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Low budget fridge option

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claytorr
Posts: 53

Low budget fridge option

Post#1 » Wed May 06, 2015 9:38 am

While at costco yesterday we saw a Pelican 95QT cooler http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail_coo ... ?Case=95QT. It seemed like a good deal and my wife grabbed it as an early fathers day gift for me. It is huge and claims to keep ice for 10 days so it should meet our needs in the near term. Anyone else have this cooler?
Clay
1984 300GD...

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AlanMcR
Posts: 7729

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#2 » Wed May 06, 2015 10:30 am

Looks like a nicely engineered cooler and the price seems to reflect that. Still, I paid $520 for my fridge and it is so much better than having a cooler that I would never go back. The best part is that items are dry all the way to the bottom of the fridge. Remember, a fridge doesn't need to hold all your food, just the perishables and the day's cold beverages. The rest of the beer can sit in a box waiting for its turn.
...Alan

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Crank
Posts: 919

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#3 » Wed May 06, 2015 11:41 am

AlanMcR wrote:Looks like a nicely engineered cooler and the price seems to reflect that. Still, I paid $520 for my fridge and it is so much better than having a cooler that I would never go back. The best part is that items are dry all the way to the bottom of the fridge. Remember, a fridge doesn't need to hold all your food, just the perishables and the day's cold beverages. The rest of the beer can sit in a box waiting for its turn.



What kind of fridge do you have?

How durable is it? Any issues?
-Crank

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vadimivanovich
Posts: 8643

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#4 » Wed May 06, 2015 12:18 pm

Pelican, Engel, and Yeti (probably others too) all have awesome coolers. They really will keep ice that long, but the more you open them, the faster the ice melts. If you're adding warm beer to them over the course of a week-long trip, forget it. Probably perfect for the long weekends with the family.

After seeing Alan's Dometic fridge pumping out the cold beer in Death Valley while my Chinese one only melted my lighter socket, I bought a Dometic too. Quiet, tough, efficient, and gets freakin' COLD. They even have an internal light for when you fumble for beer at night. As if that wasn't enough, there's a USB port for charging stuff, built in! Mine even has a fridge/freezer section that will keep ice cream hard while not freezing the beer. Priorities.
"The way you think is the way you live"

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AlanMcR
Posts: 7729

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#5 » Wed May 06, 2015 1:04 pm

Crank wrote:What kind of fridge do you have?

How durable is it? Any issues?


Waeco/Dometic CF-040AC110

It has a sturdy plastic case and is pretty light-weight for a fridge. I can't think of any thing that I've had an issue with. It has the commonly used Danfoss compressor and electronics package. Runs on 12/24dc/110vac. Once the contents has been cooled down it hardly uses any power. I've left it running for a full 24hr day in the heat of the desert and still started the G.
In reality most of these fridges are variations on a theme: A Danfoss compressor & electronics, all embedded in a foam box with a lid. Most of the innovations are in the outside surfaces, hinges, handles & seals. It is nice to have an elevated nook inside the fridge. That lets you freeze the larger volume and keep eggs & such above freezing. Another trick is to freeze a couple of water bottles in the bottom of the fridge and then use them to keep a separate cooler chilled.
DometicCF-40.pdf
(1.52 MiB) Downloaded 79 times

DanfossCompressorControl.pdf
(79.11 KiB) Downloaded 36 times
...Alan

User avatar
Crank
Posts: 919

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#6 » Wed May 06, 2015 2:15 pm

AlanMcR wrote:
Crank wrote:What kind of fridge do you have?

How durable is it? Any issues?


Waeco/Dometic CF-040AC110

It has a sturdy plastic case and is pretty light-weight for a fridge. I can't think of any thing that I've had an issue with. It has the commonly used Danfoss compressor and electronics package. Runs on 12/24dc/110vac. Once the contents has been cooled down it hardly uses any power. I've left it running for a full 24hr day in the heat of the desert and still started the G.
In reality most of these fridges are variations on a theme: A Danfoss compressor & electronics, all embedded in a foam box with a lid. Most of the innovations are in the outside surfaces, hinges, handles & seals. It is nice to have an elevated nook inside the fridge. That lets you freeze the larger volume and keep eggs & such above freezing. Another trick is to freeze a couple of water bottles in the bottom of the fridge and then use them to keep a separate cooler chilled.
DometicCF-40.pdf

DanfossCompressorControl.pdf



Interesting.

How much can you really fit in it?

Thanks!
-Crank

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AlanMcR
Posts: 7729

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#7 » Wed May 06, 2015 6:10 pm

Crank wrote:Interesting.

How much can you really fit in it?

Thanks!


The easiest way to see if it will do what you want is to make yourself a cardboard replica of the inside.

The "freezer" section is 285mm X 255mm X 350mm high. That is measured on the inside of the wire basket. You can get a 10mm more space in each direction if you take out the basket. The "fridge" section is 265mm X 110mm X 190mm deep. Below the fridge section is the space consumed by the mechanical/electrical system.
This one isn't all that large. But, it fits perfectly as a replacement for the 1/3 rear seat in a 463.
Vadim's is considerably larger.
Remember that this is entirely usable space.
...Alan

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motoxo
Posts: 206

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#8 » Thu May 07, 2015 3:55 am

i like my arb 37 quart fridge freeze. weird undocumented feature: it even wirelessly sends it's temp. it comes in bigger than single for life sizes.
-|o
1985 lwb 300gd (mac the turtle)

User avatar
claytorr
Posts: 53

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#9 » Tue May 26, 2015 11:34 am

I ended up returning the cooler (was just to big) and have now set my sites on a fridge. I like ARB but am interested if anyone has strong opinions one way or another?
Clay
1984 300GD...

User avatar
vadimivanovich
Posts: 8643

Re: Low budget fridge option

Post#10 » Tue May 26, 2015 11:44 am

Waeco/Dometic are solidly in the cooler/refrigeration business. That's what they do. ARB certainly does not make what they are selling, but it may nevertheless be a solid choice. Engel is nice but even more expensive than Dometic, which is about as reasonable as you can hope for.

I tried a Chinese fridge originally. Don't repeat my mistake.
"The way you think is the way you live"

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