Dometic, or another brand?

Do you find the TV does a more efficient job of supplying power to the cooler?
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the dometic doesn't seem to strain our 4 banger diesel jetta electrical system at all. At a reasonable inside ambient temp the fridge probably isn't running over 15% of the time. The 550 will also run the dometic just fine even on hot days. We were in Death Valley last October and had no problems traveling with the fridge in the galley. It's just hard on the battery 'cause the fridge has to run so much. That's why I've switched to hauling it in the TV.

The old waeco manual has a chart that shows running times for different inside/outside temps. It also shows that it draws 6 amps when running but I've rarely seen it over 5 amps. I've put the page with that info below. You can find that manual on the web if you root around a bit.

One other thing - we put the straps on our fridge as recommended on the forum. They work great. We've never used the included handles.

We also carry a coleman cooler in our galley but we keep ice in it to cool beers, fruit etc. I also like ice in my whiskey.:D

r dickson

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Campator,

That is a good fridge and a great price for one. As I pointed out above though this will not fit in the galley of the Camp-Inn and would have to be carried in the tow vehicle.

Cary
 
We keep a Snomaster classic series fridge in the TV...along with the other reasons noted, we like it in the TV because all our cold food/drink is already packed in the car when we go on daily excursions. We got a 60L, so no chance of it fitting in the CI! :)
 
Brian & Lucy said:
We keep a Snomaster classic series fridge in the TV...along with the other reasons noted, we like it in the TV because all our cold food/drink is already packed in the car when we go on daily excursions. We got a 60L, so no chance of it fitting in the CI! :)
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How often do you have to start your TV and how long do you have to let it run to keep the battery charged?

Thanks
 
We use our dometic in the TV as we don't do well lifting it. We leave the handles off and it snugs up nicely to the back of the driver seat in our van which has the middle seats colasped. We plug it in the car with D.C. When driving and then when we get to a campsite we run a 2nd AC electrical cord from the campsite to it via a slightly opened window. It took us a while to be organized but now we are not running back and forth to the TV. Use our colapseble dishpan to gather items for meals. We keep bacon, other meat, (on bottom) milk, eggs, butter, cheeses, wine and 2 water and 2 cokes (when we use water or coke we add one from supply nearby so as not to have a big effect on cooler). We keep vegetables etc in the Coleman cooler frozen water jugs in it when we start out and try to buy ice blocks when needed. Then we have a very small cooler that fits one bag of ice cubes. I made cooler covers for the Coleman and the ice cube cooler out of bubble wrap reflextic. They really help the ice last longer. Keep dometic about 37 degrees.
 
Just by the nature of our trip, we'd never gone more than 30 hours without starting our TV. I've heard others go several days with the Snomaster. It has a built in battery monitor and will cut off the fridge if the battery gets below a level you select. That never happened to us, but if it did it's still a good cooler and has a cover. If we were expecting to be off grid for an extended time, I'd bring solar or a generator. So many scenarios in terms of heat, battery age/type, etc. I've heard others use a GoalZero as a back-up battery...I don't think we'll need that.
 
We are late chiming in on this thread, but having once dropped our Dometic on the ground (thanks to a dog/squirrel encounter) and having run it a lot over five years, including two years of non-stop use, it is definitely the way to go. As to power consumption, unless you are only taking your camper out on weekend trips, I would echo Jean W's advice and not go more than a full 24 hours without some sort of charge (the longer, the better).

A 100 watt solar panel permanently installed on the roof of our van is working great for all of our power needs. We routinely go two to three weeks without shore power. When we do connect to shore power it isn't because we need to, it is just because the campsite that happens to be within a day's bicycle ride only offers campsites with power (and if we are going to pay for it, we are going to use it).
 
Randy said:
Do you have to start your Jetta daily and let it run awhile?

Thanks
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sorry for the delay - just finished a six day drive from Berkeley to NC. Whew ...

I may have confused you about carrying the dometic in the jetta. The fridge is only in the TV when we're driving from campsite to campsite. In other words, it's only running off the jetta when the car is running. When we get to the campsite the fridge comes out of the jetta and is plugged into the 550.

rd
 
The Dometic arrived yesterday, the same day the Zamp refurbished 120 watt solar panel got here. The Yak Gear Hand Handles https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FA3RQBS/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
were installed, and fit nicely, BUT made the cooler just too wide to fit in the galley. These would be great straps to use if you are not going to stow the Dometic in the teardrop. I'll have to find the post on the webbing handles and get those made soon.
Next will be unpacking the Zamp and getting familiar with the whole 'solar power' option...
 
We have been carrying our Dometic in the TV since we got the trailer. One thing I would strongly suggest if you do this is to replace your TV starting battery with a dual purpose starting/deep cycle battery. If you don't start the TV at the very least every 24 hours, the TV battery will be discharged more than a conventional car starting battery is designed for. While it may start the car for now, it will decrease the capacity of the battery a little each time and you can expect a reduced life of the battery; ours lasted only about three years, significantly less than I would expect for a premium battery. With a deep cycle battery like the Optima Yellow Top or Blue Top ones I would expect it to tolerate this use better.

After a fortunately easy to recover dead battery camping in Sequoia National Park I came up with a new solution: Auxiliary Battery For Refrigerator
 
Ken & Peggy said:
The Yak Gear Hand Handles https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FA3RQBS/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
were installed, and fit nicely, BUT made the cooler just too wide to fit in the galley.
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UPDATE:
If you carefully remove the rubber grips from these handles, they fit perfectly in the galley space. NICE! They have what feels like a round semi-rigid piece of plastic inside the webbing that makes for a comfortable grip. Very much like some here have fashioned themselves. Only without the fashioning...
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I have to add that I have had repeated problems with my Dometic. I've replaced the circuit board in it twice now and it has quit again. I'm considering springing for the Snomaster that is a lot of money but people say it is worth it. It will not quite fit in the kitchen nook though, so it would need to be carried in the vehicle and set up on the table outside. I'm thinking that's not such a drawback because traveling with the fridge in the trailer in hot weather is a problem do to the lack of circulation in the galley when closed.
 
We don't put our Dometic CF35 in the galley at any time and only times we use the DC feature on the trailer is when we are boon docking. It rides in the back of the Outback when traveling plugged into the DC. We have the insulated cover and if we stop for several hours it stays cool with no problem. If we are stopped for one night or in bear country with electricity just run a light extension to the Outback, more than one night and not in bear country it sets on the stand and plugged into trailer electric.. We have not had any problems with our Dometic, if I would do anything different would get one one size larger. We use our Coleman Stainless Cooler for all of our dry storage, we try to avoid leaving and food products in the trailer while in storage and this makes it real easy when packing and unloading, also when setup all of our food is in one place and don't have to use the trailer storage areas, so when I forget an ingredient I don't have to look hard for it, also makes it handy when storing at night in bear country. Sorry not familiar with the Snowmaster...
 
Hi, Greg from Bloomington, MN here. I have a Dometic refrigerator/freezer for sale if you are interested. It fit very nicely in the cooler compartment in the galley kitchen of the 550 Special I used to own.
 
Cary Winch said:
A portable fridge in the camper (not a thermoelectric cooler which will not work in the camper) will reduce the average battery run time from about 1 week to down around 2.5 days. This of course varies depending on what battery is installed, how hot the ambient temp is, what the temp setting of the fridge is, where the fridge is set during the day (sun exposure or not) and even how the fridge is packed inside.

There are two fridges currently on the market that will fit in the camper. One is the Dometic CF35 (based on the Waeco CF35 which will also work if you can find one). One important note on the Dometic, don't confuse the CF35 with the Dometic's lower cost import solution the CFX35 which will not fit in your galley. The Dometic has the advantage of being AC and DC both which is a great feature. The capacity is 32qt (not 35 as the name would imply).

The other fridge that will fit is the Norcold NRF30 or if you find older stock the NovaKool BCD30 which is the same unit. These are DC only units but you can purchase a AC power cube for it if you need. These are rugged simple units, I like them. They are also less costly. They are 30L which translates to 32qt. So the capacity is the same as the Dometic (people often assume the 30 in the name means qts).

We carry both the Dometic and the Norcold. Other fridges we have evaluated have odd form factors that don't lend themselves to fitting in our galley (many are long and narrow in shape instead of a more typical cooler shape) so we don't know of any others that will work. If someone knows of one that they can confirm actually fits in a Camp-Inn galley please share.

Cary
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Will the CF35 fit in the galley center alcove w/o removing the handles?
 
No, the handles it comes with make it too wide, and that's why folks have been coming up strap handles that will fit.
 
dustinp said:
No, the handles it comes with make it too wide, and that's why folks have been coming up strap handles that will fit.
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Thanks for the verifiation. Was confused based on other posts and shipping dimension. Shipping dimensions do not mention it is shipped without the handles attached. I ordered a 90 degree 110 power cord and fabricated handles as pictured. Thanks for your assistance.

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