Who's Running a Fridge in their Runner?

[DabberAZ]

Linsion? 42 Qt Electric Fridge / Freezer

Anyone using this fridge freezer? Price is right and size is spot on. Lid opens the right direction to be plugged in on the right side of the 5th gen cargo area. Here it is Amazon, but I found it for $230 from the dealers website.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MYVYYG...ZAGsbehF4PER4UxqvCzbPyVoOEHYItXNfxxJtpl4RlbMg

 

[duffdog]

I run the Dometic CC40. plugs into the rear outlet, runs when the truck is on, does not run when the truck is off. Best thing I ever bought, no chance of it draining the battery and stays cold for most of the day when its off. My girl has the cfx50 with a solar system and MPPT charge controller on a 100AH LiFePo4 in her 4runner. Her fridge runs infinitely without ever being connected to the engine. Both solutions work I guess.

 

[DabberAZ]

I run the Dometic CC40. plugs into the rear outlet, runs when the truck is on, does not run when the truck is off. Best thing I ever bought, no chance of it draining the battery and stays cold for most of the day when its off. (snip).

Love that 110V plug in the back of the 5th Gen. Talk about making it easy on us who have zero electrical capabilities. Plug, cool, drink and eat - no sloosh!

 

[Bumbo]

I am running the ARB 50 Qt. for years and it’s pretty great, It’s a huge convenience not needing ice. I bought it for camping and road trips but I use it more than I thought I would around town. If its not in the SUV, its at home cooling drinks or something. Nice item for emergency use as well, I transferred some stuff over during a power outage.

I have two trucks, both have dual batteries now. I’ve also made a couple portable power packs just for fun. I move the fridge around a lot depending on what I am doing. Everything is wired up with Anderson plugs and its pretty much plug and play.

Ammo can battery pack is good for about 10-14 hours of runtime or non-stop with a 50 watt solar panel.

RED = Fridge Outlet / WHITE = SOLAR INPUT + USB Charging

Fridge is so efficient and low amp draw that I have started some more
creative portable projects where I can run the thing off 18650 flashlight batteries.

 

[Bumbo]

For those of you that have the ARB 50qt, does it take up half of your cargo area? How hard was it to install the slide since that seems to be a pretty important piece. Does anyone have a pic or can you explain how the freezer is separate, or does it only do the fridge at a single time and the freezer at a single time?

Edit…any good write ups on setting up a dual battery? Ive been searching all morning on here, yotatech, expo and 120. Im finding stuff I guess Im not understanding some of it. If the truck is turned off will the second battery still keep the fridge running?

It takes up less than half... you know how the seats have a 60/40 split? The 50qt takes up about the same width of the 40 split.

As far the a dual battery setup... without making it overly complicated you add a second battery, and an automatic charging relay between the second battery and the trucks charging system. Another options is to use a DC-DC charger. Both have their own pros and cons, but essentially provide the same main function, which is isolating the second battery from the rest of the truck when the engine isn't running. Just add a second fuse panel and off you go. Run accessory loads without worrying about killing your starter battery.

These are the two ACRs I used in each truck. These have been pretty good without going overkill.

 

[DabberAZ]

I am running the ARB 50 Qt. for years and it’s pretty great, It’s a huge convenience not needing ice. I bought it for camping and road trips but I use it more than I thought I would around town. If its not in the SUV, its at home cooling drinks or something. Nice item for emergency use as well, I transferred some stuff over during a power outage. (snip)

Super impressive. Actually, the use outside the vehicle is a great point. Upstairs for football games, no more running up and down the stairs. Win!

 

[houlds]

I am running the ARB 50 Qt. for years and it’s pretty great, It’s a huge convenience not needing ice. I bought it for camping and road trips but I use it more than I thought I would around town. If its not in the SUV, its at home cooling drinks or something. Nice item for emergency use as well, I transferred some stuff over during a power outage.

I have two trucks, both have dual batteries now. I’ve also made a couple portable power packs just for fun. I move the fridge around a lot depending on what I am doing. Everything is wired up with Anderson plugs and its pretty much plug and play.

Ammo can battery pack is good for about 10-14 hours of runtime or non-stop with a 50 watt solar panel.

RED = Fridge Outlet / WHITE = SOLAR INPUT + USB Charging

Fridge is so efficient and low amp draw that I have started some more
creative portable projects where I can run the thing off 18650 flashlight batteries.

Any chance you have a guide for how you built your ammo can batteries? Sounds like a way cheaper alternative to a Goal Zero yeti

 

[Bumbo]

Any chance you have a guide for how you built your ammo can batteries? Sounds like a way cheaper alternative to a Goal Zero yeti

It's not really a guide or instruction on building one, but here are some additional notes I made on a different post to give you a better idea of what is inside.

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/2686728-post8.html

In a nutshell… all you need is:
• Container
• Battery
• Solar Charge Controller
• Panel mount accessories for connectivity

I wanted to keep it small so I exclude the AC inverter which is typically found in Goal Zero or similar products… I rarely if ever need to run AC loads. If I do, I have a separate AC inverter with an Anderson plug. I can plug it into the ammo can, or any of the other 4 Anderson outlets I have inside and outside the 4Runner.

 

[jhguth]

I run the Dometic CC40. plugs into the rear outlet, runs when the truck is on, does not run when the truck is off. Best thing I ever bought, no chance of it draining the battery and stays cold for most of the day when its off. My girl has the cfx50 with a solar system and MPPT charge controller on a 100AH LiFePo4 in her 4runner. Her fridge runs infinitely without ever being connected to the engine. Both solutions work I guess.

If you just change your starting battery to an AGM you can run the fridge all the time no prob, if you upgrade the size to a 31M you'll get 2-3 days range before you hit the highest shutoff voltage.

I have 100W solar now but I ran my dometic cfx-40 for a couple years without solar, the main thing is just trying to keep it mostly full - it uses a lot more energy to keep cold if its empty.

 

[Bumbo]

If you just change your starting battery to an AGM you can run the fridge all the time no prob, if you upgrade the size to a 31M you'll get 2-3 days range before you hit the highest shutoff voltage.

I have 100W solar now but I ran my dometic cfx-40 for a couple years without solar, the main thing is just trying to keep it mostly full - it uses a lot more energy to keep cold if its empty.

True, especially doable with a large battery like that.

I did some tests on my system to get a baseline… the 50qt used about 350 watt hours in a 24 period at 76F ambient with only a couple large water jugs inside.

The Odyssey 31M has 1200 watt hours of capacity at full discharge. That gives you about 1.7 days at 50% DoD to 3.5 days at 100% DoD (dead flat). Pretty damn good for a single battery setup.

If you are driving or starting the truck at least once a day, you could easily get away without a dual battery.

 

[DabberAZ]

Got My Fridge Finally

So I finally pulled the trigger. Didn’t go high end but found one with good reviews and features for the price. Alpicool C30. It’s about the perfect size at this stage for me. Testing it in OEM rear 110 outlet today after it was already chilled down and I did notice it didn’t maintain temperature. Seems the 110v outlet only runs 110w when driving. When I parked and activated 400w mode it started cooling right down. Gonna year the 12v outlet next - but will most likely run a dedicated 8ga line to the back.

 

[Dial4toRun]

fridges in the runners!? whaaaa that's sooo sick!

 

[Friedom]

Nice resurrection thread.

Haha

I'm glad it was resurrected, it's still a timely topic. I'm shopping for a 12v/120 fridge myself now. It'll affect real estate for car camping, but IMO totally worth it.
Anyone concerned about having a fridge with food in it inside their car in bear country? I love Yosemite, but the wildlife there knows where the cookie jar is.


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[Ascole]

Haha

I'm glad it was resurrected, it's still a timely topic. I'm shopping for a 12v/120 fridge myself now. It'll affect real estate for car camping, but IMO totally worth it.
Anyone concerned about having a fridge with food in it inside their car in bear country? I love Yosemite, but the wildlife there knows where the cookie jar is.


Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

I keep all my food in my car, including in my arb fridge while traveling through heavy bear country. Double locked yeti for the dry goods and the fridge for cold/frozen foods. Haven’t run into an issue yet and that’s spending weeks in the backcountry of WA/ID/MT/WY.


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[Bumbo]

Haha

I'm glad it was resurrected, it's still a timely topic. I'm shopping for a 12v/120 fridge myself now. It'll affect real estate for car camping, but IMO totally worth it.
Anyone concerned about having a fridge with food in it inside their car in bear country? I love Yosemite, but the wildlife there knows where the cookie jar is.


Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

I spent 1 week in Yellowstone and kept the fridge in the 4Runner with no incident. My original plan was to put the fridge in the bear box with a battery pack, but that didn't work out. I was a little concerned at first but I didn't really have any options so I just ran with it.

As far as car camping space, if you choose your fridge size wisely then you should need less space since you don’t need to leave room for ice. For me it has improved space allocation since my ice cooler was larger.

 

[Cymon]

Haha

I'm glad it was resurrected, it's still a timely topic. I'm shopping for a 12v/120 fridge myself now. It'll affect real estate for car camping, but IMO totally worth it.
Anyone concerned about having a fridge with food in it inside their car in bear country? I love Yosemite, but the wildlife there knows where the cookie jar is.


Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Spent a week in Yosemite and 3 weeks all over the West during the summer with our ARB no issues. We do have the insulating cover and I did throw a blanket over it at night just to obscure the outline.