Best Fridge for the Money?

[Van Lady]

HDR:
This is what I found in my owner's manual. I do not know if it will help.





Van_Lady

 

[highdesertranger]

hi Van Lady. I emailed Dometic to get a clarification from them, I should hear back next week. they should include the max acceptable voltage, in the specs. my guess is it could handle up to about 15.4 volts. but lets wait to se what they say. anybody else have this model Dometic CFX65 and have experience with running the refer while charging? highdesertranger

 

[akrvbob]

quick question on the Dometic 65cfx in the owners manual it says to unplug the refer when charging the battery.  what.  I am sure this is not the case but it states it several times in the manual.  I have an email in to Dometic but thought I would ask here.  can anybody clarify what they are talking about?  what's the max volts this refer can handle?  highdesertranger

If true, that's a deal-breaker, with solar we are charging all day long and you want it on during the day so the sun can match what it's taking out.

But I wouldn't call solar a "quick charging device" so it can probably be left on while the solar is charging. But, if you arecharing from  the aternator that might be called a quick charging device and may have to turn it off, 
Bob

 

[highdesertranger]

we will see when I hear back. I specifically asked about the max voltage, charging with the alternator, charging with a battery charger, and charging with solar. highdesertranger

 

[SternWake]

The charge rate should not matter, it is about max charge voltage. The max voltages allowed will vary greatly depending on charging source and Vehicle.

Perhaps they are worried about 'automatic' Equalization voltages applied by some solar controllers and other charging sources

The Danfoss condenser controller has a 17 volt limit on 12v systems and 31.5v when used in a 24volt system.

http://www.ra.danfoss.com/Technical...f_electronic_unit_ac-dc_04-2009_ei100g402.pdf

If Dometic's Waeco compressor indeed cannot handle normal charging voltages below 15 volts, well that sucks festering donkey pecker.

One could conceivable add a voltage limiter on the power cord, but this will also reduce efficiency to some degree.

https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Regulat...id=1466282941&sr=8-2&keywords=DC+voltage+buck

If the max voltage of the Waeco compressor is under 15.5 volts, then I would recommend NOT buying it. My vehicles stock voltage regulator would shortly spike to 15.5v on occasion and even my solar controller could allow voltage to spike that high briefly when the battery is 95%+ in absorption stage, and the compressor fridge shuts off.

I'd not trust such a unit that warned about normal charging voltages being damaging, especially when the entire application practically dictates that the unit will indeed have to see charging voltages.

It Seems especially ridiculous.

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks stern I was hoping you would chime in. I did ask them for a max voltage, so we will see. highdesertranger

 

[IanC]

Maybe those are the same reasons for Whynters failing. Sucks that one has to be able to decifer advanced tech information to plug in an appliance.

Frankly, I wonder about the prices on all of them. The cost of manufacturing the body surely couldn't be much more than a $150 Coleman insulated cooler, so 4-500 dollars for the inclusion of a small compressor ? Seems to me they're taking a tad too much advantage of a specially market.

 

[SternWake]

I hope they actually answer your question instead of the usual directions to obtuse CYA landia.

I've found no useful info online searching Waeco compressor + "maximum voltage."

Until proven otherwise i have to recommend sticking with Danfoss/Secop compressors based fridges, or the Sawafuji, even though my Sawafuji compressor irritated the Eff out of me with its noisy, harmonics inducing proclivities.

All these fridges have low voltage cutout settings to supposedly protect battery from overdischarge. using a voltage limiter I linked to above will likely not work well with these low voltage cutouts.

The voltage limiter likely has to have some headroom, meaning if battery voltage is 11.9 volts, the voltage limiter will not be able to produce more than 11.6 volts( a guess) this might cause the fridge to stop working well before it otherwise would without the voltage limiter in place.

Best to not need the voltage limiter in the first place.

 

[SternWake]

The danfoss/Secop compressor controller alone is something like 300$ if bought separately, and that does not include the condenser or compressor or its plumbing.

I think lots of fridge failures are due to overheating, and overheating can in large part be due to too low of voltage input due to the 12v ciggy plug cord heating up wearing out and dropping voltage. Also the intermittent nature of the ciggy plug receptacle is also a stressing factor. Say the compressor is running and the ciggy plug is knocked/ pulled out and loses power. This cannot be good for the compressor or compressor controller and the damage must be cumulative to the capacitors inside and other electronic wizardry inside the controller.

Also the amount of dust build up on the condenser fins and condenser fan will cause the compressor to cycle on for much longer periods, sucking more battery power, wearing out the ciggy plug faster, wearing out the compressor faster. The dust build up in my Van, on all fans blades, is fairly severe. So much so my fridge fan now sucks only filtered air from the floor below, and the filter turns dark brown surprisingly quick.

The dang Ciggy plugs and the receptacles these fridges are plugged into are severe limiting factors and are best bypassed. Their convenience of plugging in a ubiquitous connector is a performance detraction, and perhaps a causative failure point cumulative.

While the possible overvoltage of this Waeco compressor controller is a red flag, on cannot rely on the voltage drop across the ****** ciggy plugs and receptacles to prevent damage, as when there is little to no current flowing, there is no voltage drop, so the possibly damaging 15.5 EQ volts would still be able to reach compressor controller when the compressor is not running.

But let's wait for a response from dometic regarding maximum input voltage before condemning their lineup as inappropriate for the use for which it is marketed.

The biggest cause of failure of the Danfoss based refrigerators is failure of the compressor controller due to overheating. When the BD35f compressor first came out, the compressor controller had no heatsink on the backside to help dissipate heat from the electronics. They added one quickly, and adequate airflow over this heatsink on the controller is still necessary. Also of course is airflow through/over the condenser coils/fins and compressor itself. I have to believe that many failures are by inadequate ventilation either by the fan failure, or the fan blades and condenser fins coated in dust, or simply the cooling unit vents being obstructed by placing it too close to cabinet walls or perhaps an article of clothing falling in a bad spot and obscuring the vents.

The single biggest way to increase efficiency of any fridge is to make sure the condenser can release the heat as efficiently as possible. Second is added insulation to the fridge box.

So make sure the cooling units vents are not obstructed by an improper install, or by the accumulation of dust on condenser fins or fan blades. On these chest styler fridges, i do not know how easy it is to get inside them to check on dust build up, but do not discount the dust build up. it is a huge factor that cannot be engineered out of possibility. Not even my airfilter stops it, it only reduces it greatly.

This is about 6 to 8 months of dust build up without the filter:

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss15/wrcsixeight/FridgeDust_zps531f5e52.jpg

Cleaning it reduced run times by 20%.

 

[highdesertranger]

for the dust build I take the cover off the control panel this allows access to the compressor, condenser and the control board. then I take my gas powered shop vac reverse the air flow and blow the whole thing out. depending on how much I drive off road is how often I do this. highdesertranger

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Mine hasn't shipped yet, so very curious to their answer as I can always change my order.

 

[SternWake]

My dust build up appears to be more like clothes lint rather than earth dust. I basically use 3 q tips dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean the fan blades one by one, and go through many many q tips to clean an entire fan.

Compressed air alone would never be able to clean the leading edges of the fan blades in my Van/environment, some sort of mechanical loosening is required. My ceiling fans need some attention now. It is hot and they are caked. I can tell they spin so much faster when clean.

 

[Free Range Chicken]

I just bought mine. I'll share things that may be worth considering: To have peace of mind in case of fixing/enforcing the warranty, I picked west marine. They have stores in many parts of the country. They also offer free shipping to the store.
The down side is that the fridge is back ordered and have a month of wait time.

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

 

[highdesertranger]

West Marine must have changed their policy. when I was in the market they wanted to charge me shipping to get it delivered to there store. highdesertranger

 

[DannyB1954]

My dust build up appears to be more like clothes lint rather than earth dust.  I basically use 3 q tips dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean the fan blades one by one, and go through many many q tips to clean an entire fan.

 Compressed air alone would never be able to clean the leading edges of the fan blades in my Van/environment, some sort of mechanical loosening is required.  My ceiling fans need some attention now.  It is hot and they are caked.  I can tell they spin so much faster when clean.

You may wish to tape a piece of window screen onto the air inlet, maybe even give it a quick wipe with a light oil. 
The screen will let the air through and you can see from the outside when it needs cleaning. The screen is also a lot easier to clean.

 

[cortttt]

You may wish to tape a piece of window screen onto the air inlet, maybe even give it a quick wipe with a light oil. 
The screen will let the air through and you can see from the outside when it needs cleaning. The screen is also a lot easier to clean.

Just came across built in DC Front Opening Engel's - less than half the price of the portable.. $670 for 60 qt (https://www.amazon.com/Engel-SB70F-Built-Front-Open-Freezer/dp/B003TM0KBA)...vs   

$1320 for the portable  - https://www.amazon.com/Engel-MT60-AC-DC-Fridge-Freezer/dp/B00042JSRK/ref=pd_sbs_468_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9NFVZ6967WQ8QKAF01TD.    I don't get it at all 

Why so much cheaper? The built in does not come with a plug - has to be hardwired - but it appears to have the same compressor...and is sooo much cheaper...What does the portable have that the built-in does not? 

 

[Ballenxj]

I'd be curious to hear why as well if anybody knows.

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[SternWake]

That upright is extremely similar to my previous Norcold de-0040.

I found that fridge worked well, but was noisy and would vibrate the whole van when it was screwed tifghtly to the cabinet in which it resided.

I wound up basically floating the fridge inside a rubber cushion inside my cabinet to reduce the noise. Lots of efforts were expended to quieten it, and they might have contributed to the refrigerant loss which ended its life, as I had isolated the Sawafuji compressor from the fridge box too on rubber feet.

I replaced it with a Vitrifrigo, and not only is it much much quieter, it also gets colder for less electricity used.

The ONly thing I preferred about the Norcold was the temp dial was exterior to the box, and it was AC/DC, which really only affects me when I want 40 amps of charge current, not 37.3amps.

They do not sell this Norcold model anymore calling it obsolete and some site says this is its replacement.

http://www.suremarineservice.com/NR740BB.aspx

It appears the Norcold now uses the venerable danfoss bd35f instead of the Sawafuji compressor.

So I suspect that upright Engel/Norcold has beeen sitting on the shelf for a decade, which is why it is cheaper.

Now I talk smaclk about that Norcold, but it was a zillion times better than buying block ice and using a cooler, but the Vitrifrigo fridge I replaced it with is a much better performer, even with the door seals not very well thught out or designed