Influencer II
I use a cheap Coleman cooler for now, after i get my dual battery installed i will probably go with one of the ARB fridge/freezers. Heard really good things about them and have always been a fan of the ARB products.
What are you using for a fridge/freezer.
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
Great thread!
Fridge/freezers are probably the best investment you can make to your Overland rig. I would say bite the bullet and get one when you can. The price is steep but it pays itself off from the get go, super convenient, super efficient on space and electric. Don't worry about battery drain because the newer ones don't need much (if running in fridge mode). We live in a desert country so it has to work harder to cool when the car is switched off, but in north america/Europe the lower outside temperature fall-spring would mean less strain.
Get a good brand, we are running Waeco 65L and our other car the 50L. A friend has been running a 40L waeco for 10 years with no problems. ARB and Engel are great but we couldn't source them out here.
Good luck with your build!
Fridge/freezers are probably the best investment you can make to your Overland rig. I would say bite the bullet and get one when you can. The price is steep but it pays itself off from the get go, super convenient, super efficient on space and electric. Don't worry about battery drain because the newer ones don't need much (if running in fridge mode). We live in a desert country so it has to work harder to cool when the car is switched off, but in north america/Europe the lower outside temperature fall-spring would mean less strain.
Get a good brand, we are running Waeco 65L and our other car the 50L. A friend has been running a 40L waeco for 10 years with no problems. ARB and Engel are great but we couldn't source them out here.
Good luck with your build!
Influencer II
I am really thinking i need this, haha. Would work great for us, i finally have my wife talked into camping/overlanding with me!
http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Fridge-Freezer-50-Qt-10800472-P3626.aspx
http://store.arbusa.com/ARB-Fridge-Freezer-50-Qt-10800472-P3626.aspx
Pathfinder II
@jordanbrooks Do it! You won't regret it, I promise. Unless you're planning on running a lot of other accessories, I wouldn't worry too much about the dual batteries for running this unit. Like I said in my earlier post, I've run this fridge for a couple of days without cranking up the 4Runner and it was still maintaining temp (Even in the NM heat!). I've pushed the built-in battery protection to the limit several times and never had a failure to start.
Influencer II
Well, i have a ViAir compressor i need to get a tank and mount (Right now it is just a tire inflator) and I have TONS of LED's, granted they don't draw much. I am just paranoid about running all these accessories off my main battery thats why i am going to do duals.
Pathfinder II
I hear ya. I've got a Luna dual battery kit I was going to install on the FJ45 but it will probably end up in the 4Runner instead since it's the family rig these days. I really want some LEDs on go on the roof rack next.
Influencer II
I'm having issues with the LED's iv'e got on my rack creating a TON of glare off the hood. When i use them i can barely see. I tend to use the 20" Light bar mounted behind my grille more.
I also run an ARB 50. Used it a few time for a few days in Moab this year. Worth its weight in gold. a few things.
The Cig lighter adapter..... Mine was hit or miss. There is a decent voltage drop when running thru cig lighter adapter. Sometimes the compressor would kick on and it would fault with the "no power light indication, fault light flash @1hz" looking in the manual, it said it was the "low voltage threshold reached" I measured the voltage and it was above the med cut off, that's when I had to make a test harness and measure voltage when the compressor kicked on, I seen that when the load was applied the voltage lagged and did drop below the threshold. After looking at it, I found it I turned the cig adapter approx. 45 degrees, I was able to decrease the amount of voltage loss by almost 0.7V.
Of course I had already had my fridge in the truck for a week prior to my trip to Moab, so I was worried since I found this issue the day I was leaving.... Just my luck. After doing this I was able to make it thru the trip with no issues, 5 days, fridge in truck the entire time while I was out rafting. Every night, everything was nice and cold and it was WAY better than a dam cooler. The guys on the trip with me asked me to hold some stuff for them as I emptied it thru meals.
I hardwiring a 10G wire from the battery fed blue sea fuse box, to pass rear wheel area (about where the seat back retention bracket is) then using a suitable size Anderson power pole set will make a QD there for fridge, and modify the 12VDC power cable accordingly. Overall I am pleased with the fridge and its performance, but I was a little worried about this issue the day of the dam trip. I have a engineering background and had the test equipment (DVM, current clamp, Sorenson 33A power supply, and a box of cables/ adapters to rig up a test cable, etc) to debug what was going on, otherwise I think I would have been screwed. Also found that one of the 2 ground springs on the ARB cig adapter was open, so everything relied on the one spring/ loop deal to provide return contact.
The 50QT (or same footprint shorter, 37qt version) fits like a glove on the 40 side fold down in the X. I used the ARB hold down brackets but the straps were to short so I bought some 6ft tie down straps from Raingler nets that fit the ARB brackets perfect and just put the fridge on that. The tiedowns are going to the ARB brackets where the seat is tied into the body of the truck under the rear seat. The 2 holes on the front bracket were perfectly sized to accommodate the hardware and positioning. The rear brackets I had to drill 2 holes in the seat bracket, but it was not hard. Ill take photos of this later. All in all, its a great setup.
Here is what I have uploaded already, but you can see the fridge on the 40 folded down. the seat bottom can be folded forward like this so you have more room when doing shuttle service on the river OR remove it like I did and use that area to hold more cargo (quick access snacks, water bottles, my kit bag, and stuff you get to while driving.
And incase you are wondering what 50QT will hold....
On my week long trip to Moab this summer. Started with a half gallon of moo juice, 52oz bottle of boathouse farms green goodness, 59oz bottle of simply orange juice, 8 chobani yougurts, 3 packs of sliced deli cheese, 2 packs of sliced deli meats, 5 pks of sausages, a dozen eggs, a small nalgeen filled with real maple syrup (is there anything better than that), 5 apples, a Quart ziplock filled with chocolate bars, a 1gallon ziplock filled with chopped onions and peppers for the dutch oven meal I was to prepare (hate chopping in the field if I can prevent it), a frozen bag each of meatballs, steam veggies, and steam seasoned potatoes wedges (tinfoil dinner cheating, since already cooked it heats up fast on the fire and the taters are actually cooked when everything else is hot), a 6 pack of sprite and coke, 8 frozen waterbottles, and a few little things here and there.
After the tin foil dinners I swung by city market and picked up 11lbs (yes eleven) of boneless pork country ribs for the Dutch oven dinner, and a half gallon of ice cream (place ice cream in the bottom rear most section, meat in the front on the bottom, pile everything else on top, and drop temp to 15*, it will keep the ice cream frozen and meat will not freeze after 24 hours (it will firm up but not freeze in my case).... Temps were 90s in the day. I did place a pillow on top of the fridge and rested it against the arm rest on the rear seat to prevent direct sunlight on the fridge, but be careful not to block vents in the bottom rear of the cabinet.
Honestly, after I have lived out of a backpack camping for 2 weeks straight before, I know I could go a month with this fridge solo if I had too and have gourmet meals. Even the girl said "this makes camping nicer, but I wish we were in a hotel...." she did not like tent camping in Moab while it was hot.
Fridge just sitting on seat getting an idea on mounting
ARB 12v harness modified with Anderson power poles
Anderson powerpole in Rig for power
Rigging to secure fridge to vehicle, rear is the same.
Fridge open showing accessible room, the lid can pop off if needed but I can get a gallon jug out with no issues.
And still have room for a few reusable grocery bags between the fridge and front seat that the rear passenger can still access.
The Cig lighter adapter..... Mine was hit or miss. There is a decent voltage drop when running thru cig lighter adapter. Sometimes the compressor would kick on and it would fault with the "no power light indication, fault light flash @1hz" looking in the manual, it said it was the "low voltage threshold reached" I measured the voltage and it was above the med cut off, that's when I had to make a test harness and measure voltage when the compressor kicked on, I seen that when the load was applied the voltage lagged and did drop below the threshold. After looking at it, I found it I turned the cig adapter approx. 45 degrees, I was able to decrease the amount of voltage loss by almost 0.7V.
Of course I had already had my fridge in the truck for a week prior to my trip to Moab, so I was worried since I found this issue the day I was leaving.... Just my luck. After doing this I was able to make it thru the trip with no issues, 5 days, fridge in truck the entire time while I was out rafting. Every night, everything was nice and cold and it was WAY better than a dam cooler. The guys on the trip with me asked me to hold some stuff for them as I emptied it thru meals.
I hardwiring a 10G wire from the battery fed blue sea fuse box, to pass rear wheel area (about where the seat back retention bracket is) then using a suitable size Anderson power pole set will make a QD there for fridge, and modify the 12VDC power cable accordingly. Overall I am pleased with the fridge and its performance, but I was a little worried about this issue the day of the dam trip. I have a engineering background and had the test equipment (DVM, current clamp, Sorenson 33A power supply, and a box of cables/ adapters to rig up a test cable, etc) to debug what was going on, otherwise I think I would have been screwed. Also found that one of the 2 ground springs on the ARB cig adapter was open, so everything relied on the one spring/ loop deal to provide return contact.
The 50QT (or same footprint shorter, 37qt version) fits like a glove on the 40 side fold down in the X. I used the ARB hold down brackets but the straps were to short so I bought some 6ft tie down straps from Raingler nets that fit the ARB brackets perfect and just put the fridge on that. The tiedowns are going to the ARB brackets where the seat is tied into the body of the truck under the rear seat. The 2 holes on the front bracket were perfectly sized to accommodate the hardware and positioning. The rear brackets I had to drill 2 holes in the seat bracket, but it was not hard. Ill take photos of this later. All in all, its a great setup.
Here is what I have uploaded already, but you can see the fridge on the 40 folded down. the seat bottom can be folded forward like this so you have more room when doing shuttle service on the river OR remove it like I did and use that area to hold more cargo (quick access snacks, water bottles, my kit bag, and stuff you get to while driving.
And incase you are wondering what 50QT will hold....
On my week long trip to Moab this summer. Started with a half gallon of moo juice, 52oz bottle of boathouse farms green goodness, 59oz bottle of simply orange juice, 8 chobani yougurts, 3 packs of sliced deli cheese, 2 packs of sliced deli meats, 5 pks of sausages, a dozen eggs, a small nalgeen filled with real maple syrup (is there anything better than that), 5 apples, a Quart ziplock filled with chocolate bars, a 1gallon ziplock filled with chopped onions and peppers for the dutch oven meal I was to prepare (hate chopping in the field if I can prevent it), a frozen bag each of meatballs, steam veggies, and steam seasoned potatoes wedges (tinfoil dinner cheating, since already cooked it heats up fast on the fire and the taters are actually cooked when everything else is hot), a 6 pack of sprite and coke, 8 frozen waterbottles, and a few little things here and there.
After the tin foil dinners I swung by city market and picked up 11lbs (yes eleven) of boneless pork country ribs for the Dutch oven dinner, and a half gallon of ice cream (place ice cream in the bottom rear most section, meat in the front on the bottom, pile everything else on top, and drop temp to 15*, it will keep the ice cream frozen and meat will not freeze after 24 hours (it will firm up but not freeze in my case).... Temps were 90s in the day. I did place a pillow on top of the fridge and rested it against the arm rest on the rear seat to prevent direct sunlight on the fridge, but be careful not to block vents in the bottom rear of the cabinet.
Honestly, after I have lived out of a backpack camping for 2 weeks straight before, I know I could go a month with this fridge solo if I had too and have gourmet meals. Even the girl said "this makes camping nicer, but I wish we were in a hotel...." she did not like tent camping in Moab while it was hot.
Fridge just sitting on seat getting an idea on mounting
ARB 12v harness modified with Anderson power poles
Anderson powerpole in Rig for power
Rigging to secure fridge to vehicle, rear is the same.
Fridge open showing accessible room, the lid can pop off if needed but I can get a gallon jug out with no issues.
And still have room for a few reusable grocery bags between the fridge and front seat that the rear passenger can still access.
Enthusiast III
Overland Bounders, I'm not sure if this is the *best* place for this info but it certainly feels welcome here.
Last Christas Santa elevated me to the ranks of ARB Fridge owner and I have enjoyed it on various trips (on and off road, land and sea) but we did have a bit of a "get to know each other" phase that I thought I'd share here too. For those who have seen this drivel over on Expo and the two of you that might have seen it reposted on NCLR... mark as read and move on...
For those of you that have an ARB fridge and look at it like, "It reads one temp but my beer pallet says otherwise, this might be of use.
I followed every direction I could find about letting the fridge cool and it's about the temp of the contents, not the temp of the air in the fridge etc.. to that end I felt something was off. So I went looking for other folks with the problem, if there was such a thing as "Calibration" for these or what could be done...
Here is what I learned:
My Part: Before thinking the temps are way off, there is a right way to measure. Put some items in the fridge and let settle. For me it was two 1 gallon milk jugs 7/8 full of water in each compartment, a couple of aluminum water bottles, a soda can or two, and a few oranges in the upper dairy section. The factory measures the temp in the center of the floor with a static remote thermometer resting on top of/above the internal basket at this center location. After letting the temps settle (overnight) I used both a static and infrared thermometer to test the temp of the water in the jogs/bottles and the temp differential was now in the +/- 10 degree range.
So I reached out to ARB via 800# (fyi, not manned the day after Christmas... who knew?)
When I finally got through to ARB, a tech (Eric) told me I need to calibrate the thermostat (as suspected) and walked me through the calibration process.
It is as follows:
1) Press and hold BOTH + and - temp setting buttons and HOLD for about 5 secs until AOF appears on the display, then release
2) Using the + or - button, add or remove degrees to the setting. For me I was running warmer so I added (+) degrees to the reading so it would match the internal temp.
3) After adding degrees, release the button and the fridge will blink to acknowledge/accept the new setting and begin to adjust accordingly
What I learned from Eric is that these fridges are sometimes out of calibration and this is how to do it; there is an 8º range of adjustment (now mine is running at +6 of 8) and calibration has no effect on how cold the fridge will get - meaning it won't now reach a max cold of 6º warmer than a differently calibrated fridge. Also learned the factory temp reading scenario above.
Also of note, the "CH1,2,3,4" settings are for a (as of this writing) yet to be released Wireless Monitoring System. [edit: now available HERE] If you noticed the small rubber plug on the back by the power connectors, this is part of that. Think of it as ODBII as there will be a small transmitter that plugs into the rear connector and you can change channels as not to interfere with other fridges within range. There may also be other monitoring type accessories available as well..
I had some assembly QA concerns and he was kind enough to address those apologetically and added "they come from the manufacturer etc.." So I asked who the manufacturer was and he mentioned they are built for ARB by eCamping (?)
So there ya go, if your OCD is like mine, especially on new toys, and you think you might be off by a bit, here is the way to get them back in sync.
Last Christas Santa elevated me to the ranks of ARB Fridge owner and I have enjoyed it on various trips (on and off road, land and sea) but we did have a bit of a "get to know each other" phase that I thought I'd share here too. For those who have seen this drivel over on Expo and the two of you that might have seen it reposted on NCLR... mark as read and move on...
For those of you that have an ARB fridge and look at it like, "It reads one temp but my beer pallet says otherwise, this might be of use.
I followed every direction I could find about letting the fridge cool and it's about the temp of the contents, not the temp of the air in the fridge etc.. to that end I felt something was off. So I went looking for other folks with the problem, if there was such a thing as "Calibration" for these or what could be done...
Here is what I learned:
My Part: Before thinking the temps are way off, there is a right way to measure. Put some items in the fridge and let settle. For me it was two 1 gallon milk jugs 7/8 full of water in each compartment, a couple of aluminum water bottles, a soda can or two, and a few oranges in the upper dairy section. The factory measures the temp in the center of the floor with a static remote thermometer resting on top of/above the internal basket at this center location. After letting the temps settle (overnight) I used both a static and infrared thermometer to test the temp of the water in the jogs/bottles and the temp differential was now in the +/- 10 degree range.
So I reached out to ARB via 800# (fyi, not manned the day after Christmas... who knew?)
When I finally got through to ARB, a tech (Eric) told me I need to calibrate the thermostat (as suspected) and walked me through the calibration process.
It is as follows:
1) Press and hold BOTH + and - temp setting buttons and HOLD for about 5 secs until AOF appears on the display, then release
2) Using the + or - button, add or remove degrees to the setting. For me I was running warmer so I added (+) degrees to the reading so it would match the internal temp.
3) After adding degrees, release the button and the fridge will blink to acknowledge/accept the new setting and begin to adjust accordingly
What I learned from Eric is that these fridges are sometimes out of calibration and this is how to do it; there is an 8º range of adjustment (now mine is running at +6 of 8) and calibration has no effect on how cold the fridge will get - meaning it won't now reach a max cold of 6º warmer than a differently calibrated fridge. Also learned the factory temp reading scenario above.
Also of note, the "CH1,2,3,4" settings are for a (as of this writing) yet to be released Wireless Monitoring System. [edit: now available HERE] If you noticed the small rubber plug on the back by the power connectors, this is part of that. Think of it as ODBII as there will be a small transmitter that plugs into the rear connector and you can change channels as not to interfere with other fridges within range. There may also be other monitoring type accessories available as well..
I had some assembly QA concerns and he was kind enough to address those apologetically and added "they come from the manufacturer etc.." So I asked who the manufacturer was and he mentioned they are built for ARB by eCamping (?)
So there ya go, if your OCD is like mine, especially on new toys, and you think you might be off by a bit, here is the way to get them back in sync.
I researched for some time before I settled on the Dometic CF50. Have had a few Dometic 3 way fridges in campers that worked great so I knew they were reliable. I also found that either the Dometic is made by Waeco or the other way around and Waeco's are very popular in Australia. I also came across a review where they tested 12 of the most popular fridge/freezers with the ARB coming in first and Dometic/Waeco coming in a very close second. Finally it came down to two factors for me, the Dometic was significantly cheaper than the ARB and it was the largest that would fit in the cargo area without folding down a portion of the back seat, the ARB was just a couple of inches to long for where I needed it. Have had it a year now and been very happy with it.
This is the route that I am going. Just need to find a set of tie downs that I can mount to the fold out floor in the back of the Power Wagon.
I've been using my edgestar 43qt for three years now with great results. It was half the price of the big brands and works just as good.
http://www.compactappliance.com/FP430-Compact-EdgeStar-Portable-Refrigerator-Freezer/FP430.html
http://www.compactappliance.com/FP430-Compact-EdgeStar-Portable-Refrigerator-Freezer/FP430.html
Influencer II
Off-Road Ranger I
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0787
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I use to run Weaco cf50 was a good unit but found it really liked to use power these days im running a 40 and 60ltr Engel awsome units
Last edited:
I opted for the Luna 50 Weekender because I want both fridge and freezer capability. My rig has a 250 amp alternator and an inverter, I am in the process of installing a Luna dual battery setup. My plan is to construct a removable unit comprised of sliding drawers to hold tools, supplies, etc, on one half, and slides on the other half to house a camp stove and the fridge/freezer.
Any/all input or suggestions from those of you with more experience in overnight camping would be greatly appreciated. My off-roading to date has been day trips with the overnights spent in hotels. I have an Air-top Auto Home which has only been mounted during the build phase.
Pre-loading and chilling the night before is an obvious and excellent technique, and 1 I overlooked - my thanks to those who posted that info.
I will look through the forums, but is there a guide/checklist for oufitting a rig for overnighting?
Thank you in advance for all input.
g
Any/all input or suggestions from those of you with more experience in overnight camping would be greatly appreciated. My off-roading to date has been day trips with the overnights spent in hotels. I have an Air-top Auto Home which has only been mounted during the build phase.
Pre-loading and chilling the night before is an obvious and excellent technique, and 1 I overlooked - my thanks to those who posted that info.
I will look through the forums, but is there a guide/checklist for oufitting a rig for overnighting?
Thank you in advance for all input.
g
Pathfinder II
I drew out a basic plan for what I wanted, built a base to level the floor with the bottom of the rear hatch, and then just measured everything in place. I'm not sure how long it will last, but so far it's worked spectacularly.
Due to the SAR function of my build, I opted to not build in a place for a fridge / cooler. But I did make sure it was an easy fit on the top with solid tie downs. Right now, I'm just running one of the larger Coleman white Marine coolers.
Pathfinder II
Here is one loaded, and one I took the other day after I started cleaning, testing, and re-packing... There are a few other pictures in the build thread in my sig. If you want any specifics feel free to let me know.
