Help me choose a fridge....

[Sheriffdoug]

Hi. I have a Norcold 4 cubic ft with duall 4D house batteries & solar panel with Magnum Converter/Inverter. It's not just the Fridge, but what your power source is as well. I like my Norcold because has large Freezer area & big general area. My Norcold worked superbly in the US summer, with temp outside constantly over 100f every day last year for 6 weeks. Drinks were ice cold, meat in freezer stayed frozen. But, as I say it's not just the fridge, you must have good constant power source day & night, particularly if your of grid and parked up for a few days.
Batteries, Solar, 200amp Alternator, Pure Sine Inverger/Converter & good Fridge.

[Sheriffdoug]

Good amperage wiring to fridge is also very important!

[yelnam]

A few? years ago the Norcolds switched to the Danfoss compressor. Does anyone have one of the newer Norcolds that could comment?


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[ridintall]

Had a Norcold 4cf in SMB #1. Was plenty big but loud. SMB #2 has an Isotherm. It's smaller than 4cf but plenty big enough for us and super quiet. That said, my ARB is going on 16 years now and is dedicated to beer fridge in the house but was used quite hard for a few years in a 4x4.

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[Tienckb]

Currently running a truckfridge 4cf in my rig. Very quiet and delivering solid performance. Also have a 5 years old 64 qt. ARB fridge and this unit has been thoroughly tested in real world use. It is now a dedicated beer fridge at the house and a mobile freezer for Overlanding trips. Thumbs up for ARB.


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2002 LX470 expo ready
2008 Ford E350 EB V10 4x4 Sportsmobile PH top
Custom off road trailer

[daveb]

Originally Posted by yelnam

A few? years ago the Norcolds switched to the Danfoss compressor. Does anyone have one of the newer Norcolds that could comment?


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Yep I got one (the slightly smaller 4CF upright model). What surprise me was the amp draw, which is about twice that of my old version... 2.8 amps compared to just under 6 amps IIRC. Man did that spin SMB. They installed two before we realized they (Norcold) had made a change. After the second install we check a brand new one ready to be installed in a new van. They all sound the same and pull the same amperage. It makes a different kind of noise and is not dead quiet but not as loud as the older one. I have not done a wattage check and figure it runs less to keep things cool. So the efficiency may be as good or better... I never tested my old one so I don't have anything to compare to other than what the state of my battery charge is by morning. It seems like it pulls a bit more. One thing I did notice is the new one goes from off to 42* much faster than the old version.

If I wanted a more efficient model fridge, I'd be looking at National Luna but the price is a huge leap. Fact is you pay for the best. From the article it seems most are one style or another when looking at compressors. National Luna, Engel & ARB look very close to each other in design. The article I read some time back on E-Portal really preferred the National Luna w/o regard to cost. Said they "sip" power. I need that but am swayed to ARB or Engel due to price. JMO.

[bigriver]

Originally Posted by yelnam

A few? years ago the Norcolds switched to the Danfoss compressor. Does anyone have one of the newer Norcolds that could comment?


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We replaced our 12 yr old 3 cf Norcold within the last year with the new Norcold model 751. We have 2 4D house batteries and solar so plenty of power and not sure about differences in amp draw. The design of the fridge requires food to be stacked against the freezer door in order to maximize space so some unloading is required to get in to it. The freezer is also larger than old model which is great if you need more freezer space but works against how we use ours... couple ice trays is all we need. Finally, the door shelves aren't big enough to hold beverage cans. We wouldn't buy one again.

Joe

[J.Spicoli]

Originally Posted by bigriver

The design of the fridge requires food to be stacked against the freezer door in order to maximize space so some unloading is required to get in to it. The freezer is also larger than old model which is great if you need more freezer space but works against how we use ours... couple ice trays is all we need. Finally, the door shelves aren't big enough to hold beverage cans. We wouldn't buy one again.

Joe

That's good to hear. I mean, sorry it's not working out for you but that is the kind of review I wanted to hear. I was only considering the Norcold one because it more closely resembles a traditional fridge. I feared exactly what you said except about the ARB because it's a top loader.

The more I think the more I am leaning towards the ARB. Just have no idea about the size...50qt???

[1der]

Originally Posted by J.Spicoli

The more I think the more I am leaning towards the ARB. Just have no idea about the size...50qt???

Here is my experience, ymmv
We have a Norcold 60qt chest fridge/freezer which we used for a number of years in our v10 non portion van. Efficient and with two baskets, it was pretty easy to access what was needed with a bit of planning. Frozen stuff on the bottom, refrigerated stuff at the top. These were separated by a couple of folded towels to create zones. Set the temp to around 33 deg in the middle and all was perfect. The size for two to four people was good for a well stocked 7 days of camping.

In our 7.3 build we went with an upright TF130 4.2 cf fridge which has a very small freezer, but has great access for refrigerated items. To add freezer space, we also added a chest/top load National Luna 50qt Weekender as a dedicated freezer (super high efficiency). Our thinking is, we almost always were toting along a cooler of some type, so let's just have the NL chest fridge/freezer so we can use it as cooler/freezer/storage. We mounted it so the top acts as counter space when closed. Lots of refrigeration, but what we have is very efficient and the solar more than covers what they draw, and works for the way we like to camp, especially for multi week trips.

So space wise: if you are bringing a cooler anyway, then a smaller chest fridge/freezer of 40qts or so would suffice for what needs to be kept really cold and you cycle freezing pacts into the normal cooler and have ice cubes got drinks. If you do not want to bring another cooler, then 50qts is a good middle ground if it is two to four people. Truck Fridge makes some nice chest fridges that have high quality components and really good pricing- checkout the TF41. Used ARB/Norcold/Engel units (these three are pretty much all the same) in well kept condition also pop up on CL and various Offroad/camper forums classifieds. If you find a National Luna, that is pretty much top of the line, but mucho $$$.

[86Scotty]

That's exactly what I'm planning to do from now on Ray. I have never had too much fridge space. Hopefully I can support it all with solar.