Waeco CF-50 and RAPS 36

Justin_S

Justin_S

New Member
Hi,
I am about to purchase a Waeco CF-50 and RAPS 36 battery pack.
Obviously a dual battery set up would be a better way to go but the budget doesn't stretch that far at the moment. So I am setting up a power point in the tray so that I can charge my battery pack and run the fridge.
Has anyone else got this sort of set up and have you been satisified with it?
I am heading away for 2-3 weeks at Christmas and I reckon if run the truck each day to keep the charge up to the battery pack it should work well. We will be on the road every 3 or 4 days anway.
The way I am thinking is that it is still a dual battery set up, just that the battery pack is portable.
 
grit

grit

Member
Just ensure that its isolated from the car battery when stopped, else the car battery could still drain through the battery pack. Also make sure the gauge of wire is adequate for the draw amps of the fridge plus the battery pack & that an appropriately rated inline fuse is used.
 
grit

grit

Member
I got mine for less than a hundred dollars and I wouldn't leave home without it in the vehicle now. It's only a small one and weighs less than a couple of kilo's. One of my sons had a bad battery a while back so I simply dropped it around and said "when you get your battery replaced drop it back." He used it for 2 weeks.

Couple of years back a friend had trouble starting her car up in the mountains mid-winter "Yulefest" so I handed it to her and said "black to black - red to red" drop it back when you get back to Sydney."

I have drained it overnight once while running a few lights, kids DVD's, etc. when camping (didn't bother giving it a good charge before the trip). A 30 minute charge via the cig lighter next day while driving and it was right as rain again.

These things are so handy, every bloke should have one.
 
grit

grit

Member
The package price (on the website linked below) is $1229 - Waeco Products

this includes (for those not linking to it) Fridge, insul. bag, and battery.
(does not include delivery which is $59)
 
Last edited:
yoot

yoot

New Member
I have just bought a similar kit to you. I got the Waeco CF60 winter pack which cam e with Transit bag and some other power bits and pieces. I paid $1099 for the Fridge and $275 for the RAPS36 (Total $1374) and sold the free items on ebay for $250. All up I paid $1124 for CF60 and battery.

I did some tests and found that at 17C the fridge laster 4days or 96hours on a fully charge RAPS charged by three stage 240v charger so the battery read 13.2v. I set the fridge to 11.3v cut-out. So the fridge used 22.8amps over 76hours which equates to 0.3ah. the fridge was set to 3C.

I noticed that the car can't charge the battery past 12.8v which is about 78% capacity, so expect three days in the same conditions when vehicle charging is in use. At 32C expect about 0.8ah usage which is roughly three times, which means capacity would be between 24-36 hours. I am thinking of running a second RAPS36 connected together for another $350 giving me 72AH capacity or 2-3 days. Saves me having to drive every day.

On the flip side the fridge can run as low as 10.4v which drains the RAPS36 right down to almost flat (this is bad for battery life), in this mode you will get another day at 17C ambient (so 4 days from 12.8v to 10.4v).
 
Justin_S

Justin_S

New Member
In summer I charge mine every day. I run the fridge off the car and the charge the battery directly off the car as well as opposed to charge the battery and run the fridge off the battery at the same time. I used to do this but the battery wouldn't charge very well time wise. Obviously keeping the fridge in the shade helps with battery life but sometimes this is not practical so as a matter of course I charge it every day. In cooler months the battery only needs charging every third or fourth day. It really depends on how you use it. If you go away for a weekend by yourself you can generally load up the fridge once. But if you take the family for a week or so you need to pack and repack so that is when the battey use goes up. I am very happy with it though.
 
bmurray2250

bmurray2250

4x4 Earth Contributer
Agree with Grit with the wiring fuse and isolating the fridge battery when the car is not running. A power outlet with a relay would do that.
 
Adventure guy

Adventure guy

New Member
Justin_S said:
Hi,
I am about to purchase a Waeco CF-50 and RAPS 36 battery pack.
Obviously a dual battery set up would be a better way to go but the budget doesn't stretch that far at the moment. So I am setting up a power point in the tray so that I can charge my battery pack and run the fridge.
Has anyone else got this sort of set up and have you been satisified with it?
I am heading away for 2-3 weeks at Christmas and I reckon if run the truck each day to keep the charge up to the battery pack it should work well. We will be on the road every 3 or 4 days anway.
The way I am thinking is that it is still a dual battery set up, just that the battery pack is portable.
Click to expand...

Justin,curious about the best price you've had on a CF-50?
 
frosty

frosty

4x4 Earth Contributer
Get on the seconds page on the Wacoe site. I paid $900 each for my CF 50 Waeco's. The last one I bought, had been used for 3 days at the Sanctuary Cove boat show as a demo. Still got warranty too!
 
yoot

yoot

New Member
Justin_S said:
In summer I charge mine every day. I run the fridge off the car and the charge the battery directly off the car as well as opposed to charge the battery and run the fridge off the battery at the same time. I used to do this but the battery wouldn't charge very well time wise. Obviously keeping the fridge in the shade helps with battery life but sometimes this is not practical so as a matter of course I charge it every day. In cooler months the battery only needs charging every third or fourth day. It really depends on how you use it. If you go away for a weekend by yourself you can generally load up the fridge once. But if you take the family for a week or so you need to pack and repack so that is when the battey use goes up. I am very happy with it though.
Click to expand...

How long did you find it charged when running it off a 120w connection to your battery? Or where you using the cigi lighter in the dashboard? I am curious to know how long it took to restore charge to around 12.7v from say 10.5-11v.
 
Justin_S

Justin_S

New Member
Adventure Guy, I bought mine over a year ago for $1,215.00 which included the battery, an insulated cover, mounting kit (which I haven't used) and of course the CF-50.
Yoot as far as charging goes, that is a hard question to answer as I don't tend to sit around the campsite during the day when I'm away and most days I would go for a drive and when I do I connect the fridge directly to the hella plug in the back of the tray and the battery on charge in the cabin. When I am driving I knock the temp down on the fridge a degree or two to get things really cold (although my wife complains if I freeze the lettuce) and if I am out for a couple of hours the battery is fully charged, even in the middle of summer when the battery gets too low to run the fridge I would guess it takes a couple of hours charging. I can definitely see the value of a dual battery set up but I spent those funds on a set of mud tyres.
 
D

darb

Well-Known Member
Cf-50 & Raps36

Hi Guys,

I just signed up after finding this thread.

I have a CF-50 and RAPS36 on order to replace my CDF-35 which met a bit of an early death (lets not go there).

I have a question regarding the RAPS36, in particular how best to charge it?

My intention is to fully charge it before heading away and use it overnight only ... during the day we will be on generator power.

Can I charge from a generator, if so, what sort of socket / connection does the RAPS36 use? Or do i need to bring an actual Car battery charger? (if so, what sort?)

I understand I can run the fridge off the RAPS 36, at the SAME time as charging it? (thus, during the day, it will recieve charge all day, aswell as the fridge hanging off it, and save me having to micromanage my power connections each time we switch off gen power?). Or is this a no no?

basically I want to use the RAPS36 as a 'fall back' to keep the fridge supplied with power when its required... mostly overnight (when its cool / cold and not much load)

Cheers
 
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