Anybody try to run a small fridge in their taco?

Thats the kind of rig I was thinking about. Was just wondering how well it worked. The ARB fridge looks nice--just not wanting to cough up the $$ on it now.

 

equals soggy food and sandwiches go with ARB cooler, love mine and the new style

 

works very well. just make sure you have a good quality battery and you turn off the inverter when the truck is not running (unless you have an isolated 2nd battery).

 

Tried it with with the bed outlet and the factory 100W/400W inverter. Would not work except when parked. It was a small dorm fridge, probably about the smallest size you can buy.

The 12 volt hot/cold coolers do work well however if they are not in the direct sun. Takes them a while to cool down, so pre-chilling with some sealed cartons of ice is wise. They advertise being able to cool to 40 degrees below the ambient temp and that is pretty accurate from our experience.

 

enzo - how did you bolt the slider to the seat. I havent taken a close look at my seat - but does that back plastic come off? What sort of hardware did you use - i like your setup

 

Did the same setup also.

 

I have an Engel 45 that's been keeping food frozen for over 10 years now. Originally bought it for camping. But, it spent about three years in the back of a Land Rover Discovery when I was working at a place with no fridge/lunch room and no restaurants near by. The Disco's English electrics would gradually self drain the battery and it would not start after sitting for 2 weeks or so. With the Engel wired to the battery I never had a drained battery in normal driving. It started reliably even after sitting for 4-5 days.

The Engel is currently in my garage using a 120V cord and I keep it filled with frozen meals. When I go to work I just grab a meal from the Engel and go.

Expensive? Yes. Good long-term value? IMO yes!

A slide-out Engel in a, otherwise un-used, backseat sounds like a great idea to me.

 

One word.



Yeti.

 

Good ice coolers. Still get's you two words: soggy sandwiches

 

What he said. If you need more than a yeti u dont need it. If u need a 900 dollar fridge to keep something cold, just f cking tough it out. Grab some mre s and dont even have to worry about keeping.then cold.

 

Could be solved w three words: ziplock freezer bags.. $2.99 BOOM!

 

You have a yeti in your kitchen or a fridge?

Yeti cost $300-$400 I got my ARB $700 to my door.

Add up your ice cost over the next 10 years and other issues with soggy crap and let me know where you're at

Maybe not for you but there are times I'm out way longer than the 3-5 days yeti will hold ice and there is no 7-11 close by to stock up...

"ziplock freezer bags.. $2.99 BOOM"

That's like 7 words!

 

Well minus the numbers it's like 4.. But hey who's counting

 

There should be a tag on the fridge that will tell you how many watts it takes to run it.

 

They run on 12v and use between 25-30 amp hours/day. You can do the math to figure the watts but since car batteries are rated in amp hours that's a better measurement.

It all depends in conditions also - ambient temp, etc. the less the the condenser/fan runs the longer you can go.

With a group 31 deep cell battery I can for 48-72 hours no problem without starting my truck.

 

If you have the insulated cover zipped up tight and don't open it, the power needs of an Engel (an I assume ARB) are nominal. Even in a warm car. Keeping the fridge full helps as well - I swapped water bottles in and out as needed to fill empty space. Once you start opening/closing and putting food in/out the power needs spike. However, if you're there to eat the food, you're probably driving around anyway.

 

Saw this at walmart figured I would post it pretty cheap too

 

It's called Dry Ice for a reason. I also have a cooler that holds ice in the bottom but has a dry shelf. I wouldn't mess with an electric unless it had great insulation properties. Dry Ice is cheap, easily available, and lasts a long time.

 

Got that exact unit collecting dust out in the garage. I've used this and a similar one before it for many years with no problems. Even used it out shooting in the desert in 110F with no dead batt and ice cold beerskies at the end of the day. Truckers use the shite out of these also. I do have a smaller version which I always take for cold drinks while driving on long trips.

That said, the big one is in my garage because now I use a Yeti.