Considering a Dometic Portable Refrigerator -- second battery / charging setup?

[Ratbert]

It's not a great idea to plug into an 110v outlet for your 12v fridge. That's taking a 12v input, running it through an inverter that converts it to 110v, then taking that 110v and converting it back to 12v.

Inverters aren't very efficient, especially those bundled into vehicles. Just wire your 12v fridge into a 12v line if at all possible.

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[Odyssey USA]

I've been thinking about thr bouge. Sewn good reviews, and I need a larger fridge.

Autocorrect in my last post-> *refrigeration

Yeah, a dual zone for under $400 and decent reviews, why not. You can get the 173Wh battery to install too. That’s worth a few hours operation for 160 more.

 

[dragoneggs]

It's not a great idea to plug into an 110v outlet for your 12v fridge. That's taking a 12v input, running it through an inverter that converts it to 110v, then taking that 110v and converting it back to 12v.

Inverters aren't very efficient, especially those bundled into vehicles. Just wire your 12v fridge into a 12v line if at all possible.

Makes sense inverting/converting, there will be efficiency losses (heat). That said, is there a charging speed gained in this method? In other words, when driving around powering the 110v circuit do you charge faster than a straight 12v charge?

 

[Fatboy97]

Which Iceco fridge are you using?

Iceco vl45
I plug the fridge into 110v house outlet to initially cool unit before use, then I plug into the 110v side of the jackery, then plug the jackery into the Jeep 110v to keep jackery charged.
Has worked extremely well for me. Fridge is plenty big enough.

 

[trekster]

Iceco vl45
I plug the fridge into 110v house outlet to initially cool unit before use, then I plug into the 110v side of the jackery, then plug the jackery into the Jeep 110v to keep jackery charged.
Has worked extremely well for me. Fridge is plenty big enough.

Sounds good thanks

 

[Ratbert]

Makes sense inverting/converting, there will be efficiency losses (heat). That said, is there a charging speed gained in this method? In other words, when driving around powering the 110v circuit do you charge faster than a straight 12v charge?

You'd have to look at each device to determine that. My gut says yes, but that's without researching it.

 

[Odyssey USA]

Iceco vl45
I plug the fridge into 110v house outlet to initially cool unit before use, then I plug into the 110v side of the jackery, then plug the jackery into the Jeep 110v to keep jackery charged.
Has worked extremely well for me. Fridge is plenty big enough.

I’m curious what shelf you have there. I’m trying to find something like that that will not interfere with my XG Cargo Gama Bags. It seems like this one mounts differently?

 

[El Zilcho]

curious; where did you have your fridge plugged in?
because the first time we spent a week in Moab at ~100º our fridge wouldn't always start up because of the low voltage at the Aux Plug in the left rear of the cargo area, even though we were driving every day.

That's where it was plugged. Only thing I did, I changed the plug from sig lighter type to screw in type.

 

[PatriotX]

I’m curious what shelf you have there. I’m trying to find something like that that will not interfere with my XG Cargo Gama Bags. It seems like this one mounts differently?

I have the Gama bags, and the same Hooke Road tray. They work fine together.

I did make a bracket to raise the tray about 3.5” for fridge clearance.

 

[Odyssey USA]

I have the Gama bags, and the same Hooke Road tray. They work fine together.

I did make a bracket to raise the tray about 3.5” for fridge clearance.

That’s another thing. I have to decide if I want the slippery slope of needing a slideout for the fridge…. Which means mounting the slider…

 

[Odyssey USA]

I have the Gama bags, and the same Hooke Road tray. They work fine together.

I did make a bracket to raise the tray about 3.5” for fridge clearance.

Can you share a pic of that bracket?

 

[Ratbert]

That’s another thing. I have to decide if I want the slippery slope of needing a slideout for the fridge…. Which means mounting the slider…

This is what we've been using for the past few years. It's not fancy, but it works well if you don't need a massive fridge. They have a truck version now that I hadn't seen before. No clue how that's different from the boat version.

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/boat/boat-refrigerators/dometic-coolmatic-cd-30-55611

 

[Adv_aw8s]

I have been running the iceco jp50 in the back of our jeep for approximately 2 years now on a ton of trips to include 23 days in Alaska and several other 5-10 day trips in Moab etc. I did the arb fridge wiring kit hard wired to the battery and it includes a screw plug terminal so you don't have to worry about the plug coming loose offroad. We have yet to have a problem with a dead battery. With that being said we are usually out exploring in the jeep everyday. I'll let the jeep sit for up to 48 hours with the fridge running and not starting the jeep with out issue. If it's going to be sitting longer than that I'll start the jeep and let it run for a bit. It's worked great for us and I wouldn't change a thing. It's simple and convenient. On a side note I would definitely recommend a fridge its a game changer. I also carry a jump starter pack just in case but I would carry that even if I'm not running the fridge.

 

[Fatboy97]

I’m curious what shelf you have there. I’m trying to find something like that that will not interfere with my XG Cargo Gama Bags. It seems like this one mounts differently?

Hook off road sold on Amazon. It is for the 4 door. I made my own custom mounting brackets. I have a 2 door.

 

[PatriotX]

Can you share a pic of that bracket?

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