Years ago I was gifted a small car ‘fridgette/warmer. It’s a little Esky type thing, about big enough to hold a six-pack of beer, with a plastic-electric lump stuck to one end of it. The electrical cord coming out of it terminates as a plug which fits in to a car cigarette lighter slot.

I’ve never used it, it sat in a cupboard for years. A couple of days ago I decided to see if I could get it to work of a mains power point. I cut off the cigarettes lighter adapter and wired it up to a 12V AC adaptor that I had lying around( I tend to collect such things).

I filled the frigette with water from the tap, put a thermometer in the water and turned it on cold.

The water temperature appeared to oscillate between 20.0 and 20.9 degrees. A fresh sample of tap water read at a steady 19.4 degrees. I’m not confident the car ‘fridge was actually doing any cooling.

After about one hour the AC adaptor was getting very hot, so I unplugged it and abandoned the experiment.

Subsequent Google-fu indicates that a car battery delivers something between 8 and 14 Amps. My adaptor, which had the highest rating of the four or five that I have collected, only delivers 1200 mA.

Can I get an adapter which will allow me to run the car fridge from mains? What specifications should I look for on such an adapter? Are they Dick Smith common, or will I have to look hard for one?

esselte said:

Years ago I was gifted a small car ‘fridgette/warmer. It’s a little Esky type thing, about big enough to hold a six-pack of beer, with a plastic-electric lump stuck to one end of it. The electrical cord coming out of it terminates as a plug which fits in to a car cigarette lighter slot.

I’ve never used it, it sat in a cupboard for years. A couple of days ago I decided to see if I could get it to work of a mains power point. I cut off the cigarettes lighter adapter and wired it up to a 12V AC adaptor that I had lying around( I tend to collect such things).

I filled the frigette with water from the tap, put a thermometer in the water and turned it on cold.

The water temperature appeared to oscillate between 20.0 and 20.9 degrees. A fresh sample of tap water read at a steady 19.4 degrees. I’m not confident the car ‘fridge was actually doing any cooling.

After about one hour the AC adaptor was getting very hot, so I unplugged it and abandoned the experiment.

Subsequent Google-fu indicates that a car battery delivers something between 8 and 14 Amps. My adaptor, which had the highest rating of the four or five that I have collected, only delivers 1200 mA.

Can I get an adapter which will allow me to run the car fridge from mains? What specifications should I look for on such an adapter? Are they Dick Smith common, or will I have to look hard for one?

It’s probably a peltier based cooler, you’ll probably need a 12v DC supply, not AC. As for how much current it requires to work… shrug. There’s probably a fuse in the old plug, that may give you a clue.

>>Can I get an adapter which will allow me to run the car fridge from mains?<<

Car battery charger. You get what you pay for.

you’ll need a power supply. wall warts don’t come in that high a current. to deliver say 10 amps at 12-16 volts will cost.

esselte said:

Years ago I was gifted a small car ‘fridgette/warmer. It’s a little Esky type thing, about big enough to hold a six-pack of beer, with a plastic-electric lump stuck to one end of it. The electrical cord coming out of it terminates as a plug which fits in to a car cigarette lighter slot.

I’ve never used it, it sat in a cupboard for years. A couple of days ago I decided to see if I could get it to work of a mains power point. I cut off the cigarettes lighter adapter and wired it up to a 12V AC adaptor that I had lying around( I tend to collect such things).

I filled the frigette with water from the tap, put a thermometer in the water and turned it on cold.

The water temperature appeared to oscillate between 20.0 and 20.9 degrees. A fresh sample of tap water read at a steady 19.4 degrees. I’m not confident the car ‘fridge was actually doing any cooling.

After about one hour the AC adaptor was getting very hot, so I unplugged it and abandoned the experiment.

Subsequent Google-fu indicates that a car battery delivers something between 8 and 14 Amps. My adaptor, which had the highest rating of the four or five that I have collected, only delivers 1200 mA.

Can I get an adapter which will allow me to run the car fridge from mains? What specifications should I look for on such an adapter? Are they Dick Smith common, or will I have to look hard for one?

you’d need to have an adaptor that can supply the amps you need

have a look around the usual places like dick smith and jaycar

an adaptor shoud tell you its max amps it can output

hang on

you said an ac adaptor

a car cigarette lighter socket delivers 12VDC you need an adaptor that supplies DC not AC

Carmen_Sandiego said:

.., you’ll probably need a 12v DC supply, not AC.

Oh man, I didn’t even think of that. The adapter doesn’t say whether the output is AC or DC. The fridgette doesn’t have any useful information ringed on it. Is it the consensus here that I need to be supplying DC to it?

wookiemeister said:

hang on

you said an ac adaptor

a car cigarette lighter socket delivers 12VDC you need an adaptor that supplies DC not AC

Ok, can I get an appropriate adapter which will give the correct direct current, voltage and amps.

The car battery charger seems like a reasonable suggestion, but might be over kill?

esselte said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

.., you’ll probably need a 12v DC supply, not AC.

Oh man, I didn’t even think of that. The adapter doesn’t say whether the output is AC or DC. The fridgette doesn’t have any useful information ringed on it. Is it the consensus here that I need to be supplying DC to it?

likelyhood yes DC

esselte said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

.., you’ll probably need a 12v DC supply, not AC.

Oh man, I didn’t even think of that. The adapter doesn’t say whether the output is AC or DC. The fridgette doesn’t have any useful information ringed on it. Is it the consensus here that I need to be supplying DC to it?

I think those sort of fridges ie for camping are generally DC.

esselte said:

wookiemeister said:

hang on

you said an ac adaptor

a car cigarette lighter socket delivers 12VDC you need an adaptor that supplies DC not AC

Ok, can I get an appropriate adapter which will give the correct direct current, voltage and amps.

The car battery charger seems like a reasonable suggestion, but might be over kill?

you could but i would try for a device such as a powerpack that delivers DC for that purpose rather than a battery charger

Is it likely I ruined the fridgette by plugging it in to an AC adapter?

The little fan appeared to be running fine right up until I unplugged it

Did I ruin the adapter?

esselte said:

Is it likely I ruined the fridgette by plugging it in to an AC adapter?

The little fan appeared to be running fine right up until I unplugged it

Did I ruin the adapter?

its possible you’d damaged the fridge – you’ll soon know when you power it up with DC

wookiemeister said:

you could but i would try for a device such as a powerpack that delivers DC for that purpose rather than a battery charger

Is that the kind of thing I could pick up at the local Dick Smith, Wookie?

esselte said:

Carmen_Sandiego said:

.., you’ll probably need a 12v DC supply, not AC.

Oh man, I didn’t even think of that. The adapter doesn’t say whether the output is AC or DC. The fridgette doesn’t have any useful information ringed on it. Is it the consensus here that I need to be supplying DC to it?

A peltier cooler is polarity sensitive. Push electricity through it one direction and it pumps heat in one direction, reverse it and so does the direction it pumps heat. Stick AC on it, and it just heats up.

A quick google suggests the chiller may draw several amps, so getting a big enough current supplied to it may be a difficult task on a budget.

esselte said:

wookiemeister said:

you could but i would try for a device such as a powerpack that delivers DC for that purpose rather than a battery charger

Is that the kind of thing I could pick up at the local Dick Smith, Wookie?

most likely

ring them first and ask them or you’ll waste your time

ask them how much it costs and make your own decision whether its worth it

you’d be better off just buying something that will fit your needs than wasting any more money on something that is

1 old and most likely foreign made

2 has been supplied with the wrong type of power

you might be able to find something onebay for a bargain though

OK, thanks all.

Last question: if I hard wire the fridge straight to my car batteries terminals, will that tell me whether its foo barred or not, or will it just cause more damage? I don’t want to go spending money on a new DC adapter if the ‘fridge is already broken.

esselte said:

Is that the kind of thing I could pick up at the local Dick Smith, Wookie?

The biggest thing I could find at the local DS when I went looking recently was about 0.8A, and that was a switch-mode, so the wave might bugger your fridge.

Why not just plug it into a car?

is this being used as an experiment or to hold something a little volatile?

i have a benq 12v 5.0A DC power supply that i don’t need. might do the job. you can have it for the cost of postage.

wookiemeister said:

you’d be better off just buying something that will fit your needs than wasting any more money on something that is

Ehhh, yes and no. I don’t really have a specific need. I just like mucking around with stuff, learning what I need to do to make it work, or learning what I did wrong which caused it to not work.

The AC/DC thing is a major face-palm for me. I should have thought of that beforehand. It’s not a mistake I will make again, so I’ve already gained something. Now, I’m just interested in whether I can salvage the situation, even if that does mean spending a little money.

esselte said:

wookiemeister said:

you’d be better off just buying something that will fit your needs than wasting any more money on something that is

Ehhh, yes and no. I don’t really have a specific need. I just like mucking around with stuff, learning what I need to do to make it work, or learning what I did wrong which caused it to not work.

The AC/DC thing is a major face-palm for me. I should have thought of that beforehand. It’s not a mistake I will make again, so I’ve already gained something. Now, I’m just interested in whether I can salvage the situation, even if that does mean spending a little money.

its a common mistake

the other common mistake is getting the polarity on the DC jack wrong, either positive centre or positive outer, somethings don’t like or not work unless the Dc jack has the right polarity

Rule 303 said:

Why not just plug it into a car?

I can’t fit my car inside my house :)

At least, not without compromising the free space in front of the dart board.

plug it into your car, observing the correct polarity of the connections of course, and see how it goes. don’t flatten your battery though.

Boris said:

i have a benq 12v 5.0A DC power supply that i don’t need. might do the job. you can have it for the cost of postage.

Boris,

Thanks for the offer. If I can convince myself that 5.0 A is enough, I’ll take you up on that.

esseltecdi at gmail dot com

The amperage is the variable bit, isn’t it. The 12 volt thing is easy enough, but if my friggerator requires 10 amps, for example, it’s going to fry your power supply, isn’t it? Or the fridge snt going to work well… or something.

i would imagine the current draw would depend on how much the difference is between the temp you want and ambient. 5 amp might do to cool well in winter and warm well in summer. but only cool a little in summer and warm a little in winter.

I think that if you are going to investigate the life of someone, it’s important to always see what their last ‘copy&paste’ is…

Wookie,

Re: polarity.

Neither the fridge cord or the adapter cord have distinguishable wires. No coloured plastic sheathing or anything. Just copper wire contained in the outer black sheath.

How do I tell which wire connects to which? Do I really need to worry about it?

Arts said:

I think that if you are going to investigate the life of someone, it’s important to always see what their last ‘copy&paste’ is…

although you should also make sure they know how to post in the correct thread…

Arts said:

I think that if you are going to investigate the life of someone, it’s important to always see what their last ‘copy&paste’ is…

You’re assuming that most people can c’n‘p.

inner is usually positive. connect it this way and if it gets cold it is ok. if it gets hot then swap. peltiers are designed to do both so you wont hurt it.

esselte said:

Wookie,

Re: polarity.

Neither the fridge cord or the adapter cord have distinguishable wires. No coloured plastic sheathing or anything. Just copper wire contained in the outer black sheath.

How do I tell which wire connects to which? Do I really need to worry about it?

I’ve yet to see an electrical bit of equipment that hasn’t got a plate somewhere showing voltage and ampereage draw.

the interesting thing about strakes, and PWM will like this, is that they go with futtocks.

Bloody hell!!!!

I thought there was an understanding on this forum.

Rule #1. Electrical questions come to sibeen.

Rule #2. If sibeen is not here…then wait.

Rule #3. All other, nonessential questions, may be answered by others.

I’m officially annoyed!

Let this be the first, and hopefully last, warning.

I will not be trifled with.

mmmmmm trifle….drool.

jjjust moi said:

I’ve yet to see an electrical bit of equipment that hasn’t got a plate somewhere showing voltage and ampereage draw.

Total sum information on this appliance is “Portable Cooler/Warmer 12V, Cooler and Warmer, N19 M 4500”.

I don’t know if that final code means anything to anyone.

I have just noticed a sticky label wrapped around the cord which says “For 12V DC Use only”. LOLdo’h!

I’ll need to go hunting for the original car connection to see if that has any info printed on it. I think it might be at the council tip via the garbage bin already.

sibeen said:

Bloody hell!!!!

I thought there was an understanding on this forum.

Rule #1. Electrical questions come to sibeen.

Rule #2. If sibeen is not here…then wait.

Rule #3. All other, nonessential questions, may be answered by others.

I’m officially annoyed!

Let this be the first, and hopefully last, warning.

I will not be trifled with.

I’m waiting to read your response….

Boris, I don’t think I’ve had a decent trifle since my grandmother died, and that was many years ago.

Christmas lunch was always finished off with a trifle. Yum.

But, I’m still peeved!

>I’m waiting to read your response….

Well others, in a flagrant rule breaking exercise, seemed to have fluked the correct answer.

flounces off

Oh, thank God.

Sibeen is here!

:p

esselte said:

jjjust moi said:

I’ve yet to see an electrical bit of equipment that hasn’t got a plate somewhere showing voltage and ampereage draw.

Total sum information on this appliance is “Portable Cooler/Warmer 12V, Cooler and Warmer, N19 M 4500”.

I don’t know if that final code means anything to anyone.

I have just noticed a sticky label wrapped around the cord which says “For 12V DC Use only”. LOLdo’h!

I’ll need to go hunting for the original car connection to see if that has any info printed on it. I think it might be at the council tip via the garbage bin already.

From memory, my car ciggly ligher has something like a 25amp fuse, so getting something like that off the shelf probably means dollars.

Watch it you lot, I’m considering making a list.

wonders whether anyone still has Trev’s (Lucifer’s)?

sibeen said:

>I’m waiting to read your response….

Well others, in a flagrant rule breaking exercise, seemed to have fluked the correct answer.

flounces off

Can’t you at least nominate the correct responses so we can scroll back and ridicule those that got it wrong?

esselte said:

Wookie,

Re: polarity.

Neither the fridge cord or the adapter cord have distinguishable wires. No coloured plastic sheathing or anything. Just copper wire contained in the outer black sheath.

How do I tell which wire connects to which? Do I really need to worry about it?

generally machinery/ anything that has electrical supply has been designed to have power supplied to it in a certain way

get the cigarette connection and see if you can match it to the cut cables

then see how your cigarette lighter is wired up, ie red centre or surround

esselte said:

The amperage is the variable bit, isn’t it. The 12 volt thing is easy enough, but if my friggerator requires 10 amps, for example, it’s going to fry your power supply, isn’t it? Or the fridge snt going to work well… or something.

I just quickly did a search on refrigerators used for camping, etc – the brand I looked at mentioned a current draw of 12.5 amps, while operating on a 12 volt supply.

party_pants said:

sibeen said:

>I’m waiting to read your response….

Well others, in a flagrant rule breaking exercise, seemed to have fluked the correct answer.

flounces off

Can’t you at least nominate the correct responses so we can scroll back and ridicule those that got it wrong?

The DC application was picked up by DO, and without re-reading the thread, I think it was wookie gasp who picked up that a small charger wasn’t going to cut the mustard.

without knowing anything about the device i’m thinking this

the machine might already have somekind of protection to stop the dc goig the wrong way

get a multimeter and put it on the resistance setting

with the right colour code of lead to connection to the multimeter red to red, black to black

test the wires to the machine

you might find that one way allows current, the other way won’t

see post number 3 sibeen.

:-)

i’m thinking that if i were the designer i might put a diode to stop current flowing the wrong way

sorry answer 3 or post 4.

marksierra said:

I just quickly did a search on refrigerators used for camping, etc – the brand I looked at mentioned a current draw of 12.5 amps, while operating on a 12 volt supply.

Heh! So, disregarding the AC/DC thing, my power supply was still off by one order of magnitude.

I deserve an honorary engineering degree!

*only joking, TRD :)

i would say you’d expect some continuity one way and none the other

go and test it with a multimeter

Boris said:

see post number 3 sibeen.

:-)

Yeah, yeah, but I don’t read your posts!

examine the machine all over, looking for damage and any name plate details such as voltage, power, type of current.

can you access the cables that enter the machine ie can you access where the cables sit inside?, this might also provide clues

Boris said:

sorry answer 3 or post 4.

Post 3 was fine :)

strip back some insulation and use the multimeter to see if you can get “continuity”

put it on the buzzer/ beep funtion where it makes a noise if it detects continuity

you could just turn it on and see if it gets hot or cold but i think you should try to identify how to connect the polarity first just as a courtesy to safe working methods

If it’s the sort of fridge/warmer that I think it is, it is fitted with a Peltier device, which runs on DC – with a fairly substantial current draw, depending on the size of the device.

12.5A is not unreasonable. You change the DC polarity depending on whether you want the device to run hot or cool.

Peltier effect, Peltier cooler and heater explanation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

Multimeter set at 200 horse shoes.

Testing at 200 ohms, the AC adapter shows around 2.0. The fridge doesn’t produce any result.

I’ve destroyed the fridge, yeah?

esselte said:

Multimeter set at 200 horse shoes.

Testing at 200 ohms, the AC adapter shows around 2.0. The fridge doesn’t produce any result.

I’ve destroyed the fridge, yeah?

is the red multimeter cable connected to the volts connection red?

is the black connection in the black volts/common connection on the multimeter?

the adapter isn’t on when you are testing ohms? i hope. anyway you know what the adapter puts out and unless you hook it up to a load you can’t measure current only voltage. measuring the peltier you have to know what ohm it should be and whether it is able to be measured anyway.

esselte said:

Multimeter set at 200 horse shoes.

Testing at 200 ohms, the AC adapter shows around 2.0. The fridge doesn’t produce any result.

I’ve destroyed the fridge, yeah?

Err, no.

1. You cannot test an AC adapter that way.

1. You cannot test a Fridge, peltier or otherwise, that way.

Boris said:

the adapter isn’t on when you are testing ohms? i hope. anyway you know what the adapter puts out and unless you hook it up to a load you can’t measure current only voltage. measuring the peltier you have to know what ohm it should be and whether it is able to be measured anyway.

i think i should have explained

you aren’t testing anything with the thing plugged in / powered in any way

sibeen said:

esselte said:

Multimeter set at 200 horse shoes.

Testing at 200 ohms, the AC adapter shows around 2.0. The fridge doesn’t produce any result.

I’ve destroyed the fridge, yeah?

Err, no.

1. You cannot test an AC adapter that way.

1. You cannot test a Fridge, peltier or otherwise, that way.

too late Sibeen, I’ve already stopped reading this thread.

party_pants said:

sibeen said:

esselte said:

Multimeter set at 200 horse shoes.

Testing at 200 ohms, the AC adapter shows around 2.0. The fridge doesn’t produce any result.

I’ve destroyed the fridge, yeah?

Err, no.

1. You cannot test an AC adapter that way.

1. You cannot test a Fridge, peltier or otherwise, that way.

too late Sibeen, I’ve already stopped reading this thread.

i’m thinking this

any power going in might be going through a diode regardless

wookiemeister said:

any power going in might be going through a diode regardless

That’s gunna be a fucken big Diode…

Rule 303 said:

wookiemeister said:

any power going in might be going through a diode regardless

That’s gunna be a fucken big Diode…

i suspect that a machine like this will have something to stop wrong current flow as a protection measure

wookiemeister said:

Rule 303 said:

wookiemeister said:

any power going in might be going through a diode regardless

That’s gunna be a fucken big Diode…

i suspect that a machine like this will have something to stop wrong current flow as a protection measure

in the meantime examine the machine. test it and if that doesn’t give any results – try to find out more about it

wookiemeister said:

Rule 303 said:

wookiemeister said:

any power going in might be going through a diode regardless

That’s gunna be a fucken big Diode…

i suspect that a machine like this will have something to stop wrong current flow as a protection measure

I doubt it.

If it is a peltier, then polarity one way then one side warms, reverse the polarity and that side will cool.

So, don’t test whilst its plugged in?

NOW YOU TELL ME!

lol

Nothing is plugged in to mains power :)

My red multimeter lead is in a socket labeled COM

My black multimeter lead is plugged in to a socket labelled V-horse shoe-mA. There’s a third socket labelled 10A.

It’s a really cheap multimeter, if that means anything. I think it cost me five bucks from Bunnings.

The default reading is 1

Holding the red and black together gives a reading similair to what I was getting from the adapter. The adapter gave the same reading regardless off which cable was touching which wire. Seems possible that the reading I got on the adapter was just completing the multimeters own circuit or something.

Testing the fridge, the display doesn’t budge from its default reading 1.

Believe it or not, I did once know how to use a multimeter. Sacrilège, im actually qualified to conduct electrical testing and tagging. I haven’t done any electrical work of r many years now, and its kind of all slipped my mind.

How should the multimeter be set up?

>>How should the multimeter be set up?<<

By someone who remembers how?

sibeen said:

wookiemeister said:

Rule 303 said:

That’s gunna be a fucken big Diode…

i suspect that a machine like this will have something to stop wrong current flow as a protection measure

I doubt it.

If it is a peltier, then polarity one way then one side warms, reverse the polarity and that side will cool.

i’m not so sure, theres usually something else in the way between load and supply, unless its a DOL motor

if the device has a switch you could assume that the positive is wired to that and trace that back to the cut cables?

Kingy said:

>>How should the multimeter be set up?<<

By someone who remembers how?

Thank God, sibeen’s here

wookiemeister said:

i suspect that a machine like this will have something to stop wrong current flow as a protection measure

There’s no such animal as wrong current flow on equipment like this.

Polarity in one direction will heat … in the other, cool.

Feeding it with AC will have – effectively – zero effect, although you may end up cooking the chip if you gave it enough current (conjecture)

esselte said:

So, don’t test whilst its plugged in?

NOW YOU TELL ME!

lol

Nothing is plugged in to mains power :)

My red multimeter lead is in a socket labeled COM

My black multimeter lead is plugged in to a socket labelled V-horse shoe-mA. There’s a third socket labelled 10A.

It’s a really cheap multimeter, if that means anything. I think it cost me five bucks from Bunnings.

The default reading is 1

Holding the red and black together gives a reading similair to what I was getting from the adapter. The adapter gave the same reading regardless off which cable was touching which wire. Seems possible that the reading I got on the adapter was just completing the multimeters own circuit or something.

Testing the fridge, the display doesn’t budge from its default reading 1.

Believe it or not, I did once know how to use a multimeter. Sacrilège, im actually qualified to conduct electrical testing and tagging. I haven’t done any electrical work of r many years now, and its kind of all slipped my mind.

How should the multimeter be set up?

the black cable should be in the common connection

the red cable should be in the connection most likely marked up volts

esselte said:

Kingy said:

>>How should the multimeter be set up?<<

By someone who remembers how?

Thank God, sibeen’s here

:)

Thank God, sibeen’s here</font<>

does the meter go up to 330 000 volts? it’ll make the device vrooooom if you put those volts through it. waits.

they’re nice kids roughie and the best part is there is one of each kind.

esselte said:

Kingy said:

>>How should the multimeter be set up?<<

By someone who remembers how?

Thank God, sibeen’s here

Cut the red wire!!!!!!!

No…wait…the black!

AussieDJ said:

wookiemeister said:

i suspect that a machine like this will have something to stop wrong current flow as a protection measure

There’s no such animal as wrong current flow on equipment like this.

Polarity in one direction will heat … in the other, cool.

Feeding it with AC will have – effectively – zero effect, although you may end up cooking the chip if you gave it enough current (conjecture)

the manufacturer wouldn’t want the possibility of the thing catching on fire whilst getting hot

Boris said:

they’re nice kids roughie and the best part is there is one of each kind.

I already got rid of my pigeon pair.

i like pink.

i’m going to bed

connect the cables to the connections as i’ve told you

if you’ve only got two connections on the multimeter thats going to be easier to use

black to common, red to the other connection

test continuity each way, red and black on exposed cables of fridge, then test the other way – write down the results here
and if its the same we’ll work out another way.

wookiemeister said:

My red multimeter lead is in a socket labeled COM

My black multimeter lead is plugged in to a socket labelled V-horse shoe-mA. There’s a third socket labelled 10A.
…

The default reading is 1

Holding the red and black together gives a reading similair to what I was getting from the adapter. The adapter gave the same reading regardless off which cable was touching which wire. Seems possible that the reading I got on the adapter was just completing the multimeters own circuit or something.

Testing the fridge, the display doesn’t budge from its default reading.

the black cable should be in the common connection

the red cable should be in the connection most likely marked up volts

So I had it correct, just mixing up the cable colours. That shouldn’t matter, should it?

Anyway, tried it the other way round. Same results. What does it mean?

don’t bother testing the ac adaptor this will not help you

esselte said:

wookiemeister said:

My red multimeter lead is in a socket labeled COM

My black multimeter lead is plugged in to a socket labelled V-horse shoe-mA. There’s a third socket labelled 10A.
…

The default reading is 1

Holding the red and black together gives a reading similair to what I was getting from the adapter. The adapter gave the same reading regardless off which cable was touching which wire. Seems possible that the reading I got on the adapter was just completing the multimeters own circuit or something.

Testing the fridge, the display doesn’t budge from its default reading.

the black cable should be in the common connection

the red cable should be in the connection most likely marked up volts

So I had it correct, just mixing up the cable colours. That shouldn’t matter, should it?

Anyway, tried it the other way round. Same results. What does it mean?

test leas are just test leads.. the colour doesn’t matter

esselte said:

wookiemeister said:

My red multimeter lead is in a socket labeled COM

My black multimeter lead is plugged in to a socket labelled V-horse shoe-mA. There’s a third socket labelled 10A.
…

The default reading is 1

Holding the red and black together gives a reading similair to what I was getting from the adapter. The adapter gave the same reading regardless off which cable was touching which wire. Seems possible that the reading I got on the adapter was just completing the multimeters own circuit or something.

Testing the fridge, the display doesn’t budge from its default reading.

the black cable should be in the common connection

the red cable should be in the connection most likely marked up volts

So I had it correct, just mixing up the cable colours. That shouldn’t matter, should it?

Anyway, tried it the other way round. Same results. What does it mean?

the connection s on the multimeter are polarity based

if you test a battery with the red cable on the postive end and the black cable on the negative end you’ll get a positive result

if you reverse the connections you’ll get anegative result on the multimeter

wookiemeister said:

the manufacturer wouldn’t want the possibility of the thing catching on fire whilst getting hot

I seriously doubt that it would catch fire.

You might cook the Peltier device (sorry, that’s jargon for destroying something using electricity), but it’s more likely to just stop working than to release any of the (blue) smoke trapped within its innards.

in this case the cables from the multimeter might tell you the polarity of the cables going into the machine

AussieDJ said:

wookiemeister said:

the manufacturer wouldn’t want the possibility of the thing catching on fire whilst getting hot

I seriously doubt that it would catch fire.

You might cook the Peltier device (sorry, that’s jargon for destroying something using electricity), but it’s more likely to just stop working than to release any of the (blue) smoke trapped within its innards.

with all that plastic a device might catch on fire then smoulder for a while and then set the place on fire

Oh, wait…

Putting the switch on the fridge to “on” changes everything. Now I’m getting readings on the multimeter.

I’m embarrassed for myself.

at any rate examine the machine methodically and move slowly through any thought process to make deductions

i’m not googling it for the moment as a thought exercise

wookiemeister said:

in this case the cables from the multimeter might tell you the polarity of the cables going into the machine

yeah.. if they are plugged in.

esselte said:

Oh, wait…

Putting the switch on the fridge to “on” changes everything. Now I’m getting readings on the multimeter.

I’m embarrassed for myself.

yeah i thought there should be a switch

by rights all loads should have a switch

thats good

esselte said:

Oh, wait…

Putting the switch on the fridge to “on” changes everything. Now I’m getting readings on the multimeter.

I’m embarrassed for myself.

ah.

anyway i’m going

have a look through the notes here and test the machine DEAD to see what results you get

i’ll be back tomorrow

wookiemeister said:

anyway i’m going

have a look through the notes here and test the machine DEAD to see what results you get

i’ll be back tomorrow

ciao arrivideci.

Thanks for your help, Wookie.

Goodnight

Does your unit look anything like this one?

http://www.amazon.com/ThermoElectric-Travel-Portable-Cooler-Capacity/dp/B000PAIHFA

esselte said:

Thanks for your help, Wookie.

Goodnight

Wookie is always good when he tries to help.

AussieDJ said:

Does your unit look anything like this one?

http://www.amazon.com/ThermoElectric-Travel-Portable-Cooler-Capacity/dp/B000PAIHFA

Similair-ish, but its not the same unit. Mine is squarer, and the electrical components bulge out of one end. Mine isn’t nearly so streamlined.

I can’t find a brand name. I suspect that the earlier comment about it being a really cheap piece of Chinese work is correct. The people who gifted it to me are not particularly close friends… I don’t imagine they would have spent big bucks on it.

esselte said:

AussieDJ said:

Does your unit look anything like this one?

http://www.amazon.com/ThermoElectric-Travel-Portable-Cooler-Capacity/dp/B000PAIHFA

Similair-ish, but its not the same unit. Mine is squarer, and the electrical components bulge out of one end. Mine isn’t nearly so streamlined.

I can’t find a brand name. I suspect that the earlier comment about it being a really cheap piece of Chinese work is correct. The people who gifted it to me are not particularly close friends… I don’t imagine they would have spent big bucks on it.

I have noted that Chinese stuff may easily become dangerous due to not thinking ahead, in design.

Take your supply lead/s – where you wired it up to the adaptor – and remove the adaptor.

Plug the other end into the fridge and turn the fridge on.

Strip back a little of the insulation on the supply lead and, holding one wire to your car battery’s negative terminal, touch the other wire to the battery’s positive terminal.

If you get a huge spark, then I would think you’ve cooked the Peltier device in it.

If you get a small spark or none at all, I think you could assume the device is okay, and you could possibly have a go at reconnecting the cigarette lighter plug you removed in the first place – if that is your wont.

Otherwise, you might be considering a heavy duty power supply of sorts.

sniffs the air

Sorry Esselte, but the bullshit quotient in this thread has increased to a dangerously high level, looks like you’re on your own with this one.

But before I go, I could expand on my first two posts in this thread:

1: Car use – the device is unlikely to be damaged. Stick a new lead and cigarette lighter plug on the unit (you can use an old extension lead) and put the thing in the car boot. Don’t worry about polarity, if the fridge heats up instead of cooling, just swap the wires.

2. Mains use – Throw the thing away, you will be able to buy a traditional bar fridge on Gumtree cheaper than you could buy a suitable power supply.