WHICH BATTERY

[jas]

what sort of battery should i buy to run my engel fridge a deep cycle or just a normal car battery and why ??

thanks jason..... ???

[porl]

do a google search of "deep cycle batteries" and get to an FAQ site (frequently asked questions) and you will get a detailed answer. Deep cycle batteries of the sort we can carry (a purist would say they are adapted car batteries) can take a draw down to depth of discharge (dod) ie dead, up to a few 100 times. use a car battery to dead battery level - never tried it - but imagine 20 - 30 times and it is take it to the local recycling station for batteries. So you can use a car battery but to get a decent life out of it you need to recharge it all the time. Recharging even a deep cycle battery all the time is preferable but the fact is they are designed to withstand long periods of use at a low current draw, whereas car batteries are designed for large short current pulls.

Its just then that your deep cycling battery is better value for money for such things as engel fridges.

[Daintreeboy]

Excellent advice. If you have a dual battery system in the car and are running the fridge off the vehicle though, it is probably worth just getting a heavy duty car battery as both. It's cheaper, and better all round. I'd only use the deep cycle if you're running the fridge when the car is stopped ie a third battery.
cheers. ;)