozen meat) and all the way on top my Dairy products and beer. The total of my trip was 5 days. Day 1-3 my dry ice worked like bomb, did not see any change in my regular ice. Days 4-5 my ice started working(melting), but by that time, all I needed was too keep drinks cold so having the items wet was not a bother.

Point being if you are talking about a 3 day trip, space and money wise I prefer My Romer coolerbox wit dry Ice. I can purchase a lot of dry ice with R3000-R7000

Anything longer than that, I would definitely put in a DC-DC system of solar or both...

Sometimes we forget the simple things like a regular coolerbox because we believe we need all the gadgets. 20 years ago it was a backpack and one coolerbox between 5 people sharing and also worked...

Get 3x of these, will last you a weekend for under R4k
2x will prob even be fine if its just a fridge and a few LEDs
https://www.builders.co.za/Load-Sheddin ... 0850012182