Dometic combicool rc 1700
Posted: 18 Jul 2018, 19:49
As above anyone any experience of these ie if run on gas what about the exhaust fumes, or on 12 volt will a decent sized solar panel keep a leisure battery charged ? Thanks in advance.
The smaller version, the 1200, is rated at 85W on 12v so will take (85/12) just over 7 amps per hour out of your battery (assuming it is running the whole time - if they are thermostatic it may be a bit more efficient).
So, if you have a 100Ah leisure battery the fridge alone will have it down to half in 7 hours and you really don't want to be cycling your battery that low every night. Obviously solar will help in the day but it is getting through the night that counts. Ergo you need a decent amount of leisure battery capacity and sufficient solar to top it up pretty rapidly the next morning. In dull conditions that could mean at least 100W of solar and more likely nearer 200W.
I run a Waeco CR50 fridge which is rated at about 65Watts but is thermostatic and once cold draws a lot less. I then have 200W of solar feeding into 220Ah of leisure batteries (2 x 110Ah). With that set up and a few other drains on the system (LED lighting, charging phones, water pump) I can easily go 3-4 days without needing hook up / engine run recharge (and in the weather we've been having recently I can pretty much go indefinitely - but obviously that is the exception). You don't need lots of solar for sunny days as your batteries will quickly be full - you need lots of solar so on dull days so your 200W of panel at least produce 20-30W...
As for the gas venting i don't know but I presume those 3-way coolboxes are not intended to be used in confined spaces for too long as the exhaust gases have to go somewhere!
