April 2022 rolling out now: check 1st post. 3 Models 25% so far. (1 Viewer)

What temperature do you set your fridge at?

  • 0°F - I like using it for Meats, Ice Cream and other Frozen Foods!

    Votes: 5 8.2%
  • 27°F - Just seafood for me!

    Votes: 5 8.2%
  • 40°F - I use it as a normal refridgerator (drinks, vegetables, fruits, leftovers and etc).

    Votes: 50 82.0%
  • 45-65°F - Why would anybody waste that precious refritgerated space on anything but Wine!??

    Votes: 1 1.6%

  • Total voters
    61

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This youtube review speaks really highly of the new cooler, especially in 100F Arizona weather. The better insulation seems to make a difference. Leaning very strongly towards it. Would love to get it as part of the groupbuy!

@11:40: 1.1kWh (subtract 30% for DC power) over 24 hours on Max, compressor ran 42% of the time. Held 5F in 100F Arizona weather.
@12:40 850Wh (subtract 30% for DC power) over 24 hours on Eco, compressor ran 41% of the time. Temp went up to 11F in 99F outside temp.
@ 15:14 330Wh AC (227Wh DC, 18.5 Ah @ 12V) and lowered temp from 39F to 30F in Eco mode, compressor ran 40% of the time, in 101F !!!

I don't know how this compares to the VLC65 but from the video, I gather the insulation on this cooler is a new development.
These results are good enough for me! Too bad we missed the $299 deal.

(Also amazing how much energy AC-to-DC conversion wastes)
 
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Thank you for the long and thoughtful response! You make some really good points:
* the manufacturers are just not giving us enough info to really compare consumption. We depend on YouTubers for that. I looked, but these fridges are just too new. There are some reviews (and they are good), but they are anecdotal with no real data to answer my question.
* Hadn't thought about the English issue. Since the US address for the US distributor is in Walnut Creek, I assumed they were fluent. But that may not be the case always. It was a lengthy and wordy request.

My current thoughts (not trying to be self-absorbed here -- just brain dumping in case someone else is also having similar doubts) are:
* In terms of value and the product itself, the IceCo is a no-brainer.
* The only real issue is what happens if one gets a lemon or the unit is damaged during shipping. For example, the equivalent Whynter has 19% 1-star reviews -- that's an extremely high risk for a product this expensive. I would never do that.
Overall, across all portable refrigerator brand names, there are lots of Amazon reviews reporting significant shipping damage. It's hard for me to believe, but that's what they are reporting.
The IceCo Amazon reviews have 71% 5-star ratings, which make me feel a lot better, but still there's enough reports of damaged units and worse, no response unless you complain on Amazon.

So what happens if I buy through their website instead of Amazon, and get a lemon. Am I stuck? At the very least, I'd have to pay for shipping, which would probably be a couple of hundred dollars combined both ways. Paying $644 instead of $839 at Amazon (+cover since that one is not the combo), is a great savings of $195+, let's say total savings of $250 with cover. But is it worth the risk?

The "safer" alternative is crazily more expensive -- Snomaster has a dealer in Austin, TX, and everything I found on the internet says they give amazing service. But the equivalent Snomaster LP66 (with cover) is $1350. That's double!

Thank you again for the detailed responses!

Hey @islandboi , you bring up some good legitimate concerns that I wanted to talk to everyone about at some point. I have a few errands to run then I will personally call IceCo regarding the official lemon policy for you. I know they have a 1 year warranty on parts, and 5 years on the compressor. They may be busy and doesn’t respond well to emails, but I don’t get the sense that they are the type of company to screw you in the cases of a lemon. Also, from my experience, if you contact the company directly in most cases, they will give you the same treatment Or better, than if you go through amazon. Their profit margin on amazon is lower in most cases, which gives them less room to work with you when something goes wrong. It’s also easier for them to deal with just you, rather than deal with you and deal with an amazon rep on top (many of whom have broken English to begin with, so broken English Amazon reps talking to broken English reps from IceCo... oh man). I work with a bunch of first-generation Vietnamese people on both customer and employee ends, and there is a reason we let the Vietnamese reps handle the Vietnamese customers, the Hispanic reps the Hispanic customers, and etc. It’s good to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to these things.

Also, the important part here is that if you need amazon to get a company to be fair in their warranty, then you are buying from the wrong companies. I take that chance for items I can afford to have break multiple times on amazon and still be cheaper than alternatives, and figure if I get 30 days out of it for the price, then I get my money’s worth. I wouldn’t take that risk on something that costs as much as a fridge though.

Also, Amazon’s return program is really only good for 30 days, and after that you will likely be dealing with the manufacturers anyways. I’ve had amazon reps just tell me to contact the manufacturer for warranty, after the 30 days. I doubt anyone will break their fridge within amazons no hassle return period (boys, please, we all know you have a big hammer, but don’t try to prove me wrong here). If they do it’s likely because it arrived with issues, and that’s something that can be easily dealt with. It’s the warranty claims that’s further down the road that is harder to deal with; by then it’s hard to figure out if shipping damage, user error, or product flaw/defect, and by then amazon really isn’t helping you anyways.

The best tip I can give you is to inspect the package immediately, while shipping company still there if possible. Any potential shipping damage needs to be reported ASAP to shipping company and here so I can inform IceCo/assist you. With my parents company, we reimburse for shipping damage with our money, then we get reimbursed by shipping company. I will find out IceCos official stance today.

Like I said earlier, when working with underdogs, without trust it could never work, and with trust established there is no need to worry about these things. For now, I just need for you guys to trust me that I won’t allow something like that to happen; where you get a lemon and it doesn’t get replaced or reimbursed. Just do me a favor, and inspect it well and document the receiving process just in case. We do that religiously here at my parents warehouse, in order to weed out shipping damage as well as user error. Just hand your daughter your phone and tell her dads about to become a famous YouTube Unboxer.

Also, last point I wanted to make regarding this is that you need to realize you are now buying as a part of a group. This is an example of how coming together and working together can benefit everyone involved; Not only do we get better prices, we also get treated as if we are buying as a company/business. With that comes higher standards of customer service.

I doubt any manufacturer will think twice about screwing anyone of us, because that will come at a potential cost of losing the business from all of us. Not saying IceCo is the kind of company to try, like I said I sensed that they are good people, but my point is you are not alone if ever you need help dealing with IceCo.

Dont think of yourself as just 1 customer that they can live without, think of yourself as part of a community, and if the members within that community collectively decided to take their business elsewhere because they don’t like how some fellow members are being treated Unfairly... well that’s going to be much harder for a small business to live without. I trust the smaller businesses like IceCo to take good care of our members and work hard for us, and with that comes certain things like honoring their warranty and getting things right on their end.
 
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I was close, but not quite right.

Their website shows address of
17583-17585 Railroad St.
City of Industry CA 91748
1-866-494-3797 Mon - Friday: 10AM - 6PM

and 3 distributors. One of them is:
Franklin Truck Parts
20350 E. Walnut Dr.
Walnut, CA

The other two are in Whittier, CA and Commerce, CA


Initially, I had a hard time finding the address. While searching, I found that though their Kickstarter project has closed, they still have a live IndiGoGo for their new cooler at $446. Won't ship till July though.

Now I'm back to the drawing board!

If I'm willing to wait, I can get two of these for $900, one as a freezer the other as a refrigerator. Some interesting tradeoffs:
* Obviously more than the $644 for the VL65, but one does get 42L * 2 = 84L compared to 65L for just the VL65
* Probably double the current consumption since running two compressors, although that will be reduced somewhat by what appears to be much better insulation. Can't even begin to guess by how much.
* Can use one of them for smaller day trips, even in a regular car. We have one sedan, one 4x4.
* Or use a luggage cart and roll it on the trail to a popular waterfall we go to a lot. Could never get the VL65 there! With a small lithium battery and/or a solar panel, the whole package probably will be lighter than all the ice we have to carry now.
* Safety margin: on the longer trips, if one of them breaks down, the other one can serve as a backup.
Similarly, if one of them gets damaged in shipment, still have the other one. Plus, cheaper to ship for service.
* The wife likes some of the cool colors.

@Dangcat Any way we could use the coupon on this IndieGogo cooler?

I will ask about the indigogo and Kickstarter projects, but generally speaking, those are already discounted so it may follow the law of “no stacking discounts”. I can’t say for sure though as we have seen that law broken here, since some discounts stacked to bring some of them past 25%.

Before you go too much further down that route, find out if it is the same compressor. I will ask as well. Reason I bring it up is that all Secop and Danfoss come with a 5 year warranty directly through the manufacturer of the compressor, and that one says 2 years. Also, you must have a big truck! Room for 2 is pretty boss, front fridge and back fridge!

Thanks again for the interest bud, as well as the very thoughtful questions. I invite everyone to do the same and really dig in, as I do not see everything, nor do I want to lead anyone down the wrong path. I rely on you guys to double check my research and to fill in my gaps!
 
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I only have the slide. When I bought it, it was WAY less than the ARB or Alucab (only options at that time). I got the largest slide from them to be future-proof. That didn't work out so well. My actual fridge is the 54Qt Costway which sounds like a cowbell when driving over any bump. Still works, but annoying as heck. Was hoping to replace with the 60 Iceco, but it's just a smidge too big for the slide I have so I'll have to replace that too which I can't do at this time. So, I'll miss out on this deal.

We are trying to establish a long term relationship with them bud. When you are ready, there will be another deal for you. My mom always tell me, when I’m sad about missing a deal (like the AC200 from Bluetti for 45% off for first 200 on indigogo right now... great deal for power bank), that “There will always be another deal”. We take care of the little guys, the little guys will take care of us. Dont worry brother and take your time.

My guess is about $40 bucks shipped through UPS, but that’s a wild guess. I’m spoiled when it comes to shipping rates because of my parents wholesale business.

anyways, Don’t use USPS for anything above 1 lbs. FedEx may give you better rates than UPS as well. Maybe it will fit one of the IceCo smaller models as well, and you can ask someone buying a JP or small VL if they want yours so that you can get the size you need. I might even be able to take it from you if it fits the VL45 and comparable price to the slide for the VL. I’m not picky so doesn’t have to be the exact matching slide as long as it works. Just a thought and ty for interest!
 
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They texted me saying that the Go series are really backordered, so there is no discount on the Go12 with cover. They also reiterated the fact that these are not “Off-Roading” models. I will either take it out or change it to match the website price, depending on what they want. The other 2 Go series are already priced according to the website so those should be okay. Will update the image when I get done with some errands.

Will fire up the stream in about 2 hours for the awning install, and from there move on to work on this group buy. Im still setting up and working out the kinks for my stream, but I do try to document as much of this process as I can. It’s part of my efforts to be as transparent as possible. It will be on twitch while I’m setting up and testing things, but eventually, thanks to OBS, I can broadcast to multiple platforms at the same time (including fb and YouTube). Then it will be easy for those of you with YouTube or FB accounts to be able to talk to me while I’m live, if you ever need quicker responses or have a question about what I’m doing. When the VL gets here I will do a live unboxing, that will give me a good chance to talk about damage inspection, as well as give you guys a real close look.
 
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This youtube review speaks really highly of the new cooler, especially in 100F Arizona weather. The better insulation seems to make a difference. Leaning very strongly towards it. Would love to get it as part of the groupbuy!

<snip>

I don't know how this compares to the VLC65 but from the video, I gather the insulation on this cooler is a new development.
^ I agree - the iCooler looks interesting, it is a shame we missed the deal, and I would love to know how this compares to their other lines of coolers on offer.

Lastly, if the GO series is NOT made to go off-road - presumably the rest are? I assume so, but please confirm that.
 
^ I agree - the iCooler looks interesting, it is a shame we missed the deal, and I would love to know how this compares to their other lines of coolers on offer.

Lastly, if the GO series is NOT made to go off-road - presumably the rest are? I assume so, but please confirm that.

I have been really busy the past few days and have not been able to get much done in terms of Making comparison charts and in terms of calling IceCo. I’m sure they are busy too with it being the 4th weekend, so I wanted to give them a little break before sending in the next wave of questions. In the mean time I will try to find out as much through my own research as I can, to spare them time where I can.

The VL 45 they sent me will be here on Tuesday, and I will do the unboxing live and take a really close look. I will go over some shipping/receiving practices, mainly the documentation process, as well as share my initial testing experiences. My review is a long-term one, and it will come in bits and pieces. I will be sure to test the off road worthiness in the early stages of reviewing.

I am hoping to get some work done today to help you guys learn more about these. One of the things I want to get done is compare their JP and VL line to the similar models from big names, with the information available to me.

I have not called IceCo about the lemon policy, as I have put a lot of thought into it and I don’t think that will be an issue. Just document you receiving it for me as best as you can, if you are concerned about that sort of thing. You can also wait until enough people get theirs and confirm that things arrived in proper condition, and then go from there as well. We have 8 days so we do have the luxury of taking our time and really make sure that we are being smart about this.

I for one, am Very excited to get my hands on mine, and am confident that you guys will be happy with Yours. With that said, I’m going to wait til the 4th rush ends, and call them early next week to inquire about adding the i cooler (and other crowdfunding projects) as an option for mudders, as well as inquire about whether or not we can get a good rate on them. No promises, but I will try.

Please let me know if anyone has any more questions. I have a lot of time to work with this weekend so I will do my best to answer what I can. Thanks again for the interest!
 
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One thing I wanted to do is test the power consumption, but with there being no industry standard set, I decided to use ARB as a base for comparison. This means that if ARB tests their fridges at 79 F, then I will turn on the heat in the car until internal temp is 79, then begin testing. Or the AC, depending on what time of the day and where I’m parked.

If anyone has advice/ideas on what I need to focus on during my initial review, or ideas on how best to test power consumption, then I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks again Mudders, you for your valuable time!
 
Stage almost set for some proper testing, thanks nature!

#arizonaweather

Don’t worry mud, I will give her a good cleaning today, and get rid of the TPMS sensor light. The red light is airbag from me removing 2nd row seats.
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Are you here in AZ? If so, I might be interested in seeing one of these in person.
 
Are you here in AZ? If so, I might be interested in seeing one of these in person.

I am in NC. I was just saying that #ArizonaWeather means 100 Degrees in the summer lol. I will give you a real close look when i get mine don't worry!
 
Ordered a VL45 and slider. Thanks for setting this up.
 
Ordered a VL45 and slider. Thanks for setting this up.

Really appreciate that brother, I was concerned for a bit that they sent me a sample unit that I didn’t deserve, but with each day I feel more and more like I earned it. I may not have much money but I still like to pay for things in my own way, and without you guys that would not be possible.

I get to give back to the community, help a small business, and get a good fridge for myself. That’s just naming a few, so right back at ya bro!
 
Sorry I’ve been busy guys. I updated the first post to show that the dual zones are backordered til mid July, as well as some of the small GO units.

The sample unit fridge is arriving tomorrow for me, and I will be available on my stream for at least a few hours tomorrow. Let’s look at it together!

During the stream/initial testing and unboxing, you can stop by to ask any questions in chat and have me test/look at anything you want.

If you have already ordered and have questions about your order, or any other questions related to this group buy, then it’s easiest to ask during the live stream; It is much easier for me to address it that way. Even if you have no questions, you are welcome to stop by and just hang out/take a peek/chat. I will setup my skype or google voice for the stream, and that will allow me to share my phone calls and texts to IceCo as well.

You can always ask on here as well, and I will usually respond within the hour. Thank you everyone and please let me know if you have any issues or concerns.

@Owyhee Jackass don’t worry brother I will be personally keeping an eye on all the dual zones and backorder, and I will call during the live stream to ask them to send out confirmation emails/receipts.

For the ones who ordered an in stock unit, let me know if you haven’t received a tracking number. Thanks again!
 
For those who want to join me for the Initial impressions and testing, as well as unboxing and receiving tomorrow, then consider making a twitch account so that you can join the chat. You don’t need an account to watch and see the chat, only to join in chat yourself. Just plug my twitch into your browser and you are good to go.

My twitch is twitch.tv/SharpeCat

It’s a work in progress, my stream, so please excuse the occasional hiccups. I am working hard to finish setting everything up so I can do live coverage of LCDC this month.

To do list for stream do I don’t forget:

- Ask about confirmation emails/receipts for backordered units.
- ask about indiegogo and Kickstarter products, namely about special mud member pricing.
- to be continued.

if you have questions for me to pass to IceCo, please leave it here today so I can ask during the live stream tomorrow.
 
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Well guys, remember when I said UPS has had a lot of delays lately?

When I checked last week, it said Tuesday. The rep from IceCo dropped it off at UPS himself on the first... it didn’t leave that location til yesterday...

I checked this morning and it isnt getting here til Friday now.

So no unboxing today, not til Friday, but I am still available to address any questions or concerns at this point. I will be live a little later and active on here all week, so feel free to reach out with questions or concerns.

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Ordered a 65D with slide. Seems like a deal .. accidentally ordered wrong slide
 
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