Fridge

Trialmaster said:

I saw Logsplitters fridge and then reviewed ARB, think this is the one for me!

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I’m still searching for real world data, hopefully selecting the best fridge based on current draw and cooling performance. Here is one comprehensive test.

Overland Journal: Best Overland Fridge Freezers

AnD3rew said:

The other potential which may actually be better is to take it off the Ctek so it will shut it off if the battery gets too low.

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Many of the newer fridges have built-in low-battery shutoff (even Engel).

AnD3rew said:

The other potential which may actually be better is to take it off the Ctek so it will shut it off if the battery gets too low.

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Exactly as I have done although the ARB fridge I’ve got has low voltage cut off as well

Nat'l Luna is still using Danfoss compressors. I believe this is still viewed as the best compressor on the market.
I'd be concerned with Dometic's reliability as many of their products appear to be decreasing in quality (I'm unsure if FrontRunner quality decreased before or after Dometic bought them).

jeremy_matrix said:

Nat'l Luna is still using Danfoss compressors. I believe this is still viewed as the best compressor on the market.
I'd be concerned with Dometic's reliability as many of their products appear to be decreasing in quality (I'm unsure if FrontRunner quality decreased before or after Dometic bought them).

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Not all of them. I wonder how available it actually is in NA?

Sharing @MarkH post on the CTEK cut-off point.

You can also run a 12V fridge directly off the Smartpass and it will disconnect the load at 11.8V to protect the aux battery from being damaged, but most fridges have this built-in anyway so they can be run directly off the auxiliary battery.

Tom109 said:

Sharing @MarkH post on the CTEK cut-off point.

You can also run a 12V fridge directly off the Smartpass and it will disconnect the load at 11.8V to protect the aux battery from being damaged, but most fridges have this built-in anyway so they can be run directly off the auxiliary battery.

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Just a query on where the 11.8v comes from? My manual states 11.5v:

r1978 said:

Ozefridge still makes the best eutectic compressors available and they also make an interesting upright fridge. No experience with the fridge though

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Looked into the 80L upright Ozefridge. It might be too long for the cargo area.

DCPU said:

Just a query on where the 11.8v comes from? My manual states 11.5v:

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A mild cognitive impairment.
CRAFTS disease.

Tom109 said:

Not all of them. I wonder how available it actually is in NA?

View attachment 7820872

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Copy thx.

I asked Paul at Equipt what brand the NL off-road compressor is (my 2012 50L is a Danfoss);
"National Luna moved from the Danfoss compressor to their own proprietary compressor design. The Danfoss DB35F compressor has been around forever, and is out of patent protection. So, NL improved the design some, and made their own version. They gained 10% in performance and were able to fix the valving shortcomings the Danfoss had. Think of it as a jump from the Chev 350 V8 to the Vortec 5.7L. They are so confident in it that they also jumped from the 1 year warranty on the Danfoss compressor to 8 years for theirs. It also brought the price down considerably. We haven’t brought a Danfoss NL fridge to the US in years because of this.
"The New Legacy Smart fridges are the latest upgrade. Adding the ability to use the National Luna Connect app to run your fridge, and the ability to actually shut off one of the zones in the dual zone fridges."


"All National Luna Legacy Fridges purchased directly from Equipt come with an (8) year compressor warranty and (3) year warranty fridge."

jeremy_matrix said:

Nat'l Luna is still using Danfoss compressors. I believe this is still viewed as the best compressor on the market.
I'd be concerned with Dometic's reliability as many of their products appear to be decreasing in quality (I'm unsure if FrontRunner quality decreased before or after Dometic bought them).

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Updated info; NL WAS using Danfoss until a few years ago. See my updated info in post #169.

jeremy_matrix said:

Copy thx.

I asked Paul at Equipt what brand the NL off-road compressor is (my 2012 50L is a Danfoss);
"National Luna moved from the Danfoss compressor to their own proprietary compressor design. The Danfoss DB35F compressor has been around forever, and is out of patent protection. So, NL improved the design some, and made their own version. They gained 10% in performance and were able to fix the valving shortcomings the Danfoss had. Think of it as a jump from the Chev 350 V8 to the Vortec 5.7L. They are so confident in it that they also jumped from the 1 year warranty on the Danfoss compressor to 8 years for theirs. It also brought the price down considerably. We haven’t brought a Danfoss NL fridge to the US in years because of this.
"The New Legacy Smart fridges are the latest upgrade. Adding the ability to use the National Luna Connect app to run your fridge, and the ability to actually shut off one of the zones in the dual zone fridges."

50L Legacy Fridge/Freezer

UPGRADE YOUR 50L LEGACY TO A SMART FRIDGE! THE BEST JUST GOT BETTER With decades of proven experience on every major continent, National Luna’s portable 12V fridges and freezers have consistently outperformed the competition and set the industry’s benchmark for durability, efficiency, and...

www.equipt1.com

"All National Luna Legacy Fridges purchased directly from Equipt come with an (8) year compressor warranty and (3) year warranty fridge."

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Thanks for posting that. The NL is definitely near the top of my list, as is the Engel.

I love the DIY spirit, but safety first with a 30kg fridge bouncing around in your car! Mounting BougeRV aspen fridge securely to the utility rails with a timber cage sounds good in theory, but can it handle a crash or sudden stop? Plus, plugging straight into the 12V socket might be asking for trouble – overloading, fire hazards, not fun.

ForestLass said:

Plus, plugging straight into the 12V socket might be asking for trouble – overloading, fire hazards, not fun.

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There's no concern for overloading or fire from using the 12v socket with a fridge, this is how they ship and are intended to be used. Strapping them down is important of course. With that being said, I'm not certain that a fridge of any notable size would be able to fit over the rear seat headrests in the event of a crash.

For the rest of the thread, I'll admit, I haven't read through all 9 pages, but I have had (in order): ARB Classic 50Qt, ARB Essentials 63Qt, ARB Zero 63 Qt, ARB Zero 47Qt, and a Dometic CFX3-75DZ. I also had one or two cheap Amazon fridges, not even worth mentioning.

Overall my favorite goes to the Dometic 75DZ, simply because frozen meals and ice cream. However, it is huge, and overkill. We use it in our Sprinter and can go weeks with only minimal restocks. Of course, the frozen meals are super easy given that the Sprinter has a microwave and induction cooktop, neither of which I am planning on carrying in the Grenadier.

Least favorite, the ARB Zeros, both had horrible condensation issues no matter the set temperature. Normally I set them to 37ºF (3ºC), but tried up to 42ºF (5.5ºC) and down to 34ºF (1ºC) with the same condensation all over the interior side walls. Additionally, they seemed like they needed to run much more frequently to maintain the desired temperature. With that being said, the 47Qt lived in my better half's Tacoma for over 2 years off of the single starting battery (upgraded to a Group 27F AGM from a Group 24F) and a 80W hood solar panel. It did shut down several times due to "high ambient temperature" though. The 63Qt Zero was in our Tundra after we got the AT Overland Atlas topper and never had an over temp error.

Notable mention goes to the ARB Elements fridge, as it was designed for exterior use (and was installed on a fridge slide in the bed of my Tundra). Happily kept our food/drinks at 37ºF (3ºC) with ambient temperatures above 120ºF (49ºC) in Death Valley.

What will the Grenadier get? I'm leaning towards a Dometic CFX3-45 as the happy medium in sizing (I think the 55IM would be overkill) on a tilting fridge slide

I could not resist the Iceco Valentine's Day sale yesterday and picked up the dual zone APL55 for $730.15 (still on sale today at this price BTW). It has a lot of the features I was looking for and will fit perfectly in my kitchen slide. I'll follow up with impressions after putting it through its paces.

Loc Nar said:

I could not resist the Iceco Valentine's Day sale yesterday and picked up the dual zone APL55 for $730.15 (still on sale today at this price BTW). It has a lot of the features I was looking for and will fit perfectly in my kitchen slide. I'll follow up with impressions after putting it through its paces.

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A good friend just got this fridge a few weeks ago and absolutely loves it. At least visually I think it looks great as well. Iceco has been around for a while which is also a plus

Loc Nar said:

I could not resist the Iceco Valentine's Day sale yesterday and picked up the dual zone APL55 for $730.15 (still on sale today at this price BTW). It has a lot of the features I was looking for and will fit perfectly in my kitchen slide. I'll follow up with impressions after putting it through its paces.

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got mine yesterday (b/day present), no slide yet.

Since we have a chest freezer already I should tell the wife we're getting rid of the big extra side by side in the garage and having one of these for the "space savings".

This may be a simplistic question... How do you secure a fridge in the trunk of the Grenadier without a slide? I have the tie down track, but a mount seems to be missing to have the fridge tied down to a single track.

I can envision some vertical bar that is attached to a single ineos track, about the same width as the fridge. Using d-rings to tie down the fridge, kind of like a spreader bar? Maybe I'm overthinking it. Anyone care to share how they tie down a fridge efficiently to one side of the trunk and without using both tracks?

Not in the trunk, but on the unused backseat

In my case, I have some (blue) straps hooked to the upper U-rings in the back, this for securing my luggage when I travel, and my "lousy fridge" fits exactly under these straps:

I am hesitating in buying a better fridge, and I don't know yet how I will secure it the dimensions are different.