Dometic CFX65DZ Portable Fridge Review

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the update!

Peter

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

One year after the Post #9 above -- what a difference a year makes!



Looking at 12-volt coolers again.




Are you guys/son still happy with these choices?

Thanks,

Peter

I am still happy with our Dometic CFX65dz. It rides permanently in the bed of our Tundra TV. No power problems as we have 400 watts of solar on the bed cap and a 100 aH lithium battery. The best feature is that one section can be used as a freezer with the rest being used as a fridge. The Dometic brand also has a good reputation and parts and service should be available.

I decided to install a smaller and much less expensive fridge in my VW Golf. I installed an Alpicool CF35 fridge. It is about 1/2 the size of the Dometic, about 1/3 the price, can be used as a fridge or a freezer and comes from China so the quality, service and parts availability are unknown. Here is a photo of the installation. It seems to work as well as the Dometic and the plastic is more glossy and easier to clean.

Alpicool does make larger fridges than the CF35 and they cost about half as much as the Dometic. Again, these can be used as a fridge or freezer and come from China, so quality, service and parts availability are unknown. Here is the same fridge with two different names.

I am really happy with both my fridges- the Dometic CFX65dz in our Tundra and the Alpicool CF35 in my Golf.

Dan

[OTRA15]

Great Dan, thanks.

Peter

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

One year after the Post #9 above -- what a difference a year makes!



Looking at 12-volt coolers again.




Are you guys/son still happy with these choices?

Thanks,

Peter

Yes, my son is still happy. Solar keeps up fine, food and beverages are cold (even rotating in warm ones as the cold ones are consumed). It runs 24/7/365 in his garage as a beverage fridge (in the camper compartment).

[OTRA15]

Thanks Rich.

Peter

[TouringDan]

I have had this fridge 3 years now and time for another update. At the time of my update last year we were powering the fridge with a 100 Ah BB battery. This turned out to be overkill as it was much larger battery than was needed and I was also moving it to the Golf when I needed it to power the Alpicool FX35 fridge or to our tandem kayak for powering the electric outboard motor. I replaced it with a 35 Ah VMAX lithium battery that only weighs 7.5 lbs. Here is a photo of the battery and the AC charger in front of it. I generally recharge the battery using the 400 watts of solar on top of the Tundra bed cap, but I can also use the AC powered battery charger that came with the battery using the 1,000 watt inverter installed in the Tundra.

I did a test over a 5 day period to see how much power it took to operate the fridge. I maintained a temperature of about 1 F in the freezer and about 35F in the refrigerator section. The high temperature during the day was about 75 and the low was about 50. If you want the freezer section colder or the ambient temperatures are hotter, the fridge will require more power. The 5 day average was about 350 watt hours of energy per day or about 25 Ah of battery power per day. Because it only uses 25 Ah of battery, my 35 Ah battery could power the fridge for a full day without being recharged. The battery does have a SOC meter provided on top of the battery. After operating all night without any sun the battery SOC in the morning is generally about 60-75%. Here is a photo of the 5 days of energy consumption of the fridge.

Dan