I’m wondering if anyone on here has any experience with using a Yeti to power an electric fridge or has a good understanding of its built in protections.
I have a lead acid Yeti 400 and CFX3 45. For some reason, the 12v cigarette outlet on the yeti will intermittently shut off and power down the fridge. However, the 6mm 12v outlets will remain active. Turning off the outlets for a few moments seems to reset the system and the fridge will run again. I tried using a 6mm to cigarette adapter with the same result. The outlet the fridge is plugged into will shut off, but the other two will remain active.
Goal Zero says the 12v outlets are rated to handle 10amps and the fridge shutting off doesn’t seem related to charge level so I don’t think its a voltage issue. Plus, it’s happened during the day while I’m getting 60-70 watts of input from the solar panel. The most I’ve seen the fridge pull is about 4amps and I don’t have any other accessories pulling power from those outlets.
My understanding of electricity is pretty rudimentary so I don’t know if there’s some factor I’m overlooking or what but any advice or help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I don’t remember where I saw it, but I remember someone in another group talking about the same problem a year or two ago. From what I remember, the 12v barrel plug would drop voltage from time to time and the fridge would shut off because of the low voltage settings the Dometics have. Contact Goal Zero and talk with them. I think the other person ended up getting an Anderson to 12v barrel adapter directly from GZ and it solved the problem.
I thought I had the battery protection set to low but it was actually on medium so maybe that will be enough to solve it.
I spoke with Goal Zero a bit and they offered to replace the unit but I don’t think that will solve it. Connecting to the Anderson port is an option but I also have a battery chained on either side so I’d have to ditch one I think.
I had the same issue. I’m using Yeti 1250 with two 100 amp batteries chained. I use the Anderson port for the fridge (dometic 75). The 12v constantly powered down due to drops in voltage.
Thanks for the reply. I was considering upgrading to the bigger goal zero but I saw that the output specs on the 12v outlets are the same as the 400. Thanks for confirming it’s still an issue.
I assume you have an older lead acid yeti? It looks like the Anderson port on the newer lithium yetis is controlled by the same switch as the other 12v ports, so I’m wondering if that means it also goes through the same voltage monitoring system that might cause it to drop off…
