Cheap Fridge <$400 shipped

[CaliMobber]

yea i saw that, could not believe that price. Waaaayy outrageous. I bought a 3 dollar sun shade Ive been putting on top of mine. thinking about buying a few more and sewing it into something I can slide over it and still open the top without removing it.

 

[ab1985]

I used this Reflectix insulation and velcro tabs:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_13353-56291-ST16025_4294858104_4294937087_?productId=1014123&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Foil%2BInsulation_4294858104_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=#BVRRWidgetID

Cheap and easy.

 

[spikeomc]

I used this Reflectix insulation and velcro tabs:

I use that insulation to line the inside of my soft sided coolers used for sea kayaking. Kept ice for a 2 day/1 night outing on Lake Mead in 100 degree temps. John.

 

[Strizzo]

received my SnD 43qt yesterday. pulled it out of the box, and while i wasn't impressed with the packing job, it didn't appear to have any scratches or dents that i could find, must have been a refurb. plugged it in to the wall and put it on FF, the temp was down to -8 or -9 in an hour (couldn't tell for sure as my IR thermometer was showing -OL out of limit, which is supposed to be -4, but it showed -6 and -7 in other spots) the compressor is a bit louder than the old one, and it definitely cools a ton faster. the test will be tomorrow when we are planning a trip to the beach. the old one couldn't keep up if it had direct sunlight on the lid, i have high hopes for this one doing much better.

 

[Strizzo]

whelp, even though the fridge showed good promise, this morning it was showing 44 degrees on a 35 degree set, check it out and it doesn't appear that the compressor is running. hmm, unplug for a minute, plug it back in and it comes on and i can hear the compressor kick on, then the compressor whir slowly fades away until all i can hear is the fan running. before i could hear the compressor and fan running when it was on.

obviously this is another bad refurb job from edgestar.... seriously disappointed as it was working great since thursday when i received it. we even put it in the truck when we went to the farmers market to keep stuff cold while running other errands on saturday, and aside from the fuse in the cord being blown, everything worked fine. seriously frustrating, waiting now for edgestar tech support to call me back.

 

[CaliMobber]

This is a common issue that most people just learn to deal with. First off how long was the fridge running on the battery only? Are you using the stock 12v plug? most of these fridges shut off around 11v instead of the 10.5 advertised. On my 4runner If I use the rear 12v plug in the back of the car the fridge shuts off early, by running a new wire directly from the battery I was able to correct this( the stock 12v wires are like 8-10 gauge and most factory wires are like 18 so the power drop affects the fridge. Ive also used a male/female 12v extension to get the fridge away from the 4runner and that caused the same power drop and the fridge stopped early)

next time u see the temps rising start the vehicle and ill bet the fridge kicks on in a few seconds when it gets the boost in power.also Mine still cant overcome direct sunlight when vehicles parked, try using a sunshade to help keep direct sunlight off.


Even with these issues ill deal with it considering the money I saved over an ARB fridge

 

[theicecreampeople]

I used this Reflectix insulation and velcro tabs:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_13353-56291-ST16025_4294858104_4294937087_?productId=1014123&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Foil%2BInsulation_4294858104_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=#BVRRWidgetID

Cheap and easy.

thanks for sharing getting some this week ...funny i was going to get a couple sunshades and piece together ...

 

[Strizzo]

This is a common issue that most people just learn to deal with. First off how long was the fridge running on the battery only? Are you using the stock 12v plug? most of these fridges shut off around 11v instead of the 10.5 advertised. On my 4runner If I use the rear 12v plug in the back of the car the fridge shuts off early, by running a new wire directly from the battery I was able to correct this( the stock 12v wires are like 8-10 gauge and most factory wires are like 18 so the power drop affects the fridge. Ive also used a male/female 12v extension to get the fridge away from the 4runner and that caused the same power drop and the fridge stopped early)

next time u see the temps rising start the vehicle and ill bet the fridge kicks on in a few seconds when it gets the boost in power.also Mine still cant overcome direct sunlight when vehicles parked, try using a sunshade to help keep direct sunlight off.


Even with these issues ill deal with it considering the money I saved over an ARB fridge

it was plugged into AC power in the house when it let go. pulled the panel off and ran it some last night and its either lost all the refridgerant or the compressor let go, compressor runs but barely cools the fridge or heats the condensor, and i can hear what sounds like a wet air leak inside the fridge just above the compressor.

the suddenness of this failure leads me to believe its a bad compressor, will see when it goes back for repair.

 

[youwillforget]

I want this cooler so bad! and it sounds like if I skip the scratch and dent, opt for the 5 year warranty, replace the 12v plug or direct wire it with #10 or better wire fused at the battery, check all the contacts upon arrival and protect it with a light covered insulator I could/should expect a number of years of good service.

If you are plugging anything into your dash other than a cell phone charger or a GPS you are probably overloading the circuit. lots of nice rigs have burt to the ground because of bad modifications and/or repairs. Living on 12 Volts with Ample Power, Wiring 12 Volts for Ample Power and endless hours reading threads just like this one have served me well over the years.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I have mine "hard wired" to a deep cycle batter and the wire length is about 4'. I used 10ga and I have absolutely no problems what so ever. I also built a insulating blanket for the bosy and lis of the cooler... seems to make a huge difference in the Florida heat/sun. I'll post pick when I get a chance.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I insulated mine about two weeks ago. Used that foil faced bubble wrap from home depot and "duct tape" to tape it to the fridge. I used three layers on the lid and one on the side. Will probably use the rest to make another layer on the side since I have left overs. Seems to have made a difference, the battery lasted longer and the temp really didn't budge last weekend.

 

[Fish]

OK, time for a little report on my new fridge.

I did a little wiring last week and put a Blue Sea fuse block back in the camper. I already had 0 gauge run to the inverter, so I build some 6 gauge jumpers to feed the fuse block. Then I ran 12 gauge around to where I wanted to put the fridge and put in a marine style cigarette lighter outlet.

I ran the fridge on FF for 40 hours and it held temp fine. My batteries dropped from 12.6 to 11.6 in that time. Then I hooked up the Goal Zero panel and went a bit more. The solar helped, but the heat of the day kicked in and the batteries dropped another .3 volts. I also changed the temp to 25. The fridge still ran fine and the truck still started. I did notice that at some point the fridge reset to -1 as others have mentioned. That might irritate me if my beer froze. I'll have to watch that. Also, the fridge was empty that whole time, so there was no thermal mass to help.

I did notice that the lid was cool to the touch. That tells me that more insulation is needed, so I'll be picking up some Reflectix at Lowe's later this week.

So far, so good!

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I did notice that the lid was cool to the touch. That tells me that more insulation is needed, so I'll be picking up some Reflectix at Lowe's later this week.

So far, so good!

You will not believe the difference it makes! ! ! After seeing the results, I wish I had done it a long time ago.

 

[CaliMobber]

Awesome update, the manual said do not run FF more than 24hrs( just something to think about.) since the motor will never turn off it works harder than it need to.

Looks like Ill have to get some of that tape as well, Im going camping this next weekend ill have to get it setup before so I can report back.

loving the updates people!

 

[Fish]

Awesome update, the manual said do not run FF more than 24hrs( just something to think about.) since the motor will never turn off it works harder than it need to.

Looks like Ill have to get some of that tape as well, Im going camping this next weekend ill have to get it setup before so I can report back.

loving the updates people!

Manual? I knew I forgot something. Thanks for the info. That probably increased my power needs as well.