Portable Freezers

[LADYBUG TOO]

Anyone with an opinion regarding portable food freezers on an R29? The quarter birth seems to be a good location but I have no experience with 12VDC freezers. Any suggestions on size would also be appreciated. We have looked at the 42 to 48 quart size (about $900.00+/_) but not sure if that is too big or too small.

Pat, Ladybug, Too

 

[Nellie Too]

Nita and I have a Nova Cool BLD45L (45 Litre) Freezer which we like very much. We keep it in the lower berth area below the steps. It is set at -23C* and it draws very little power on our 12V system. We keep it plugged into the outlet located by the light. You might contact the Ranger factory to get more information or Nova Cool for local dealers. You can contact us if you have any additional questions. Thye price was well below the $900 level.
Bob

 

[lornec]

With the size of the frig ,the size of the freezer should be determined by the length of the trip.
I agree the best spot would be a the entry to the cave.
I used one as a frig in the aftermath of hurricane Andrew , then used it on my Hunter 24 sailboat.
The 12 volt draws very little load in refrigerator configuration.
I now use it for a bottled water cooler in my closet at home, so you can see it last a long time.

 

[kjgregson]

Hi Pat,

We purchased an Engel MT45 for Sand Dollar last year. It is very energy efficient and extremely quiet. We started looking at this model based on input we got from Wefings and some other Tug Nutters. It fits perfectly into the midship cabin of our R29 and runs on both 12V and 110 AC.

Cheers

Kathy & Keith

 

[doke01]

We bought an an FP430 - EdgeStar Portable Fridge / Freezer - 43 Qt. It actually goes sub zero. We have used it cruising on vacation in 90-100 degree weather and it never went above 10 degrees. Most of the time it was at -3 F. It works off of 12 volts DC or 110 AC (auto-switching so you can leave both plugged in). At $479 it is a fantastic deal. We have been using it for two years now with no troubles. We have an R25 and a small boy (7 already!). The boy gets the cave and the freezer goes under the v-berth.

http://www.compactappliance.com/FP4...P430,default,pd.html?cgid=Appliances-Freezers

 

[Don and Brenda]

Revisiting portable freezers again, any comments on the Norcold 45 Defender has them for $600.

 

[Todd]

I bought the Dometic 52 quart. Fits nicely in the cave and still allows easy access. Thought about the 80 Qt., it would just fit on floor area of the cave but access would be difficult. Also when I looked at them side by side at West Marine the 80 was bigger than I needed. Bought mine at West Marine because the local store agreed to have both shipped in so I could compare them. I was not sure the 52 would be big enough but after seeing them both I chose the 52. The 80 is real big.

 

[walldog]

I had the same thoughts 52 vs 80 and finally bought the 80 from Camping World online with free shipping. It just fits across the door of the cave allowing great access. We block it from sliding forward by storage boxes...being careful to put metal cans and pans in the bottom boxes away from the CCU. We use it as a freezer in the boat and a refrigerator in the truck. In the boat we turn the built in refrigerator up so that nothing freezes, about 40 degrees overall. Before if we turned it down enough to freeze water for ice cubes, it also froze our lettuce in the bottom. We are able to stock up at Costco now and save a few trips to the market.

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Not to hijack the thread, but for those of us with no generator, but with the factory installed solar panel, can you live on the hook with one of these freezers and not draw your batteries down too much?

thanks

Jeff

 

[Bruce Moore]

Not to hijack the thread, but for those of us with no generator, but with the factory installed solar panel, can you live on the hook with one of these freezers and not draw your batteries down too much?

thanks

Jeff

Our experience last season says yes. When we went into Canada we decided to turn the temp up and use it as a refrigerator (less power). We were able to provision with fresh food (or put frozen food in it to thaw), and the easy top access made for quick in and out. We were on the hook up to three days at a time (regular fridge, water pump, aux. freezer (fridge), stereo, some (LED) lighting (mainly anchor), and device charging.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[Don and Brenda]

Jeff, we bought the boat Andrew used last year for Desolation, he converted the boat to LED, did 3 days at anchor had a freezer running and also charging a Torqeedo, he said you do need to pay attention to energy management but certainly doable.

Don

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Thanks. More toys for the tug!

 

[Don and Brenda]

We ended up buying the Norcold 45 quart freezer and the 120 volt adapter. Decided to give it a field test. I placed the unit in the garage. It was in the middle of the recent heat wave. Garage temp was 87 I placed a cup of water in the unit and we left for the day. Upon return later in the day it was 112 in the garage, the temp said 8 degrees in the unit and the ice was frozen. Next was the popcicle test, it stayed solid despite the temp which increased to 115 after the hot car was left in the garage. It certainly passed my test!

Don