What other brand of Fridge/freezer is good quality other than ARB

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

80t0ylc said:
Do you want the best? Read the reviews (Expedition Portal had the most complete review) - National Luna superior in almost every category. Not a place to cut corners considering what risks you take transporting your food. Best mounting plate design. No bungies or nylon tie downs. Will be easier on your charging system, too. Did my research, saved up and haven't regretted going with NL. Got the Weekender 50L for myself - if you travel with a family - there's bigger models. :cheers:
Click to expand...
After I had bought my National Luna I was looking at mounting it maybe in the rear this time on a slider, but thought the only way was to use the straps like a lot of other fridge makers use.

Paul May at Equipt1 emailed me and asked if I had seen the base plate on his site, and I had not.
Needless to say I placed my order before bed on a Thursday, and I had it that Saturday morning when I was installing my fridge into my rig.
The locking base plate is very cool, and no need for straps.
I ended up putting the fridge in the same location though as my old school ARB was, right behind the drivers seat.
A few mods from 7-25-06

I had to have the wiring redone by Car Toys though a few weeks later, as the wiring I had run the ARB fridge on was not stout enough to get the compressor on the Luna to even turn over.
Car Toys put in 8 gauge amp wire from the aux battery back to the plug for the fridge.

You can see the 8 gauge blue and silver wire inside the side compartment here.
Funny how the old ARB fridge worked great though on the 16 or 16 gauge wire back there that feeds two 12v outlets I added eons ago.

14.jpg
 
You mean on the National Luna Weekender 50?
There is only one thermostat on it, so the freezer side says 18 degrees C cooler than the fridge side.
They do make a model that has two thermostats.


NL60 Twin

I think they have some other models that have the two controls.
 
Corey said:
You mean on the National Luna Weekender 50?
There is only one thermostat on it, so the freezer side says 18 degrees C cooler than the fridge side.
They do make a model that has two thermostats.


NL60 Twin

I think they have some other models that have the two controls.
Click to expand...

If I remember, the NL temp differential is 10 C, I set my fridge at 4 C and this keeps the freezer at -6 C.
 
Corey said:
......I had to have the wiring redone by Car Toys though a few weeks later, as the wiring I had run the ARB fridge on was not stout enough to get the compressor on the Luna to even turn over.
Car Toys put in 8 gauge amp wire from the aux battery back to the plug for the fridge.

You can see the 8 gauge blue and silver wire inside the side compartment here.
Funny how the old ARB fridge worked great though on the 16 or 16 gauge wire back there that feeds two 12v outlets I added eons ago.....
Click to expand...
It's possible the control board in the NL interpreted the voltage drop in the 16 ga wiring as a low battery. That setting can be changed to allow the fridge to run the battery down furthur. The default setting, IIRC is set to switch off or as you saw, not start until sufficient power is sensed. In other words, Your NL possibly saved you from a catastrophic fire. Now, that's value! :cheers:
 
cruiserpilot said:
If I remember, the NL temp differential is 10 C, I set my fridge at 4 C and this keeps the freezer at -6 C.
Click to expand...
I could have sworn it was 18, but I just looked it up in my manual, and it is 10.

80t0ylc said:
It's possible the control board in the NL interpreted the voltage drop in the 16 ga wiring as a low battery. That setting can be changed to allow the fridge to run the battery down furthur. The default setting, IIRC is set to switch off or as you saw, not start until sufficient power is sensed. In other words, Your NL possibly saved you from a catastrophic fire. Now, that's value! :cheers:
Click to expand...
Yep, I even had set the fridge on the lowest battery voltage setting just to see if the compressor would kick in, but no go.
I assumed it was the thinner wire.
The LEDs did light up though on the NL, and so did the LED light inside the fridge.
It sure purs though with the 8 gauge :D
 
I use 10 gauge tinned marine strand wire for the 10' extra wire I run to my NL fridge. 10' is
so I can put it on a table or out on the ground if I want and keep it running.
 
Corey said:
I could have sworn it was 18, but I just looked it up in my manual, and it is 10.


Yep, I even had set the fridge on the lowest battery voltage setting just to see if the compressor would kick in, but no go.
I assumed it was the thinner wire.
The LEDs did light up though on the NL, and so did the LED light inside the fridge.
It sure purs though with the 8 gauge :D
Click to expand...
Yep, those symptoms sure sound like it didn't like something in the 12v input. With the unit turned off and still connected to 12v, the inside LED will light and the LEDs will still light on the panel, normally. When wire gauge is not sufficient, the wire will act as a resistor, heat up and can cause a fire if left connected long enough. Initial start up of the compressor, any time it is plugged in to a power source is when it draws the most current. And that is what too small of wire gauge can't handle. Yeah, the LEDs on panel probably showed a healthy battery, because the voltage sensed was with in limits. But if the compressor can't get the current it needs, it won't start or run. Now why the ARB would run on the smaller gauge is puzzling, but I bet those 16 ga wires were pretty warm, if not hot to the touch.

I ran 8 gauge, on my setup, from aux battery to a terminal strip inside the panel door above the passenger side rear wheel well of my 80. The 12v connector I installed for my NL connects to this with 10 gauge wires along with a cigarette lighter style 12v connector (16 gauge) for a cell phone charger or other misc devices.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom