Portable Refrigerators August 02, 2023, 06:53:12 pm Saw this review of a BougeRV portable refrigerator on the Subaru Forester forum. Anyone have any experience with this company’s products?BougeRV CRPRO25 Portable Car Fridge Review | Subaru Forester Owners Forum
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #1 – August 02, 2023, 07:24:02 pm Compressor ice chests are available from many manufacturers, in a variety of sizes, The prices from unknown companies have come down from the astronomical prices of some of the major brands (ARB, Dometic) sell for.We have a 40-qt model in the LD and have carried it in the back of the Subaru when traveling, plugged into the rear 12-volt outlet. It works fine as long as the car is running but it needs another power supply when the engine is off. Its power consumption varies by what the ambient temperature is. A big battery pack can be used for these periods, you could install a 100-watt panel on top of the car to charge it. I believe Andy had a setup similar to this on one of his tow cars. Massimo 40L Electric E-Kooler - Accessories | Massimo MotorIt's nice to have ice-cold drinks or ice cream while on the road. Larry 4 Likes
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #2 – August 06, 2023, 11:20:57 pm Greg, we have this brand - 84qt size. We have had it over a year and used ir consistency mane 6 months. It works great, it is split but we had both sides on freezer set at -4 F setting and used a SensorPush to monitor temperatures.If you put fresh, not frozen, meat into it, it did take about 2 days to fully freeze it but then wasrock hard. If you unplugged it, significant thawing happened within 24 hours (some people would unplug it at night to save battery, I wouldn’t do that).It worked fine when 100% full to the top and also when one side was only half full, even when one side was empty and the other full.One side did seem to keep things colder than the other but it was a handful of degrees and we didn’t worry about it.We ran it in 120v and 12v, preformed the same for both, used about 5 amps per hour on 12v. Maybe less when items were fully frozen (I don’t remember clearly, but I was using 5 amps per hour to calculate battery use and I tend to be conservative).It was cool to the touch on the outside but not too cold to hold a hand there for a long time. I got curious if it would be more efficient if it was insulated more around the outside - I saw a “cover” designed to fully encase it except where it needed to release heat (about 1 ft square), but I was not real impressed and I didn’t think it would add a lot of insulation (thin flexible material like a soft sided cooler).I would definitely recommend this brand.I am not on the forums a lot but shoot me a PM if you have more questions.Jane 1 Likes
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #3 – August 07, 2023, 09:51:29 am Hi Jane. What brand are you using?
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #4 – August 07, 2023, 10:00:07 am "I believe Andy had a setup similar to this on one of his tow cars."I've had solar-powered 40- to 50-quart Dometic compressor fridges in all my vehicles (cars and trucks) for the past five or six years, and would never want to be without one again. It isn't just having cold drinks available whenever I want; when I'm camping out in the boonies and have to drive half an hour or an hour to get groceries, the fridge will keep them cold until I get home. And since my 19' Airstream has a mini-fridge, the truck fridge adds needed extra capacity. The setup is pretty simple: a solar panel on the roof (mounted with 3M VHB tape, so it can be removed without leaving any damage when it comes time to trade in), a Victron 75/15 MPPT charging controller, and a Lifeline group 27 AGM battery, plus fuses and whatnot. This system is entirely independent of the vehicle's 12 V system.I used 100 W solar panels for a while, and they were adequate most of the time (bearing in mind that I live in the Southwest), but if there was a run of cloudy days or parked the vehicle in shade, the battery could get low. Then I'd either turn off the fridge, or if staying in a campground with shore power, plug in. (All the fridges I've used were able to run on either 12 VDC or 120 VAC.)Currently I have a 140 W panel on the topper of my Ford Ranger--it was the largest panel I could fit. The system has almost never run out of power; in fact, on a sunny day the battery is in float mode after just a few hours, and rarely goes below 12.3 V overnight.My current fridge is an 18-month-old Dometic CFF-45, but it's had some spells of confusion recently that caused it to stop cooling, and the display/control panel stopped lighting up for a week or two, so that I couldn't set it. (I monitor its temperature with a Govee wireless sensor.) Then a few days ago, the display came back on for no obvious reason. It's working now and cooling just fine to 36° F plus or minus two degrees, but it just doesn't feel trustworthy.A friend of mine with an older Dometic model ran into a problem where the control panel stopped responding to button pushes, so that they are now unable to change the temperature setting. And it's very hard to get parts for these Dometic/WAECO fridges; you pretty much have to order from Australia. At this point I'd hesitate to recommend a Dometic chest fridge.I have seen a 48-quart BougeRV model recommended, although I have no experience with it myself. It has several advantages over the fridges I've owned: it has dual zones, each of which can be set to either refrigerator or freezer operation (my fridges have been able to run at fridge or freezer temperatures, but it's one or the other). It has dual lids. It can be controlled via Bluetooth from a smartphone app. It's currently selling for less than $400--about two thirds the price of my Dometic CFF-45. And it carries a two-year warranty, which is twice what my Dometic has. If it become necessary to replace my current fridge, I'll probably give this one a try. As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #5 – August 07, 2023, 11:15:09 am My brother's Tacoma has had a similar solar charging system for several years, used to power a large Dometic refrigerator carried in the back of the truck, inside a camper shell. It is used similarly to Andy's, to supplement his and his wife's Escape trailer's tiny refrigerator. Our purchase of a compressor refrigerator was made during Covid to extend camping for several days more before having to go to a grocery store. Now my wife refuses to give it up. It is now used primarily to carry produce.With the compressor refrigerator's interiors being as small as they are, I could not see buying a dual-zone refrigerator since it is used in addition to our LD's 6-cu/ft refrigerator. The dual zone dividers use a lot of space and add a lot of complexity and cost to the refrigerator controls. If we were driving the toad to a store a long distance away to buy both fresh and frozen food, having both the freezer and a higher-temperature refrigerator could be handy.Larry 1 Likes
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #6 – August 07, 2023, 03:31:03 pm A side note: while one can set a portable chest fridge on the rear seat, the angle of the seat makes it a bit awkward, and in some cases it's not possible to open the lid all the way, because there isn't enough space between it and the ceiling. For these reasons I always remove the rear seat from any vehicle I buy. (It's usually not difficult to do.) Then I build a simple platform out of plywood to take its place.This gives the fridge more space, and also allows storage under the platform as well as above it. (Seat cushions take up space!) I store the seats (with covers to keep off dust), and reinstall them at trade-in time, looking brand new.Obviously this approach wouldn't work for a family, but for a single RVer or even a couple, it has significant advantages.
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #7 – August 08, 2023, 11:15:39 am We have been using our BougeRV chest for a little over a year now, and it has been super reliable. The only error I have ever had with it was when I left it in the open bed of my truck with a lot of things packed around it, and it got hot and shut itself down. My fault, it was around 102 that day. Highly recommend it. Amazon.com: BougeRV 12 Volt Refrigerator Portable Car Freezer 53 Quart... As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Portable Refrigerators Reply #8 – August 11, 2023, 12:56:10 am Greg, we have this one.Amazon.com: BODEGACOOLER 12 Volt Refrigerator, RV Portable Freezer, Car... Similar reviews to the one you had the link for.
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Topic: Portable Refrigerators (Read 277 times)
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