Fridge (and accessory) recommendations

[HSTexan]

Bluetti just released theirs yesterday with their new AC180T which utilizes the same battery pack as the fridge. I don't need a fridge enough to wire something in permanently so this seems to make the most sense to me. With one battery charged in the fridge it's supposed to run for up to 3 days. With 2 more in the AC180T you've got potential for up to 9 days without any further charging. Adding solar to the mix means keeping it topped off indefinitely pretty easily.

Click Me

Didn't want to create a new thread, but wanted to put this out there. I bit the bullet on this Bluetti SwapSolar Ecosystem of products as the idea of hot swappable batteries between a power station and cooler for totally cordless operation was extremely appealing since I really don't need a permanent wired in solution. I received it a few days ago and have been testing it out around town and there is something that is putting out an interfering signal when powered on. I can pull the battery out while it's still mounted in the hatch and everything works as normal, but once it's powered on the TPMS won't receive readings from the sensors, occasionally the vehicle cannot detect the fob and will put the alert on the dash, but most of all the lock/unlock touch feature on the door handles works maybe 5% of the time and the fob is close to the same sometimes requiring 30-40 button presses to register. Sent an e-mail off to Bluetti to see what they say, but if we can't get it resolved somehow it'll likely go back. May try to see if I make some foil shielding to figure out exactly where the problem location is and if I can backdoor it to work for now.

 

[OregonLC]

Didn't want to create a new thread, but wanted to put this out there. I bit the bullet on this Bluetti SwapSolar Ecosystem of products as the idea of hot swappable batteries between a power station and cooler for totally cordless operation was extremely appealing since I really don't need a permanent wired in solution. I received it a few days ago and have been testing it out around town and there is something that is putting out an interfering signal when powered on. I can pull the battery out while it's still mounted in the hatch and everything works as normal, but once it's powered on the TPMS won't receive readings from the sensors, occasionally the vehicle cannot detect the fob and will put the alert on the dash, but most of all the lock/unlock touch feature on the door handles works maybe 5% of the time and the fob is close to the same sometimes requiring 30-40 button presses to register. Sent an e-mail off to Bluetti to see what they say, but if we can't get it resolved somehow it'll likely go back. May try to see if I make some foil shielding to figure out exactly where the problem location is and if I can backdoor it to work for now.

Not to hijack thread, but is that a Victory 4x4 shelf?

 

[HSTexan]

Not to hijack thread, but is that a Victory 4x4 shelf?

No it's the Kaon

 

[Fisher23]

.. and the seat covers?

 

[HSTexan]

.. and the seat covers?

Canvasback Cargo Liners

 

[OregonLC]

No it's the Kaon

Dang, the Kaon is the one I like.

 

[Ronel2020]

Has anyone installed a drawer style fridge into their rig? ADGU has the Engel 30L option in their set up. Ironman now has a 40L version. I have been considering this and running off a jackery or similar simple battery set up. This would allow the entire rear of my 570 to a platform for sleeping, cargo, etc. However, the fridge would not be removable. Any thoughts?

 

[linuxgod]

Has anyone installed a drawer style fridge into their rig? AUGD has the Engel 30L option in their set up. Ironman now has a 40L version. I have been considering this and running off a jackery or similar simple battery set up. This would allow the entire rear of my 570 to a platform for sleeping, cargo, etc. However, the fridge would not be removable. Any thoughts?

Would you be ok with a 30L (or smaller) fridge?

I considered one for the same reason but they were all pretty small for my use case since the compressor take up a lot of rear space. I checked the dimensions of one (Ironman maybe?) and based on the dimensions is was less cubic ft/L than advertised, more like 25 or 26L max IIRC

I’m pretty sure the ADGU LX has one, so you might PM him.

IMO if you travel solo or with just one person and pack your fridge light they might be great. If you like to have a wide assortment of drinks and food in your fridge and go for days off grid they would seem too small.

 

[Ronel2020]

Would you be ok with a 30L (or smaller) fridge?

I considered one for the same reason but they were all pretty small for my use case since the compressor take up a lot of rear space. I checked the dimensions of one (Ironman maybe?) and based on the dimensions is was less cubic ft/L than advertised, more like 25 or 26L max IIRC

I’m pretty sure the ADGU LX has one, so you might PM him.

IMO if you travel solo or with just one person and pack your fridge light they might be great. If you like to have a wide assortment of drinks and food in your fridge and go for days off grid they would seem too small.

Thx. Good advice on the Ironman. I definitely do not want anything smaller than 30L. I camp solo (my wife does not join me) a couple of times per year. My buddies always take their own rigs, so I only have to pack for me. We take coolers for extra stuff as well. For drinks, it’s pretty easy to rotate on a regular basis.

 

[BCAB200]

We had a 55L Alpicool which was great but digging though it was annoying and if it was mounted on top of my drawers it was way too high. I was specifically looking for a nice upright to replace it. I found this one on Amazon which is the exact one King's sells in Australia. Awesome fridge, well made with sturdy latch and the compressor is mounted on top and covered (unlike some upright models designed for truckers or trailer installs). Also comes with brackets to secure it! The door has excellent and usable bottle/can storage.

Only con is it's thirsty compared to The Alpicool. Draws 5 Amps at 12v when the compressor is running. I wouldn't run it off the main battery for sure but not a big deal for any dual battery system. This one is the fridge only model but there is a slightly larger version with a small freezer.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CKV6QCPR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[bicycleagent003]

Door style vs chest style has to be far less thermally efficient. You're going to lose a lot more cool air and energy with a door style frig (not drawer style, door style as pictured above). It might be worth the tradeoff for some, just putting that out there. I love my Dometic CFX55. It's a game changer to have a fridge.

 

[UPR LC]

Just to add some recent experience. I have a Dometic CFX 35 fridge connected to an Ecoflow Delta 2 battery system. I ran the fridge at 36*F temp for 48 hours in 80*F sunny days, 65*F at night and the Ecoflow still had roughly 20% battery remaining (per the screen). This was straight discharge, no vehicle charging of the battery, no solar input.

 

[bloc]

Sounds like a good buy. Only thing I did to mine was silicone all the seams inside the fridge and it's been g2g.

I haven't read a whole lot about fridges yet, but is this generally recommended? Just for keeping it water tight or does it help with insulation?

 

[TLC2013]

I haven't read a whole lot about fridges yet, but is this generally recommended? Just for keeping it water tight or does it help with insulation?

I was wondering the same thing about my iceco fridge/freezer combo. Haven’t messed with the seems yet and was wondering if it’s common for folks to seal them up for extra insulation?
Both my iceco and snomaster aren’t sealed from the factory. The 0F freezer setting uses substantially more juice to keep things running at these frozen temps.
With fridge temps set to mid 30F both the iceco and snomaster sip energy and the fridge hardly runs once it is at the desired temps. Freezer settings seem to be running constantly.

 

[TeCKis300]

Both my iceco and snomaster aren’t sealed from the factory. The 0F freezer setting uses substantially more juice to keep things running at these frozen temps.
With fridge temps set to mid 30F both the iceco and snomaster sip energy and the fridge hardly runs once it is at the desired temps. Freezer settings seem to be running constantly.

Agreed and this my experience with the group I run with. 0F is not really practical as it has the compressors running full tilt trying to get to an unreachable bogey in warmer summer temps. About 40-60 running watts. Translating to 4-5 amps per hour (Ah). Multiply that by 24hrs is 96-120Ah per day which will exhaust the largest of battery banks in a weekend, even backed by solar.

20-30F for freezer settings takes much less energy.

 

[TLC2013]

Agreed and this my experience with the group I run with. 0F is not really practical as it has the compressors running full tilt trying to get to an unreachable bogey in warmer summer temps. About 40-60 running watts. Translating to 4-5 amps per hour (Ah). Multiply that by 24hrs is 96-120Ah per day which will exhaust the largest of battery banks in a weekend, even backed by solar.

20-30F for freezer settings takes much less energy.

All good points here. I have been trying to nail down a solid battery setup to keep things simple and running for a few days uninterrupted. One thing i noticed is setting the freezer to 5F was a big jump in energy savings while still keeping the the ice cubes and the kiddos Popsicles compelely frozen. Adding solar keeps things topped off when at least a solid 100 watts are coming in during daylight hours on my 768wh Ecoflow.

 

[LvCruiserNewb]

All good points here. I have been trying to nail down a solid battery setup to keep things simple and running for a few days uninterrupted. One thing i noticed is setting the freezer to 5F was a big jump in energy savings while still keeping the the ice cubes and the kiddos Popsicles compelely frozen. Adding solar keeps things topped off when at least a solid 100 watts are coming in during daylight hours on my 768wh Ecoflow.

I tried to do a worst case trial run with my newly acquired National Luna 50 I got off the classified here and found similar. Ran it with fridge at 4C and the freezer at the minimum -20C. In my garage (always between 90 and 100F in the garage in summer here) it averaged 60 W/hr over a 24 hour period running off an Anker Solix 1500. I have a 200W solar panel and was able to recover most of the energy from it running through the dark hours during the day. But that's in full sun in my driveway. At camp in trees will be worse for solar but will be much cooler than 100F so energy draw will be less too. At any rate it drove me to buy a 2nd smaller power station so that I can have one charging on solar at camp and 2nd charging on 12V socket in truck while out exploring during the day. Probably overkill but this is my first go at fridge life. I look forward to being able to apply lessons learned through field trials.

 

[Boomstick]

Door style vs chest style has to be far less thermally efficient. You're going to lose a lot more cool air and energy with a door style frig (not drawer style, door style as pictured above). It might be worth the tradeoff for some, just putting that out there. I love my Dometic CFX55. It's a game changer to have a fridge.

I have this same fridge... do you have photos of it mounted? Does it sit on drawers?

 

[reddog90]

I haven't read a whole lot about fridges yet, but is this generally recommended? Just for keeping it water tight or does it help with insulation?

I did it to prevent something like spilled milk etc from leaking into the fridge body and stinking forever. I already had silicone on hand and it only took a few minutes. Not sure if a high end fridge like national luna has seams like that.

 

[bloc]

I did it to prevent something like spilled milk etc from leaking into the fridge body and stinking forever. I already had silicone on hand and it only took a few minutes. Not sure if a high end fridge like national luna has seams like that.

Great point. I did notice that condensate can wick into the seams on my Iceco so I’ll probably do the same. Thanks for the idea.