ARB fridge or ???

Superduty

Adventurer
mine just showed up $790 shipped thru northridge4x4 if you ask for a forum discount. plugged it in and it took 10 minutes to from 60*F to 25F. wahoo no more soggy food.

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is that a 50?
 

Sheep Shagger

Adventurer
Edgestar, been going strong for ~10 years. 120w solar panel with deep cycle keeps it cold 24/7 (as long as you get sun every day), best thing is it’s both 12v dc and 120v ac, so if you plug it into mains it uses that over the 12v. Something like 65qt.

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Sheep Shagger

Adventurer
Edgestar, been going strong for ~10 years. 120w solar panel with deep cycle keeps it cold 24/7 (as long as you get sun every day), best thing is it’s both 12v dc and 120v ac, so if you plug it into mains it uses that over the 12v. Something like 65qt.

IMGP0140-XL.jpg


IMGP0146-XL.jpg
 
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Wiley

Adventurer
Of you guys that have these refrigerators in your vans, what kind of driving are you doing? Are you on the road, off road, desert driving, rock crawling, etc?

I'm interested in a refrigerator and a lot of my off road excursions include desert driving on rough washboard at 30mph+ which generates a lot of vibration. Anyone else do anything similar with a fridge and have it hold up?

Must have bought my ARB in 2011, maybe 2012, took it through Mexico, Central America, into Colombia using it over the course of 2 years. I then let it sit for several years, plugged it back in a few months ago and it still running just as cold as when I bought it. I wasn't rock crawling, but that is real world experience for you!
 
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trifreemc

New member
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?

I'm sure there's a variety of factors that can change this answer... but if you were to put a decent deep cycle in, how long would one of these stay running before you needed to charge the deep cycle back up? Thinking about going this route in my Suburban but won't have solar to keep the deep cycle continuously charging.
 

Photomike

White Turtle Adventures & Photography
I'm sure there's a variety of factors that can change this answer... but if you were to put a decent deep cycle in, how long would one of these stay running before you needed to charge the deep cycle back up? Thinking about going this route in my Suburban but won't have solar to keep the deep cycle continuously charging.

There are a lot of factors like how often it is open, how much food is in it, how hot/ cold the outside temps are (around the fridge).

For my Dometic I have been told on a group 31 I should get two days easily and probably three. I have not tested it yet, nor do I plan on deliberately testing that :p:eek::rolleyes::) I was told by someone else they get four days without charging, they get home on Sunday evening and leave the fridge run all week till they leave on Friday. I am always skeptical of the "mine is bigger than yours" or "I can do this or that" when others do not report the same thing.

My group 31 is hooked to the vehicle batteries with a cut off switch so hopefully I will never forget to charge / cut off. I drive my van every day when out so the battery is charged all the time. The last time I was camping I checked the battery with my basic meter and found it was reading 12.7 when I went to bed and by morning it was 12.6 if that is any indication.

The Dometic does have a low power cut off that I like, you may waste your food but at least it will not drain the battery past the point of using it ever again!
 

trifreemc

New member
My group 31 is hooked to the vehicle batteries with a cut off switch so hopefully I will never forget to charge / cut off. I drive my van every day when out so the battery is charged all the time. The last time I was camping I checked the battery with my basic meter and found it was reading 12.7 when I went to bed and by morning it was 12.6 if that is any indication.

Are you using a battery isolator set up on your group 31 battery? If so, what isolator kit and what battery are you using?

Thanks.
 

Photomike

White Turtle Adventures & Photography
Are you using a battery isolator set up on your group 31 battery? If so, what isolator kit and what battery are you using?

Thanks.
I have a manual switch between the vehicle and house system. Two vehicle batteries and one group 31 house battery as well as the heavy duty alternator to charge up everything.

Here is some information on the electrical.

Bikersmurf - I looked at the Blue Seas ACR but not sure about it. The van has a 140amp alternator and the Blue Sea is rated for 120amp running. Now I know the alternatior does not put out that much all the time but still considering it.
 

coolfeet

Mark Keeler
I have the ARB 60 liter fridge freezer and we keep it on year round in our home for produce. We like everything about this unit except for the crappy lid design. It takes brute force to remove it. I contacted ARB and complained. It's supposed to be "quick release".

I would still buy another one. We bought it 4 years ago. I have a volt/amp meter attached to it and it uses as much as 5 amps/hour and as little as 0. It's well insulated and well built.
 

Bikersmurf

Expedition Leader
I have the ARB 60 liter fridge freezer and we keep it on year round in our home for produce. We like everything about this unit except for the crappy lid design. It takes brute force to remove it. I contacted ARB and complained. It's supposed to be "quick release".

I would still buy another one. We bought it 4 years ago. I have a volt/amp meter attached to it and it uses as much as 5 amps/hour and as little as 0. It's well insulated and well built.

There is also a heavier 500 A model: https://www.bluesea.com/products/7620/ML-ACR_Automatic_Charging_Relay_-_12V_DC_500A.

10-20amps will be going to engine load and that one is rated for 210 amps for five minutes also.
 
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