Classic ARB fridge PSA

[jonheld]

A quick PSA regarding the classic blue and white ARB fridges.
Remove the 12 small phillips screws securing the blue plastic access panel, remove and reseat all the connectors and reassemble.

My fridge died on our second day in Florida and we lost whatever food we had in there. We were only 4 days into our 2 week road trip, so it was a bit of a PITA. Not really a big deal since we were on the road, but if this had happened during a camping trip, it would have really sucked.

When I got home I found that several of the connectors had come loose from the main control module. After literally 10s of thousands of miles both on and off road, vibration takes its toll.

 

[e9999]

sorry to read that and thanks for the headsup. And probably applicable to many other brands too.
And, yes, it is a good idea to have an alarm thermometer in there just for situations like that. As you said, it would be worse if out in the boonies. If you're interested, there have been a bunch of threads here on those thermometers.

 

[jonheld]

sorry to read that and thanks for the headsup. And probably applicable to many other brands too.
And, yes, it is a good idea to have an alarm thermometer in there just for situations like that. As you said, it would be worse if out in the boonies. If you're interested, there have been a bunch of threads here on those thermometers.

Yea, I was looking through some of those. It really wouldn't have helped in this specific situation, but it's a nice to have item.

 

[thecapedcapper]

@S.CarolinaFZJ80 did you ever get your fridge sorted or are you having this exact issue?

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

@S.CarolinaFZJ80 did you ever get your fridge sorted or are you having this exact issue?

Maybe? It's been on my todo list. I'll have to take a look

 

[Land Shark]

A quick PSA regarding the classic blue and white ARB fridges.
Remove the 12 small phillips screws securing the blue plastic access panel, remove and reseat all the connectors and reassemble.

My fridge died on our second day in Florida and we lost whatever food we had in there. We were only 4 days into our 2 week road trip, so it was a bit of a PITA. Not really a big deal since we were on the road, but if this had happened during a camping trip, it would have really sucked.

When I got home I found that several of the connectors had come loose from the main control module. After literally 10s of thousands of miles both on and off road, vibration takes its toll.

Thats a bummer for sure. I to have beat the everlivingdaylights out of my ARB classic. Thanks for posting. This is a good project for me seeing that it's 10* outside and I can bring that fridge inside to have a look.

 

[jonheld]

Thats a bummer for sure. I to have beat the everlivingdaylights out of my ARB classic. Thanks for posting. This is a good project for me seeing that it's 10* outside and I can bring that fridge inside to have a look.

Yea, we were both pretty bummed. I was calling around to local 4x4 shops looking for another fridge. Luckily, my wife threw a "sanity blanket" over my head and we just dealt with it for the remainder of the trip.
It's literally a 10 minute fix including cutting 2 cable ties if that's the issue with yours.

 

[Land Shark]

Yea, we were both pretty bummed. I was calling around to local 4x4 shops looking for another fridge. Luckily, my wife threw a "sanity blanket" over my head and we just dealt with it for the remainder of the trip.
It's literally a 10 minute fix including cutting 2 cable ties if that's the issue with yours.

Currently no issues but just to be preemptive about it. Nice thing about the fridge and if it goes out on you you can always just throw ice in there

 

[Blackwater]

Is everyone with an ARB Classic fridge still pretty happy with it with all the new offerings?

I'm looking hard at a new ARB classic (grey top) 63qt. Love the original look, but still pretty pricey. 1k

Am I shooting myself in the foot for old tech? I like some of the new dometic's, and obviously the NL offerings are very appealing.. I keep going back to the Arb classic..

I don't like the front plug-ins on the ARB zero, I'd like to keep those in the rear.

Looks like the Dometic CFX series is pretty popular these days

 

[george_tlc]

Manual, posted this before, but may as well put it into this thread too. Easier for folk to find this way.

cheers,
george.