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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Dometic vs Dometic
    Posted: 29 May 2019 at 9:56pm
Not being really happy with the 3-way Dometic RV fridge, I have added a Dometic CC-40 portable 12v compressor fridge.

I removed the freezer compartment piece from the RV fridge, turning it into a 3.7 cu ft fridge only, that will sip propane compared to running it full blast in freezer mode out there in the heat while boondocking.

I will be running the CC-40 as a true freezer, on 12v and solar power. It has much more room inside compared to the dinky little freezer section in the 3 way fridge.

This is kind've an experiment...I will post later how well it works for me the next time I head out, which will be soon.

They dont give those things away, but hopefully being able to actually keep a larger quantity of frozen stuff, frozen, will make it worth the money spent. 

BTW, I added a 12v condenser fan to the outside RV fridge top vent, so that should also help reduce propane use. We shall see!


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 May 2019 at 4:52am
Can you tell if it uses the Danfoss compressor? 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 May 2019 at 10:37am
No, this is marketed as having a 'lightweight compressor'....I suspect its a chinese clone of the chinese clone of the Danfoss/Secop stuff. Could be made in the same factory...who knows. It is pretty quiet when running...I can hear it running, if I am next to it, but with the cooler at one end of the trailer and me laying down in the bed at the other end, I can't hear it. 

Efficiency and longevity....well....we will see.

These things have gotten more expensive as demand has gone up, and I wanted to get one before the new tariffs hit.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 May 2019 at 10:55am
Lightweight compressor. Hmmm. Sounds like marketing speak. Hope it holds up for you, keep us posted.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 May 2019 at 12:28pm
Yeah, dunno. When I peer into the vents all I can see is one side of a small black compressor with no labels of any kind. I have no plans to try to disassemble the unit to look for a label. So, for now, it is what it is. 

I have already noticed the displayed temperature is 'optimistic' by about 10 degrees. Setting it for 32f yields an interior temperature of about 40-42f. I am letting it run for a few days so maybe this will equalize.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 May 2019 at 3:29pm
I installed my first Danfoss solar fridge systems in remote west Africa in 1984. Good solid product with 35 years experience behind it. Not so sure about the Chinese knockoffs but what can you do?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 May 2019 at 4:04pm
Yeah even the Danfoss/Secop stuff is made in china now. 

So that is why if I'm gonna buy one, I wanted a name-brand unit...there are cheaper ones on ebay and amazon...but I hope the Dometic units will have a bit better repair/return policy.

The same can be said for anything I guess, but at least in this situation I have 'redundant' fridges in the camper. If one bites the dust while in the middle of nowhere on a 90 degree day, at least I should be able to save SOME of the food!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 May 2019 at 12:51am
With several 2-liter bottles and cans of soda, fridge is practically full, it seems to be leveling off inside now at about 35f with the control set at 32f...I can live with that. 

The IR gun readings vary depending on where I shoot, but I get readings from about 34f to 40f, but the little glass thermometer I put inside shows about 35f.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2019 at 4:07pm
This setup is working well. I used the factory Dometic fridge as a refrigerator only, it kept everything cool inside, mainly drinks, and some meat, eggs, and cheese. 

I set the Dometic coolbox 12v compressor fridge for 5 degrees and it kept (and is still keeping) frozen meat and ice, frozen. It ran just fine on my solar panels while boondocking at 9500 feet near Cloudcroft NM...

So far, so good!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Aug 2019 at 12:17am

UPDATE:


Hmmmm…..OK... mixed results. Like I said, this is an experiment.

The Dometic CC40 chiller box works well...except when the interior ambient temps reached about 100 on a couple of days, and the box set to 5f was climbing to about 12f...my ice cream bars were soft! The published specs DO say that 90 or above temps and the freezer will not maintain the minimums. So there is nothing wrong with it, it is just not an extreme performance unit.

The ice stayed mostly solid, if a bit slippery, and the meat items stayed frozen...

The main issue for me has been power consumption. Yep, it runs off one 100w solar panel, with associated controller and battery, BUT...I had to keep moving this portable panel, or run it off my other power system and run the generator to assist that system recover in the morning or after a day of cloudy weather. That little 12v compressor runs a LOT with the unit set to 5 degrees...often more than 75% duty cycle...if set to about 40f it would obviously run less often.

But after about 2 weeks I had finally used most of the frozen food and simply reinstalled the freezer bulkhead in my r-pod Dometic built-in absorption unit, transferred all the perishables into that, and now the 12v fridge box is being used as an expensive dry-box/pantry.

I had previously added a condenser fan in the upper vent opening of the built in, and was using the built-in fridge as a fridge ONLY...so propane use was probably minimal. How minimal?

Well today I had a propane supplier here in Cheyenne WY top off the 30 pounder. 

3.3 gallons of LP used in about 3 solid weeks of boondocking. Mostly warm temps....in and out of the fridge several times a day, cooling warm cans of soda, and of course some of that propane use was for cooking...usually one or two meals per day, sometimes also heating water for coffee, and several warm showers for myself and a couple of warmish showers for my pooch.

If I had a LOT more solar, the 12v compressor fridge would make sense, especially if boondocking out in the cool desert in the winter, far away from convenient sources of re-supply.

But for more normal use, for just me, I think I will try to rely on the propane-fired Dometic for my usual 2-4 week excursions.


{edited for clarity and supplemental info}




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