12V fridges

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Enigma

Enigma

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So I'm fantasizing again (weird how fantasies change once you're married with children) about a 12v fridge system, after hearing about Rob and Phils new investment, and seeing Glens in his bj74.

ARB seems to be a very popular choice these days amongst us 4x4 crowd, but as far as I know only offer the one size. I believe, correct me If I'm wrong, that the ARB is made by Engle, who offer a larger assortment of sizes.

Some quick googling came up with this list of local suppliers of Engle:

Poco Marine Ltd.
109-2071 Kingsway Ave.
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia V3C6N2
604.464.8773 Poco Marine eStore
Sea & Ski Marine Stores Inc.
1715 Manning Rd.
Tecumseh, ON N8N2M3
Canada
519-727-3022

Steveston Marine & Hardware
1603 W. 3rd Ave.
Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1K1
604-733-7031 Steveston Marine: marine, boating, and fishing supplies

Traveland R.V. Supercenter
20529 Langley By-Pass
Langley, B.C. V3A 5E8
604 530 8141 Traveland RV Motorhome Sales and Rentals - Langley, BC Canada

And then picking one at random, I came across this fridge unit:
Poco Marine eStore


Spendy! But it has seperate fridge and freezer compartments. Can you imagine have some nicely frozen ice cream while we were at Ernest Lake last weekend? Oh baby!
 
I looked at that size as well. It was too big, about 31" x 19". It weighs in at 75lbs dry, you won't be lifting that puppy in and out of your rig by yourself (full). That would take a big chunk of my cargo space, plus more amperage draw. No insulating cover so I'm guessing it would cycle more often. I think it's more designed for an RV. This is a viable alternative:https://www.expeditionexchange.com/engel/
Scroll down until you see this: TwoZone Refrigerator Compartment for Engel 35/45
Smaller, uses the same footprint as well as amp draw. You could still have your ice cream.
I see they make a transit bag for the 60 as well.
GG
 
The ARB fridges have a built in temp gauge, the Engel, it's a remote purchased separately.
Otherwise, the same fridge.
GG
 
I've been looking at them for the last few years. There is almost no differance between ARB and Engle but if you are going to get a transit bag get the ARB one... it has access to the latch where the Engle one dosn't and from frends that own the engle bag its a pain. I'm just in the process of adding a battery box to my tralor right now in preperation to getting one:)
 
kim said:
Aren't you looking for a Cruiser for your fridge?
Click to expand...

Like a fridge or a Cruiser is going to happen any time soon. The best I can do now are Matt's medical grade ice packs - so a Cruiser any time soon isn't likely unless one appears in my driveway... like a little piggie. hint hint:D
 
fridge info

I got mine 4wheel supply in Utah
4 Wheel Drive Parts and Supplies

it was $699 plus $56 shipping to Blaine. I chose the Engle bag because it was cheaper. $120 vs $142. It came shipped strapped to a pallet.

Latch thing - no big deal/.

The full line Engle fridges is shown below for dreamers and those with deeper pockets.
https://www.expeditionexchange.com/engel/

I still bring a small cooler to leave at camp for fragile food otherwise it can a bit pulverized while on the trail. The fridge shines on the 3rd day when everyone ice starts to go. I have used on a US road trip, works great. Seems to cycle more on 120VAC and less on 24VDC. Would recommend the transit bag to prevent rubbing marks while driving. If you had two ARB
fridges and two vehicles, could turn one into a dedicated ice-maker and freezer - and the other as a normal fridge. This way it can support ice coolers.

Glenn
 
I was talking Greg B. last night, when they did Alaska they took the fridge and a separate cooler. They used the ARB as a freezer and cycled freezer packs through it to use in the cooler. They also had frozen meats in the freezer. They pull the meat out in the morning and transfer it to the cooler, and move around freezer packs at the same time.
GG
 
OK, so I finally decide to hook the fridge up in the L/C. I pull the cigarette lighter plug out and swap out the 110V plug. I wire a cig lighter adapter to the battery(s) to draw 24V. On the ARB cig plug it says in big letters 12V only. What the hey! I figure they do that not sensing some people have 24V vehicles. I know the fridge auto selects DC voltage. So I plug it in, fridge fires up for a second... then nothing. Check the fuse, it's OK. Plug the fridge into the 12V power outlet works fine. What's up with that?
GG
 
could you not buy a small fridge freezer from a wrecked r.v. ? I would personal consider a two way fridge . propane and 12 v , that way you could run it off of a 20 # tank when / if you made a base camp .

i remember when that big used new r.v. place was on westwood street in poco with all the junk he had for sale i used to love walking thru his place , he had tons of junk out back too .
 
I think GG said somewhere that the ARB and Engels frisges have an extremely low draw compared to RV fridges. RV fridges are fine if you can plug in every noight but would suck if they killed you batteries in the bush.

toynut said:
could you not buy a small fridge freezer from a wrecked r.v. ? I would personal consider a two way fridge . propane and 12 v , that way you could run it off of a 20 # tank when / if you made a base camp .

i remember when that big used new r.v. place was on westwood street in poco with all the junk he had for sale i used to love walking thru his place , he had tons of junk out back too .
Click to expand...
 
2.7A per hour, when it's cycling... which it doesn't do all the time. That's 12V, should do better on 24V, that's less draw than a headlight, weighs in at only 50lbs. Much more efficient than an RV fridge. I plan on leaving this in the L/C most of the time (during summer). On the days I take the kids to the beach we'll have Popsicles and ice cream, on the days I relax fishing, I'll have ice cold sodas.
GG
 
Oh ya, this fridge doesn't use gas so you can have it running in the trailer or in the back of the LC. I wouldn't be running an RV fridge while wheeling, in fact, I don't think an RV fridge would hold up well to the vigor of off roading. This fridge will work to a 30˚ angle.
GG
 
Granite Grinder said:
on the days I relax fishing, I'll have ice cold sodas.
GG
Click to expand...

Okay. I 'm in. In Aug let me know when you're going fishing. I can supply the boat and the oars. You supply the cold ones. Popsicles and icecream is good too.:D

Also, let me know when you're going wheeling and doing the 30 degree test. I bring a cammera to document it.
 
More ARB fridge info

As GG says the fridge operates up to a 30 degree angle, and has a shockproof motor with its own built in cooling coil internal box, which prevents warm spots and allows you to fill it to the brim and still ensure consistent temperatures. The manual recommends using it for second fridge (e.g. for beverages in the garage).The fridge uses an efficient reciprocating motor which connects directly to the piston of the compressor which gives low power consumption.

Both AC and DC voltages maybe connected simultaneously and the fridge will automatically select AC when available. The electronic controls sense the input 12vdc or 24 vdc, so no other manual switching is needed. I wired mined to the 24 vdc accessory terminal box (attached to the air cleaner box in the 74), using the always on terminal. The 74's terminal box already has the recommended 10 amp (24v) fused link in place. On 12vdc, the fuse should be 15 amp. There is also a fuse in the fridge and in the cigarette plug tip, so on 24vdc its triple fused in my case.

The manual says the fridge should not be run on converters, inverters or battery chargers - just straight from your battery. You can use 12vdc power when the battery is charging, but the fridge must draw directly from the battery. If the battery drops below 10.7 volts, the fridge will not work properly.

Power consumption is 2.7 amps at 12vdc = 32.4 watts (approx) or 1.35 amps at 24v. I read somewhere this load has been independently confirmed.

So for example a single 50 amp-hour battery (Optimal red top 34) will have roughly 600 watt-hours of capacity, so at 100% cycling load the fridge will kill the battery in 18.5 hours and probably sooner, since most batteries are not new and/or temperatures are lower. At 50% cycling load the fridge will take 37.0 hours to kill the battery. For my 24 volt system, two 50 amp hour battery have 50 amp-hour X 24 v = 1,200 watt-hours (by the way 1.2 kW.h from BC Hydro costs about 8.5¢)- so two batteries should last twice as long. Next battery set I will go with Optimal yellow tops, which can better handle being repeatedly pulled down. A separate deep cycle is recommended, but of course adds weight and takes up precious space.

In my books -- the ARB fridge gets my "off road approved" rating! :clap:

cyborg 74 ... signing off for now
 
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