12V Cooler

[Matsterious]

Looking for recommendations on a 12V cooler,fridge. Any help on a good unit would be greatly appreciated.

I can say I don't recommend Joytus. It was recommended from a youtuber and it came with so many issues. I was able to make it work b/c the price point but its garbage.

Sponsored

 

[AzScorpion]

That is super expensive for 200 watts. The panels I bought were $212 and 180 watts each. If you need a folder you need it, but it loses out everywhere else.

I have regular glass panels and yes the suitcase ones are very expensive but some like the portability of them for camping. Mine are the BougeRV 100W 9BB panels and I only use it (for now) to power my Bluetti EB55. They charge it fast enough (under 5 hours) and when I get a larger power station I'll either add more 100w ones or switch to the 200w ones. These are really great panels!

Just playing with a spot for now until I mount them on a small rack.

 

[DrewKD88]

Dave, you have a nice setup there. To the OP, I say the most important part of a fridge is the power supply that you are running. I have a Dometic CFX3 35 running off a Goal Zero 500x 48ah battery. The GZ is connected to a switched 12v outlet and a 100 watt Renogy solar panel mounted to my roof. I only use the 12v outlet to charge the GZ when the battery is running really low. Most times I charge it with the solar panel.

This setup works out almost as good as having a dedicated dual battery configuration. I have gone two weeks straight while traveling multiple states running the GZ on just the solar panel alone. It's set it and forget it. However, if I need to use the 12v outlet to charge the DZ I have it on a switch that is programmed to automatically come on with ignition power. The switch has memory so I don't have to worry about turning it back on every time I shut off the truck to get gas or use the restroom.

 

[lazynorse]

Hinted at already, the battery charging situation is as expensive if not more than the fridge itself, especially if we're talking about a $500 Iceco (what I have). I pair it with a Jackery 1500, which I bought on sale but still $1200+ dollars! Portable batteries are usually around $1 per watt hour.

The poster above is making it work with a 500w battery. I'm very impressed by that, but I went x3 times the capacity to account for stationary days, no vehicle charge and possibly cloudy or poor weather. I wanted a few days of reliably battery capacity without recharge. My wife and I also justified this as a home emergency prep to take a little sting out of the price. Its an investment on hopefully a decade's worth of use.

I await my Ranger order, but extensively camp in my Subaru Outback. For weeklong trips, we relied on two coolers, plus ice runs every couple days, three days max. With 50qt fridge and battery, I've eliminated the space of that 2nd cooler. The Jackery fits in the rear seat footwell or other cranny.

 

[AzScorpion]

Hinted at already, the battery charging situation is as expensive if not more than the fridge itself, especially if we're talking about a $500 Iceco (what I have). I pair it with a Jackery 1500, which I bought on sale but still $1200+ dollars! Portable batteries are usually around $1 per watt hour.

The poster above is making it work with a 500w battery. I'm very impressed by that, but I went x3 times the capacity to account for stationary days, no vehicle charge and possibly cloudy or poor weather. I wanted a few days of reliably battery capacity without recharge. My wife and I also justified this as a home emergency prep to take a little sting out of the price. Its an investment on hopefully a decade's worth of use.

I await my Ranger order, but extensively camp in my Subaru Outback. For weeklong trips, we relied on two coolers, plus ice runs every couple days, three days max. With 50qt fridge and battery, I've eliminated the space of that 2nd cooler. The Jackery fits in the rear seat footwell or other cranny.

I'm not off grid and I don't camp so the EB55 is perfect (for now) for my needs. I'm only using it to power my fridge while we're hiking or exploring different towns and just stopped for the day. At night or while I'm driving I'll recharge it as it has pass through charging. I did several tests in the house which was at 74 degrees in freezer mode and I got 38 hours run time from a single charge. Now in a hot vehicle I'm expecting it to get around 24 hours and it'll be used as a fridge so the setting will be higher.

We're lucky here because we don't get many (if at all) power outages. When I lived back east I had a full house generator but as technically advances I can see these larger ones coming in very handy for this use. I know Ecoflow has a great setup now with the Solegen and several batteries connected to it. They have house controllers so you can hook it right up with zero power interruption. The price is pretty steep but I expect them to come down once the others start coming out with these same systems. These are so much better than a loud gas generator especially for those that camp.

 

[jflogerzi]

Damn this thread!!! Family is going to start going camping and the first 2 things I want is a small 12volt fridge for Meat, eggs, sandwich type stuff and a power generator to power it

 

[alan0614]

Damn this thread!!! Family is going to start going camping and the first 2 things I want is a small 12volt fridge for Meat, eggs, sandwich type stuff and a power generator to power it

I'm right here with you. Another post above mentioned this is an expensive thread. I think I can justify the power station for my CPAP and maybe my tankless water heater (not sure on the wattage on it).

 

[Danager]

Damn this thread!!! Family is going to start going camping and the first 2 things I want is a small 12volt fridge for Meat, eggs, sandwich type stuff and a power generator to power it

This one snuck up on me. Just as I was starting to go through the gear and get ready for summer excursions.
I also picked up a gas inverter/generator last year. Got a Firman with remote start for 25% off and a free cover. Thought we were going to pick up a small travel trailer or tent trailer this year. Can’t do it with the crazy inflated prices. Waiting it out and we’ll rent cabins or even rent an RV this year. That new Firman is just sitting in the basement unused.

 

[Danager]

Here's a few pictures with dimensions of the inside. I'll take a few in the bed of the truck after dinner. There are 2 white wire baskets that come with it but I took them out as it gives you more room.

Depth of main compartment:

Depth of smaller one:

:

Called today. The RV60D definitely will not fit. No removable feet, so no wiggle room. $200 shipping to Canada. Going to have to pay GST/duty too. Thoughts on adding the cover? Part of it seems like a good idea. But for $80USD I could make one out of reflectix and save a few bucks.

 

[AzScorpion]

Called today. The RV60D definitely will not fit. No removable feet, so no wiggle room. $200 shipping to Canada. Going to have to pay GST/duty too. Thoughts on adding the cover? Part of it seems like a good idea. But for $80USD I could make one out of reflectix and save a few bucks.

I thought the RV60 would be to big. If you take bulkier items out of their packages and use larger Zip Lock bags like you said I think the RV45 would work out good. That's a lot for shipping but the shipping box was huge because it had a lot of styrofoam insulation on the top and bottom. My shipping box was pretty beat up but the inside was perfect.

I've read mixed reviews on the covers. Some swear by them and other said they noticed little to no difference. I thought about getting one but just not sure it's worth the added coast. The RV series are one of the best insulated ones so for now I'm going to see how it works out in June and decide from there.

 

[lazynorse]

To the gents above, if you're just introducing yourself and the family to camping, won't be remote boondocking for days at a time - e.g. long weekend campground camping - don't sink a couple thou into this just yet.

I described my fridge and battery above, but I didn't get rid of my coolers. Long weekend? Coleman, Igloo 5-day coolers do the trick. I never bothered with rotomold, which are way heavier with less interior space and twice the price (or more, for those tricked by Yeti's marketing team).

I'm only taking the fridge/jackery when I'm far enough away from the hordes where I'll worry less about brazen theft. Leave something nice on your table in a state campground, you'll be surprised how many folks become opportunistic thieves. If someone stole my Jackery and Iceco, I'd be out $2000, crying like a baby. If I did bring it, it'd be disguised in the car with a dirty moving blanket thrown over it. No way its sitting by the picnic table unguarded while I'm strolling the beach or whatever.

 

[mtbikernate]

No way its sitting by the picnic table unguarded while I'm strolling the beach or whatever.

Oh, hell no.

All my stuff stays locked inside my camper.

And yeah, I still have a few coolers (a rotomolded one, a classic igloo playmate, and one with wheels and a luggage handle, along with a couple soft-sided ones that often get used for lunch bags or short river floats where I only need to carry a few drinks). I can be a lot less fussy with temps with things like drinks in a cooler. If I need capacity, I bring a cooler AND my fridge. And since my fridge lives in my trailer, coolers are the order if I only need it for a day trip, unless I'm going to have A/C, such as a backyard cookout.

 

[AzScorpion]

IceCo got back and is willing to give a discount but before they decide on how big of a discount, they want an estimate of how many people are interested in purchasing a 12V fridge in the coming months.

Because I also approached Setpower, I made a poll looking for general interest so I can give them both a rough idea..

If you plan on purchasing a 12V refrigerator from any vendor, please complete the poll with a yes.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/12v-fridge.19320/#post-404882

I'm surprised they didn't give you (or tell you) that Setpower is the sister company of Iceco. If you look at the RV45 from Setpower it's identical to the VL45 from Iceco. The biggest difference is the compressor in the Iceco is the SECOP Compressor which has a 5 year warranty and the color is green.

Just something to think about if the discount isn't that good. They always have really good sale around the holidays and with Easter coming up I'd expect one this week. They also run discounts on Amazon with instant coupons in between having sales on their site. Price wise there's a $140.00 difference between them and you could get the 3yr extended warranty on Amazon for $58.00 giving you 6 years on the Setpower. OK that's enough thinking this early in the morning. lol

 

[halligan1201]

I'm surprised they didn't give you )or tell you) that Setpower is the sister company of Iceco. If you look at the RV45 from Setpower it's identical to the VL45 from Iceco. The biggest difference is the compressor in the Iceco is the SECOP Compressor which has a 5 year warranty and the color is green.

Just something to think about if the discount isn't that good. They always have really good sale around the holidays and with Easter coming up I'd expect one this week. They also run discounts on Amazon with instant coupons in between having sales on their site. Price wise there's a $140.00 difference between them and you could get the 3yr extended warranty on Amazon for $58.00 giving you 6 years on the Setpower. OK that's enough thinking this early in the morning. lol

I asked IceCo about that because I thought maybe we could get one discount code that worked for both and they said they aren't affiliated. My suspicion is that they are buying them from the same factory in China and just having their name put on the side. That's pretty common with lots of electronics. Or it's the Titleist scenario; they had a factory making their actual clubs that was using the same build process to be able make fake Titleist clubs in another factory directly behind them. Titleist only figured it out because the fakes were so good they had a hard time telling them apart. That would explain the difference in compressors. Or maybe it's somewhere in-between the two scenarios.

Great point about the Amazon extended warranty; Setpower gives you 3 years on the compressor but the Amazon would cover the whole product, including the control panel, and for longer. Both IceCo and Setpower only give you a year on anything other than the compressor.

 

[AzScorpion]

I asked IceCo about that because I thought maybe we could get one discount code that worked for both and they said they aren't affiliated. My suspicion is that they are buying them from the same factory in China and just having their name put on the side. That's pretty common with lots of electronics. Or it's the Titleist scenario; they had a factory making their actual clubs that was using the same build process to be able make fake Titleist clubs in another factory directly behind them. Titleist only figured it out because the fakes were so good they had a hard time telling them apart. That would explain the difference in compressors. Or maybe it's somewhere in-between the two scenarios.

Great point about the Amazon extended warranty; Setpower gives you 3 years on the compressor but the Amazon would cover the whole product, including the control panel, and for longer. Both IceCo and Setpower only give you a year on anything other than the compressor.

I'm not sure who you spoke with but when I talked with Lu, he's the one who told me they're the same company. Also in a few of the reviews (I cant remember if they were Amazon or YouTube) several people said they ordered the RV45 and received an Iceco VL45 and that was directly from Setpower.

I can call Lu and ask him too if you'd like. I've had a few long conversations with him a bout the Bronco and cars in general and tell him what you're looking to do. He's either the owner of Setpower or someone high up because he was able to guarantee my price from their Black Friday sale when I was ready to buy 5-6 months later. I ended up getting mine in January and he honored the price and upgraded me for no charge.

Sponsored