Dometic, Engel, arb fridges your thoughts

[kolelt]

I’m in the market for a fridge. I’ve been eyeing a dometic CFX-65DZUS Dual Zone Cool Freeze Portable Camping Freezer. ( figured I’d save extra and get a reliable brand that’s been around ). Does anyone own this fridge? Apparently it’s around 64 quartz ? Something like 19 liters freezer and 41 liters fridge. But if you don’t want the freezer zone. You can remove the separator and have a full 64 quart fridge. Or vise versa.

Dometic CFX-65DX | Long Term Review - Toyota Cruisers & Trucks Magazine | Land Cruiser, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Tacoma, Toyota Trucks

I have a 3rd gen. According to this post ^. It fits in the back pretty good. What about anyone from expiernce. Does it fit good in a 3rd gen. How is the dual zone ? Do you like it. What do you regret. How is it compared to arb. I heard dometic basically makes arb fridges. How is dometic compared to a Engel b

 

[Bigrupp]

I’m in the market for a fridge. I’ve been eyeing a dometic CFX-65DZUS Dual Zone Cool Freeze Portable Camping Freezer. ( figured I’d save extra and get a reliable brand that’s been around ). Does anyone own this fridge? Apparently it’s around 64 quartz ? Something like 19 liters freezer and 41 liters fridge. But if you don’t want the freezer zone. You can remove the separator and have a full 64 quart fridge. Or vise versa.

Dometic CFX-65DX | Long Term Review - Toyota Cruisers & Trucks Magazine | Land Cruiser, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Tacoma, Toyota Trucks

I have a 3rd gen. According to this post ^. It fits in the back pretty good. What about anyone from expiernce. Does it fit good in a 3rd gen. How is the dual zone ? Do you like it. What do you regret. How is it compared to arb. I heard dometic basically makes arb fridges. How is dometic compared to a Engel b

Love mine. Dual zone capability is awesome. Cold drinks and ice cream on a hot day on the trail makes this thing worth every penny. One of the purchases I wish I had made years earlier.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[kolelt]

Love mine. Dual zone capability is awesome. Cold drinks and ice cream on a hot day on the trail makes this thing worth every penny. One of the purchases I wish I had made years earlier.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Have any photos of it installed ? How big is in person. The dometic ??

 

[Bigrupp]

Have any photos of it installed ? How big is in person. The dometic ??

No, no pictures. Its sitting in my living room right now cause i use it for people to put their beer in when they come over so i don't have to make room in the fridge. I ran a 2 guage cable to the back (overkill, but thats what i had laying around) from my second battery to a Blue Sea Systems power distro block. Ran heavier wires to the 12V plug in the back and that's what I'm plugged into until I build some drawers or something back there. For now it just sits back there and gets strapped down to the stock tie down points in the corners. It takes up maybe a third of the back and is as tall as the back seats. With the lift and all it is a PIA for my wife to get into, but she still prefers that to dealing with a cooler. It's bigger than I was initially shopping for, but now that I've had it for awhile and put it to use I'm glad I didn't get something smaller. So many positives to being able to freeze and refrigerate at the same time. Love it!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Bigrupp]

Hi, man!
What are your thoughts on that?

I have been super impressed with the quality of the Dometic. Everyone I know that has went with Dometic has been happy. That being said, everyone that has different brands has been happy with theirs too. They all seem to be built well and have stood up to some abuse. If I were to have to buy another one tomorrow though I would be sticking with the Dometic brand.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[BrianSD_42]

Looks good and larger than ARB.

I need to get a vacu-sealer. So far though I have had no problem getting by for 4 day trips with a large coleman extreme. I keep meaning to upgrade to the RTIC.

 

[Agent_Outside]

If I’m not mistaken domestic actually manufactures the ARB fridges

 

[Bumbo]

That looks pretty good OP. I like the dual zone capability, it is something I wish I had.

I have the ARB 50 quart.

I haven't used any others but the size and shape was ideal for how I am using it. Shape can play a large role as I found moving this between various trucks and things.

I can't comment on what you are looking at buy I had mine for years and its been a solid investment. The performance and power efficiency is great.

The hardest I have pushed it was in a Vegas trip, and had it in the 4runner with the windows up. It was holding freezer temps about a 100F below ambient while only using 50 watts of power. I ran it all night no problem when I was at a hotel. After that I basically stopped worrying and trusted the unit to do its job.

If yours is made by the same company and built anything like the ARB, get it because I put mine though the ringer on and off road and it just works.

108 in the car
13F in the freezer

 

[Drunner97]

I have an Indel B 51 QT. Same compressor as the ARB. It's been used, abused, bounced around, dropped, and generally used as a camp fridge/garage beer fridge for the last 1 1/2 years nonstop and it's still running strong. Freezes water/beer no problem if you're not careful with the temps.

 

[Bigrupp]

If I’m not mistaken domestic actually manufactures the ARB fridges

That is correct

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Tuc4R]

I'm running the Indel B 51 QT, and love the thing.

 

[J.F. Sebastian]

Is it my mistake or misinterpretation that Indels generally draw over twice the amperage of the Dometics and ARBs according to specs of different fridges?

 

[Tuc4R]

Is it my mistake or misinterpretation that Indels generally draw over twice the amperage of the Dometics and ARBs according to specs of different fridges?

I would say that's a false statement. The Indel has the same compressor as the Dometic, so I don't see how they can claim that. Before I got my X2 Power deep cycle, I ran my Indel for a day and half on my stock battery.

 

[J.F. Sebastian]

I would say that's a false statement. The Indel has the same compressor as the Dometic, so I don't see how they can claim that. Before I got my X2 Power deep cycle, I ran my Indel for a day and half on my stock battery.

Didn't mean it to be a false statement, must have gotten my numbers wrong and glad you like your fridge.

 

[Bumbo]

There are other factors beside just the compressor that determine power consumption... construction, insulation K values, internal electronics (and their efficiency ratings)...

That said, appears to be a lot of OEM and sharing of parts in this space.

 

[Tuc4R]

Didn't mean it to be a false statement, must have gotten my numbers wrong and glad you like your fridge.

Love your screen name. One of my all time favorite movies!

 

[Tuc4R]

There are other factors beside just the compressor that determine power consumption... construction, insulation K values, internal electronics (and their efficiency ratings)...

That said, appears to be a lot of OEM and sharing of parts in this space.

True, but the compressor is going to be your biggest culprit.

 

[Hauvet]

I have an engle 35qt, very solid and reliable, I would not consider anything larger unless I was consistantly going more than two weeks between grocery stops. I would look at the two zone fridge/freezer models.

The engle is probably more reliable amd more power efficient, the only thing I don't like is that the temperature knob can get bumped easily.






________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2018 Toyota Tacoma, 212-226″ L x 74-75″ W x 71-72″ H ,60 to 73.2″
Cheers, Hauvet Diceus

 

[Bumbo]

The ~50qt size seems to be the most popular... that's also what I have, but there are times it feels a bit big. It's amazing what you can fit when you dont need to leave room for ice.

The smaller size would be better for my daily driver, but once I do need to load it up I am glad I have the extra space, especially for beer when going camping.

Dual zone would be awesome, that would be the biggest wish list item for me.

 

[kolelt]

I ended up with dometic 50 quart fridge. It’s dual zone but not “true dual zone”. I was shocked how much food and beer fit and how much left over I had. Of still good food !