ARB fridge or ???

[Rune]

Ahoy y'all!

Trying to decide between an ARB cooler and some type of other fridge for my van build. Van is a '96 E350 Turtle Top. Will have small galley kitchen with sink with cabinet space underneath for a more traditional style mini-fridge and am thinking that style may work better for me as I'm not planning to move the cooler in and out of the van a bunch.

Looking for recommendations on make and model. Will have AC (home) and DC (12v vehicle) power available. Looking for something energy efficient with descent capacity.

Cheers
Sean

 

[eporter]

I see a lot of people using the dometic coolers. I’m in the market too.

 

[broncobowsher]

My ARB branded Engle has been a solid performer for the past decade.
But there are a lot of options out today.

 

[kpredator]

have had good luck with Engel!!!

 

[lactic]

Happy with my SnoMaster fridge/freezer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Scotty D]

I hate the cooler form factor so I just bumped up the solar a bit and went with an RCA dorm fridge.
Could not be happier. Just make sure to get a nice pure sine wave inverter.

 

[eporter]

The dorm fridge + ever-lower-priced solar might be just as good (or better) of an option these days. The efficiency of the small arb/Engel/dometic/etc doesn’t matter as much if you’ve got solar panel real estate on the roof. Plus you then have more power potential if you aren’t using the fridge. Interesting... Sort of like how someday we might see solar powered AC...!

 

[Bbasso]

I bought my Engel MT45 used almost 3 yeara ago and it's been running non-stop perfectly since.
I'd highly recommend Engel.

 

[Rune]

I'm leaning towards a Dometic Coolmatic CRX50. I like the price, size, configuration, and that it has a freezer and fridge.

Anyone have first hand experience with this fridge?

 

[Bbasso]

Keep in mind power consumption and where you are getting 12v from... (no mention of)
A dead battery in the middle of nowhere could be very bad.
That draws 5a which is double of my Engel... constantly pulling that load will exhaust a battery quickly, what battery do you plan to use? Not the starter battery, right?

 

[Photomike]

I'm leaning towards a Dometic Coolmatic CRX50. I like the price, size, configuration, and that it has a freezer and fridge.

Anyone have first hand experience with this fridge?View attachment 453268

I have the CRX65. Only had it for a short time but so far LOVE it. Was out this past weekend and from a full battery using it during the night the battery did not even drop from a standard overnight sitting with no draw. It was a cool night so that may vary. Cools fast, LOVE the pull out freezer to give more fridge room!

 

[whith]

I’ve had a Dometic 65 for a couple years and it’s been flawless. Minimal draw and great functionality.

 

[225]

Anyone try the
Whynter FM-45G

$500 on Amazon. Good reviews.

 

[DCGibbs]

We are leaning to the CRX65, based upon the info we gained a OEW.

 

[flightcancled]

I was quite happy with my Dometic at first. But then after 2.5 months it died. Now I am in warranty hell and having to pay an RV shop to process the claim. To boot Dometic screwed up my warranty paperwork and just didn't say anything for a month until we chased them down.