Fridge/Freezer Tips

[lysol]

Ok, so the wife and I have used our ARB 50-qt fridge a few times in the last couple weeks. It's amazing. My next project is to get a dedicated line wired up for it to my aux battery. Baby steps though...

We are curious about playing with the temps. We have been running it at 29*F and have been happy with it. I haven't had a chance to actually test it with a thermometer yet. I want to be able to get it to be a fridge/freezer. How do you guys normally make this happen? I know there is a sweet spot that will freeze the bottom few inches while leaving the top part above freezing. I've also heard that some people use those plastic "election" signs you see everywhere. They cut them to fit the fridge and lay them flat to separate the freezer area at the bottom.

One issue I have read about doing this though is that when the bottom is cold enough to freeze items, the top part builds up a lot of moisture. Guess, that's just the nature of the beast though.


Another thing we are curious about is bringing/making drinking ice cubes. I've seen some ice cube trays that are more of a "stick" with a tube that covers it. I'm open to ideas though on this one. I would like to stray away from the standard "trays" as I want to be able to make ice and have it start freezing while driving and not get water all over the bottom of the freezer.

All I can say is that we are going to get our $850 worth out of this thing quick. It is amazing to be able to bring whatever we want on short and long trips. No excuse for eating unhealthy fastfood on the road anymore.

 

[BigSwede]

Yeah, I'm interested in fridge packing tips as well, since I am the proud owner of a new Engel 40 qt.

 

[Hilldweller]

I have one of the newer-gen ARB-50s and, while I've never set it to freeze anything, I generally have it set at 31 degrees.
Using an infrared thermometer on items in there this yields temps around 34 degrees right at the bottom by the LED read-out, 36-38 on the bottom on the other side, and temps rising as you go higher.
It's about 55 degrees on the shelf section.
So there's a huge swing in temps...

I've never had any moisture problems and it's been running almost non-stop for nearly 3 years now.

 

[stioc]

Here's some general temp info I found helpful: http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm253954.htm

I also bought a $12 digital indoor/outdoor temp and mounted it (probe in the fridge) so I can see the display in my rear view mirror. I have an IndelB fridge with the Danfoss compressor. I've noticed that in the ECON mode my fridge will allow fluctuations of up to 6-8F degrees before the compressor kicks in again. So i've been keeping it at 34F or so. Never tried to freeze anything but would be great to bring ice-cream in the summer.

 

[lysol]

I guess I didn't clarify something. With my fridge at 29*F, nothing froze. Just enjoyed really cold drinks. I can see how there are large temperature swings. Thanks for the link stioc!!! cool stuff!!! I'll have to experiment with a bottle of water and find the point where the fridge becomes a freezer at the bottom. More testing to come!!!

 

[SoCal Tom]

I plan on using mine primarily as a fridge, I have it set to stay below 40F, it tends to be between 36 and 39. I'm planning in getting a battery powered RV fridge fan to keep the temps more even throughout.
Tom


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Stumpalump]

I have one of the newer-gen ARB-50s and, while I've never set it to freeze anything, I generally have it set at 31 degrees.
Using an infrared thermometer on items in there this yields temps around 34 degrees right at the bottom by the LED read-out, 36-38 on the bottom on the other side, and temps rising as you go higher.
It's about 55 degrees on the shelf section.
So there's a huge swing in temps...

I've never had any moisture problems and it's been running almost non-stop for nearly 3 years now.

My experience has been identical right down to the 31 degree setting. A degree colder and I start to get ice. Stuff on the very bottom of the shelf is 55 but the stuff raised up in the air seems colder. I just put stuff like vitamins down first to keep the food off of the plastic bottom and it's does great.

If the dang thing would run on a slightly discharged battery I'd say its a good fridge. I stay out for a week so I'd rather deep discharge my batts then spoil the food. Just plan on your food rotting because the fridge won't run on less than full voltage battery's no matter how you wire it. One battery is one day when it's hot. I would prefer it still run and ruin the battery instead of my food going bad. I always bring enough non refrigerated food as a full back up because more than once I've needed it. I get a day and a half with one good deep cycle and a 100 watt solar panel before it dies. I'll burn a 1/2 of a tank of vehicle fuel just to run the engine to charge the batts over a week. It is what it is but I'd buy an Engle or Luna if your shopping instead but if your determined to buy a China made ARB then look at the other cheep China fridges. They are just as good.

 

[mrchips]

I set mine at 33 Deg f and put the stuff i need coldest at the bottom, salads and other not so cold required foods towards the top. Have not had the condensation problems, but have to say that I really love the fridge over the old cooler and ice situation, also use a ARB 50,

 

[mog]

I'm a newbie at these 12VDC fridges (I have a Indel-B 50qt), but my understanding (and experience) is the 'cold' comes from the sides (at least on mine). So the items packed against the sides are much colder then the items in the center. Not the bottom is colder then then top (other then heat transfer when the lid is opened). Perhaps the ARBs are different? I run mine at an indicated 31 since I have plenty of dedicated battery power

 

[Yulli]

I keep having an issue with the fridge turning off because of low amps. I have a new battery that's a boat battery and it's the only accessory connected that would constantly be drawing power. The battery has my winch and aux lights connected too but they rarely are used for now so I can't see them drawing any power from the battery. I have the hard wire kit from ARB from the battery going to the back of the Jeep to the fridge.

 

[4x4junkie]

^^
The cooling coils are in the sides, yes. No doubt, frequent lid opening will cause contents near the top-center to become a few degrees warmer.

I've used my Edgestar 43qt to freeze things (make cubes, etc.)... It does it, but it's not fast in doing it (and cubes won't happen at all if you're trying to balance "fridge" and 'freezer" temps within the same compartment, there isn't enough temperature differential. You would need to set it's t-stat closer to 0°F if you're looking to make cubes).
I find it easier to just bring a separate ice chest if cubes are needed and maybe keep some non-perishables in it that won't be affected should the ice run out (I often pack a 48qt cooler full of ice & frozen Gatorades, among other drinks). Or maybe bring a 2nd (smaller) fridge unit and set that to 0°F if you got enough battery for it.

Finding the "ideal" fridge temp is usually a matter of lowering the temp 1°F each day until ice crystals just start to form in it's contents (milk, non-alc. drinks, etc.), and then bumping it back up a degree or 2. On mine this is a setting of 35° but certainly it varies across brands (and even from unit to unit).

Fridges are finicky about battery power. A dedicated circuit (#10 wire if it's any appreciable distance from the battery) should help keep it running as the battery discharges (mine kicks out at ~10.75V measured at the fridge, which equates to about 11.25V at the battery, which still leaves enough to start the engine).

 

[Hilldweller]

More about my set-up:

The ARB fridge is in the back of the trailer with it's ARB "jacket" on, the trailer is insulated, and it has two Optima D31 batteries to feed it. The only other load on the batteries are LED lights. In winter there might also be an electric blanket for a short time or electric doggy heating pad; they both draw about as much as the fridge ---- and in winter the fridge ain't drawin' much....

I have the fridge set to turn off at 11.5 volts and I've never reached that while camping. The longest and hottest it's run on batteries is close to 90 degrees for 4 days.

The batteries recharge very quickly (thank you, Optima) off of my 180-amp alternator and overkill wiring.

 

[Yulli]

what trailer is that? Is that the AT Teardrop? And what tear drop is that Jeep pulling?

Sorry for getting off topic.

 

[stioc]

I ran 19ft of 12ga wire from the battery to the hatch/trunk of the truck into a bluesea 12v socket. 10ga would've been even better. I only have one Sears Platinum battery btw. Here's a cut and paste from my build thread when I did the wiring:

According to the fridge manual max cable length for 12v, 12ga is 20ft so I'm just squeaking by. I also did some voltage drop calcs and here's what I got:

15amp @12v, 19ft cable:

8ga = 11.64v
10ga = 11.43v
12ga = 11.09v

So at 12ga the voltage drop is almost 1v. My fridge has three settings for low battery cut-off as follows:

High = 11.1v
Med = 10.1v
Low = 9.6v

I can't use High but Med (and Low) should be fine. Also that's at the full 15amps (fuse rating), the actual current draw is probably 10amps and only goes close to 15amp when the compressor kicks in. On the other hand as you said the battery isn't always at 12v either but hopefully it all balances out and works.

 

[Yulli]

I don't understand why my fridge is turning off when I have the ARB wiring kit and using a 6+ month old battery. The fridge is the only thing that constantly runs off the battery if I have it in the Jeep. I'm using one of those Die Hard Platinum Series too. So it should be able to hold up to accessories.