(06-17-2020 )Waterloo Wrote:  Thought I would revive this thread... My little Waeco OEM style fridge in the truck, the one that fits in the cabinet, is in the process of taking a dump. I want something more energy efficient that I can run an extension plug to when I am home.

I also wanted something that would fit in the cabinet where the refrigerator resides right now in the ProStar.

I think I found it, The ICECO VL45 https://amzn.to/3hJdugT

I had a 83 quart one of these years ago when I was in the restaurant business and they do work, very little draw. This ICECO unit from all I can tell is pretty solid, the reviews from all over the internet are good too, and they do have service here in the US. It also has the better US made compressor. I ordered it this morning, the unemployment monies hit, LOL!

It should slide directly into the cabinet the old fridge resides in, I will just need to figure out a way to slide it in and out so as not to bang it around. They do have a sliding tray, but they want $200 for that. I think I can rig something up to do the same thing for much less.

(01-22-2021 )Waterloo Wrote:  Update! The ICECO fridge is working like a champ! Knock on wood... I removed the passenger seat, installed a subfloor and nailed down the new ICECO 47 Quart ice chest style refrigerator. I ran eye bolts through the subfloor and cab floor, this thing is not moving. It is held in place with straps I found at Home Depot. They attach to the cooler handles and the eye bolts. This thing is built like a tank and draws little if any current off the batteries.

I left the truck parked for a month here in Michigan, I parked it the day before Thanksgiving and fired her up in January, around the 10th or so. I have solar panels, the flexible ones on the roof to maintain the four wet cell batteries in the box and the one AGM Group 31 battery in the sleeper. I left the ICECO on the entire time it sat, in the winter, and it was pretty cold. I do have a TK APU installed too, but according to my fuel gauge, it did not run much at all. And I did not turn on the bunk heater. I parked the truck and walked away for over a month.

When I got in, a few days before taking off on my new gig, the batteries were 13+ volts, the ICECO was doing its thing and the truck fired right up like it had sat overnight.

I looked at the ARB unit like Rawze has and some of the others. The ICECO has US support and a five year warranty, AND $400 cheaper than the ARB unit. And I am not knocking the ARB unit, it works just as well as this one and uses the same Danfoss compressor along with the same warranty. The difference is weight and build, steel vs plastic. And as I stated, this thing is built like a tank. It is heavy, around 80 pounds, and all steel. Solid latches and handles to strap it down. It is also silent, and rarely turns on, while holding 38*.

Here is the unit, https://amzn.to/3iDBym3

If you have an automatic truck, this unit will fit nicely between the seats. If not, and you are solo like myself, throw it on the upper bunk if you have one, or remove the passenger seat like I did. It is worth the effort and time to do that if you have no passengers.

It is a good size interior wise, you can put quite a bit of stuff in there, and it holds the temp and is accurate. I have a thermometer in there, and it reads the same as the exterior temp monitor.

When did I buy this thing? I looked on Amazon, it was Jun 17th of 2020. So, six months, and no issues. Currently it is $519 on Amazon. It also has an available exterior insulation blanket to keep it cool in higher temps. I really do not see needing that, unless you are say in the south or in the desert, for me it is not an issue and I see no need in purchasing one. If you get it free with the cooler, use it.

On a side note... I bought the ICECO to replace the 1.25 cu ft factory refrigerator. I replaced that around five years ago and it eventually gave up the ghost. I tried to repair it after removing, and found that I could not get parts for my particular unit. And it was repairable, it needed a new thermostat. But, after inspecting it, and seeing as the interior was cracked and the door was screwed up, it was time to be rid of it. I shopped around, and to replace that little unit was more than the ICECO unit. So, that was a no brainer in my book, and it is what, three times the size? I am just guessing, but close, and over $100 cheaper. A Best Buy in my book, if you have the room.

(01-26-2021 )PuroCumminsPower Wrote:  

(01-22-2021 )Waterloo Wrote:  Update! The ICECO fridge is working like a champ! Knock on wood... I removed the passenger seat, installed a subfloor and nailed down the new ICECO 47 Quart ice chest style refrigerator. I ran eye bolts through the subfloor and cab floor, this thing is not moving. It is held in place with straps I found at Home Depot. They attach to the cooler handles and the eye bolts. This thing is built like a tank and draws little if any current off the batteries.

I left the truck parked for a month here in Michigan, I parked it the day before Thanksgiving and fired her up in January, around the 10th or so. I have solar panels, the flexible ones on the roof to maintain the four wet cell batteries in the box and the one AGM Group 31 battery in the sleeper. I left the ICECO on the entire time it sat, in the winter, and it was pretty cold. I do have a TK APU installed too, but according to my fuel gauge, it did not run much at all. And I did not turn on the bunk heater. I parked the truck and walked away for over a month.

When I got in, a few days before taking off on my new gig, the batteries were 13+ volts, the ICECO was doing its thing and the truck fired right up like it had sat overnight.

I looked at the ARB unit like Rawze has and some of the others. The ICECO has US support and a five year warranty, AND $400 cheaper than the ARB unit. And I am not knocking the ARB unit, it works just as well as this one and uses the same Danfoss compressor along with the same warranty. The difference is weight and build, steel vs plastic. And as I stated, this thing is built like a tank. It is heavy, around 80 pounds, and all steel. Solid latches and handles to strap it down. It is also silent, and rarely turns on, while holding 38*.

Here is the unit, https://amzn.to/3iDBym3

If you have an automatic truck, this unit will fit nicely between the seats. If not, and you are solo like myself, throw it on the upper bunk if you have one, or remove the passenger seat like I did. It is worth the effort and time to do that if you have no passengers.

It is a good size interior wise, you can put quite a bit of stuff in there, and it holds the temp and is accurate. I have a thermometer in there, and it reads the same as the exterior temp monitor.

When did I buy this thing? I looked on Amazon, it was Jun 17th of 2020. So, six months, and no issues. Currently it is $519 on Amazon. It also has an available exterior insulation blanket to keep it cool in higher temps. I really do not see needing that, unless you are say in the south or in the desert, for me it is not an issue and I see no need in purchasing one. If you get it free with the cooler, use it.

On a side note... I bought the ICECO to replace the 1.25 cu ft factory refrigerator. I replaced that around five years ago and it eventually gave up the ghost. I tried to repair it after removing, and found that I could not get parts for my particular unit. And it was repairable, it needed a new thermostat. But, after inspecting it, and seeing as the interior was cracked and the door was screwed up, it was time to be rid of it. I shopped around, and to replace that little unit was more than the ICECO unit. So, that was a no brainer in my book, and it is what, three times the size? I am just guessing, but close, and over $100 cheaper. A Best Buy in my book, if you have the room.

Good afternoon Waterloo. I’m going to buy this fridge. The one I have is on its way out of service. Just wondering if you bought the insurance from Amazon. It’s $43.99. I probably will.

(01-23-2021 )JimT Wrote:  Well, guess I should update my experience too.

The Dometic fridge (see earlier posts) I had was great for over 2 years... except sometimes it would read the wrong internal temp. Set for 32F sometimes after being jarred it would get stuck on that temp or read -12 or 20 or something random. Wasn't just the display as the compressor would react to whatever the reading was. There were a few times that I parked to find it reading 12F and after a tap in the right place it would jump up to 45F or more. The final straw was after a weekend parked at home. Went inside on Friday with it working normally, came out Monday morning and the display said 30F... gave it a tap and it changed to 54F. Truck hadn't moved.

The Dometic and many others (including some ARB, Alpicool and ICECO) are all very similar to each other to the point that it's probably some base design licenced out to various companies who tweak it for their own branding.

So, because of that one and only issue and a desire to go slightly bigger, I went back to Amazon and settled on this Alpicool unit. This one has an LG compressor (previous units had the Danfoss) which in operation is slightly louder then the Danfoss, but also seems to run smoother. In practice it's not loud enough to bother me as I sleep with my head about 1 foot away from the compressor.

Compared to the Dometic this Alpicool unit is less thermally efficient. Side-by-side comparison reveals slightly thinner walls meaning less internal insulation. Also the rubber strip along the lid seems too thin and probably doesn't seal as well as the Dometic. I plan to pick up some thin weather stripping and add it to the top where the lid sits. I'm also thinking about building a box of foam insulation around the unit. Since it's bigger it's less convenient to move in and out of the truck, even empty, so I'm planning to build a permanent base. Right now I have a big bungee cord through the handles holding it down and it's working great.

As for cooling, I left it at the factory setting of 32F and it seems to work fine. It will actively run the compressor until the temp drops to around 28F then wait until about 34F to start the cooling cycle again. Internally the food is kept cold but never actually freezes at this setting.

I've only had this unit for about 2 months with only about 1 month of active usage. This one supposedly works with bluetooth and an app to display stats and allow remote control from the app, but I haven't tried it as it's some Chinese app and there's been too many problem apps found on the Play store recently. Plus I just haven't seen a need for it.

So far I'm happy with it's performance. I'm thinking about taking the Dometic apart to search for the problem now that I have another unit.

(01-26-2021 )PuroCumminsPower Wrote:  Good afternoon Waterloo. I’m going to buy this fridge. The one I have is on its way out of service. Just wondering if you bought the insurance from Amazon. It’s $43.99. I probably will.