Can someone please help me figure out the math on the run time of the 12v Dometic Fridge/Freezer with the stock 2014 Jeep JK battery before the fridge shuts its self off automatically to protect my battery so that I can start the Jeep and get off the mountain from our camp site. Thank you.

Dometic Fridge specs:
Rated input current (DC) 7.8A
Input voltage (DC) 12V
Energy Consumption (DC@5/32 Celcius) 0.69kWh/24h

I don't know what the stock Jeep JK battery specs are...sorry.

 

 

I would not recommend powering the fridge off the main Jeep battery, camping somewhere remote and then relying (hoping) the battery will still start the Jeep. Considering the inconvenience and cost of getting recovered from the wild because of a dead battery, a second battery for the fridge is inexpensive.

I run a Dometic 35 quart fridge and I've got a dedicated battery for it. The battery is in a mount that goes over the rear inner fender, which is space that isn't used for anything anyway.



I've wired the second battery so it gets charged by the Jeep when the Jeep is running, so as long as I run the Jeep every few days the fridge will be powered all the time and never drain the main Jeep battery. And, if the main battery does die for some reason, I can use the fridge battery to jump start the Jeep, so I've got extra insurance. Extra insurance like that is always a good thing when you're in the wild by yourself.

 

Thank you, that is a good idea and probably the route I'll go. I have a 2 door and space is limited so having a secondary battery inside will take up precious space. Can you pleasetell me more about your fridge slide table setup? Id love to get same as yours...its a great design. Thank you!!!

 

Thank you! I didn't like any of the fridge slides that are on the market so I came up with my own design. You will be able to get one like this soon, a company has licensed the design from me and is in the process of doing the production engineering to turn it into a product. I met with them last week to review their progress and they tell me they hope to have it ready for sale by Easter Jeep Safari; they'll have a booth at the vendor expo there.

More about the "Trail Kitchen" as I call it... my requirements for the design were:

- Takes up minimal space in the Jeep when stowed
- Has plenty of table space for food prep, including space for a stove
- Drawer for storage
- Dedicated battery to power the fridge and charging system to keep that battery charged
- No drilling in the the Jeep to install
- Quick and easy to install/remove so I can only have it in the Jeep when I need it
- Water source and optional sink
- Affordable

I came up with a design to meet all of those requirements and built it.

Stowed it doesn't take up much more room than the fridge itself:



Lots of table space for food prep and cooking and there's a storage drawer under the part of the table that's in front of the fridge.





Making scrambled eggs for breakfast camping in Death Valley in November:



There are more details and options I could post about if you're interested but I've taken up too much space in this thread already .