ckent323
Senior Member
We have long used an Igloo Contour 30 Sportsman Cooler behind the center console of our 1993 Dodge Ram W250 Clubcab truck. The cooler hinges on the long side (width) and is easy for the passenger to access.
Now that we are taking longer trips we want to eliminate the frequent hassle of buying ice blocks or cube ice and then draining the cooler every few days.
The Igloo cooler has a claimed 30 qt capacity and is 18.4 inches wide x 13.2 inches deep x 16.8 inches high. It weighs 6.4 pounds or 11.5 pounds with ice. Actual usable capacity when full of ice is probably around 15 to 18 Qts.
The depth behind our truck console to the back of the cab is 23 inches. I want to keep the refrigerator width less than 20 inches so that the cooler does not interfere with the reclining function of the seats. Height needs to be less than 20 inches and more than 15 inches for passenger access convenience.
I have been looking at 12 V refrigerator/freezers from ARB, Dometic, Edgestar, Engel, Indel B, National Luna, Norcold, Snowmaster, Truckfridge (Indel B and Whynter - (Waeco is now combined with Dometic).
Most of the coolers in the 18 L to 30 L range hinge on the long end which is not very convenient for the passenger as it requires more reach, particularly since many of them are right at or more than 23 inches deep. Further, several of the refrigerators have handles and the handles are typically not included in the dimension information.
I want to be able to remove the refrigerator from the truck when it is full and be able to easily set it on a table hence the desire for it to weigh less than 30 pounds. I am guessing food and beverages will easily add 10 or 15 pounds to the total weight.
As far as I have been able to determine only Dometic and Norcold make 12 V refrigerators in 30 L size or smaller that hinge on the width rather than the depth.
The Dometic width hinging model is the CF18 (18 L, 19 Qts) which is 18.3 inches wide x 11.8 inches deep x 16.3 inches high. The lid is removable and the hinge is part of the injection molded lid. It weighs 25 pounds. Both the exterior and interior construction appear to be all injection molded plastic. It is on the small end of what we would like but will work. Price is around $511.
The Norcold width hinging model is the NRF-30 (30 L, 32 Qts) which is 22 inches wide x 15.7 inches deep x 15.6 inches high. The weight is 39 pounds. This refrigerator is a little heavier than I prefer but has a lot more capacity, and a hinged top and it has a stainless steel interior. Price is around $580.
As far as I can tell both use the Danfoss BD35 compressor and pull a similar amount of power.
I would appreciate reading comments from anyone who has one of these models. (I have read a lot of comments on other models made by all of these manufacturers but there is not of lot of information or comparison data on the web for 12 V refrigerators that are smaller than 40 L, i.e these two models.
If anyone is interested I have created a comparison spreadsheet on many of the makes and models (not all models) and there may be some makes that I ignored because they do not seem to be readily available in the US - e.g. Ironman and a Opposite Lock).
I look forward to getting some real world info on the Dometic CF-18 and the Norcold NRF-30 refrigerator/freezers.
Now that we are taking longer trips we want to eliminate the frequent hassle of buying ice blocks or cube ice and then draining the cooler every few days.
The Igloo cooler has a claimed 30 qt capacity and is 18.4 inches wide x 13.2 inches deep x 16.8 inches high. It weighs 6.4 pounds or 11.5 pounds with ice. Actual usable capacity when full of ice is probably around 15 to 18 Qts.
The depth behind our truck console to the back of the cab is 23 inches. I want to keep the refrigerator width less than 20 inches so that the cooler does not interfere with the reclining function of the seats. Height needs to be less than 20 inches and more than 15 inches for passenger access convenience.
I have been looking at 12 V refrigerator/freezers from ARB, Dometic, Edgestar, Engel, Indel B, National Luna, Norcold, Snowmaster, Truckfridge (Indel B and Whynter - (Waeco is now combined with Dometic).
Most of the coolers in the 18 L to 30 L range hinge on the long end which is not very convenient for the passenger as it requires more reach, particularly since many of them are right at or more than 23 inches deep. Further, several of the refrigerators have handles and the handles are typically not included in the dimension information.
I want to be able to remove the refrigerator from the truck when it is full and be able to easily set it on a table hence the desire for it to weigh less than 30 pounds. I am guessing food and beverages will easily add 10 or 15 pounds to the total weight.
As far as I have been able to determine only Dometic and Norcold make 12 V refrigerators in 30 L size or smaller that hinge on the width rather than the depth.
The Dometic width hinging model is the CF18 (18 L, 19 Qts) which is 18.3 inches wide x 11.8 inches deep x 16.3 inches high. The lid is removable and the hinge is part of the injection molded lid. It weighs 25 pounds. Both the exterior and interior construction appear to be all injection molded plastic. It is on the small end of what we would like but will work. Price is around $511.
The Norcold width hinging model is the NRF-30 (30 L, 32 Qts) which is 22 inches wide x 15.7 inches deep x 15.6 inches high. The weight is 39 pounds. This refrigerator is a little heavier than I prefer but has a lot more capacity, and a hinged top and it has a stainless steel interior. Price is around $580.
As far as I can tell both use the Danfoss BD35 compressor and pull a similar amount of power.
I would appreciate reading comments from anyone who has one of these models. (I have read a lot of comments on other models made by all of these manufacturers but there is not of lot of information or comparison data on the web for 12 V refrigerators that are smaller than 40 L, i.e these two models.
If anyone is interested I have created a comparison spreadsheet on many of the makes and models (not all models) and there may be some makes that I ignored because they do not seem to be readily available in the US - e.g. Ironman and a Opposite Lock).
I look forward to getting some real world info on the Dometic CF-18 and the Norcold NRF-30 refrigerator/freezers.