Steve Walker wrote:


That is presumably just down to them designing it not to take too much
current. Traditional caravan fridges work by heating part of the circuit
and if it can feeze ice-cubes using mains or gas, there is no reason
(other than how much current) to prevent a 12V electric heater producing
the same effect.

I guess the problem is actually that making a thermostat capable
of switching the required load at 12 V dc is non-trivial. To get
a sufficiently vigorous snap action would probably introduce an
unacceptable amount of hysteresis.

As a compromise they design a cooling level that will keep the
fridge cold, at some target ambient, but not overcool. Naturally
a trip in some of our recent temperatures will be challenging.

As an aside, if your car does auto stop-start, you may find the
fridge feed is off when the engine stops.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
@ChrisJDixon1

Plant amazing Acers.