Thetford N3000 series fridge wiring help

[gudoldtom]

Hi I have just purchased a Thetford N097A 3 way fridge. I was intending to use it only on LPG for the time being as my van has no 12v wiring. I purchased the N3000 battery pack (6 x AA batteries) to work the display control panel so I can switch it on & run it from LPG. Unfortunately the control panel of the fridge is LCD so it will not work as the battery pack is only for LED display. I telephoned Thetford UK & they advised me it's needs a 12v supply to the fridge to power it & then I can use the fridge on LPG. I go away next week & really needed the fridge to be working. Does anyone know how to get the display powered so I can run it off LPG? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

 

[timhowarduk]

Is your question about generally how to get 12v into the fridge, or how to obtain 12v from 'nowhere'?
If the latter, and you have no 12v supply, and no easy way of getting one, I can think of two options:
1) use your car and leave the 12S socket connected. The fridge control circuit alone would not draw much. If you have no 12S wiring either, then just get a plug and some long flex (an old lawnmower lead is ideal) and provide a temporary connection. To be clear, I'm NOT talking about running the whole fridge on 12v, just the controller. If I remember right you would want pins 3 and 4, NOT the normal fridge pins which are only on with the engine running.
2) How long are you away? I'm wondering if just getting a 12v lawnmower battery, or alarm panel battery, or a couple of 6v motorbike batteries in series temporarily connected is the simplest way. I would imagine this would power the controller for a couple of weeks without needing a charge.

 

[gudoldtom]

Hi thank you for the reply. I was thinking of buying a motor bike battery from ebay (item no 253096716293) & trickle charger (item no 390566829558) as I am going away for 3 weeks. From what I can gather from the installation booklet it is just the black & purple wire for low current. Would it be just the point of connecting the wires to the battery to power the panel? Many thanks again

 

[timhowarduk]

Pretty much as you say, plug the charger in, connect the battery to the charger. You could connect the battery straight to the fridge - personally I would stick a 5A fuse inline on the positive side to cover the scenario of a fridge fault pulling more current than the wire can handle.
My only comment is that the battery you link to is about half the price of the cheapest of 'normal' leisure battery and you might want to put the money into something that is of more long term use and get a basic leisure battery instead. It would run for much longer. What you suggest would work though. (Later on you also could upgrade to a smart charger.)
All that to say you have the basic idea right and a charger, battery, and link to fridge should get the fridge operational on gas and allow the battery to be topped up when you are on EHU.

What amused me is that you said you have no 12v system, but what you are proposing is essentially what is running all of the 12v in my van (1990's). It consists of a Gunson charger (with auto), a 12v car battery, and connections for lights, water pump, toilet pump, water heater control circuit etc, If you shell out for a slightly better battery you are well on the way for getting it all working!

 

[gudoldtom]

Thank you I will look into a leisure battery & the 5 amp fuse line I think as I do want to upgrade in the future
many thanks for your advise it is greatly appreciated. :0)

 

[timhowarduk]

No problem. Halfords sell a nice little fuse carrier for blade fuses and fuses to go in them btw.

 

[InceNewman]

Hi,
I'd like to ask if is there any chance that I could connect LED tickers like this https://dynamo-led-displays.co.uk/led-ticker/ to a my jukebox arcade box?