Cooler, Fridge, Yeti et al

[Rainier70]

Bruce, Do you mind my asking why you had to go back to an ice chest?

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

I've been running my ARB 50 qt for almost a week and a half. I 've run it from the 100ah AGM battery in the teardrop with no shore power, from the battery with shore power, and right now with an electrical cord from the shore power pedestal. I have it set for 27* and it is within two degrees every time I check it. I did purchase the canvas covered Reflectex cover and it sure seems to run less than last summer. I have a heavy fleece blanket and two 2" foam pads on the top of it. I've been in two 98* and two 90* days and it's still working wonderfully. Thanks, Bruce, for the breakdown on ah's in the heat. I may be boondocking next week and that's nice to know.

WOW VERNA
I think you have the new workd record, your 50Q ARB can maintain plus or minus 2* degrees Set at 27* when operated in 98* weather connected to a 100ah AGM battery - what an endorsement for ARB coolers.

[Verna]

I was amazed, because I thought it had the ambiant temp...whatever it is called ... of about 50* under the temps, and it has to be warmer sitting in the Escape. One night in Kansas and one night in Eastern Colorado last week--98* when I got to the campgrounds, and even my auxiliary thermometer said 27*. I love my ARB!

[WoodSmith]

Great good googley moogley! I just went to Amazon to look at the ARB cooler. $877 YIKES! I Was hoping it would be a cheaper alternative to the Dometic/Norcold type units. Reading the Amazon reviews it sounds like a nice piece of kit, but for $900 it would have to come with either a Gnome inside to make the meals or a magic spell that allowed us to take food out but never have to put it in for the finance commitee to approve it.

Glen

[Verna]

Glen, you're right, it's not cheap, and you could buy a lot of ice with that money. It's all in what is important to you. Mine came in handy during a power outage in January. It is invaluable on this 5 week trip. It just sits there doing it's thing and I just make sure it's plugged in. I haven't had to go looking for ice at bedtime because I forgot...again. No spoiled food. I'm a very happy camper.

[jonw]

Great good googley moogley! I just went to Amazon to look at the ARB cooler. $877 YIKES! I Was hoping it would be a cheaper alternative to the Dometic/Norcold type units. Reading the Amazon reviews it sounds like a nice piece of kit, but for $900 it would have to come with either a Gnome inside to make the meals or a magic spell that allowed us to take food out but never have to put it in for the finance commitee to approve it.

Glen

The ARB is pretty much considered the top of the line. For around $500 the Indel-B (Truckfridge, Engel) is nearly as good - I'm quite happy with mine and would recommend it if you don't want to spend that much. Even $500 was hard to swallow - that's a lot of ice...

[bdosborn]

Bruce, Do you mind my asking why you had to go back to an ice chest?

July 4th we had a bunch of people come up to the cabin. We don't have a refrigerator up there yet and my wife makes a huge spread when people come over.

Bruce

[Rainier70]

Okay, I see. Simple. I was thinking you had a problem with your fridge or solar.

[highdesertranger]

I have been lurking on this forum for awhile, when I read this thread I joined because I have some experience on this subject. first a little background, I prospect for gold part of the year so I am out for several months at a time in areas far away from towns. ice was killing us we tried all the tricks mentioned in this thread, heavy duty coolers, extra insulation, freezing meats beforehand, keeping drinks(beer) in a separate cooler, we even tried burying coolers. in hot weather we could stretch it to 5 or maybe 7 days. then it would be off to get ice this would take a whole day, not to mention the gas. so then we tried an rv refer but we sill had to go get propane after about a week. so then we tried the dorm refrigerator route run through an invertor, with 2 group 31 batteries and 160 watts of solar. still a no go, after about a week there wouldn't be enough battery to run the fridge over night. so about 5 years ago I finally bit the big one and bought a 12v engel. my o my why didn't I try this sooner, the next year I bought another. the two of them don't even put a dent in my batteries, even after several cloudy days in a row. this year we had 5 cloudy days in a row and still had plenty of battery reserve. so I don't see why people are having problems with their 12v refrigerators. I am going to build a toy hauler trailer when I do I will buy one more refer to use as a freezer of course I will add more solar and go with the trailer. this should stretch us out to over a month without resupply. now I know most of you are weekenders so I don't no if this info will help, but for me there is no competition, nothing beats 12v compressor refrigerators. highdesertranger

[Gonefishin]

Welcome Highdesertranger, and thanks for your insight. Which model and size of Engel are you using?

I did a quick google search, and saw a 40qt. selling for around $850 everywhere (MR-40). I currently take a 70 qt Extreme ice cooler, but often half of the space is taken up by ice. Not sure if a 40 would hold what I want or not, including beverages. The 60qt models retail for about half the price I paid for my new trailer. I can get some sort of discount off retail because I'm in the fishing industry, but still, that's a lot of ice! I am getting a little tired of the loading, draining, re-icing, etc. I'm not just a weekender, but I'm seldom very far from an ice source either. Off-grid, but near civilization most of the time. Once fall hits, my ice lasts for many days up to a week. Its just those warmer days from mid-June through Labor Day when melting ice becomes annoying. (When thoughts of a fridge and a/c go through my head regularly!)

Thanks again for the recommendation. You got me looking!

[aggie79]

Well, y'all got me motivated to get rid of my ice coolers and spend the cash on a Truck Fridge. I logged into their website only to find out they are back-ordered until December. I was hoping to get one for our fall camping trips. Arghhh.

[jonw]

....they are back-ordered until December

I got mine from http://www.equipt1.com/i/fridges/indel-b and I see they are out of stock.

The Truckfridge TB models are from Indel-B. The Indel-B I ordered from equipt1 was actually drop-shipped from Truckfridge in KY and has a little sticker on it that says "Truckfridge". You might be able to order it directly from them: http://www.truckfridge.com/ has a phone number to call.

[Hiflyer]

I'd check the group buys from Wilson at
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/v ... roup-buys/

It's trdparts4u.com. Toyota of Dallas

Excellent service

[bdosborn]

Try here:

http://www.americanrvcompany.com/Portable-Refrigerators_c_298.html

They were MUCH cheaper than anyone else when I was looking...

Bruce

[Goldminer]

I was foaming the hull of my boat and had some left over, so I took an old Coleman cooler and placed a new smaller one inside. I poured the foam in the space left between. I kept frozen bait in it last July for a week. I kept both lids and made a liner in between the lids out of duct insulation. It's the kind with foil on the outside of a bubble wrap middle.