While we travelled all over Central America (pretty dusty at times) we lived out of a propane fridge for a year. It worked GREAT. I'm not sure which Dometic fridge we have- I think it is around 35 liters or so. The angle issue is there-- but then, we had a rooftop tent and didn't like to sleep at an angle anyway, so it was no big deal. Venting could be an issue, but to be honest, my 60 isn't particularly airtight anyway, what with rust and dents and such...
But we would just leave all the windows cracked and hope for the best.
Or we would put the fridge on the ground under the tailgate to get it some shade and also keep it out of the way.
On 12v operation it was pretty good, but not fantastic. of course, a lot of the time the interior temps of the car were pretty darn hot- especially when parked, so the fridge can't be expected to work miracles. On 110 operation it works very well and we could make ice in it (though we rarely did).
On propane it worked great as well. A 1lb bottle lasts days. Especially if you are only running the fridge on propane while not driving. Many of the units even have a little compartment where you can put the 1lb bottle. Very handy.
Strong too-- I stood on ours plenty of times to get at stuff while in Hotel rooms or whatnot. And the plastic construction doesn't get hot in the sun as much as a steel one would- good for not burning your tush.
A few things that I would do differently with that fridge are:
1) a lid latch is a must. The lid doesn't latch down securely, so when you hit bumps it bumps open. I don't care how good your fridge is- when the lid is open it gets warm in there.
2) a small 12v fan (computer fan?) and/or a small 110v fan might really help keep the whole cooling circuit working better when plugged in. If you had a small solar panel you could probably run the 12v fan when working on propane as well. Not sure how to wire it up, but I think it could help as we definately noticed that the back of the unit kicks off a fairly large amount of heat. I've got to assume that removing some of that heat would make it cool better.
3) Venting. As I said, we didn't have any problems with ours but I would feel safer and happier with better venting. Especially in case of a propane leak. We did have our fridge off of the bottom of the vehicle, which should help as propane is heavier than air. But more venting can't be bad
4) Light. Ok. I know. Pretty lazy. But an LED installed in the lid would be handy. Not just at night. digging through a shaded fridge after walking around in the sunlight can be a challenge. You don't want that lid open any longer than minimum.
5) Insulating bag. Better yet- two or three bags that fit inside and create compartments. Would make for less heat gain when you open the lid, and keep spills from getting everywhere.
Just my experiences. Your mileage might vary.
But we would just leave all the windows cracked and hope for the best.
Or we would put the fridge on the ground under the tailgate to get it some shade and also keep it out of the way.
On 12v operation it was pretty good, but not fantastic. of course, a lot of the time the interior temps of the car were pretty darn hot- especially when parked, so the fridge can't be expected to work miracles. On 110 operation it works very well and we could make ice in it (though we rarely did).
On propane it worked great as well. A 1lb bottle lasts days. Especially if you are only running the fridge on propane while not driving. Many of the units even have a little compartment where you can put the 1lb bottle. Very handy.
Strong too-- I stood on ours plenty of times to get at stuff while in Hotel rooms or whatnot. And the plastic construction doesn't get hot in the sun as much as a steel one would- good for not burning your tush.
A few things that I would do differently with that fridge are:
1) a lid latch is a must. The lid doesn't latch down securely, so when you hit bumps it bumps open. I don't care how good your fridge is- when the lid is open it gets warm in there.
2) a small 12v fan (computer fan?) and/or a small 110v fan might really help keep the whole cooling circuit working better when plugged in. If you had a small solar panel you could probably run the 12v fan when working on propane as well. Not sure how to wire it up, but I think it could help as we definately noticed that the back of the unit kicks off a fairly large amount of heat. I've got to assume that removing some of that heat would make it cool better.
3) Venting. As I said, we didn't have any problems with ours but I would feel safer and happier with better venting. Especially in case of a propane leak. We did have our fridge off of the bottom of the vehicle, which should help as propane is heavier than air. But more venting can't be bad
4) Light. Ok. I know. Pretty lazy. But an LED installed in the lid would be handy. Not just at night. digging through a shaded fridge after walking around in the sunlight can be a challenge. You don't want that lid open any longer than minimum.
5) Insulating bag. Better yet- two or three bags that fit inside and create compartments. Would make for less heat gain when you open the lid, and keep spills from getting everywhere.
Just my experiences. Your mileage might vary.