In March of 2022 I upgraded to a Dometic CFX3 55IM (53L, single zone) electric cooler (aka “tha fridge”). At the time, my old Costway fridge from Amazon lived in the bed of my Gladiator. While that worked fine, I was a bit concerned about leaving the upgraded fridge in the bed. So I made the decision to commit to a 40% rear seat delete, and I repurposed a scrap piece of baltic burch plywood I had in the shop from my days of making cornhole boards (you can see some of those cornhole sets here). I also repurposed some other pieces of scrap wood for the standoffs you see in the picture toward the front, and bolted it all down in the back using some of the same hardware and mounting points for the seat that was removed. I installed the fridge and powered it with an EcoFlow Delta power supply.
That basically covers the initial install and setup that ran for almost a year. In March, I ditched the EcoFlow for an auxiliary lithium battery and Redarc dc to dc charge controller. The Ecoflow worked fine for the application, however it had to live in the floor in front of the other half of the rear seat, which was a pain for more than 2 passengers. AND, I wanted the ability to charge the battery while driving. The Redarc is just more efficient at keeping a full battery for this application.
Other points to make are that this fridge stays plugged in, around the clock, 24/7 and has been since March. My driving habits vary in that sometimes I drive short distances every day or maybe will skip a day or two and not drive it at all. When I check the status of the battery, it very rarely is below 80% SOC, and when I get to where I’m going it is back to 100%. So the Redarc works very well when paired with a heavy duty alternator. But I really think the biggest point to make here is the low power usage of tha fridge. I keep the temp set at 38 degrees, so it is plenty cool. Now this fridge is capable of making ice in a couple of hours, which is a huge power consumption. So I only use that feature occasionally. I’ve had a couple of issues with the app that is provided by Dometic. I can’t get it to stay connected to the fridge. I’m not going to ding Dometic for that because I feel like it might be a bluetooth issue with other devices. For those that are interested, here are some specs from Dometic’s website:
The first electric cooler with its own ice maker – with a rapid freeze plate that makes ice in just a few hours, without compromising the temperature elsewhere. Reaching temperatures as low as -7°F, while using less power than a 60W light bulb, the car fridge freezer can be powered by AC (110-240), DC (12 volt / 24 volt), or solar. The tallest fridge cooler in the CFX3 series, the 55IM is constructed with lightweight fender frames and strong aluminum alloy handles, while the high-performance compressor is built with noise and vibration reduction.
Overall, I am very pleased with the Dometic CFX 3 55IM. It is a workhorse for my adventures and a piece of gear I count on a great deal and has never let me down. Thanks for reading. I hope you find this post useful. #outfitandexplore