New ARB Freezer Fridge back to ARB for repairs...

[off-roader]

This is their newer 50QT unit that I purchased in March/April here in N.Cal. from 4wheel parts. Arrived with the first major shipment in mid/late April (IIRC) in very good condition (both the cardboard box and fridge).

I used it for the 1st time about a month ago. Put a dozen 12oz. bottled waters into it along with a case of soda and set it to 29*. I accidentally left it overnight but was surpirsed to find the fluids were barely cold to the touch and nowhere near freezing the following morning!!:Wow1:

Kept it running like that for over a week and it never once froze anything. I could have lowered the temp further but being that this puppy's >$600 I figured, I'd rather get one that's properly working to begin with. Especially to avoid any future issues with it that may crop up when it's out of warranty.

I contacted ARB via their website and by the following day had their Tech Supervisor contacted me to get more details and after a brief email exchange he decided it needed to go back to ARB. I asked how long before it would return especially since they're new in the US (thinking it would be a looooong wait if it had to go back to Australia). He said they'd ship a new one to me as soon as they receive mine and can confirm it's bad.

Luckily I don't have any immediate trips coming up but will in about a month or so. With it being a warm summer, I definitely want the fridge for the trip.

Old unit shipped out today so I'll let you all know how quickly one takes to get back to me.
:ylsmoke:

 

[nwoods]

Sorry to hear about this. Don't give up, my new 50Q works amazing. It cools down from 80 to 35 in about 15 minutes (empty), and about 60 minutes when full of food/drinks. It's whisper quiet, and seems to be very low current draw.

 

[nwoods]

Sorry to hear about this. Don't give up, my new 50Q works amazing. It cools down from 80 to 35 in about 15 minutes (empty), and about 60 minutes when full of food/drinks. It's whisper quiet, and seems to be very low current draw.

 

[off-roader]

Thanks. I've heard mostly (99%) good things about ARB support so I'm confident I'll be a 'happy camper' when all is said and done.

Thus far, I've been very pleased with their level of support.:smiley_drive:

 

[off-roader]

Fridge arrived at ARB Thursday last week but when I called to check the status the person who answered told me they were short handed for the week but that I should know sometime this week what the status is.

Like a swiss watch, I got an email today before 2:00pm saying they examined the fridge and found it shipped from the factory low on refrigerant so they would be shipping me a new one ASAP.

Pretty pleased thus far. Will let you know when it gets here.

 

[off-roader]

Kudos to the team at ARB. I received the fridge at work today as expected and will test it over the weekend. Hopefully it will cool as expected. It's awful hot in the California Central Valley and it would be nice to have a cool drink whenever I need it.

 

[Corey]

Great to hear!
I dig their gear.

I hear you on keeping it stocked with drinks.
We sit outside under a big shade tree at work sometimes during lunch behind my rig, and I will serve up some ice cold Henry's rootbeer.

 

[zukidriver]

So... how does it work? Is it as cool (pun intended) as it looks?

 

[nwoods]

So... how does it work? Is it as cool (pun intended) as it looks?

I'm not the OP, but I recently tried mine out over a 4 day trek to the Rubicon Trail. It worked great. It was extremley nice to not have to deal with all the sushy ice water at the bottom of the cooler. I had grapes, plums, 1/4 gallon of milk, butter, steaks, fish, bacon, oranges, soda's, beer, and a 1 liter bottle of water and plenty room to spare, and everything stayed dry and cold. No slushy, soggy messes anywhere. Awesome. I can go 36 hours without charging the battery in my Jeep and it will still start, but 48 hours did require a jump start. Average temps were around 85-90 degrees, and the ARB fridge stayed at 33 degrees, without a transit bag. The built in LED light worked great and was very helpful at night.

Overall, I really liked it.

 

[off-roader]

Update...

Yes it works. Temp is a little off (-1c doesn't freeze water:Wow1 but -3c does :sombrero.

Also anyone know if there is some kind of quick chill ability on this unit? If so, what should be my expectation on how well that works?

 

[kb7our]

Similar ARB Fridge Issue

This is their newer 50QT unit that I purchased in March/April here in N.Cal. from 4wheel parts. Arrived with the first major shipment in mid/late April (IIRC) in very good condition (both the cardboard box and fridge).

I used it for the 1st time about a month ago. Put a dozen 12oz. bottled waters into it along with a case of soda and set it to 29*. I accidentally left it overnight but was surpirsed to find the fluids were barely cold to the touch and nowhere near freezing the following morning!!:Wow1:

Kept it running like that for over a week and it never once froze anything. I could have lowered the temp further but being that this puppy's >$600 I figured, I'd rather get one that's properly working to begin with. Especially to avoid any future issues with it that may crop up when it's out of warranty.

I contacted ARB via their website and by the following day had their Tech Supervisor contacted me to get more details and after a brief email exchange he decided it needed to go back to ARB. I asked how long before it would return especially since they're new in the US (thinking it would be a looooong wait if it had to go back to Australia). He said they'd ship a new one to me as soon as they receive mine and can confirm it's bad.

Luckily I don't have any immediate trips coming up but will in about a month or so. With it being a warm summer, I definitely want the fridge for the trip.

Old unit shipped out today so I'll let you all know how quickly one takes to get back to me.
:ylsmoke:

Left some water in an open plastic container overnight with brand new fridge set at 30F with no evidence of freezing. I'll try a few deg cooler to see what happens then will call ARB next. Those of you who have reported that the fridge works great have you tried to actually freeze something to see if it works? Yes mine too appears to work great except when putting it to the freeze test. You may want to try it so we can see who else has issues.


Wade

 

[05LR3AZ]

I'm not the OP, but I recently tried mine out over a 4 day trek to the Rubicon Trail. It worked great. It was extremley nice to not have to deal with all the sushy ice water at the bottom of the cooler. I had grapes, plums, 1/4 gallon of milk, butter, steaks, fish, bacon, oranges, soda's, beer, and a 1 liter bottle of water and plenty room to spare, and everything stayed dry and cold. No slushy, soggy messes anywhere. Awesome. I can go 36 hours without charging the battery in my Jeep and it will still start, but 48 hours did require a jump start. Average temps were around 85-90 degrees, and the ARB fridge stayed at 33 degrees, without a transit bag. The built in LED light worked great and was very helpful at night.

Overall, I really liked it.

Do you have a 'hot' outlet in your LR3? So when you turn your vehicle off your ARB stays powered... Based on the above looks like you had it in your Jeep...Just wondering... LR3 here and an ARB 50qt that I haven't used yet.

 

[kb7our]

After some testing indoors under ambient temps of ~79F the fridge freezes a container of water with the temp set in the mid 20's. I'm curious if others have similar experiences getting items to freeze. Although I intend to rarely need such cold temps I want to be sure the fridge is working properly.

Wade

 

[nwoods]

Do you have a 'hot' outlet in your LR3? So when you turn your vehicle off your ARB stays powered... Based on the above looks like you had it in your Jeep...Just wondering... LR3 here and an ARB 50qt that I haven't used yet.

No, the accessory power outlet in the rear of the LR3 is switched to the key, but it's pretty straightforward to run a direct line to the battery. I have a number of accessories added that do this. There are grommets in the firewall for easy wire penetration, and its quite easy to route the power lines down under the door sill plastic panels.

The Rubicon trip was in the Jeep, and that was wired straight to the battery.

 

[nwoods]

After some testing indoors under ambient temps of ~79F the fridge freezes a container of water with the temp set in the mid 20's. I'm curious if others have similar experiences getting items to freeze. Although I intend to rarely need such cold temps I want to be sure the fridge is working properly.

Wade

I haven't tried freezing anything in mine. I was aiming for cold, and set it to 37, and got what I needed.