ARB Classic Series II Fridge

[Chilow]

Hey All,

I'm in the market for a fridge and narrowed it down to the Dometic and ARB brand. However, I discovered Dometic's new CFX3 series has a recall due to an electrical issue and there's no fix for it other than a warning sticker.

Now I'm leaning towards the ARB 50QT Classic Series II. In my research, I was able to find some folks on this forum that had power issues when they had it plugged into the 12V in the rear cargo area. I believe this was for the original ARB fridge. The fix was to purchase a separate ARB wiring kit to hook it directly to the starting battery. I don't plan on running the fridge 24/7, but it will live in the back of the 4Runner. My plan was to plug it into the existing 12V power source in the rear when I'm driving to a camping trip or know that I'll be buying groceries and not immediately going home. For the times that it's being used at camp, I plan on hooking it up to a portable power source, like a Jackery or similar. I would much rather avoid any risk to the 4Runner's electrical system.

 

[SlickTRD]

what is your question?

 

[sn_85]

Hey All,

I'm in the market for a fridge and narrowed it down to the Dometic and ARB brand. However, I discovered Dometic's new CFX3 series has a recall due to an electrical issue and there's no fix for it other than a warning sticker.

Now I'm leaning towards the ARB 50QT Classic Series II. In my research, I was able to find some folks on this forum that had power issues when they had it plugged into the 12V in the rear cargo area. I believe this was for the original ARB fridge. The fix was to purchase a separate ARB wiring kit to hook it directly to the starting battery. I don't plan on running the fridge 24/7, but it will live in the back of the 4Runner. My plan was to plug it into the existing 12V power source in the rear when I'm driving to a camping trip or know that I'll be buying groceries and not immediately going home. For the times that it's being used at camp, I plan on hooking it up to a portable power source, like a Jackery or similar. I would much rather avoid any risk to the 4Runner's electrical system.

It's not just an issue with the old ARB fridge. It's with any fridge really. They use very thin 18ga wire for the 12v in the rear cargo area. In my case I've run two different fridges and non of them could be powered off the stock 12v. The ARB 12v kit runs a 10ga wire to the back so it can supply the right amount of power to high consumption devices like a fridge. You may have some luck but you might not. You still might have to run a separate line back there if it doesn't work out.

 

[Chilow]

Should I just go ahead and purchase the ARB wiring kit and just leave it unplugged when not in use?

 

[Whippersnapper02]

I fridge should always be wired directly to the battery in my opinion.

 

[SlickTRD]

Should I just go ahead and purchase the ARB wiring kit and just leave it unplugged when not in use?

if you have no intention of using both ac/dc plugged in at the same time i still think the dometic is the better choice. you can get the arb wiring kit or make your own. i say make your own and pair it with blue sea systems panel that has an on off switch for the dc port.

 

[Chilow]

I may be overthinking this. Can someone confirm if I run the ARB wiring kit directly to the battery and to the rear cargo area, I can leave the fridge plugged in constantly, but just turning off the fridge using the on/off button? Does the fridge have any parasitic draw? Or is it just safer to unplug the fridge from the wiring kit when it's not in use?

 

[apc9199]

I may be overthinking this. Can someone confirm if I run the ARB wiring kit directly to the battery and to the rear cargo area, I can leave the fridge plugged in constantly, but just turning off the fridge using the on/off button? Does the fridge have any parasitic draw? Or is it just safer to unplug the fridge from the wiring kit when it's not in use?

EVERYTHING has parasitic draw. It may not be much if the vehicle only sits for a day or two, but eventually it will kill the battery. Its safer to unplug completely when not in use.