homemade 12V/115V compressor fridge?

[jml79]

If you travel to the US and stay over 48 hours you can bring back into Canada $800/ person without paying tax and duties. I often use a service called Kinek and have US products delivered near a border crossing (and in a different state than they ship from to avoid state taxes) and pick them up on my way to do some camping at an inexpensive state park in the US. In this case, the American price is so much lower than the Canadian that it's worth it to enjoy some cheap camping and buy the fridge in the US. That importer is just ripping people off with a price mark-up of over 100% over the American retail price.

[Socal Tom]

Update:
Just ran my fridge (converter freezer) for a 24 test. It used 160 watts in 24 hours, with fridge temp set around 37 degrees. Outdoor temps were in the mid-80's during the day and mid-50's at night. You can buy a chest freezer, fridge thermostat, solar panel, charge controller, and inverter for less than the price of a 3-way 12V/110V/gas RV refrigerator. IMO this is the way to go if the freezer size fits your available space.

Is this the type of "fridge thermostat" you reference above? https://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator-Fre ... B000EXROSE $60
Danby freezer link https://www.amazon.com/Danby-DCF038A1WD ... QRHTJMQJQZ $169
1200 w inverter https://www.amazon.com/Whistler-XP1200i ... t+inverter $75

And a little math to go with it. My group 24 walmart battery is rated at 93 amp hours ( at 1 amp/hour). assuming I keep it above 50%, then it has 46 amp hours available. 46 amp hours are 552 watts. at 160 watts per days that would be about 3 days of power before it needed to be recharged. ( I'm assuming that during the test the conditions were best case, i.e. full of cold stuff and no one going in and out, so in a real world scenario it could be worse than that, especially if you load it with warm stuff but its still manageable). This puts the cost of $304 ( not including the battery or solar). The cheaper 12V/120V fridge/freezers run $400 to $500 for 1 to 1.5 Cuft .

Freezers with good energy star ratings should have lower starting power requirements, so if you do this you would want a energy star compliant one.
Tom

[Gettin Started]

Those are the exact parts I used. My test was with fridge empty, not opened during test, and already cooled down at the start. So actual experience will certainly vary.

[KennethW]

Has anyone used a 150 watt solar panel directly run a dorm type fridge. Daytime only. The solar panel going to a charge controller, relay, inverter, small lawn mower battery, then fridge. The charge controller (power side) would run a relay to turn the set able inverter on when the battery hits the set voltage(80% full?) and off when the voltage drops(75% full). The battery Is only for start up surge and the charge controller settings. The fridge would have a 1/2" of added insulation on the inside and cold packs inside to ride out night time hours. Would this work or just a pipe dream.

[Socal Tom]

It can be done for much less than $1000
https://amazon.com/EdgeStar-FP430-Porta ... frigerator

[working on it]

• My TTT's galley was configured around an on-board generator, an A/C ducting system (that takes up way too much space), an A/C drip pan/Aquatainer holder, and Coleman gear storage...no room for actual "galley" business there. Along the way, I managed to stuff in an external fuel tank for the genny, and a "cube" cooler (modified unsuccessfully for frozen storage). I'm very dissatisfied with my "cube", though I spent a lot of time and effort modifying it http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68543&hilit=cube. I really want better performance, but haven't the budget (or approval from the CFO) to get a Yeti, or an ARB or Engel-type powered cooler.
• inefficient "cube" (lower left) needs to be replaced by a real cooler
• I just returned from a 3-day trip, where temperatures were in the 45-65 degree range, and my leftover pre-frozen items in the "cube" were almost completely defrosted. My "Extreme" coolers, left outside, used for bottled water and frozen gallons of my peach tea, still contained some ice (the pre-frozen gallon jugs of tea were responsible for the better-than-normal ice retention, along with cooler ambient temperatures). The lower temperatures outside were drastically different than on my usual excursions, where temps usually never dip below 75 degrees at night, and hit 100 or more daily. All ice becomes water, and my pre-frozen items thaw the first day. So, once again, I've been researching ac-powered fridges and freezer units that might do the job, if I modified my "galley" to accommodate one there.
• I am only hesitating on the remodel because I fear that compressor-style small dorm-fridge would be very sensitive to road shocks; my 2000+ lbs squareback TTT has a stiff suspension, though compliant enough to not bounce, it might be jarring to the compressor in the fridge. After 6 years, my 5k BTU air-conditioner, solidly mounted in the rear bulkhead, still works great...and it has a compressor inside, too. I was almost ready to buy one, and modify my galley in the three months I had mulled over this problem, prior to the trip, but just couldn't pull the trigger on doing it. But, after the trip, I decided to modify other things, so now's the time for the fridge/freezer mod, too.
• The only way I might justify getting the unit I decided upon using, an Edgestar CRF150-1 fridge-or-freezer (wide temperature capability), is to use it inside my dayroom/office whenever I'm not camping (I haven't camped much lately, so it would spend 99% of the time in my office).

• 

  freezer-fridge with wide-range temp control.JPG (61.03 KiB) Viewed 1086 times

  at 20.9 x 19.8 x 18.1 inches, I'll be able to fit it in, with minor mods

• 

  TILLREDA mini fridge @ IKEA.JPG (79.34 KiB) Viewed 1086 times

  my alternative choice, that I know I can "sneak by" the wife
• I fear that the small fridge's compressor might not like travelling, but then the window-unit A/C shouldn't either. So, in another month, I'll get one or the other: the Edgestar from Amazon (I've already ordered trailer-mod parts today, so my monthly limit has been reached, according to the CFO), or I'll talk the wife into a visit to the new, nearby IKEA (she can't resist a trip there!) and snag their TILLREDA mini-fridge on the way out (my usual method of shopping there with her, haha). If I have room for it, during the galley mod, I might be able to fit in anti-vibration pads, which should alleviate my fears.

  

  anti-vibration pads.JPG (55.42 KiB) Viewed 1086 times

[John61CT]

http://www.lifetime.com/lifetime-90820- ... nce-cooler

[working on it]

http://www.lifetime.com/lifetime-90820-55-quart-high-performance-cooler

Looks like a great cooler, but I'm limited to putting it in a 21x21x21 inch max space (unless I remove the generator), so it won't fit as my on-board cooler. However, I will try to get one later, as the replacement for my large Igloo Extreme (at least 15 years old), that rides in my truck bed. Maybe 2-3 months from now, per my limited (by the wife) purchasing schedule.

[working on it]

...The only way I might justify getting the unit I decided upon using, an Edgestar CRF150-1 fridge-or-freezer (wide temperature capability), is to use it inside my dayroom/office whenever I'm not camping (I haven't camped much lately, so it would spend 99% of the time in my office).

• 

  freezer-fridge with wide-range temp control.JPG (61.03 KiB) Viewed 961 times

  at 20.9 x 19.8 x 18.1 inches, I'll be able to fit it in, with minor mods

• 

  TILLREDA mini fridge %40 IKEA.JPG (79.34 KiB) Viewed 961 times

  my alternative choice, that I know I can "sneak by" the wife
• I fear that the small fridge's compressor might not like travelling, but then the window-unit A/C shouldn't either. So, in another month, I'll get one or the other: the Edgestar from Amazon (I've already ordered trailer-mod parts today, so my monthly limit has been reached, according to the CFO), or I'll talk the wife into a visit to the new, nearby IKEA (she can't resist a trip there!) and snag their TILLREDA mini-fridge on the way out (my usual method of shopping there with her, haha). If I have room for it, during the galley mod, I might be able to fit in anti-vibration pads, which should alleviate my fears....

We made an unexpected trip to IKEA today, where I measured the TILLREDA mini-fridge. It will easily fit where my "cube" cooler (i.e the "Franken-cooler") now resides. However, my wife went hog-wild with her purchases (we're still furnishing the new house), so I agreed to wait a month to make my purchase (pension check time!). I did manage to grab a neat little grill on the way out, though, so I can cook with charcoal sometimes at camp, without hauling my 22" Weber kettle along (I searched for a good Hibachi, for cheap, but wasn't happy with current offerings).

KORPON grill at IKEA.JPG (62.62 KiB) Viewed 961 times

so far, everything I've bought at IKEA, for years, has been a winner... maybe this will be, also

[John61CT]

Not so portable at 30#, but last forever long as you don't drop it on concrete

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Lodge-Logic-Pre- ... 2073574221

Let us know how that one goes, carrying Too Much Stuff

[working on it]

Not so portable at 30#, but last forever long as you don't drop it on concrete

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Lodge-Logic-Pre- ... 2073574221

Let us know how that one goes, carrying Too Much Stuff

I wish I could get the Lodge grill, but for as little as I would use it, solo cooking, I couldn't justify the expense. At roughly 20% of the cost of the Lodge Grill, The IKEA grill will probably do the job for me, at camp, and I'll continue to use my offset smoker grill, and the Weber. Plus, weighing about 4 lbs (1/8th of the Lodge), the Korpon grill will add little weight to my overweight and growing trailer kit(chen).