Press "Enter" to skip to content

The Dometic Fridge Works Well So Far

TL;DR - After switching over to a Dometic Fridge, things have been working "just fine." I think I still technically preferred the ARB overall, but the Dometic has a few nice features the ARB did not. And, most importantly, it's actually cooling.

Back in May, I had to get a new fridge when my 7-year-old 50qt ARB stopped cooling. Ultimately - mostly due to price and warranty length - I went with a Dometic. At the time, I had two reservations about the Dometic:

  1. The latching mechanism for the lid. I'm still worried about this, but it's seemed to work fine so far, and I'm a little less worried about it breaking now than I was back when I initially got the fridge. I'll continue to monitor it.
  2. The interior size - which is slightly smaller, with not-quite-as-good organization. This hasn't been too much of an issue, either, though I did have to figure out a new set of containers that would use the space optimally, since the old set I was using did not fit the new dimensions.

There are also a couple things I like about the Dometic that I didn't know when I was only going off first impressions.

  • The Bluetooth app is nice. I can quickly and easily monitor the fridge temp or turn the fridge on/off without being at the control panel for the fridge. I thought this was a total gimmick when I first got the fridge, but I've used the feature a few times now - to adjust the fridge temp at night - rom the comfort of the tent - having forgotten to do so before getting into bed, and to turn the fridge off - when I was driving - while heading back to Las Vegas to put the truck in storage.
  • The fridge stays at a much more consistent temperature than the ARB. Where the ARB would oscillate between 34° and 40° when set to 37°, the Dometic keeps the temp between 36.5° and 37.5° when set to the same temperature. I'm sure the ARB did this to be efficient when turning the compressor on (running it for a longer period of time), but as long as the Dometic doesn't burn out the compressor, it keeps food at a much more consistent temperature, reducing freezing of veggies and warming of foods that spoil easily.
  • The Dometic is a little quieter than the ARB. It's not significantly different, and it might just be that the pitch is a little different, but I don't hear the Dometic at night (when I'm in the tent) as much as I heard the ARB.

And one thing I dislike about the Dometic:

  • The LCD display on the front of the fridge is useless. It shows almost no information when the fridge is running normally - perhaps to save power - and only shows the temperature when you push a button on the control panel. The ARB always showed the current temperature in big, bold numbers, so that was better.

So far, the Dometic is working out.

Related Reviews

 

Related Modifications, Maintenance, or Stories

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *