Edge Star fridge, what say? who has one?

[Vince1]

8years with 2 Engels, 3 trips with an ARB before the compressor needed replacing. I view refrigerators as a semi-disposable items; no need to overspend. Also, by you're logic, you can produce a 10volume binder set on well known problems with Series Land Rovers, including the ever-present frame corrosion and Lucas electronics issues but you seem to be proud of yours. In fact, I've yet to meet an unhappy Series owner. I still regret selling mine 20 years later, despite all it's quirks. Yet statistics would show it was one of the worst vehicles ever made, just like the VW bug. Does that mean they are crappy cars? It would certainly appear so to a non- owner. My advice: get an Edgestar, use it, enjoy it, then you're comments on a thread about owner experiences (entitled, "who owns one?") will be taken as something other than elitist bashing.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

Vince, I suspect (hope, at least) that you're the only one here who took my comments as elitist. Again you missed one of my main points, which is that very often the cheapest product to buy is not the cheapest in the long run. How is that elitist? The fact is, as a freelance writer of 25 years I have to watch every single penny I spend. My experience - my personal, non-statistical experience - is that buying the highest-quality product, whether or not it happens to be the most expensive - is usually the thriftiest choice in the long run. Again - elitist?

People post threads here asking for advice. If enough people offer honest advice, the end result is quite often a statistically reliable conclusion. Someone who took your experience with ARB fridges as statistically significant would conclude they're unreliable, when the collective experience of a bunch of users shows otherwise pretty convincingly.

Someone who blindly insists that the most expensive product is invariably the best would be doing a disservice here. Then again, someone who blindly insists that paying extra for higher quality is always a waste of money would be doing a greater disservice, and is indulging in his own sort of elitism.

Finally, if only those who owned products were allowed to review them, it would instantly put about 2,000 magazines out of business. A much better way for a consumer to evaluate a potential purchase is to compare the experiences of a lot of owners, such as yourself, with the experiences of those who have reviewed them directly with other products in terms of build quality, performance, and efficiency. That's where forums and threads such as this one come in handy. If you disagree with that, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Vince1]

No Jonathan, I do not disagree with those statements at all. What I disagree with is when people post opinions about a product without any real experience with it. I'm not calling you out here, I mean in general. There are many instances where cost and quality have little to do with one another, which you point out. I may have had a bad experience with ARB, but I would recommend them to anyone as their customer service is first rate. I own their tent, annex, and awning and enjoy them. I would still have the replacement fridge they sent out if I didn't sell it with my previous rig. Same with Engel, and same, given my recent experience, with Edgestar. They all serve their function well. I paid less for the Edgestar, but I actually like it's size and configuration better than my previous refrigerators. Perhaps I misunderstood your posts as well as the OPs objective. I thought this thread was about getting comments from actual owners about how their EdgeStars were holding up. Like others here, mine is holding up perfectly fine after many uses from the 100+ deg summer deserts of Arizona to the -17 deg autumn high Rockies of Colorado to the simple monthly Costco shopping runs.
Let's be real...refrigerators are very simple devices, it's not hard to build a good one. I have a $40 dorm fridge in my office that has been working strong for more than 10 years. In my eyes, it would have been stupid to have purchased a SubZero. I've got better things to spend my money on.

 

[Pedro]

I don't think anyone here is trying to say that an ARB or Engel is not a better fridge than the Edgestar. The build quality, insulation, and componentry is better and produces a more efficient fridge. This thread seems more like a: "Am I doing myself a misservice by not spending the 2.5 times more for the ARB/Engel?" And for many of us (myself included) it was a better purchase because of the price. These things aren't exactly cutting edge. it is a compressor, a motor, some copper piping, insulation, and a cheap PID. I still think that the edgestar is a decent price comparing it to a dorm fridge and the addition of 12v input. But this thing spends most of its life in my garage keeping my beer/soda cold. I only do 4-5 trips a year that it gets slidelocked to the truck.

I got it because I was tired of soggy stuff in a cooler. I was $300 tired, not $800 tired.

 

[Vince1]

I was $300 tired, not $800 tired.

********. I guess that left $500 for a very nice mattress!

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

I got it because I was tired of soggy stuff in a cooler. I was $300 tired, not $800 tired.

Faultless logic . . .

 

[RHINO]

i think i've mentioned that i bought edgestar because it was my first foray into a fridge and i didnt even know if i would like owning it. i knew i would like not having melting ice, but i dint know about power draw, wiring and all that stuff. i thought i should get an inexpensive fridge to try out. since having it i have really enjoyed it and am sold. i have done the standard fixes to improve electrical shortcomings from the factory and it has been a very reliable fridge for me. i will at some point in the future get a new more efficient unit, i might even go all out with a national luna. i use it enough to justify the expense in my view and it will be a worthwhile long term investment.

 

[Smksignals]

have one. love it. no problems running on single Diehard Platinum battery. spent the $500-600 in savings on other useful things.

 

[Pedro]

Faultless logic . . .

I detect a hint of sarcasm.

 

[Stick Figure]

I bought the Whynter 65 Qt badged version of I believe the same fridge, and have zero complaints so far. It's only been mine for a couple of months and doesn't have but a couple of short off road trips under its belt, but does store my daily food supply right now (doing my hotel living until I get set up after my move). I was however realistic about it when I bought it and knew from the beginning that I would have to re-wire the power port, and was already adding a second battery the the 4runner so that wasn't an issue either. I changed out the "cig" lighter plug to a pair of banana clips for better connection. I already have a Garmin up front that rattles the plug out multiple times per trail, and that was annoying enough. Had this not been available, I wouldn't have a fridge yet. You can see some pics of the install in my build thread

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...and-modification-thread?p=1017845#post1017845

Yes better mounting (including new handles) are in the future, but for now its holding up well and hasn't moved around even on the trails.

 

[Pedro]

you can adapt Engel slidelock bases and feet to the Edgestar fridges. I have them on mine. it makes the mounting much more secure. The handles are really not up to the task.

 

[Stick Figure]

In my case I ran out of time to do a better mounting solution before our move. I've been waiting for the handles to let go, but so far even on the trails its been okay. A better solution is in the near future for sure, but I will probably go custom with mine. Really depends on what I decide for a final mounting position.

 

[arlon]

How long will one of these run on a decent battery?

 

[4x4junkie]

How long will one of these run on a decent battery?

Agreed, you should easily get at least a full day out of it on a decent battery (often much more... I've gone as much as four 70° days + playing of the car radio, though I also do have a dual-battery setup).

i read the OJ fridge tests where the edgestar was tested and some things printed were just plain wrong, but the overall test result was spot on in my opinion.

Is there a link available to that article by chance?

 

[Xterabl]

With my 43qt, half full, not much open/close of the lid, I get 1.5 - 1.75 days in 70-degree ambient on a ~6-7 year old Optima yellow-top.