Whynter 12v Fridge reviews? Alpicool?
- Thread starter Mpl1978
- Start date
Boatbuilder79
Well-known member
Well the repair did not last very long. it lost its charge again. Not sure if I want to try stop leak or not
RDinNHand AZ
Active member
What do you have to loose?
Boatbuilder79
Well-known member
A $25 tube of stop leak
Just from MY perspective, YMMV of course. I don't have any personal experience but more friends from the 4x4 club experience so here goes.
Whytner fridges from my friends experience have been problematic, with poor customer service. One of the guys that has one is a high end refrigeration / cooling specialist, and dug into the unit, MFG issues with the control circuits, quality control issues with the electronics / soldering... Basically poor Chinese QC. No clue if it was just that specific unit. The other guy that had one had a similar experience, but kept returning it to Home Depot until they just gave him a refund. Both said Customer Service was on par with AT&T.
Alpicool. Only know 1 person with an Alpicool, and he never says a bad word about it. That's all the input I can give on there.
I currently do not own a 12v fridge, but honestly with the ask the man that owns one reviews, have been leaning heavily toward the Iceco JP50. These seem to be the most popular in the club, and the guys I know with them are NOT kind to them. Not blasting through Baja or anything, but a lot of southern whitetail trips along muddy, rocky, treefall lined trails to base camp.
For NOW, and honestly at least the next couple of years, I am going to use my Lifetime 55QT high performance cooler. I guess I just need to learn to be happy with that. It performs exactly as I expect it to, Keep it out of the direct sun, pre chill it somewhat, have the food going in good and cold first, and get / make my ice in block form, preferrably in a container, my wifes old Fuji water bottles are great for this, and we have a weeks worth of food preservation. Block ice is hard to get on the road I know. I tend to double up gallon zipper freezer bags, and divvy up bagged ice if I go beyond a week... I am nor do I plan to be before retirment, more than a week between places to get bagged ice. Heck we've gotten bagged ice in the middle of nowhere Mexico plenty of times...
Whytner fridges from my friends experience have been problematic, with poor customer service. One of the guys that has one is a high end refrigeration / cooling specialist, and dug into the unit, MFG issues with the control circuits, quality control issues with the electronics / soldering... Basically poor Chinese QC. No clue if it was just that specific unit. The other guy that had one had a similar experience, but kept returning it to Home Depot until they just gave him a refund. Both said Customer Service was on par with AT&T.
Alpicool. Only know 1 person with an Alpicool, and he never says a bad word about it. That's all the input I can give on there.
I currently do not own a 12v fridge, but honestly with the ask the man that owns one reviews, have been leaning heavily toward the Iceco JP50. These seem to be the most popular in the club, and the guys I know with them are NOT kind to them. Not blasting through Baja or anything, but a lot of southern whitetail trips along muddy, rocky, treefall lined trails to base camp.
For NOW, and honestly at least the next couple of years, I am going to use my Lifetime 55QT high performance cooler. I guess I just need to learn to be happy with that. It performs exactly as I expect it to, Keep it out of the direct sun, pre chill it somewhat, have the food going in good and cold first, and get / make my ice in block form, preferrably in a container, my wifes old Fuji water bottles are great for this, and we have a weeks worth of food preservation. Block ice is hard to get on the road I know. I tend to double up gallon zipper freezer bags, and divvy up bagged ice if I go beyond a week... I am nor do I plan to be before retirment, more than a week between places to get bagged ice. Heck we've gotten bagged ice in the middle of nowhere Mexico plenty of times...
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IF you have room under your hood, I would suggest adding a second battery. Unforunately that sort of space isn't as common nowadays as it used to be... Your RV or 4x4 shop should be able to help you out with that.
I would go with a deep cycle AGM type battery as they take deep draining and vibration better than traditional lead acid batteries. Anyway, at that point, just run a dedicated line / 12v power outlet with a fuse to provide your power.
I would be concerned about overdrawing the starter battery in the truck is my main concern.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
I own 5 Fridges, 2 are ARB's and the others are made by Dometic and Snomaster, To be honest I can't see any reason why whynter / Alpicool should not be as good as the brands I own, And although I would always keep the ARB's I would willing of bought either the Whynter / Alpicool models over the other two brands I own, I know someone who Owns one of the smaller Alpicool's and from his reviews I would be happy to say they are up there with the best of them,
Some of the Whynters might be rebranded Snomasters So I would Avoid those models because the 66watt compressor Snomaster use across the range is a real Guts for power and even in the Eco Mode it still chews a lot more power than the ARB's do and the bigger Snomaster can chew as much as 9.7 to 9.9Ah while running, and if you go down that route then make sure you have Duel Batteries and 150w of Solar if parked for a log time in one spot.
Some of the Whynters might be rebranded Snomasters So I would Avoid those models because the 66watt compressor Snomaster use across the range is a real Guts for power and even in the Eco Mode it still chews a lot more power than the ARB's do and the bigger Snomaster can chew as much as 9.7 to 9.9Ah while running, and if you go down that route then make sure you have Duel Batteries and 150w of Solar if parked for a log time in one spot.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Forget the snob value with all the known brands The Alpicool is the one to go for,
Why ?? because they have an LG Compressor and LG don't make Junk,
And the 22L/25Qt ?? or what ever 22L equals will use less power than my little Dometic 18L and it uses between 4 or 5 Ah per 24 hours when temps are around 60 to 75*f YET the little Alpicool 22L uses even less and it also Cools very fast and it has Eco Mode and High/Fast Mode, thats why "Anyone" me included looking for a smallish fridge should buy the Alpicool.
Why ?? because they have an LG Compressor and LG don't make Junk,
And the 22L/25Qt ?? or what ever 22L equals will use less power than my little Dometic 18L and it uses between 4 or 5 Ah per 24 hours when temps are around 60 to 75*f YET the little Alpicool 22L uses even less and it also Cools very fast and it has Eco Mode and High/Fast Mode, thats why "Anyone" me included looking for a smallish fridge should buy the Alpicool.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Yeah John, The Alpicool has really taken off and loads of people are putting their brand on them,
If I didn't have too many now I would of bought an Alpicool long ago.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
The Alpicools I have seen have the LG Compressor,
The cooling Ratiator on yours are different, It looks like the ones you see on the back of Domestic fridge thats been folded over and over.
My ARB has one that looks like a Cars AirCon Radiator, Which is made up of Copper tubes and Aluminium Fins.
It doesn't matter, Any of the Alpicool range a good units.
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67cj5
Man On a Mission
Have a look at the specs here and it states that they have LG Compressors,
Type in this in to amazon and you will see,
Alpicool CX30 Portable Refrigerator
Boatbuilder79
Well-known member
I tried the stop leak and recharged the fridge. It got down to 18 degrees and held it for 2 days. By the 4 day it could only hold 40 degrees and was running constantly.
this was in my basement at a constant temp and on 110 power.
fridge is done. Only lasted 3years.
should have known by now that stop leak never works.
this was in my basement at a constant temp and on 110 power.
fridge is done. Only lasted 3years.
should have known by now that stop leak never works.
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ryanoddi
New member
I have a Whynter 45qt (I think) and have owned since 2015. It has been used daily since 2018, and lived in the back of my 4Runner for 4 months straight last summer while I explored Oregon’s backcountry.
No real issues electronically, it’s done great in that regard and keeps my food nice and cold.
My only complaint is that it sweats a lot inside and needs fairly regular draining. Like once a month. That’s even in a climate controlled house.
I’d definitely consider another if this one goes, but might go smaller since my 4Runner just doesn’t have a ton of space inside.
No real issues electronically, it’s done great in that regard and keeps my food nice and cold.
My only complaint is that it sweats a lot inside and needs fairly regular draining. Like once a month. That’s even in a climate controlled house.
I’d definitely consider another if this one goes, but might go smaller since my 4Runner just doesn’t have a ton of space inside.