Can A Mobile Fridge Be Too Big? [Part One]

You know what they say, go big or go home. Well with Dometic’s CFX3 75DZ fridge/freezer…you may never need to go home!

Over the years I have used a variety of “portable” fridge/ freezers, and in fact still have and use them all. The first one I ever purchased was an Engel almost 18 years ago! It truly is a no frills unit with a rotary dial for on/off and temperature adjustment, but it has a low amp draw, a metal body, and it just works. I purchased that Engel back when they were still making parts for ARB.

As most of you know, I have always believed in doing business with good people first…and if they happen to also represent or manufacture good quality parts then that’s a bonus. Over the years I realized that I needed an additional fridge…not to replace the Engel but to keep me from moving it from Jeep to Jeep as we needed. We had just come back from Ultimate Adventure in 2011 and I was impressed with the “newer” styling and features of the ARB fridge. While it was a “plastic” or synthetic case, it had digital controls and a few more features than the Engel did. ARB had been a trusted brand for many years so the decision was an easy one.

Both of those units still work perfectly to this day, but they are both fairly big. When our friends at Webasto (Black Forest) introduced their smaller more portable fridge, I was lucky enough to acquire one for testing and evaluation. After a few kinks were worked out with the battery monitoring internal electronics, that little fridge works well too. It is much smaller than the other two and therefore much more portable. It would typically ride in the back seat of the tow rig as we travelled to and from events across the country.

Fast forward to SEMA 2018 where a long time friend of mine asked me to take a closer look at Dometic. I was familiar with the brand and had always liked their products…in fact I even did a write up of the brand after that event. Click Here.

With the Jeep Gladiator now in the garage and the rig we use for all of our overlanding style of trips, I have always wanted a better option for keeping our food and drinks cold. Getting things out of a single compartment fridge can be a real pain. The items on the bottom would typically freeze solid while the things on top stayed  “cool”. Digging through the items also was damaging some foods and it always seemed that whatever I wanted out of the fridge caused me to empty everything out to find it! Dometic has a number of models and options to help alleviate all of those issues.

Dual compartments, dual temperature zones with independent controls, Wifi and Bluetooth monitoring, 3-stage dynamic battery protection system prevents dead car batteries or allows deep draw on dual batteries, and can store 113 cans! For short trips I can turn one compartment off and just use half the fridge if I want! Other things I like about this unit are the drain plug, interior light and even a USB port to charge your phone!

So, to answer the question “can a mobile fridge be too big?”, in this case we would have to say absolutely not!

It turns out, these guys have also been around a little bit! While I will leave you a link so that you can read more about the history of Dometic, I’d like to share with you just a few highlights on how they got their start:

In 1922, Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters are two young Swedish engineering students with a crazy idea. They are convinced the best way to create a cooling effect is to use heat. They believe so wholeheartedly in the idea that they regularly cut class to work on it. Finally, after many long days and nights, they manage to design a cooling cabinet with no compressor, no moving parts – and no ice. Simply by applying heat to a boiler, a cooling agent circulates in the system, absorbing the heat and thereby creating a cooling effect. Their cabinet turns out to be the world’s first refrigerator, and one of the most important inventions of the century.

A company called Arctic acquires the manufacturing rights, and in 1925 the vacuum cleaner company Electrolux acquires Arctic. In 1968, Electrolux starts the Dometic Corporation. For the next 30 years, a number of company acquisitions are made, and many of Dometics present product segments are added.

The new century marked the start of an independent Dometic. In 2001, following a strategic decision to focus on its core retail business, Electrolux divests its interests in the leisure market to EQT, a private equity firm. Dometic has to stand on its own feet. Which it does by staying true to its roots and relentlessly developing smart, often award-winning, solutions. More important acquisitions are made, further broadening the product range. Today, Dometic is not only a provider of solutions for mobile living. The company has become synonymous with an outdoor lifestyle which spans from your home patio and garden, to the adventurous wilderness. Dometic also provides products and solutions for professional users, for example restaurants and health care. Dometic operates 25 manufacturing and assembly sites in 11 countries with sales in approximately 100 countries. Dometic has a global distribution and dealer network in place to serve the aftermarket.

In Part Two we will take a closer look at the CFX3 75DZ and the installation in the back of the Gladiator using the Dometic Slide!

For more information, check out: Dometic

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