Product-Evaluations-12VSocketInstall

Ideal for Engel/ARB refridgerator/freezer installation

When you travel overland, go on expeditions or visit remote areas, there is nothing nicer to have than a proper fridge/freezer on your vehicle. Many people come to love their fridges and wish it was one of their first modifications.

Initial installation is very easy. Right out of the box, they come with a 12V cigarette plug that goes into any cigarette lighter or 12V socket on your vehicle. In no time at all you have cold drinks, milk, meat, ice and anything that needs to be refrigerated or frozen until you decide to turn your fridge off or run out of batteries.

The current consumption of these high-tech fridges can range depending on your installation method. At worst, a battery sucking 4-5 amps. At best, less than 1 amp. If you just plug your freezer into any 12V socket that doesn’t have heavier duty, direct-to-battery wiring, then your current consumption can go up to 4 or 5 amps which is up to 5 times more than necessary and too much for many charging systems. If you use your vehicle on a daily basis, then this doesn’t present a real danger. But if you’re doing remote, long term overland travel, having the best possible electrical set-up will save a great deal of current and give you peace of mind.

We would like to show you how to achieve not just maximum battery life so the next time you reach for a cold drink or turn your key everything is as it should be, but a sure fire way to guarantee your wiring will last you through the toughest conditions.

What it really takes is 10 gauge wiring to your 12V socket directly from the battery — both positive and negative leads. This will reduce the consumption drastically. What it really takes for demanding conditions is a little more in-depth. We’ll show how we did it, step-by-step

We did our installation on one of our 2007 Toyota FJ Cruisers. It should be the same basic idea on any vehicle, you just have to look out for a few different things like wire length and ways to hide and protect the wiring inside vehicle panels.

SUPPLIES:
1. Make sure you have 10 gauge wiring. For the FJ Cruiser we used 22 ft for the positive  (green) and about 2 feet for the negative (black.)
2. You need an inline fuse holder to prevent any shorts.
3. You need a heavy duty 12v socket. Remember, you get what you pay for so make sure it’s new and there are no signs of exposure on the internal components (it’s happened before.)
4. Solder ALL of your wire connections instead of just crimping or using electrical tape to hold them together. You won’t find a more stable, efficient connection than a good soldering job. For this, you’ll need a torch and solder (we prefer a thinner solder width for quick melting and accuracy). We also recommend a damp towel and maybe a solid piece of metal underneath anything you solder. It keeps the area protected from flame and the damp towel can double as glove when you need to grab something hot.
5. Shrink tubing. We like to have several sizes around at all times just so we don’t have to stretch the diameter with pliers in a pinch. The shrink tubing further protects all soldered connections from the elements and possible shorts.
6. This next product comes straight to you from outer space (not really.) Rumor has it it’s used on satellite wiring and military spec vehicles to prevent chafing of the wire coating during movement. We used a hot knife to cute the lengths we needed (determined only after you slide it over the entire length of the wire.) They’re making this stuff in a version that doesn’t require the use of a hot knife, but we haven’t seen it yet.

INSTALLATION:

1. Disconnect the ground post of the battery.
2. See where you will put the in-line fuse and how you will run the wire to your desired location.
3. On the FJ we used the fuse box to tuck our fuse holder away and also used the positive post in the fuse box instead of the one on the battery. We ran our wire through the firewall down to the floor, along the door bezel and back behind the plastic covers.
5. On the firewall there is always a rubber plug where the OEM wires go through. This is where you want to run your wire also. The easiest way is to attach the tip of your wire to a piece of steel wire (coat hanger), it can be done using electrical tape. Then you will pass this steel wire which is pulling your regular wire through the rubber, behind the plastic bezels and so on. Once you’ve threaded the wire all the way through your vehicle to the ultimate plug location, you can take out the steel wire and keep it for anything else you plan on wiring while you have the paneling off (we ran CB cable while we were down there.)
7. You will only need to take ONE wire, for the positive, in our case the green. For the negative you can find a closer place to ground it near the plug location. All it takes is any bolt attached to the chasis of your vehicle. You will have to use sandpaper or take the paint off to make a good ground connection.
9. Once you have the wires cut according to what you need, you can then solder the end terminals to your socket.
10. When you choose a place for your socket, make sure you have enough space behind the panel to put your hands in the back. In our case there was not enough space and we had to remove the OEM subwoofer to remove the side plastic panels to have space for our hands.
11. Once you connect the socket, go back to the engine bay and do the connections for the in line fuse and then connect that to the positive post. Make sure you solder everything and shrink tube the connections. Once this is done you can connect the battery, put a 20A fuse in the in-line fuse holder and give it a try. If your fuse blows, then you have a short somewhere that basically means positive and negative are touching somewhere before the socket.
12. If you do the install according to this list, that shouldn’t be the case. Let you freezer run for a half an hour to see that everything works out fine. Once this is done, you can start placing the plastic panels back on the truck.
13. The difference between the Engel and ARB freezer is cosmetic, they are the same thing just different badging. For the US the ARB comes with a built in thermometer. The Engel sells it separately so you can place it wherever you want (ours is up front on the dash.)

Expeditioneers sells this item in our online store.

If you’re interested in having your product tested, if you’ve done anything out or the ordinary to your own vehicle, or have a process you think worthy of passing on to other overland travelers, get in touch with us via the contact information below.

To see the step by step photos, click on the image above and scroll through the images. We recommend perusing through all the pictures before you attempt the installation. Just to make sure you have all the things you need.

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