Dometic "Portable Fridge"

RobG

RobG

.
Jun 2, 2004
337
Ericson 28 Noank, Ct
Took a look at the Dometic CF35 CoolFreeze Portable Refrigerator / Freezer when I was at Defender and checked out the specs. Low power draw (very low once cold) , volume enough for weekending (all we do for now) and can be an Ice maker/holder if we ever want to go with a cold plate in the OEM ice box. Both my battery banks are group 27 topped off by a 10W solar panel via a charge controller and echo charger. With careful use I may be able to run it in between weekends too...we'll see. Some very good reviews on the RV web sites but not many from boat owners. Looks good to me. Any opinions? Thanks!
Rob
 
B

Benny17441

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May 24, 2004
7,164
CC 30 South Florida
Good for a portable freezer. Capacity is limited at 33 quarts which would be rather small for a refrigerator but it does make for a nice size auxiliary freezer. A 10W panel is to small to do any good. Was that a misprint?
 
RECESS

RECESS

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Dec 20, 2003
1,505
Pearson 323 . St. Mary's Georgia
We have one. We very much enjoy it. It really does get to 0 degrees F. We love being able to shuttle frozen items back and forth from the house to the boat and back. We have a 3 hour drive to our boat so it comes in handy.

I never leave it hooked to the battery when sailing and it holds the temp well as long as I do not open it. We plug it when motoring (DC) or running the generator (AC). It cools much faster on AC. Extremely durable and well built.
 
M

mitiempo

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Sep 28, 2008
922
Canadian Sailcraft CS27 Victoria B.C.
Dometic makes good units. The Engel is more of a power miser though. 17 AH each 24 hours as a fridge in 77 F temps.
 
PaulK

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,376
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
How much do these things cost? We have an icebox that seems to work well enough for multi-week cruises so long as we keep it iced. We might spend $100/season on ice. (No one keeps close track.) We have an inverter and solar panel, so the power is there. I wonder if the cost would be worth having freezing capability.
 
DannyS

DannyS

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May 27, 2004
933
Beneteau 393 Bayfield, Wi
We've had one for about 5 years and love it. With some creative packing, we've done cruises up to two weeks with four on board. We have had issues with power draw in the past so last year I added two 60 watt solar panels and haven't had any issues since.
 
RECESS

RECESS

.
Dec 20, 2003
1,505
Pearson 323 . St. Mary's Georgia
PaulK said:
How much do these things cost? We have an icebox that seems to work well enough for multi-week cruises so long as we keep it iced. We might spend $100/season on ice. (No one keeps close track.) We have an inverter and solar panel, so the power is there. I wonder if the cost would be worth having freezing capability.
Click to expand
A 35 should be right around $500. They are great on the boat. We fish for grouper and black sea bass. Being able to fillet them and vacuum seal immediately and then transport them 3 hours back home is the real value for us. We also use it when we go camping.
 
RobG

RobG

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Jun 2, 2004
337
Ericson 28 Noank, Ct
Thanks for all the replies

Nope Benny, not a typo. That set-up has been fine with the very light loads we've used in the past. Senibulbs for all cabin lights and Hella LED anchor light. All of them are only used lightly also. The Dometic will be used for the most part Fri through Sunday evenings. We're pretty much locked into weekends only for a few more years. 33 Qts should be fine.
Initial cooling of the unit will probably be done with the alt running the engine or from AC ashore
(if I can move the unit or the boat to the service dock). I'll keep it around 35 deg. Our ambient temp doesn't really get that hot until August for a month or so, so looking at the numbers and bulk recovering with the motor the small solar panel should be able to top off during the week. A solar upgrade isn't necessarily out of the question but I have other boat bucks to spend and I will probably wait until next year and see how much of a PIA this plan turns out to be.
I may not rush into this now anyway since they are only 10% off at the Defender warehouse sale anyway...but it may be hard to resist. :) $603 though...:confused:
Rob
 
Sumner

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
We checked them out a few years ago and ended up with...


http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/inside-22.html

... an Edgestar 63 quart for a little over $400 at the time....

http://www.compactappliance.com/FP630-Spacious-EdgeStar-Portable-Refrigerator-Freezer/FP630OB.html

....(under $500) now and have been very happy. About the same amps (3.5 once it is running for a little bit) as the others. Beware of some that claim less amps as from the reviews I've read...

http://www.arbusa.com/uploads/Newsletter/ARBmegaFridgeComparo.pdf

http://home.iprimus.com.au/rfh/portablefridges.html

...they end up running for longer periods and end up with the same amp/hrs. per day or worst. We used the Edgestar day after day in mid 80 deg. cabin temps and it was about 35 amp/hrs. a day and this was for 63 quart capacity and putting in hot drinks each day and so forth. Most of the ones quoted above are the 40 quart models.

We had 180 watts on the boat at the time and it just kept up with the fridge, CPAP machine and 4-6 hours of computer a day, about 44 amp/hrs. a day. Still had to run the ...


http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/outside-13.html

.... generator about 4-6 hours total in 7+ weeks. We now have 200 watts and I'll bet we would never probably have to run the generator.

If I had it to do over again I'd probably build one like I did for ....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-inside-mods/inside-index.html

...the Endeavour as with good insulation you can have one twice the size of the portable with a small freezer compartment that uses 2/3's the amps or less,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================

Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links[/FONT]
 
Bill1565

Bill1565

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Jan 22, 2008
1,483
Hunter 37 C sloop Punta Gorda FL
PaulK said:
How much do these things cost? We have an icebox that seems to work well enough for multi-week cruises so long as we keep it iced. We might spend $100/season on ice. (No one keeps close track.) We have an inverter and solar panel, so the power is there. I wonder if the cost would be worth having freezing capability.[/QUOTE

No not cost effective. Nice to have, though. We have 2, A/B 12 v refr in factory ice box and Engel box run as freezer. We can go 2-3 weeks between grocery stores. Or ice stops.
T
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