Alternative to Dometic and Arb fridge reccomendations?

I bought this unit but with the LG compressor from Amazon and was able to buy a 3 year insurance policy thru amazon for $33. So far mine has been great running 24/7 running on dc power in the bed of the truck

 

I bought the standard Chinese compressor and it’s been running almost 3 years now on over 20 trips in the back of my bed wheeling and camping and still running strong. Can’t believe it’s lasted this long. It’s been fantastic and kept my food cold!

 

My Iceco VL60 ran great for two years, then took a shit right before hunting season. Iceco sent me a refurbished unit that looked like it was routed through Donbas. Scratches, mars, etc. Lousy packaging. Their dual zone units suffer from some known problems and customer service is iffy. The"new" fridge is working fine however. I will probably ride this one out, then find a different brand.

 

We've had ours for 3 or 4 years and it's been used regularly, still works just fine. It is louder than some of the others I've seen, but for the price I'm not complaining in the least.

 

Iceco JB40. Pretty sure that’s what it is. 2 years. Been slammed around Barrow AK to currently south of Santiago Chile. On eco pulls 30 normal 52. 500 jackery lasts 5 days at 80 plus degrees outside.

It’s like the truck issues on here. Just because one guy has a transmission fail at 13k miles does not represent all trucks. Same for fridges.

I’d say something about my ARB that lasted for 1 month but the fan boys will get their feelings hurt. That 900 dollar paperweight didn’t even make it 1600 miles on the highway. Compressor was never attached to the frame. Whooops. Pretty expensive one too. And then told it’s over 90 days so we will give you a 150 dollar credit towards a new one.

I think it’s all luck of the draw. Just like our trucks.

 

vethy.com usd180

 

I have a good alternative: A good ol' Eski! (ice chest, ice cooler, ice box).

Start out with frozen drinking water - not ice or ice packs.

Not busting b@lls. It is just a d@m good alternative to an electric fridge.

I just did a 3 week trip in Baja where ice is not found everywhere, and my esky worked great! My fridge food stayed nice and cold always with a bag added every 3 days or so.


Correct, it does not freeze... but I can't think of any situation where I'd want to freeze anything while camping...


Maybe if I caught a huge Mahi...

I like food... I don't do tv dinners at home, let alone while camping!

An ice box is also a LOT lighter, quieter, cheaper, more reliable, simpler to own & operate etc. This has worked for ages already.

Batteries, solar panels, wiring, etc. Its a lot of $$$ for enjoying a 'bent' frozen pizza in the end...


In any case. My point is that it's worth considering the simpler tech sometimes...

Especially while camping.

(I don't take a tv camping either, so maybe its just me! )

 

I have a dometic cfx 35. It’s great. Then I saw this the other day. https://ironman4x4america.com/storage-systems/icecube-drawer-fridge-freezer-40l/