Alpicool CR50X 12Volt Compressor Fridge First Look

Having put up with my campervan's existing IndelB compressor fridge playing up for far to long I decided to invest in a new Alpicool CR50X 12 Volt compressor Fridge. It's a nice looking unit and I'm looking forward to getting it fitted. This is the first look at it before installation. #alpicool #12voltfridge #campervan #CR50X

[@MartinGranger]

Just had our first week long trip with this fridge. Our biggest issue was the door compartments. They arent big enough to fit mik, and even if they were it would have been jo good as you only have to breathe on them and they fall off! Worked fine for us temperature wise. Our last fridge (came with the van and very old -died) was a Waeco CRX50 and build quality was MASSIVELY superior. You get what you pay for i guess!

[@Spinrekisme]

My dometic 3 way fridge is starting to die on LPG, it has never worked on 12v, was like this when i got the van I was thinking of getting a newer compressor fridge, but I don't know too much about them, how long will this run off grid, I do have a solar panel, I think it's around 80w but not sure. we are uk. would one of these fridges run for around 3 days with a normal leisure battery being topped up with solar, we only use the van in summer.

[@chatlow]

wish i read some of these comments about temp issues, before getting mine. Very similar issues. After some testing whilst leisure battery is being charged, I've noticed that when you select either fridge or freezer in the settings, it will focus on ONLY getting that one to the correct value (the last one you set). It ends up with my freezer dropping to -30 sometimes (trying to get fridge down to temp) or the fridge staying around 8 (when its set to 4) because the freezer has hit the correct level, so it turns the compressor off. Doesn't seem to do both temps individually, which is a major issue

[@davidmason4921]

Fitted mine yesterday and it's doing exactly the same as yours. Did you manage to sort it out at all?

[@chatlow]

@@davidmason4921 not really, no. The supplier went back to the manufacturer Alpicool and they aren't too sure. Not great QC from them. Not sure if I'm going to keep it and hack around with the temps or return it

[@davidmason4921]

Ok...thanks for the reply I'm going to leave mine running today without the freezer divider in to see if I can actually get the fridge to cool down enough to make it usable

[@chatlow]

@@davidmason4921 if you set the fridge temp last then it will (mine does) stay on until it hits that temp, albeit the freezer temp goes v low during the process. Once at temp, my hack is to then set freezer temp to what you want and it will keep both around the correct level.. ish. Let me know how you get on

[@davidmason4921]

@@chatlow I'll give that a go and let you know....I guess that's when you've got the freezer divider in then as mine was at minus 30 yesterday which is when I turned it off, maybe if I'd left it on it would have chilled the fridge then. Thanks

[@mattt1974UK]

Have you tried running this without the freezer compartment inside? On mine the Freezer temperature display still operates and fluctuates between negative and positive figures which strikes me as being odd.

[@playing_in_trafic]

Yes mine does the same. I thought it was maybe a fault. You would think the freezer side would just shut off. I keep a thermometer inside the fridge to check its not freezing the whole compartment and it seems to be ok. Ice builds up on the top and then melts so fluctuate quite a lot. Outside temperature hasn’t really been high enough for properly testing yet.

[@traceyward1202]

I've just fitted the same model on Saturday. Took over four hours for the fridge to drop to 4c. Did yours take this long to cool? Today I opened it to put shopping in. It was open a few minutes while I arranged stuff. Temperature increased to 13c then the compressor was running 4.5hrs to bring it down to 4c. It was only open s few minutes. The compressor runs approx 30 minutes in each 60 minute interval My setting are-12 and 4c. The fridge is currently at -3c and 5c. My battery is currently at 12.8v so it's not low on battery. When the compressor kicks in the icebox Temperature drops to -27. So it was at -27 in the 4.5 lhrs it was continuinly cooling the fridge today. Also my light doesn't work. Does yours? I'm thinking I need to send this back

[@playing_in_trafic]

Sorry you your fridge doesn’t appear to be working correctly. I think you should send it back too. Mine doesn’t take that long to cool down. usually about 20 mins but I usually just leave it on all the time. I don’t use the ice box but found when I did the temperatures were not always accurate and the compressor did stay on a long time but not to the extreme yours is operating at. My light does work and without the icebox in the fridge maintains temperature well.

[@traceyward1202]

Mines not been switched off. Its wired into the battery bank. Its now at 0 & 5. Hopefully they will take it back without any issues. Thank you

[@playing_in_trafic]

@@traceyward1202 Hopefully you can return it without any troubles

[@nathanrwiblin]

I got this model fridge about a few weeks back and I'm having the exact same issue as you are having. I sent it back only to be told its working fine so Im glad Im not the only one having this problem. I'll give them another message - maybe its a bad batch?

[@davidmason4921]

Got mine fitted yesterday and I too am having temperature issues but my light wasn't working. On the back of the fridge just above the compressor is a small thin black box, held on with two screws, with several wires going into it. A small white plug with two wires on it was off under there. Plugged it back into the white socket and my light now works fine

[@anothercampervanchannel]

So you don't appear to have done an updated video (which might be a good thing :-)). How are you getting on with it? I have a an old Dometic 3 way which I've always run on gas. It's pretty efficient on the whole but has on a couple of occasions, stopped working. I like the idea of less gas in my van and obvs free power but don't want to spend £360 for something that turns out to be less efficient than a fridge that is donkeys years old and still works (at the moment) 🤷‍♀😏

[@playing_in_trafic]

I wouldn’t really recommend this model. I don’t hate it but it certainly isn’t perfect. Temperature fluctuates quite a bit when freezer compartment is in. Not sure what causes it but it is annoying. I took that out to give me more fridge space and as a fridge alone I find it does the job I need it to do and it is efficient on battery use. If I was to buy again I wouldn’t choose this one. Atb Dave

[@anothercampervanchannel]

Ah, that's useful to know. Thank you. Is there one you would recommend?

[@playing_in_trafic]

​@@anothercampervanchannelI don't really have any experience with other models so can't say for sure. The indelb one worked well for over 10 years before it developed cooling issues but it wasn't a great size. My parents have a 50L Alpicool icebox style fridge, still a compressor one but top loading. It has been perfect so far. If I could fit one of those without having to redesign my interior. Something like that would probably be my first choice. Atb Dave

[@robertandrews6555]

Thinking of going over to a 2 way compressor fridge when doing our T5 refit but have read compressor fridges can be noisy at night 🤔🤔,,, im guessing they cant be that noisy and youd get used to it anyway wouldn't you....... Any advice welcome👍🏻

[@playing_in_trafic]

You do get used to it. This one I find sounds like a car pulling into the car park outside the van. Its not loud but you know it's there. I usually sleep with my head at the fridge end of the bed so it's not really bad. Atb Dave

[@robertandrews6555]

@@playing_in_trafic ok, thanks for replying 👍🏻

[@playing_in_trafic]

@@robertandrews6555 Any time. All the best with the T5 refit. Atb Dave

[@SpatchcockRat]

I'd guess the clear plastic shelf should go at the bottom. That way cold air from the compressor will sink down, pass through the gap at the back into the salad crisper

[@playing_in_trafic]

I dunno. Then anything you put on there will just fall off the back of the shelf and into the salad crisper whilst driving. It won't fit in with the lip at the back. Atb Dave

[@rossmcdonald4865]

Can this fridge be run off 240 at all?

[@playing_in_trafic]

It doesn't have the ability to run directly off 240 volt.