Best Fridge-Dometic or ARB?

[roaniecowpony]

Been thinking about a fridge. Not looking for the cheapest. Looking for the best, most reliable, best features, best warranty, best customer support, etc..

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[falcon241073]

Iceco seems to have a lot of great reviews on all that. No idea if they are the best on that stuff though. But it uses a Danfoss compressor. I believe it’s the same one dometic uses. It’s the brand I’m seriously looking at.

I know that doesn’t directly answer your questions.

 

[vegasblue]

Between the two, the one you can get a better price on. I have ARB, buddy has Dometic. No issues in nearly two years being used in the Vegas desert and at the beach. Stays at 31-32 degrees where I have it set. His, same. I know, no help at all. Honestly, purchase at one of the holiday specials and go for the best price you can find on either.

 

[Jmneal_osu]

You might also consider Rugged Ridge. We haven't had a chance to use it yet except for playing in the garage, but it cooled down as planned and the price was good for what we needed.

 

[roaniecowpony]

You might also consider Rugged Ridge. We haven't had a chance to use it yet except for playing in the garage, but it cooled down as planned and the price was good for what we needed.

The only thing I have against going with RR or the others like Rough Country, is a lack of information on who makes them, what's the reliability, and how well they stand behind these refrigerators they're selling. They are new to the fridge market, but obviously, they are selling these made by someone else, and have little track record of any of my criteria.

 

[falcon241073]

The only thing I have against going with RR or the others like Rough Country, is a lack of information on who makes them, what's the reliability, and how well they stand behind these refrigerators they're selling. They are new to the fridge market, but obviously, they are selling these made by someone else, and have little track record of any of my criteria.

Well take this for what it’s worth. Rough country does have excellent customer service. I’ve never heard them giving customers a hard time.

 

[Vanburi]

Might consider Iceco. They use the same compressor that ARB and Dometic use and Iceco honors the 5yr compressor warranty.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Well take this for what it’s worth. Rough country does have excellent customer service. I’ve never heard them giving customers a hard time.

Thanks for that. That's great, they sound like good people. But these are not really their bread and butter, so it becomes a question of who will repair these and for how long. Are these ARB or Dometic being sold under license and warranteed by these bigger makers/sellers or are they the Alibaba kind of product?

 

[lashlee]

I have a buddy that has used both that I did the wiring for. The Dometic (A CFX95) uses the compressor start voltage for setting the low voltage cut off and would shut off sooner (the noiminal voltage of the battery would still be 11.9-12.1) whereas the ARB seems to use some other parameter to check voltage. Both work great but the Dometic he had was huge!!! It depends on if you plan on using a separate battery to power the fridge or normal battery in the Jeep.

 

[falcon241073]

Thanks for that. That's great, they sound like good people. But these are not really their bread and butter, so it becomes a question of who will repair these and for how long. Are these ARB or Dometic being sold under license and warranteed by these bigger makers/sellers or are they the Alibaba kind of product?

I’d guess alibaba.

But knowing the guys at rough country (literally. They go to my clubs big events to wheel) they’d probably just send a new fridge out and a label to send the broke one back. They given us a couple to give away as door prizes at our big runs. The people who won them haven’t complained about them. I’m still not 100% sure I’d buy one lol. But if the price was right maybe

 

[DontCallMeRubi]

I bought a SetPower RV45D Dual Zone (both fridge/freezer at the same time) with wireless thermometer and have not had it out on the trail yet...connected it to an EcoFlow EF Delta 1260 AH battery pack for about 55 hours and it kept the compartments at 38/0 +/- 2 degrees the whole time so I was happy and will have it out on the trail later in May.

 

[Jim1964]

I researched these heavily. Looks to me like Engel takes the win for durability and they make their own compressor.

I bought a Dometic because it’s the lightest of the big names. Keeping weight down is important to me.

 

[falcon241073]

Found a video on the iceco. It’s the one I’m probably buying. I just haven’t decided which size yet. 30,40 or 50 quart. Not a big difference in price between the sizes. They all use the same danfoss compressor. Like I said earlier I’m almost sure the dometic uses the danfoss compressor. I’ve only had a 5 year warranty. I haven’t read any reviews that complain about getting warranty issues taken care of. But I’m sure they are out there. There are always people complaining about something lol.

 

[Adv_aw8s]

I have the iceco jp50 and have had no issues with it. For the price I'd buy it again. The only thing I didn't like about it was the cigarette lighter plug. I read reviews were people said it had a tendency to vibrate out. So I ordered the arb wiring kit and fridge cord. The arb fridge cord threads into their wiring harness so it's always secure. I hard wired mine with a direct run from the battery.

 

[falcon241073]

I have the iceco jp50 and have had no issues with it. For the price I'd buy it again. The only thing I didn't like about it was the cigarette lighter plug. I read reviews were people said it had a tendency to vibrate out. So I ordered the arb wiring kit and fridge cord. The arb fridge cord threads into their wiring harness so it's always secure. I hard wired mine with a direct run from the battery.

Does the arb wire plug into the iceco fridge with no issues?

I looked at that for when I buy my fridge. But I couldn’t find anyone who had done this. Only other thing I could think to do was splice the iceco fridge side plug into the arb wire. I like the screw in plug for off-roading.

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