All, Does anyone know of a company that makes a fridge that is weather resistant? I’d like to mount a fridge in the bed of my FZJ75 which will be exposed to the elements. Looks like Indel Steel might work but they give no weather resistant specs.
Official FRIDGE Thread
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DrRock, my fridge sits in the back of my 40, no top, 24/7. I tried an Aspenora cheapo and the plastic lid warped in the sun. 100% needs to be all metal IMO. FWIW I have engels for over 20 years in the back of the 40, I would get an Engel and build a simple cover out of tinted polycarb to keep direct sun/water off it.
Thanks for the information, much appreciated!
I was stingy with the wallet and searched marketplace for awhile, picked up a 2022 engel mt45 for 700, like new, was a great deal IMO. If in the market I'd wait until Black Friday/Prime deals, I saved 400 on a 270 awning from Ironman on a black friday deal, there will be some decent fridges at discounts.
PSA - for those with a National Luna frig and using the cigarette lighter plug note that the wiring connection is only mechanical. Check the connection. That can be done by removing the cover held in place by two screws. The positive and negative wires are connected to the plug housing via two screws only. The wires should be secure but may not.
In my case, the positive wire went from a poor connection to a bad connection. Eventually the wire came out completely.
In my case, the positive wire went from a poor connection to a bad connection. Eventually the wire came out completely.
Hopefully, that was the worst thing that happened. It could have a started a fire. It might be worth purchasing a crimper and Anderson Power Poles to make a much more secure connection. You'll need a corresponding connection to the trucks wiring, but the rear cig lighter socket should be easily replaced with a panel mount.
I would like to do that but I am running my frig from a power pack which has a cigarette lighter plug. I know of a few people who have hacked into their power pack and replaced it a power pole connection.
It would be cool if any of the power packs had power pole connections.
And now that I type it… I wonder if any do.
I’ll google and report back.
Edit:
Weird, I found a power pole’ed wire on Amazon that had a picture of it attached directly to what looked like a Jackery power station. But when I go to the Jackery page, I don’t see any of their portable systems that have internal power pole connectors.
And I have Ecoflows and I don’t believe any of their systems have power poles.
It would be nice since I find the cigarette lighter connectors to be frail/faulty.
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Equipt has Anderson cords available for those who don’t want to build their own. Powerpole Extension Cable - https://www.equipt1.com/products/powerpole-extension-cable
I experienced poor performance with my NL fridge and traced the problem to a poor connection with the cig style plug. Since going to Anderson plugs I’ve had no issue. Did the same for my trailer.
Could you swap on of these into your power pack? Powerwerx PanelPole2, Panel Mount Housing for Two Powerpole Connectors with a Weather Tight Cover - https://powerwerx.com/panelpole-panel-mount-powerpole-black-dual
Or does your power pack have any suitable alternative receptacles that you could build a custom cord for?
I experienced poor performance with my NL fridge and traced the problem to a poor connection with the cig style plug. Since going to Anderson plugs I’ve had no issue. Did the same for my trailer.
Could you swap on of these into your power pack? Powerwerx PanelPole2, Panel Mount Housing for Two Powerpole Connectors with a Weather Tight Cover - https://powerwerx.com/panelpole-panel-mount-powerpole-black-dual
Or does your power pack have any suitable alternative receptacles that you could build a custom cord for?
Swapping out the cig outlet would be an undertaking, not to mention voiding the warranty. A few have done it on an EcoFlow. They 3d printed the surround for the power pole so it would fit exactly in the cig outlet (The PowerWerx is larger in diameter). My system is made by Enphase which is a bit of a brick s*** house in terms of engineering. As such, my guess is that the cig outlet is well integrated.
Do you have the Enphase 1500? That does look like a difficult system to mod. Doesn't look like there are any DC barrel jacks either. To fix the cig adapter cable that ships with the NL, can you solder the wires to the tabs instead of relying on the screw connection? What about fashioning a crimp connector to the cig adapter tabs?
Yes I have the Enphase 1500. I also have an Enphase home solar system as well, which is one reason I bought it.
I thought about soldering the connection and might do so if it become lose again. Part of the issue was that my cord was not assemble well, there was not enough exposed wire for the screw to clamp down into. The folks at Equipt were great they initially gave me a new cord, but I just fixed the one I had. As they said, there was human in the loop.
I have thought about jury rigging something but for now going to keep things "original" as I know their faults and can fix them. For this last trip I ended up using the AC for the frig. Not the most efficient but the weather being cool it did not run much and my beer was cold.
Bluesea has locking cig lighter and sockets, FYI.
Looking at it, wiring with heavier gauge wire would be a PITA. I was told National Luna designed and mfg their own because of the heavier gauge wire in their cable.
are you telling me that if you wired the Bluesea with your heavy gauge wire, it'd be a PITA? If that's your worry, I"d push it aside.