Better fridge for JLUR

[JEEP4U]

Sorry lost me at National Luna's fridges are a bit too much.

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[NJRadioGuy]

just curious; for what do you need a freezer? i didn't noticed anything in your list that needed to be frozen. seems having to have a dual-zone unit is adding unnecessary cost and complication to the issue.

personally, i only very infrequently carry water in the fridge (like, i can't remember ever doing it), unless it's only a tiny bit that is easily rotated through as we go.
not everything needs to stay cold all the time.

more in line with your question, our Dometic just >barely< did not fit behind the rear seat when it's up because it needed to be moved forward enough to clear the Aux Power Socket in the cargo area; relocating that socket up and out of the way provides a couple more inches in the cargo area for the 'fridge to slide back. (note also that the stock wiring for that Aux port is feeble; running a more substantial wire set to that socket will help provide more power in a shorter period of time to charge your fridge battery.)

We food saver large meat purchases. Buy a lot when it's on sale, portion it out and freeze individual meal portions. It would be great to have a week's worth of frozen steaks, chops, chicken, etc, that can be thawed out a day ahead of time, as we do at home. That means fewer resupply trips for fresh food and more space for drinks, breakfast stuff, and a tiny little bit of produce (to quote Ron Swanson, "vegetables are what my food eats").

I mean it's not the end of the world to not have a freezer, but it would free up a lot of space in the main fridge compartment on a long trip, especially if my wife is along with me. If it's just me, which it almost always is these days, I just play Fridge Tetris a lot, and rotate in fresh cans of soda or water bottles every night. So needed? No. Desirable? Yes.

As for the outlet, yes, I'd like to not only rewire that with thicker wire, but also relocate the outlet so the plug is vertically-mounted. I don't know how to do that, and I'm really not all that handy with vehicle electrics. Wouldn't that require abandoning that connection and running a new line of 12 AWG to a switch panel or the battery?

Sorry lost me at National Luna's fridges are a bit too much.

They absolutely are, but you also get what you pay for. At the moment I'm not traveling all that far into the back country; maybe a few hours of hard wheeling away from blacktop at most. Inconvenient if a fridge fails, but not catastrophic—but certainly a vacation killer.

I consider an absolutely reliable fridge to be indispensable, right up there with a perfectly working vehicle, satellite comms, recovery gear, and shelter. I want to not have to even give it a second thought. It will be there working away so long as it has electrical power.

National Luna is made to survive in the harshest (hot) climates on earth: the deserts in Africa and the Australian outback. SnoMaster fits in that same category as well. But for my needs now and in the next couple of years it would be overkill. My survival doesn't depend on the fridge in my use case as it would on a 3 week African safari or on something like the Canning Stock Route or a trip through Cape York. So it becomes a question of mitigating risk. At the top of the chain would be National Luna/SnoMaster, then ARB, Dometic and the high-end Icecos, then...everything else.

 

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Here's some compressor and insulation details about two Dometic units from the company.

"Compressor: The CFX2 series uses a Series 2 variable compressor, which is slightly less advanced in power and efficiency compared to the Series 3 VMSO compressor found in the CFX3 models. The CFX3 compressor is more powerful and efficient, making it better suited for demanding cooling needs.



Insulation: The CFX3 series features highly efficient insulation, contributing to better cooling performance and energy efficiency. The CFX2 models, on the other hand, have less insulation and a small non-refrigerated area inside, which can be useful for storing fruits and vegetables.



Additionally, the CFX3 series is built with a sturdier structure, including steel handles and impact protection, making it more durable for off-road and rugged use. The CFX2 series is designed as a more budget-friendly option, with ABS handles and a simpler display.



Both CFX’s will come with a 5 year warranty on any MFG defects."

 

[JINO]

I've never kept my fridge (alpicool 35qt) in the back seat, but it is a taller design, which I liked, if fits long way in the cargo and the rear door can close on it.
As for powering, I have a roofrack mounted 120w panel, powering an ecoflow delta 2 (1024wh). If its sunny, I'll have continous fridge for months, even with the freezer on.
I do plan on the delta 2 max (2048wh) because I want to start trying electric cooking, instead of propane. Also, ecoflow sells a cable that connects to the jeeps battery, so its always charging the ecoflow, without worrying about your jeep battery.
For now, my ecoflow is not connected to any of my jeeps electrical.

 

[wibornz]

I run an ARB fridge. It does not have a freezer. I set the temp at 35 degrees. I run it off the Jeep battery and it will keep the fridge cold for about 3 days without starting the Jeep. I have had the fridge for about 6 years. It is in the Jeep for many months at a time and when not in the Jeep it is running in the garage. It has been a fantastic fridge. I bought the ARB fridge because many have reported that they have had 15 and 20 years of trouble free service.

As for the wiring. This is how I did it. It took about 15 minutes to wire the fridge directly to the battery. The fridge will turn off before killing the Jeep battery. I am not sure if the ARB fridge has an app now or not.


I also have a Jackery, but I very rarely use it to power the fridge. If I pull the fridge out of the Jeep at camp, I will then plug it into the Jackery.

 

[Punknhed]

i have an Engle 45qt dual zone in mine. i still have my back seat in, with a tailgate table and it fits in the back. however, i have to turn it sideways with the top down. I have not used the freezer part yet, just used it as a fridge. This past week my son and i went to new york, 95 degree weather had the fridge on the whole time and it actually started to freeze my water. Did Jeep Beach in Florida, had the top down all week, fridge on with the sun beating on it, and everything inside (including adult beverages) stayed icy cold. best part, i didnt have to stop for ice when others did. : )

 

[NJRadioGuy]

So an update. I've now permanently mounted the Iceco JP40 and slide to the Goose Gear plate system, and I spent the money I would have used to upgrade the fridge to upgrade power to a Bluetti AC180P instead, and a Bluetti 1 DC-DC charger. The weakest link is there is no app for the fridge, and thus no way to know or be audibly alerted if the fridge loses temp or goes above 40°.

EDIT: Now that it arrived, the Bluetti is FAR too big to fit on the back shelf of the Jeep. I can no longer see out the back window, and that is 100% out of the question for me. I know some people stuff that shelf with gear but I can't drive like that. And with a Trasharoo in place for trips I don't have access to the rear camera either.

Guys, I seriously need help here. It shouldn't be all that hard to keep a fridge powered 24/7 in a modern vehicle but everything I try has a show-stopper problem that I don't have the knowledge or experience to overcome.

My goal is simple: I only want to power the fridge, and nothing else, but it needs to stay alive and at temp without having to plug the Jeep in at home, as I don't have a way to do that easily without disrupting everything on our driveway and deck. I'll do it once a week or before a long road trip, but any more than that and it's just a pain for the family. This is now my number one priority, and cost isn't really a big issue (to a point). I'll gladly throw money at this until it's solved. I can't believe anything this simple is really this hard!

 

[NJRadioGuy]

I've never kept my fridge (alpicool 35qt) in the back seat, but it is a taller design, which I liked, if fits long way in the cargo and the rear door can close on it.
As for powering, I have a roofrack mounted 120w panel, powering an ecoflow delta 2 (1024wh). If its sunny, I'll have continous fridge for months, even with the freezer on.
I do plan on the delta 2 max (2048wh) because I want to start trying electric cooking, instead of propane. Also, ecoflow sells a cable that connects to the jeeps battery, so its always charging the ecoflow, without worrying about your jeep battery.
For now, my ecoflow is not connected to any of my jeeps electrical.

I've pinged you privately about this, but I'd be extremely grateful for details on how you have everything physically mounted, wired, and details on the panel, etc. That's an ideal setup to be honest.

 

[azjl#3]

thumbs up to the tank of cooler the iceco45. Mine was on 4 days a week for 12 months then on 24/7 for 3 months during trips. 110 or 12v did not care. Kept temp right at 34, or, i trapped a black widow inside and drove temp to 20, little sucker like an ice cube.

 

[azjl#3]

So an update. I've now permanently mounted the Iceco JP40 and slide to the Goose Gear plate system, and I spent the money I would have used to upgrade the fridge to upgrade power to a Bluetti AC180P instead, and a Bluetti 1 DC-DC charger. The weakest link is there is no app for the fridge, and thus no way to know or be audibly alerted if the fridge loses temp or goes above 40°.

EDIT: Now that it arrived, the Bluetti is FAR too big to fit on the back shelf of the Jeep. I can no longer see out the back window, and that is 100% out of the question for me. I know some people stuff that shelf with gear but I can't drive like that. And with a Trasharoo in place for trips I don't have access to the rear camera either.

Guys, I seriously need help here. It shouldn't be all that hard to keep a fridge powered 24/7 in a modern vehicle but everything I try has a show-stopper problem that I don't have the knowledge or experience to overcome.

My goal is simple: I only want to power the fridge, and nothing else, but it needs to stay alive and at temp without having to plug the Jeep in at home, as I don't have a way to do that easily without disrupting everything on our driveway and deck. I'll do it once a week or before a long road trip, but any more than that and it's just a pain for the family. This is now my number one priority, and cost isn't really a big issue (to a point). I'll gladly throw money at this until it's solved. I can't believe anything this simple is really this hard!

You might try an extra RV/boat deep cycle battery in a trolling motor carry case, that will get you a day at least.

I'm not understanding how you think you can keep a cooler cold just drivng jeep around? Do you have solar panels on roof? MY RV has 3 big ones and it was good for 3 days.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

You might try an extra RV/boat deep cycle battery in a trolling motor carry case, that will get you a day at least.

I'm not understanding how you think you can keep a cooler cold just drivng jeep around? Do you have solar panels on roof? MY RV has 3 big ones and it was good for 3 days.

I'm just not sure what the best way of doing it is, but the end result is I'd like to find a no-maintenance or low-maintenance way of just keeping the cooler running, regardless if I'm driving the Jeep or it's sitting in one spot for 3 or 4 days, or just being daily-driven around town.

Some combination of solar, a power station, an alternator charger and???, along with how/where to mount them. I have a Goose Gear plate system and 60% rear delete and a Hooke Road shelf, and at the moment, I have the Charger 1 from Bluetti but I haven't decided whether it's the right device for me or not.

This is how it looks inside as of today:

 

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I'm just not sure what the best way of doing it is, but the end result is I'd like to find a no-maintenance or low-maintenance way of just keeping the cooler running, regardless if I'm driving the Jeep or it's sitting in one spot for 3 or 4 days, or just being daily-driven around town.

Some combination of solar, a power station, an alternator charger and???, along with how/where to mount them. I have a Goose Gear plate system and 60% rear delete and a Hooke Road shelf, and at the moment, I have the Charger 1 from Bluetti but I haven't decided whether it's the right device for me or not.

This is how it looks inside as of today:

Maybe try putting the Bluetti on the right side of the cargo rack. At least the blocked view is of the side of the road.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

Maybe try putting the Bluetti on the right side of the cargo rack. At least the blocked view is of the side of the road.

The cable they provide is far too short for that, although if I can procure a longer one of sufficient wire gauge that would possibly be an option. I will have to try it out in a dry run.

 

[Vinman]

My Engel 35 quart has been running about 95% of the time since I purchased it over 22 years ago. I don’t think its been off for at least the last 7-8 years for more than just long enough to switch from garage to vehicle.
I purchased it in Moab back in 2003 and it’s been back there 6 times since, extreme dust, cold, heat, rain, it’s been through it all in an open top Jeep. Many, many offroad trail in Alberta as well as Moab. It’s been across the country twice, numerous trips up and down the PCH, Arizona and Vegas during a heatwave.
The only maintenance I ever did was blow the dust out of the compressor area a couple of times.
It just will not die but if it did, another Engel will replace it.
I just did the math, initial cost of $620 over 267 months equals $2.32 per month if it died today. Factor in I doubt I spent $20 on ice since I got the fridge it becomes a bargain.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Hi all,
I've been using an Iceco JP40 fridge just sitting in the back of my Jeep and it's been OK, but it's time for an upgrade. Are there any GOOD dual-zone fridges that will fit behind the driver's side back seat of a JL? I have a Goose Gear plate system installed with a 60% seat delete, but I have kept the 40% seat in place. I have a tailgate table installed where I do my cooking, and I prefer my fridge to be behind the back left seat.

I have been looking at the Iceco APL55, and it's absolutely perfect for my application, but I think it's a few inches too big to fit with the back seat still in place.

While the JP40 is still OK, I don't like the idea of using a budget fridge when I have a week's worth of food in there, plus the lack of a freezer also means more trips to town. I also want something with an app that can alert me if the lid isn't closed or the temperatures are inching up beyond the food-safe zone. If I have to sacrifice a freezer so be it, but I want a high-quality and reliable fridge that will fit where it needs to go. Suggestions?

To be clear, I am absolutely not looking for a bargain-basement or no-name fridge. No Vevors, BougeRV, Setpoint, etc. National Luna's fridges are a bit too much in the other direction, hoever, so something in between? I like Iceco's SECOP compressor-based fridges, etc, and I will consider Dometic and ARB or anything similar. Bonus if it's able to fit in the GooseGear fridge slide made for the rear plate system!

Please and thanks.

My brother has had an Engle steel cased fridge for going on 30 years. Still the best one I've seen.

Amazon.com: ENGEL MT35 34 Quart Platinum Series Portable Top Opening 12/24V DC - 110/120V AC Fridge-Freezer : Automotive

Looks like their 45 qt is just a bit taller but should fit in the space behind the seat lengthwise, just like their 35 qt

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