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My Unique 2.8 cu/ft fridge finally arrived this Saturday, so today was install day. I thought I could make this work in the space gained from removal of the 40 section of the 60/40 2nd row seats, but no dice. Absolutely no way to fit it, so I had to re-install that seat and instead pull the 60 section. This fits, but in only one orientation, and is quite tight. Another few inches of length in the fridge and it wouldn't work.
This fridge is only $900 CAD ($653 USD), comes with a case, bluetooth-connect phone application, has dual compartments, and fits 80L of food. Compared to an ARB63 QT (70L) that I had a few years ago, this is way better value.
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Since the 2nd row seats have a ton of noise dampening material, I decided to add two layers of mass loaded vinyl to the bottom of the fridge to try to make up some of that noise deadening. I didn't attach these in any way, but rather just slid the case overtop.
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I tried about a half-dozen different tie-down solutions, and found this to be the most secure option: two d-rings on the original seat mounting bolts.
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A pair of ratchet straps then wrap around the fridge and hook on the seat mounting hardware at the rear:
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This setup is rock-solid. Trying to shake the fridge instead shakes the entire car - great!
Under the fridge's lid you have lids for individual compartments:
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To eliminate in-transit rattling, I cut some pieces of clear, 1/4" hose, slit each hose lengthways, and added it to the basket, with a few rolls of electrical tape on top. I added ten such pieces to each of the three baskets:
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The cover fits quite nicely, but has a flaw in that it falls off when you lift the lid. This wouldn't do, so I added three pieces of industrial-strength velcro on top of the lid, and pressed the cover down on it. The cover now stays in place and doesn't fall off when I lift the lid.
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The phone application is pretty poor. During installation it requires access to my files, photos, and location. Denying access presents an error message in Chinese (?) and prompts for access again. You can't proceed without giving this access. Why in the hell would these items be required? The answer sure as hell will not be anything beneficial to you as the end user. On a positive note, ~3 hours after granting this access, I see the app has not used any mobile data, so it hasn't sent my personal info anywhere just yet. In any case, I'm disabling permissions to those items, and will report back whether the app continues to work without them.
Despite these issues and a poor UI, it does give you easy control over the fridge, and even shows historical data on temperatures & electric usage over the last 24hrs of use. That'll come in handy.
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Finally, I installed a 2.2ohm resistor to get rid of the SRS error light on the dash, and wrapped it in heat shrink.
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I plugged the fridge into the 12v socket under the AC vents on the rear of the centre console (facing the 2nd row) and was bummed to discover that it's not constantly powered, but rather ignition-switched power. I wasn't planning on running new wiring from the battery to this location, and probably won't have time to do it before next weekend's camping trip. Figure I'll just bring a 12v extension and alligator clips, and change the fridge over to that in camp.
I'm not planning on installing a dual battery setup; done that before and am not interested. I'd love to get a Goal Zero Yeti 1000, but it's cost prohibitive. Maybe when the Canada-US border opens up and we make a trip down south, I'll pick one up down there at a slightly cheaper price point. I've also yet to properly look into the numerous alternatives that are available. For now I've set the low-voltage cut off at the "middle" setting, and plan to run the LX for a half hour every day to charge up the battery. I'll also probably turn the fridge off at night.
Ah, the rack that the LX should have come with!
That bit of extra length makes the stock rack infinitely for useful.
Ah, the rack that the LX should have come with!
That bit of extra length makes the stock rackinfinitely foruseful.
Hahah, thanks. Typing engrish while trying to hold a conference call can be challenged at times. Hope I didn't say anything too wrong in my telecon either.![]()
Not sure if you covered this, but did you look at other RTT like the iKamper? Is the Alu-Clad in the same price range as the ikamper?