Help me decide Dometic or Snomaster fridge?

[Willp_07]

Im debating between the Dometic CFX75DZW ($1012 shipped) and the Snomaster EX67 Dual Zone ($1500 shipped) right now. Hard to decide, but man the Snomaster is $500 or 50% more shipped for the similiar size. So far after reviewing specs and speaking with Todd at Snomaster the major differences are insulation thickness 50mm vs 70mm, amp draw is a little less on Snomaster, and per Todd the cooling coils on the Sno are surrounding the whole compartment vs a bottom cooling plate on the Dometic, so no hot and cold sides.

Ive also seen some videos of the Dometic rep at the last overland expo talking abotu amp draw and also having variable speed compressors which draw less than the Sno, so hard to figure out what is accurate.

Still having a hard time justifying the extra cost of the Sno for less size. I already have funds for the Dometic but would have to put off and save a bit for the Sno.

Opinions of owners?

Links to products:
https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/products/food-and-beverage/coolers/electric-coolers/dometic-cfx-75dzw-_-139576

https://www.snomasterusa.com/product/expedition-series-bdc-82d-stainless-steel-acdc-fridgefreezer/

 

[1Louder]

I have the Dometic. You can search for my notes on it. IF you are going to run a freezer section you will pull a lot of AMPS. So you better have solar setup to keep your battery happy. The same would apply to the Snomaster. I have tested one for a week but never owned one. When tested it was indoors. SnoMaster includes a few things that are add-ons for the Dometic like a cover. Both are very large so you have to make sure you have room for the fridge and space around them for airflow.

Dometic states: Energy Consumption 12VDC (Ambient@90F, Internal@41F) 1.30 Ah/h
Note the internal temp referenced. That is pretty warm. A house fridge is at 40f and cooling works a lot different on all of these units. Typically you run them cooler than a traditional home fridge. Any laser temp gun can give you accurate temps of your food vs what the fridge may show. I don't have my running but I also don't think it is only a cooling plate on the Dometic. I could tell you in a few days when I turn mine back on.

You are going to be more like 2 Ah/h running colder temps. I need to update my test #'s in about a month when my garage isn't 100f+ inside. Then I will run a side at 36f and the other at 26f. If you want ice cream the freezer side needs to be all the way down to 0. Again much more amp draw. Bottomline freezing takes a lot of power. Too many other variables with air temp around the unit, products within to give any exact number on power consumption.

The Dometic compressor switches from side to side to keep things cold. So side A will run and then B and the A, etc as required. I am not sure how the SnoMaster handles that. I think the SnoMaster has a much longer warranty. I want to say the Dometic is 1-yr vs 5.

They are both good units but one needs to have sufficient power for them.

 

[Willp_07]

Thank you very much for such an informative response. This is the kind of info I was looking for. I actually read your article during my initial research on these. Good to see you've been running yours for several months too without issue.

This will live in the back of my 6ft bed Tacoma inside a shell, on a bed slide so easy access and out of the sun. I currently have a single Odyssey battery and just purchased a Renogy 100w briefcase solar panel with controller for when i'm parked and camping. I may eventually go dual battery but not sure it will ever be necessary.

I think I will order the Dometic and give it a shot, worse case scenario I have Amazons 30 day if it doesn't perform for me.

 

[MOAK]

Interesting,, If were looking for a full size fridge/freezer ( I already have the Engle 14 ) I'd be debating either Engle of ARB only because of the lower amp draw. The Dometic would be my choice way over the sno-master because of price .. good luck, let us know what you think of your new dometic..

 

[1Louder]

Interesting,, If were looking for a full size fridge/freezer ( I already have the Engle 14 ) I'd be debating either Engle of ARB only because of the lower amp draw. The Dometic would be my choice way over the sno-master because of price .. good luck, let us know what you think of your new dometic..

Dometic makes the ARB's. Not sure if the compressor is different or not. Folks just need to understand that power consumption has a lot of variables. Like any spec for any device, think laptop battery life or cell phone, what manufacturers list is always based on some optimal condition that the user will likely never be in.

The best plan is to have a good battery, at least 95AH, and good solar to keep it topped up. Those of us in the Southwest really only need a 100 watt panel. Folks in less sunny places may need more.

 

[v_man]

I have a Dometic 50 qt. and a dual battery in my 100 series. When the Dometic is not in the car, it's running off 110v in the garage as our beer fridge. It's essentially been running for a year and a half straight, no issues at all.

 

[Blacksmith Scott]

I have the CFX65W. I have only used it for a week on an putting. It performed flawlessly. I am sure there are cooling coils in the walls, not just a bottom plate. You can see them and feel them very quickly after turning it on. I was running about 14 hours a day of a Kirkland deep cycle and the rest of the time off of the Taco battery while out and about. Thedeep cycle would drop from 12.9 to 12.3 in 14 hours. As mentioned in an above post, there are too many variables to say a battery will last “x” long. I will say I was surprised at how little power it was drawing...full of food and drinks.
For the power I ran an 18 gauge wire harness back to the bed...an hour later I ripped it out and ran a 12 gauge harness back. Live and learn!
I thought the wifi thing was a little silly, but when we were on the road on a hot day driving to our destination for 6 hours it was comforting being able to monitor the fridge temp without stopping and going to the back.
A friend of mine has an older Dometic and loves it too. It’s a big commitment, but I cannot imagine going back to floating bacon and eggs in an ice chest!

 

[1Louder]

I will 2nd bad info on cooling plate only. Coils everywhere. Only difference the CFX DZ-65 does not have 2 unique zones. You set the one side to a freezer temp and the smaller side is fridge based on a wall. Older version you could remove the wall but the new ones you can’t. That’s why we ended up with the 75.

 

[DometicOffroad]

If you're looking into our fridges head on over to https://shop.dometic.com/store/dometic/en_US/home/ThemeID.4841888200! We'd love to have you as a costumer!

 

[Willp_07]

Got the cfx75dzw 2 weeks ago. Been running without issue since I received it. It does infact have cooling coils on all the walls in each compartment. Amp draw is very low even in 85-95 degree weather here in CA.

Moak, per specs and one comparison review I read amp draw is actually lower with the Dometic.

Also was nice to find out you can in fact turn each compartment on or off easily if not needing the whole capacity.

 

[James Deaton]

I work at an RV rental, repair, and parts shop, and we are a Dometic dealer. The important thing to remember (in my opinion) is that everything eventually breaks. Dometic has been in business for decades, and they sell parts for their fridges. This is important to me for longevity...

Not bad mouthing anyone else, but they are a proven name.

James

 

[SubeeBen]

Just my 2 cents but I have a Norcold in my T@G teardrop trailer that works amazing. No experience with the others & I do not know cost comparison just know it works very good

 

[James Deaton]

Norcold is also a well respected brand in the RV world... plenty of parts available.

James