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Yea, I think you are right about the car fridge. It sounds cool, but I am not sure how practical they are. Way too expensive for starters. I may have just gone down the rabbit hole of overlanding videos on youtube. I'm never going to be gone more than a week. Mostly weekends, long weekends at best.
In all reality my car camping has always been at state parks with electrical outlets and running water on the camp site. So I'll probably stick to a good quality rotomolded cooler and ice.
In regards to the sound system I guess I never outgrew that stage. But in all honestly the only reason I am doing it is because I have all the speakers and amplifiers in storage from a previous car I did years ago, when I was younger and at that annoying loud music stage. So I figured why not, I was just paying money to store it and it's not worth much used. Did cost me a couple of grand when I bought it. Might as well put it to use. I'm sure I won't listen to it nearly as loud as I used to.
Good information from everyone. I ran a 12v outlet to the back for fridge. I was thinking of using the Optima Yellow Top size 35. I would appreciate suggestions and tips.
Luckily, I work for EnerSys and get a special deal on odyssey batteries.
After I put in a group 31 up front, what is everyone doing for the secondary/house battery? Where is the second battery mounted?
Most dual battery setups are two smaller batteries under the hood (in the same spot as the single OEM) with an isolator circuit.
More trouble than it’s worth for most applications. I just got a fridge / solar panel / controller and I plan on having it just top off the starter battery.
I've read that AGM batteries actually do WORSE in hot climates than traditional flooded batteries.
Best insurance on having a good battery is just replacing it every two years, for the most part, they're all the same anyway when it comes traditional style. Get an Interstate battery at Costco, around $100. That's 3-4 batteries before you've paid for an Odyssey.
I would trust a "fresh" old school battery over a 6 year old Odyssey battery. I can only really see the need if you do a lot of stuff in your car with the engine off (like a winch) and you need "deep cycle" uses.
"In some cases, owners can replace an AGMbattery with a flooded one to boost longevity in hot climates"
This is in the very same article....
“If you live in an area with extreme temperatures, and are looking for a maintenance-free battery, consider getting an AGM,” CR’s Banta says. “While AGM batteries can also be affected by high heat, they tend to perform better overall than other sealed batteries in our tests.”