aux battery & replacement fridge - INFO OVERLOAD

[dabaron]

my plan for the Westy was to use the Dometic 3way with a 50aH lifepo4 battery. run the fridge on propane and the aux battery for lights, charging cell phones, the stereo... but after an evening of reading threads here and in conversations with others, i know that is not the route. the Dometic will let me down many times. i've been let down enough and i'd rather not have the fridge ruin a weekend adventure.

but all that reading has left me confused. much of the information is outdated, leads to dead end ideas (golf cart batteries), or to products no longer available.

i want to replace the Dometic 3 way with a modern fridge that will fit the factory location. i'd prefer a 110VAC/12VDC model, but the ones i'm finding will not fit the factory location.

are there current 2 way fridges that will fit the factory location? should i go the charge controller route which both charges the battery and runs the fridge from 110VAC? the Dometic CRX-50 is 12VDC only and has features that i find appealing, but no 110VAC.

aux batteries have me beyond confused. i'd LOVE to put the battery behind the driver's seat. the 50aH lifepo4 would fit no problem, but 50aH would not get thru a 3 day weekend, and probably not a full regular weekend adventure. 100aH should cover a 3 day weekend.

there are a bunch of 100aH options out there, but i'd love to find something for the driver's seat like i had intended for the 50aH. the UB121000 is an option, but it extends beyond the opening and would be exposed. i'm not sure how that would effect the seat location, i'm tall and have the seat almost all the way back.

i could put the battery under the sink and call it good, but that takes up easy access storage space. moving the seat isn't end times, but it's not easy to do from the kitchen area.

are there any options that do not require modification to the well that can hold a 100aH battery? i could scale back the battery size to 66 or 88aH, any options there?

i know there are hundreds of comments in this forum covering these, but again, after 6 hours just last night, it seems time for an updated look that hopefully will provide future searches a more up to date look at options.

man, i just want to go camping.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo

BiWerks Design, LLC

[valvecovergasket]

from my vantage point it seems the need to put the fridge in the stock location, and the need to fit the battery in a small space (behind the seat), are really limiting your options

are both/either of these nice to haves? or are they both must haves?

putting the fridge elsewhere, or putting the battery under the rear seat, may open up your options sigificantly...
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MegaSquirt resource - SpitfireEFI.com

gone, but not forgotten: '83 tdi westy - swap thread

[dabaron]

[bobbyblack]

You have read this:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=723621

now, you have your fridge out, I think.. Stick your head in that enclosure, look behind the cabinets, like where the insulation goes. Measure that, all the way to the rear.

Fill that space with those kind of cells. I am sure you could stuff it with a dozen of those cells.

Then, get a truck fridge DC only. When you are at a campsite that has electric, hook that bank of cells up to a battery charger.

Game on!

-bobby
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[dabaron]

[dabaron]

the fridge has been solved:

Dometic CRX-50 (with freezer!) and a Dometic MPS-35 AC to DC rectifier.

i was looking for a fridge with a built in rectifier, easy enough to just add one. sometimes i get lost in the weeds.

with that solved i can focus on the 12 power source. TGIF.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo

BiWerks Design, LLC