Whynter 62 QT Ac/DC Fridge Freezer

[highdesertranger]

hard wiring is the way to go. when I build my trailer I plan on hard wiring my Engels, for now however since it's a temporary mount I installed 2 Blue Sea ciggy plugs/power outlets with 8 gauge wire to them. with this set up I haven't had any problems. Engal 12v power cords are pretty heavy duty. highdesertranger

 

[Oberneldon]

I just checked my Engel 12V Power Cord and it is 16 AWG

The plug end comes in two pieces where you can use the standard 12V plug or it comes apart to use a proprietary plug connection that gives 2 bladed contacts. The proprietary receiving end is sold separately.

I have never had a problem running my Engel (cooling or freezing) on standard OEM vehicle outlets, but where I travel in my Prius or Tacoma I have a separate dedicated circuit with 10 gauge with heavy duty marine 12V connections

Brent

 

[Oberneldon]

The other photo of the plug end

Brent

 

[kylakemike]

Concerning the original post, I looked into the Whynter a little more closely and it seems to be a nice unit. But as others have pointed out to me IT'S HUGE. A little too big for my Chevy Astro.

As always I certainly appreciate the input. Size wise and single dweller confirms the ARB for me. I certainly wish I could pay the Whynter price for the ARD unit.

 

[LoupGarou]

Regarding footprint size; CAD, short for 'Cardboard Aided Design' has proven very helpful to me.

 

[smitty]

Here are a couple I'd be looking at if I do an astro build. Not "chest style" though.

The "drawer one" could be mounted many places....pretty pricey for the size though .

http://truckfridge.com/tf49.html
http://truckfridge.com/tf36.html

 

[vtwinkicker]

I wish I had found this thread before I returned the Whynter dual zone. Now that I am convinced it was the ciggy plug that was the weak link I could have easily solved the problem by cutting the cord and hard wiring. I really liked the two separate compartments with their own doors as well as the dual temp readings, one for each compartment. The noise level I did not like.
I went with a Dometic dual zone as a replacement. I got to tell you, I plugged it in and the display lit up. I saw the little green power light on but it wasn't doing anything. Hmm...does that mean it has power and I have to push the on button now? Well I bent down and put my ear near the vent grill, the sucker was running and I couldn't tell it was so quiet.

Initial Dometic observations:
I think the Dometic exterior will be more durable than the Whynter. Less susceptible to dings and scratches with the polysomething exterior
The Dometic appears to be using 1-2 less amps to run.
Its very quiet.
The freezer compartment is too narrow to take a standard ice cube tray, at least the one that was in my house freezer. I'll have to look for narrower ice cube trays.
The door can be reversed.
It has a USB port for charging phones etc.
The door latch is out of the way compared to the Whynter.

Initial Whynter observations:
Nice rubber feet, very non skid.
The metal exterior will dent and scratch.
The latches I didn't think were that robust. Sufficient, yes. I would suspect I would have snagged and torn something on those latches sooner or later.
It cooled quickly and held temps well.
Interior layout on both units are probably very comparable but I cant tell since I didn't have them side by side

Conclusion:
Is one unit better than the other? They are probably a toss up. Both have nice features and decent capacity. Both about the same size. Both will get the job done so its preference and price.  If I had the solution to the problem on the Whynter before I returned it I would have kept it. Now that I have the Dometic I'll keep it. I give the Dometic a thumbs up over the Whynter for fit and finish. The Dometic cost about $120 more.  Based on what I have experienced I would probably go Dometic.

These are my observations and opinions. It is not my intention to discredit one brand over the other or to offend anyone that has either brand. Please take it as my viewpoint based on the limited time I have had with both units. My intention is to provide my opinion for anyone looking to purchase one and is gathering feedback to help in their purchase.

 

[SternWake]

Thanks for the report. Interesting on the Noise factor. I imagine the Dometic is actually just a relabelled Waeco for the North American market, and Waeco recently came out with their own compressor, so to hear that it is quiet it a big plus.

My former Norcold fridge with a Sawafuji compressor drove me nuts and I expended lots of effort to dampen vibrations and noise, with good results, but not good enough. My Vitrifrigo's Danfoss/Secop is so much better in this regard, and efficiency too.

Does the Dometic's power cord appear similar to the Whynter?

Do you have a Link to the model you bought?

Are you going to hardwire it?

Is your 12v ciggy receptacle a stock vehicle one, or one which you wired to a fuse block to the house battery?

I'd be interested to see if the following receptacle/plug combo is well built and can actually meet its 20 amp rating:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G4RYWF2/ref=s9_hps_bw_g263_i9

 

[vtwinkicker]

Thanks for the report.  Interesting on the Noise factor.  I imagine the Dometic is actually just a relabelled Waeco for the North American market, and Waeco recently came out with their own compressor, so to hear that it is quiet it a big plus.  

My former Norcold fridge with a Sawafuji compressor drove me nuts and I expended lots of effort to dampen vibrations and noise, with good results, but not good enough.  My Vitrifrigo's Danfoss/Secop is so much better in this regard, and efficiency too.

Does the Dometic's power cord appear similar to the Whynter?

Do you have a Link to the model you bought?

Are you going to hardwire it?

Is your 12v ciggy receptacle a stock vehicle one, or one which you wired to a fuse block to the house battery?

I'd be interested to see if the following receptacle/plug combo is well built and can actually meet its 20 amp rating:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G4RYWF2/ref=s9_hps_bw_g263_i9

Yes I believe Dometic/Waeco have joined forces or one bought the other.

I still have my Norcold from my 1980 van, I'd be using it if it wouldn't wake the dead its so loud.

The power cord is very similar, probably 16 gauge.

Outlet is aftermarket wired to my fuse block. I intend to hard wire soon.

http://www.amazon.com/Dometic-CFX-6...1440415021&sr=8-1&keywords=dometic+cfx-65dzus

 

[LFM]

It works for me I have had mine for about 10 months. Most of the usage is in the SE (Hot).  Would I buy another?  YES. It is big. Check the measurements having a bed ontop may limit head room when seated. Bought mine at Home Depot too. The unit had some dent on it when I opened the box at home. So it may be a good idea to inspect/open box before bring it home. I like the feature that lets you adjust the temperature of each compartment, from -8 to 50 degrees.

Update 2 years and 8 months later DOA. The compressor runs but doesn't cool. Just wanted to pass this on to anyone considering one. I originally paid just under $500 with free shipping. Now I'm finding them around $600 plus shipping. Wanting to replace it with something of a better quality this time I came by this deal. I have had Norcold before and used it 8 years before selling the RV it was in. This is stand alone freezer. I have ordered a remote cooling thermostat to convert it to a refrigerator. Freezer, tstat, and shipping around $300 had to beat for a 3.1 C.F.
Being a freezer it has extra insulation. I just opened the box a few minutes ago. It is a beast of size, I'm planning on installing it in my van. More info and a Utube video coming up.

http://www.adventurerv.net/norcold-...medium=email&utm_campaign=Specials_07_27_2017

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Johnson-...b-Temperature-Control-Cooling-Only-30-to-100F

Not sure if this is the right place to post, but wanted to get it out there for anyone interested.

 

[highdesertranger]

thanks for that link LMF. that price is unbelievable, it was so unbelievable I had to order one.

BTW that link is for a 12/24/120v, 3.1 cuft, freezer. for 205 bucks.

I don't need it but for 205 bucks I couldn't say no. highdesertranger

 

[Ballenxj]

Update 2 years and 8 months later DOA. The compressor runs but doesn't cool. Just wanted to pass this on to anyone considering one. I originally paid just under $500 with free shipping. Now I'm finding them around $600 plus shipping. Wanting to replace it with something of a better quality
<-------->
http://www.adventurerv.net/norcold-...medium=email&utm_campaign=Specials_07_27_2017

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Johnson-...b-Temperature-Control-Cooling-Only-30-to-100F

Looks pretty good price wise.

 

[Weight]

This is not a compressor fridge/freezer. The parts list seem to indicate an absorption type unit. The manual states it is designed for 120 volt ac electric, but runs on dc in an emergency without AC power. Would be very heavy on electric use when on battery. But $200 is the all-time lowest price I could find.

 

[LFM]

This is not a compressor fridge/freezer. The parts list seem to indicate an absorption type unit. The manual states it is designed for 120 volt ac electric, but runs on dc in an emergency without AC power.  Would be very heavy on electric use when on battery. But $200 is the all-time lowest price I could find.

Not sure where you getting your information from. The DEF788S Norcold Model - 3.1 cu. ft. is a compressor freezer using 134a for its refrigerant. Runs on 120AC and 12/24DC. It uses AC when it is present and switches to DC when not. It uses about half the power of what my Whynter 62 QT Ac/DC Fridge Freezer used. At 13 volts it's pulling about 2.9 amps. In the mid 80's here in GA. the unit is running a couple of minutes every 20 minutes or so. It has a thermostat 1-5 5 being the coldest. By setting it to what a .5 is, the unit runs about 36 degrees. The unit is very quiet, with the exception of an occasional vibration when traveling. I have not found the source of that vibration yet, Need to investigate more. So far it appears to be a good unit, that I'm pleased with.
Norcold Freezer 3.1 cu ft DEF788S Stainless Norcold Freezer 3.1 cu ft DEF788S Stainless

 

[wayne49]

I had one. Ended up returning it. The unit having two separate compartments is why I bought it. When it arrived I plugged it in on AC and worked great! Cooled fast and held temp well although I thought it was a bit louder than I would have liked. Once I got my solar panels and battery bank installed in the van I took the fridge out for a trial run. It cooled quickly and held temperature well on DC as well. Overnight it shut off. I unplugged and tried again with same results. Several calls to Whynter revealed their DC cord is insufficient and is possibly causing the problem. Apparently the voltage is dropping and causing a low voltage disconnect even though the batteries are fine. Whynter offered to send me another cord but the service rep said its the same cord and probably wont fix it. The suggestion was that I buy a better cord from Radio Shack or wherever. Radio shack had nothing and I couldn't find one online. I was trying to also find the correct plug ends and construct my own heavy duty cord with no luck. I'm very disappointed because I really liked the unit (other than the noise).
Greg

I cut the cig plug and attached directly to a Blue Sea terminal block. No problems.

The cig plug is what is weak on the stock cable I received with my Whynter 65qt.

You don't need a cig plug on a large appliance that you are unlikely to move around on a whim.

 

[John61CT]

All ciggie plugs should be replaced, they are an abomination.

I believe Norcold and Engel are (part of) the same company?

Does that mean this unit also uses Sawafuji compressor rather than Secop/Danfoss or Waeco?

I'm amazed at that efficiency for a freezer!

3A seems low for an overall average over 24 hours, never mind a "while compressor is running" draw! Which I understand is usually double that.

And I really like the built-in design (front-venting?) should help adding insulation.

And wow great price, hard pressed just getting parts for that sort of money.

Might be a good source to cannibalize for a custom box project. . .