Nobody needs a fridge, until they take a trip with one...than you can never go back.
Best cooler for a 3 week trip?
- Thread starter Rove Adventures
- Start date
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Yeah most likely because of the price, and it would make his life easier if some one showed him other options instead of pulling apart other peoples posts,
But a powered cooler is a better option than a cooler you have to waste money buying Ice for and Another fact is that a good powered cooler is about the same price as a good quality yeti type cooler and he won't end up with soggy food or having to buy Ice. And the Powered Cooler I posted can hit temperatures 30*c BELOW the Ambient Temperature and would serve him well for many years.
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Laps
Active member
I have a powered cooler and as advertised they only cool to approximately 40 degrees below the ambient temperature so that rules out its use in areas such as Utah during the 100 degree days that are typical. Even summer temps here in the Appalachians can be in the upper 80's low 90's during the day.
The Pelican I own will keep things cold with a single 5 lb block of ice for 5 days in those same temps. I have never had 'soggy food' using ice. Trays and baskets take care of that issue. If there are more efficient powered coolers on the market I'd be interested In knowing about them.
The Pelican I own will keep things cold with a single 5 lb block of ice for 5 days in those same temps. I have never had 'soggy food' using ice. Trays and baskets take care of that issue. If there are more efficient powered coolers on the market I'd be interested In knowing about them.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
The Dometic will cool 30c / 54f lower than the Ambient Temp and place one of those blue Ice Bricks in there and it will go below -2 /-3 *c and it will not switch on for hours if you cool it down plugging it in to the AC power before you set off, Keeping them out of the Sun is always a good Idea,
I own 2 ARB fridges and I would buy another TCX series in a heart beat If I needed one.
Laps
Active member
Interesting and yours is the first post I've seen here about the Dometic TC series. Certainly an option to consider.
Any numbers on Ah per day consumption rates?
I wonder if similar to their Waeco Tropicool?
Sorry I see you're where I got my jotted note on that unit.
expeditionportal.com
Have yet to see user reports from anyone else.
So many paid PR/ SM shills out there now, hard to know who to trust.
Using a Yeti backwards?
What is the internal contents capacity? Can't be used as a freezer. Would really like to know its AH per 24hr consumption at lowest-temp setting in very hot weather. Have yet to see a thermo-electric based unit perform anywhere near as well as a compressor-based one. The heating function is...
expeditionportal.com
Have yet to see user reports from anyone else.
So many paid PR/ SM shills out there now, hard to know who to trust.
Actually I myself, and seen lots of users, put in an efficient cooler, rather than the compressor fridge they already own,
when trips are short and ice-civilization in easy reach.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Well those old fashioned ideas do "Not" relate to the Dometic TCX range of coolers, using as little as 0.73 A/h and in the Eco mode they use as little as 8.8 Watts per hour,
And one of the most impressive things during my tests was the fact of how long it stayed Cold for after it had been switched Off, Thermally they will rival most modern 4x4 fridges and in the ECO Mode they are so quiet that you can't hear them 3ft away facing the cooling panel/Fan.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
My Brother just used it on a 600 mile round trip and used it for over a week while he was away taking fresh food with him and bringing frozen food back and it all survived, and on a single battery, I'd chalk that up as a pass.
I checked them out on Amazon and All the truck Drivers loved them and many Camping forums raved about them so I decided to buy one and they were right, This range of coolers is about as close to Compressor type fridge performance as you can get without buying a proper compressor fridge, But for a few extra bucks a person can buy one of the cheaper branded compressor fridges So the real issue here is does a person buy the TCX or had another 100-150 bucks and buy a compressor fridge,
Well I have Two of the best fridges on the market And I can still find a use for the Dometic TCX 35, It's great for going food shopping in the summer months at keeping you food cool and it is great for those on a limited budget, Is it a replacement for a Fridge ? Not quite but it is too close to write it off as just a peltlier cooler.
For one the TCX Cycles like a proper fridge does and it has 7 cold Temperature settings and 7 hot temperature settings and it has AC power priority, When you first power it up it really goes for it and it is as loud as a fridge, Once it starts to cool it then runs at a lower / quieter rate and as it cools some more it then goes in to ECO Mode where it runs but to have to place your ear almost on it to hear it, And when it is down to Temp it will shut off completely Monitoring it's inside temp and then it will fire up in the second speed setting and then drop to the whisper mode and shut off again and it will keep doing that forever. the end result is a very economical Cooler that thinks it's a fridge and behaves like one, I would of kept it but as I said I have the ARB 50Qt and the 82Qt and there is only so much gear you can take along for the ride.
I checked them out on Amazon and All the truck Drivers loved them and many Camping forums raved about them so I decided to buy one and they were right, This range of coolers is about as close to Compressor type fridge performance as you can get without buying a proper compressor fridge, But for a few extra bucks a person can buy one of the cheaper branded compressor fridges So the real issue here is does a person buy the TCX or had another 100-150 bucks and buy a compressor fridge,
Well I have Two of the best fridges on the market And I can still find a use for the Dometic TCX 35, It's great for going food shopping in the summer months at keeping you food cool and it is great for those on a limited budget, Is it a replacement for a Fridge ? Not quite but it is too close to write it off as just a peltlier cooler.
For one the TCX Cycles like a proper fridge does and it has 7 cold Temperature settings and 7 hot temperature settings and it has AC power priority, When you first power it up it really goes for it and it is as loud as a fridge, Once it starts to cool it then runs at a lower / quieter rate and as it cools some more it then goes in to ECO Mode where it runs but to have to place your ear almost on it to hear it, And when it is down to Temp it will shut off completely Monitoring it's inside temp and then it will fire up in the second speed setting and then drop to the whisper mode and shut off again and it will keep doing that forever. the end result is a very economical Cooler that thinks it's a fridge and behaves like one, I would of kept it but as I said I have the ARB 50Qt and the 82Qt and there is only so much gear you can take along for the ride.
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67cj5
Man On a Mission
The myth about duel batteries is just that, If a person upgrades to a larger battery then that alone will extend run times, Also My brother did make a couple of short trips to the local store while he was there after about 4 days,
I also just completed A Battery test using the ARB 47/50Qt set to the highest cut off setting and in the end I gave up because the battery just kept going, I stopped the test while the battery was above 12V but it would of kept going for a few more days no problem.
Laps
Active member
I went to the Dometic web site to learn more about the TC series and under the Q&A section there is this remark, and seems a bit concerning:
Dometic Customer Support
· 3 months ago
"Dometic thanks you for your question. It uses roughly 4 amps per hour. Multiply by 24 to get amp-hour usage for a full day.
We don’t recommend running these off of accessory batteries though because the power consumption is so high."
Does this seem in line with your experience?
Dometic Customer Support
· 3 months ago
"Dometic thanks you for your question. It uses roughly 4 amps per hour. Multiply by 24 to get amp-hour usage for a full day.
We don’t recommend running these off of accessory batteries though because the power consumption is so high."
Does this seem in line with your experience?
67cj5
Man On a Mission
No, not at all, Here is a list of reviews, And I don't know who wrote that customer support post but it is obvious that have never taken one out of the Box. And no doubt they wanted to sell them one of their more expensive CFX range.
One Thing no has noticed or commented on and that is The Dometic TCX 35 has an A++ Eco Rating, Just about all 4x4 Fridges only have an A+ rating So that should give you an Idea of how well it performs, These Government ratings are not just handed out, For any item to have such a rating it has to pass certain standards.
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Dometic Tropicool TCX35 Coolbox | Electric Cool Boxes | Leisureshopdirect
Buy a Dometic Tropicool TCX35 Coolbox | Electric Cool Boxes | Leisureshopdirect
www.leisureshopdirect.com
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