Real Life review of Portable refrigerator....

[RoyB]

Last winter I purchased an ICECO 12v refrigerator for overlanding in my newly built RTT trailer. You can read about it here ICECO VL45 Portable Refrigerator/Freezer Review | RVB Precision

But with CoVid I've not used it yet. A whole bunch of off road trips got cancelled.

This past week I was able to give it a real workout. On Tuesday AM I hooked it up to a Duracell Group 31, 110Ah AGM battery to chill it to add food on Tuesday evening.

By 3pm it was at 39 degrees and I loaded it up and headed out to northern New Hampshire.

Although I have a 120w portable solar suitcase panel and a Renogy DC to DC charger in the truck, I did not deploy either. All I had charging the battery is 20w of solar through an inexpensive charge controller that was installed simply to keep the aux battery in the truck charged.

I returned Sunday night but left the refrigerator running with food in it as I was to exhausted to unload.

So, from Tuesday AM until Monday AM the refrigerator ran on one group 31, AGM battery with 20w of solar charging. BTW, these panels are flat on the roof of my truck cap. Not angled to follow the sun. All I did was try to keep the truck in the sun throughout the day. The refrigerator is on a slide in the bed of the truck. The cap on my truck is black and gets crazy hot inside. It has no windows that open so I left the rear lid cracked a little bit.

The temperatures in NH during the day were in the upper 80s to low 90s.....at night it was from 54 degrees to 68 degrees.

Weather conditions were mostly sunny but Saturday and Sunday were overcast with periods of rain.

The battery never went below 12.5V !!!!

Totally blew my mind how well this setup worked. Man, does this beat trying to camp in the summer with coolers and ice!

 

[RoyB]

BTW...That Duracell battery is available from Sam's Club for $179.......Can't beat that with a stick! I have two of them in my toy hauler for just over 5 years and when I tested them under load for my electric conversion garden tractor, they tested like new! I never let them get below 65% and maintain them with a high quality solar system...Solar Install-Grey Wolf 19RR Toy Hauler | RVB Precision

 

[Chevyman29]

Thanks for this right up. I'm trying to make up my mind on what battery to get for a second battery on my Tahoe . I will definitely be checking out the Duracell. Thanks

 

[Drmiller100]

I have the same fridge for the past month. I have it hooked up to an 80 ah battery charged by my truck.
Great fridge. The cigarette lighter connection is horrible

 

[RoyB]

Agreed on lighter connection. I replaced it with a Anderson connector. More bettah!

 

[scott17818]

I have been looking to get a Auxillary battery, and the Iceco VL60D.. ($795 with the insulated cover), and possibly a slide out to fit in the bed of my Tacoma.. from looking at the pros and cons.. there seems to be less cons as I go.. no ice, no soggy food, I can make/keep ice in a baggie on the freezer side.. or make it one big fridge... I looked at other manufacturers and the only one that came close was the Dometic CFX75DZ but it adds another $500 to the pricetag, and only real benefit is the Wifi app, and slightly shorter frame (to fit under my tonneau cover). I plan to do some long distance trips in a few months. and from what I understand with the Iceco VL60D it uses a bit more juice than the OP's fridge unit. but with a Redarc BCDC 1225 charger (25A), and eventually a cascadia VSS solar panel (85w) I should be all set. the AUX battery tray I have been looking www.offgridengineering.com recommends a 31, or 34R battery. I like the X2/Northstar batteries, but can't realy see dropping $400 on a battery..