I recommend heat shrink instead of the tesa tape. Also, if you cut the plus and minus wires to different lengths so you can offset the connection points it makes for less of a bump in the cable, and increases the insulation between the lines. Anderson powerpoles are awesome!
This is by far one of the best solar chargers, dc fridge and everything else in between channel! Got tired of the cigarette cable getting knocked out of my Bluetti by my kid and was wondering if there was a better alternative. Jasonoid to the rescue!
I hate how the default connector for the industry is a connector that was designed to light cigarettes on fire and not really transfer power. We need a new standard! Xt60 or something
I bought an extra cig plug ($20) from ICECO for my GO20. That way I can still use the A/C adapter with the supplied cig cord. I cut the additional cig plug off as you did and installed a right angle 5521 plug. This reduces the risk damaging the plug and socket when installed in my Bluetti EB55. All this gear has survived nicely when bouncing down the road. Thanks for your videos. I used your reviews to select both of these pieces of equipment.
I've standardized on Anderson Powerpoles for all my 12VDC needs, including portable solar panels. I wish more portable batteries / power stations would use them.
When I first watched this video a several months ago I didn't really understand it, so I glossed over it. Now that I have a bit more knowledge regarding 12V accessories, this video has made so much more sense. I had no idea what APP was prior to checking out the channel. Thanks for making it!
Be careful with the 5521 pigtails. I've gotten a bad batch of those that melted at 5 amps. it's never happened with the screw terminal connectors but it did with the pigtails.
I do wire soldering differently. This is actually the first time I have seen the "side by side" wires with having the solder itself be the "connection". Electrons travel on the surface as you know and maybe the system you showed is best/better. I align the wires striped further back and twist them into each other, together in a straight line, not uninsulated wires next to itself with the twisted pair sticking outward from both insulated. Then solder lightly and wrap. I saw the extension with Anderson on both ends... good idea, I'd not thought of that before. Also on that Eb3A a friend ordered one and came by the shop and Bluetti didn't/doesn't give cables to plug in to the solar panel. It would be neat to find the right socket etc. ... we found the number by watching a video and they popped up the number, Bluetti doesn't have it in their manual or documentation. They simply say DC connection... I could not get my Bluetti 120 folding panel to connect. It works great with the Eb55 I use..
although twisting them together will result in a better connection to allow higher amperages with lower heat generation, doing it side by side will work fine if the wire gauge is larger than what is needed. your method would be better yes, but his method is not "wrong" but less efficient.
fantastic suggestion! I have 2 portable fridges that repeatedly keep losing power because of those flaky cigarette plugs! I have now ordered the barrel connectors and can't wait to fix it once and for all. Thank you so much for this very helpful suggestion.
Very informative video, Jason. I can sure use this info as I'm a novice with cables and usually buy the usually very expensive ones online. This is a real gem of info for me. Thanks again.
Ferrules would make the screw terminals a lot more safe. Add a bit of heat shrink over the plastic part of the ferrule (using marine grade heat shrink that is dual wall adhesive) and that adds another way of securing the your little contraption from coming apart because sometimes the cheapo DC power cables don't have quite as many strands as they should and the ferrule doesn't crimp down as tight as it should, I've only come across this once though. And just to clarify, when crimping ferrules you are crimping the metal tip. There are actually RU-vid videos out there instructing people to crimp the plastic part. I've actually found that crimping the plastic AFTER crimping the metal tip of the ferrule does indeed help secure the ferrule to the insulation of the wire if you're paranoid about the crimp on the raw conductor not being being solid enough. And this comment wouldn't be complete without soldering criticism! I've been a fan of stripping a tad more insulation and spreading the strands out (kind of like a flower) and shoving them together. Then instead of using thin bus wire or some other wire I use my thinner solder wire to tightly wrap around the joined area. I've already applied some flux to the conductors so combined with the flux inside my solder wire it flows like butter and the wrap stays really tight until the last second but by then part of the wrap has already flown into the wire so I end up with what normally isn't too terribly large of a bulge. I can usually get away with heat shrink that just fits over the wire's insulation also fitting over my splice and blob of solder
For my Setpowers. I found that eco mode for my fridge actually uses more power overall because the compressor stays on longer and uses at least 25% more watts overall. If I leave the chest fridge in max mode it uses slightly more watts but shuts off much sooner and stays off longer. I get on the eb3a about 5 extra hours.
that is some great soldering skills, and no cold solder joints. its easy to tell when there is a cold solder joint because the color will be muted and less shiny. and you had a good level of solder holding the joints together, not too little and not too much. too little can result in a weaker connection, too much doesn't really matter but you use more material. if you need a high amperage connection, using solder may result in the heat melting the solder and weakening the connection, so using a mechanical connection would be better. of course that also depends on the gauge of the wire. thicker wires can handle more current before getting hot. sorry for the rant there. as for the tape at the end, i usually use more heat shrink and cover the entire joint with some larger diameter heat shrink. as a suggestion for the outermost heat shrink, you can get weather proof heat shrink, it basically has glue in it, to make the entire joint water tight.
Great tips P M. For the most part these solder joints will be okay for low amp loads. Any high power connections I prefer a crimp / solder combo. Thanks for the feedback, always love hearing your thoughts.
Why do you prefer the Anderson over SAE. I am looking to wire 12v to the bed of my truck and thinking to do an Anderson or SAE plug in option instead of the cigarette lighter. Any insight would be appreciated.
SAE has no respect to polarity and can get very confusing on which side is positive or negative. It can also be hard to connect and disconnect (especially in cold temps). I like Anderson because it can't be connected in reverse polarity and it's easy to disconnect and connect. I also like how they are actually rated for specific amps (15, 30 or 45 amp sizes). Sae isn't rated for a specific amp limit so it's a bit questionable on higher loads.
This is awesome and exactly what I want to do! I'm going to go with fridge cable to Anderson. Then I can plug directly into my DIY power station (based off your build!) and then make a 5521 adapter for my retail power stations (Bluetti, Golabs). Great video!!
@@Jasonoid Jason, Can I just run the solar cables from panels into my camper to my mppt charge controller, 300 amp hour lifepo4, and 1500 watt inverter to power a small air conditioner without grounding or can it damage something or be dangerous? We have lightning here so the panels will be disconnected before storms or moved inside when I go to town. I don`t want to damage or fry a system that cost over 2000 bucks. Don`t have money to replace an 1100 dollar battery. I can`t find any clear info.
Hey J. Do you have same how to but replacing the other end of the cord and the plug attached to the fridge? I got a fridge cord that melted and wondering if I could modify it with those yellow connectors. Thanks much
most of these "12v compressor fridges" will actually work fine (and more efficiently) on 24v because they all use the same 24rv compressors. that means they will also work on 28v since its within the automotive 24v range (30v max). using 28v, you can run fridges more efficiently with usb-c from a powersupply that supports the new pd 3.1 standard (28v) if you wire in a "28v pd trigger board" which goes into the DC pins on the fridge. almost all those powersupplys with pd3.1 are GaN and will be much more efficient than any other wall based powersupply. i got my 54 liter 12v fridge down to under 100wh/day ($0.01/day here)
Excellent video Jason. My go to is using SAE custom adaptors because I last year I bought a whole package of them at Harbor Freight really cheap and I just stuck with that since. A few months ago I tried making my own custom Anderson power pole adapters and unfortunately for me I bought the cheapest option on Amazon and they were totally unusable. Because of that, it turned me off to Anderson, but that's really my fault for going cheap rather than using the recommended links from guys like you. I think I'm going to retry making custom Anderson power pole adapters again using landscape wire as you suggested. Thanks for making this video.
Solar generator companies need to start putting in an Anderson or some other locking connector, I installed a Bluesea marine locking cigarette plug... but still feel like it is going to pop out
I have found that on the accessory (cig) plugs there are cheap ones that should be replaced and good ones that hold well in the accessory socket. Usually and more often than not they are equipped with a buss type glass fuse in them. I don't have a power box so I like the universality of the accessory plug.
I purchased an Audew , which does not have pass through charging , that is why an inverter was necessary to charge and operate at the same time. That got me thinking what inverter is more efficient? external or internal , which I can do on my own, but thought it would be a good test for other power generators as well , for comparison.
I'm all about safety. Any thoughts on adding one of those inline automotive style fuse enclosures in case anything goes south with the cable or power station? Would a 10a fuse be a good choice?
10 amp fuse would be fine, all fridges have replaceable fuses and the power stations have over current protection, if the stock cable didn't have one, it's also my opinion you don't need one.
Can I cut the end of my refrigerator plug off, and wire it to my After market fuse Box that is connected to my truck batteries. The fuse Box i put in, operates a few lights in the back of my Van.
@@Jasonoid thanks for the info. My new transit Van automatically shuts off the power sources after about 20 minutes. So I have to figure out a way to keep my refrigerator running as long as I want it to run, not as long as Ford wants it to run.
I cut my car cable wire in half and wired it directly to a fuse block in my trailer for my first 12-volt fridge I bought, does not work for a power station obviously. It worked the entire 3 months I went on a cross country trip. I have not done it with my other car cable for the 2nd fridge I bought, just so I have one cable for the power station. But I did buy 2-5521 to car charger outlet cables, so i can make one with one of them seeing as I don't need two of them.
Hoping you can answer my question here :) i have a ICECO VL60 12V fridge/freezer and i am using a Eco-Flow Delta Pro as my power source for a van build, i am using a 12 way fuse box that i bought on amazon, would i be able to cut the 12v plug in that came with my ICECO exposing the wires and hooking them into my 12 way fuse box along with my other 12V item si have attached to the fuse box, maxxair fans x 2 and wall fans x 2.
Just bought a fridge for a road trip coming up. I want to keep it running the whole time. It has battery protection built in as well. So all I need to do is cut off the cigarette portion of the plug and run the wires straight to the car battery? Fridge will pull about 40 watts with compressor on, so I also plan to put a 30 amp fuse to be safe. Thank you
Thanks for this instructional! I have no idea what I'm doing. Why no fuse between the fridge and the battery? I originally got a cigarette adapter with a fuse to prevent either component from being destroyed.
Thanks for this Jason, just now putting together parts for Setpower RV45D adapter to Bluetti EB70 barrel plug... Would there be any significant advantage to using 10-2 wire from West Marine ( marine grade ) or would that just be overkill ... fridge to EB70 cable length will be 6ft. ... EB70 to PV200 solar panel extension cords will be 10ft and 20ft . Also, I'm familiar with 110 and 220 residential electric wiring, not 12 volt wiring, why no third ground wire .. neutral is ground? one way energy flow on live wire? No such thing as a dumb question???
I built a little relay box so my fridge automatically switches to direct vehicle power when our van is running. (Conveniently the cigarette lighter on our van is only on when the van is running). It switches to my solar generator battery when the van is off. It also has what is basically a pass-through so the solar battery gets charged when the van is running.
This is a great idea but I disagree with you about the availability of 10A power through a 5521. I have two power stations and I've been researching a third and have yet to find one with 10A. Isn't the 5521 connector normally rated at 3A? Anyway, I was going to modify one of my old power stations to connect the power port to the 5521, but when I found that the warranty was 5 years, I opted to keep the warranty intact instead. I like the 5521 a lot more than a cig plug.
Could you install like a freaky battery adapter and use it like a portable battery like you use for all your tools you currently use such as desalt or other name brands that you already have butteries for that way you don’t have to hook up a power station and just carry the portable batteries
Hey there! Great video but I have a question. Could you cut off the cig plug and crimp ring terminals on the wires to then run to a 12v fuse box? Instead of creating your own cable.
Hey mate great vid. Was just wondering if the writing is always on the positive cable as I'm connecting a Anderson plug on my Waeco and forgot to pull the plug apart first to see which was positive but one does have writing on it and I'm thinking this is the positive Thanks in advance
Like the video. It reminds me to upgrade my soldering equipment. I like the helping hands and a better adjustable unit. Did you just add your own scratch pad or sandpaper, or is that standard on the unit?
Hey Jason, do you know if any plugs are available that would 90* angle out of the polarized Setpower RV45D in the opposite direction than the cable supplied with the fridge? Thanks again, really appreciate your videos and help 🙂
siempre gracias por su reseñas , es todo un lujo aprender,j me gustaria que me sacaras de una duda jasonoid! tengo un panel que compre que me da 28, 5 voltios equivocadamente , pues mi equipo es: energizer320wh/300 w , y solo admite 3 amperios , que debo hacer para que ese panel no supere los 23,5 voltios gracias y un saludo!
Not necessarily. It's best to check it yourself, using a multimeter on continuity mode (where it beeps when you have a connection). Then you can simply cut the cable in half, and check the lighter plug end. Strip your wires a bit. Hold one probe against one of the wires, then touch the other probe to the tip, then the ground contacts. The one that beeped is the cable you're holding. See if that wire has ribs, printing, etc, or is bare. Now you know which wire is positive, and which is negative.
Hi, what about creating USB type C -> fridge plug cable? USB-C can deliver up to 100W. I have a few big powebanks but can't use them because it has only USBs outputs. How would you do this?
One more question please..... Is there any way to crimp or solder them without buying another $30 tool? My MC-4 crimper might or might not work. Thanks
The AC inverter uses background power to convert the battery to AC power. It won't run nearly as long with the AC inverter. It's much more efficient to use the DC power to keep your fridge going.
Just tried to make this change for the connection of my ICECO VL45Pro to my Jackery 500. Looks like the Jackery DC connection isn't 5521, but 6.5 x 1.4, and I can't seem to find this connection on Amazon? Not sure why the Jackery isn't going with the norm on this? Thanks for any help!
They don't have a name, you just need to buy a replacement 12v fridge cable on amazon or Ebay and chop the end off and adapt to your desired connection.
Another great video, I'm following your instructions. The only difference with my cord. Is that mine had a 8 amp fuse on the center positive. I'm using Anderson connectors, and created adapters following your logic. I used an inline fuse holder with a 8 amp fuse attached. I'll test it in the morning. Do you feel there's no need for a fuse on your mod cable?
It seems that my fridge is running more efficiently. I have a Goal Zero 1000x. I used it for my fridge this past weekend using the cig plug. I couldn't get a full 7 hours of power before it was almost depleted. It was on ECO mode medium. It seemed to be using more power than at home on AC. I was very surprised and the cig plug felt very very warm so I stopped using it. I wasn't sure what was happening. Using my new mod cable, I have it running for over 8 hours today and the SOC has barely changed. Using around 28 Watts, it had to be the cig plug. The Anderson connector seems to be more efficient. Thanks Again!
I have car fridge 15 L Brass monkey with that end plug and dose not plug into car at all so what do I need I've got a 2017 year car Small one of those new cars out so I need help advice
Bluetti EB3A and AC180 both use DC7909 for DC input. For the life of me, I can't find any screw in terminals that are DC7909. Anyone have a link? Searches keep suggesting one of those adapters, from 5521 to 7909, but that must cause some drop or be unsafe or something, my brain doesn't like it. I was hoping to upgrade to 14AWG wire so I might just have to order a cord and snip off the end so I can learn a new skill. I'll just keep looking. Thanks for the inspiration!
Is there anywhere to buy this cable? I would love to purchase the DC to xt60 cable to connect my Iceco VL45Pro to the Ecoflow Delta. Fridge throws the E1 error twice before working the 3rd time when connected via the included cigarette lighter to DC cord.
You only are able to power it with the 12v socket or 5521 barrel port with the Ecoflow delta model. The Xt60 port is for charging the power station only.
Hey Jason, thanks for your video. I took your advice and got an anderson/5521 cable for my Kings drawer fridge to connect to my Ecoflow river. It works most of the time, but randomly just turns off the DC power port. A suggestion was because the 5521 is only a 3A port whereas the cig lighter port is 10A. Doesn't make sense to me why it would work sometimes and not others if this was the case. But I can't find any other logic, reason or fix. Any suggestions?
@Jasonoid I never tried it with a 12v plug... since then I have developed a massive issue with my Ecoflow which I'm trying to get warranty on, don't know if it's related to this original issue or not. I'll let you know once I'm back up and running, I have a 12v to anderson to try out when it's running again
Which fridge would you recommend to use to use as freezer? As cold as possible that needs to hold 3 trays that are 1”x8”x14” ? Don’t have room in my regular fridge
@@michaeld4502 Both my smaller fridges I own are slightly under 14inches wide so they wont fit those ice trays. The ICECO GO20 and the Setpower FC12. You can go with a larger fridge but it will have extra space.
Jason, I am wondering if I can use the 5521 barrel connection with my Whytner Chest frig DIRECTLY wired into the 12 gage Marine wire in my van's electical system to the fuse box? ie, use it like a 12 v charger socket that would be an outlet in the wall... only it would be the 12 gage wire with the 5521 barrel connection to plug into. Is there sort of "wall mounted port" for a 5521 connection? (like a 12 charger socket?) Thanks very much for your thoughts.
If you search '5521 flush mount' you might be able to find something online. If your fridge pulls under 45 to 50 watts when running it should be fine to use just 5521 as the power connector. If it happens to pull more wattage you might want to look for a better higher wattage solution as 5521 would get fairly warm higher than 50 watts continuous.
@@Jasonoid Thanks for answering so quickly! :) But bummer... My Whytner chest frig pulls 65 Watts. Can I just directly wire the frig to the 12gage wire to the fuse box, and just unplug it at the unit to disconnect? Or is there another alternative that would work instead of the standard charger socket that it comes with? My connection seems like its just really loos and will not keep contact.
Can you tell me which pin is the positive on the connector that plugs into the fridge? The one on the bottom of the "B" connector or top? I have all the pieces to make one, I just don't want to wire it backwards and fry anything.
Its best to follow power directly from the 12v cig connector as shown in the video. Center post is positive on the cig connector. Disassemble is and follow the polarity to the fridge connection. One wire will have lettering on it, the other will have a ridge on it.
@@Jasonoid I understand that, but i don't have that wire, I'm making my own. If you could just put a meter on the cable in your video that would tell me. Thanks for the fast reply
@@NickDeubert you'll need to get one if your getting into this stuff haha. When looking at the connector like a B, the top one is the positive, bottom one is a negative.
@@Jasonoid I have a meter, a nice Fluke. What I meant is I don't have the 12v cable that goes with the fridge which is why I couldn't test it myself. Thank you very much for checking that for me.
Hi Jason, not finding a vendor who sells just the 12v power plug (female 2-prong) end for the Iceco fridge to build a custom power cord. would you know where to find this?
@@richardcurrie6043 The red/black connector is an Anderson Powerpole connection. You can see my video about setting them up here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bZHh3nWXtkw.html
@@richardcurrie6043 it has no name, it has no standard, it's just a fridge connector that is used on all these DC fridges. I've searched for years, never found the name of that connector. Sorry Richard. It's not Anderson.
Has anyone converted a cable to hook up an external inverter ? I am wondering if a external Bestek 300 watt sine wave would be more efficient than a built in inverter in a power station. ? Seems like a new test could be added when determining / rating power stations .
I did that a few decades ago cause I had 300 watt inverter with only battery clamp cables and wanted to use inverter inside truck. Only used for hour or less each time though.
this would depend on the power stations' battery, if the power station gives a regulated dc output, and not directly from the battery, you will loose more power from the dc-dc conversion. if the power station has a direct to battery dc connection, then using an external inverter that has a higher conversion efficiency may be beneficial. but you will need to do your research. if you are really wanting to use your own inverter, you may wish to go the DIY route.
@@user--PM I purchased an Audew , which does not have pass through charging , that is why an inverter was necessary to charge and operate at the same time. That got me thinking what inverter is more efficient? external or internal , which I can do on my own, but thought it would be a good test for other power generators as well , for comparison
Be sure to check the max amperage and wattage of your power stations 5521 connection. The 5521 capacity on my EcoFlow Delta 2 Max (2048Whr) is only 3A, Max 38W. Most fridges will pull more than 38W. Beware!
@@CraigG21 what I'm saying is that Ecoflow labeled the barrel port as only being able to power 3 amps total, but in reality you'll be able to pull around 100 watts from it without any issues.
If your going to boast your "So called soldering skills" at least do a high quality solder connection. Merge the two wire ends for best connection and strength and then solder. Some sob is going to follow this and wonder why his connection is making heat or worse Fires. Tho I will complement you on your fridge adaptors section
siempre gracias por su reseñas , es todo un lujo aprender,j me gustaria que me sacaras de una duda jasonoid! tengo un panel que compre que me da 28, 5 voltios equivocadamente , pues mi equipo es: energizer320wh/300 w , y solo admite 3 amperios , que debo hacer para que ese panel no supere los 23,5 voltios gracias y un saludo!
Great Video. I have a question. The vtoman cp3500 cable that connect one power station to a extra/expansion battery. Can that cable be modified to be extended like in this Video?
Yes, it would be possible. You want to use the same wire gauge and all the communication wires would need to match up on that cable. The only worry is that you'll experience voltage drop the longer the cable is.
