Long Term Review of Our Dometic CFX3-75DZ // Off-Grid Compressor Fridge

[@mikeq5807]

I have a 55 that I purchased in May 2019. Very reliable. I always have enough space. Yesterday, I had to be exceptionally creative because I bought too much from the farmer's market. I took the asparagus and radishes out of their food containers, added them to my spaghetti sauce, and used the containers for my spaghetti sauce. I have lost the plug for the bottom. I live out of my Prius, since July 2019. The lid doesn't open all the way, but I access everything easily. I sleep next to it. It has never bothered my sleeping. It's barely noticeable. It goes unnoticed most of the time. Great review!

[@theiraqiwarveteran]

Do you have a youtube channel?

[@asherdog9248]

I am a 6 month on 6 moth off overlander and bought the same CFX Dometic dual fridg/freezer and a name brand top of the line 300 Watt solar blanket to power it. Per FDA guidelines a freezer should maintain temperature at least 0F and better -10F. If I am on shore power the Dometic will get down to -5F by 6AM running all night and not opening the lid and starting out with frozen contents. During the day when the freezer is opened and especially if I buy non frozen meat the temperature can climb into the mid 20s to mid 50s. The truck alternator and shore power or a generator can bring the battery voltage up quickly and power the Dometic continuously while it reaches -5/34 but it takes 12 to 24 hours. The solar blanket cannot power both the Dometic and charge my 200ah batteries and keep the Dometic at -5F/34F. Not even on June 21st. By my experience if you want to power a fridg/freezer you need Access to power from the alternator, a generator, the ability to connect to shore power, and an inverter like the RedArc or Bluetti and more than 300 watts of solar. Two additional tips I would offer are: Buy meat that is frozen and get two freezer/fridge thermometers. If it is available, when I buy unfrozen meat i drop a piece of dry ice in the freezer to do the heavy lifting of freezing the meat. All I heard was how great ghese solar and DC powered units are. In general, I have been disappointed with solar and DC power other than to charge a phone or camera battery. Although these units have the capacity they aren't something you can keep 2 weeks worth of meat in.

[@Twink_Twins]

You guys are amazing we’re just starting to build our first van thank you for being humble, down to earth and informative

[@freelyroaming]

Thanks guys. Good luck on your build!

[@freelyroaming]

@@MAXIMUSMINIMALIST yes the temp range options are the same on both sides

[@davidoconnor6051]

It’s very hot here in Australia and we 4x4 a lot in the bush and push things to the limit until it breaks😂 I have 7 of these fridges in different sizes. These CFX3 are very quiet and use less power and are strong. I have never had a single problem with a Waeco/ dometic so it’s the only brand I buy. I think the CFX3 have now made dometic the best fridge in the world. Great video guys.

[@leviahamefula3994]

God! I love the way Maline looks at you. 😊

[@hunterluxton5976]

Very helpful. I was looking at buying one and it's good to get an honest view of regular users which have a different user perspective. 👍

[@edstewartjr4530]

Great review - this will be my cooler/fridge for my cargo tyrailer conversion. Good to see a long term review from folks who are using it daily. Thanks for sharing!

[@HugDeeznueces]

I have the 95DZ and love it! Marlene sure is a hottie. You did well Dan!

[@liamcooper6721]

The covers hinder them more than help. The only time it helps is when you un-plug the fridge. It stays cooler for a little longer but they don't let the condenser reject enough heat and thus becomes heat soaked. I am swapping my DZ fridge/freezer to this. It's 15L more but I like the basket setup and the more efficient compressor. It's also not as tall as my 60L which is much better for me. I'm glad to hear how much you are enjoying the upgrade.

[@BookItTravel]

Just installed one in our van also! Appreciate the helpful video!

[@TomTomLo1]

Sold! Great video - exactly the information I needed and some useful extras too! Thank you!

[@shadomane]

Great review!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with this product, and thank you for taking the time and effort to make this video.

[@vanmore5124]

I watched your unboxing vid and it helped me decide to get this fridge, so a big thank you! I love it too, but I found the noise too much- I actually have it on my bed in a fiat van conversion. So I boxed and foamed around the fans outlet and cut out a hole in a cupboard wall at the end of the bed, so the vents send the air into it but the noise is deadened, and put some fine pile carpet tile which have a thick layer of rubbery plastic layer too onto the lids with carpet tape. I also put a board up against the side below the handles going to the bottom of the fridge. All of this has cut back the noise dramatically.

[@freelyroaming]

Great idea. I've considered doing something to deaden the sound as well but have not done anything yet.

[@dahveed284]

Great review.

[@Philips53]

Hi. Thanks for your awesome videos. I was looking at your lithium battery building videos, but since I also have this same fridge, I looked at this one. My fridge is just over two years old, and out of warranty. It has a problem, likely with the control board. The problem occurred during the warranty period, but by the time we got home from our trip, it was too late. It seems highly likely that the problem, which I’ll describe below, is with the control board. I am unable to fine a replacement control board. Dometic was not able to help me nor even steer me in the right direction. So here’s the problem: There doesn’t seem to be viable communication between the thermostat and the cooling unit on one of the compartments. It’s just always on max cold. So it’s not a huge issue that makes the unit unusable, as I like to have one side as freezer and the other as fridge. So if I set one side at 36°f. and the other at 10°f, the 36° side is fine, but the other side goes below 0°f. And the power draw is happening 24/7. So when I have shore power at a campsite it runs on 110V which is fine as it’s not costing me any extra money. But when off grid with my solar and 200Ah lithium batteries, it’s on 12V and drawing about 3.5A. That’s 84Ah/day. So I also have other loads to run. Not a lot as this setup is in my van, and I tow a camper behind. But I charge my eBike batteries and tool batteries, plus I sometimes draw power from the inverter to charge the camper batteries, if the camper is in the shade as is often the case. I park my van in the sun, often at a trail head or kayak launch. So I need that power. Very disappointed that Dometic’s only solution is for me to throw this unit out and buy a new one. That’s just terrible. Bad for the environment, and now these are even a lot more expensive than they were. I wouldn’t bother you with this whole story if you weren’t a Dometic brand ambassador. Being an RV owner, my life is full of many Dometic products. I’m a very good customer. But I feel like they’ve thrown me in the ditch on this issue. I hope you can help me. My model is actually “Dometic CFX75DZW 12v Electric Powered Cooler, Fridge Freezer” bought off Amazon on 8/20/2019 for $1,078.76. They are now $1,400. Folks should know about this!

[@JoelBebo]

Thanks for this, I just bought this fridge and was curious about keeping 1 side as a freezer

[@SimbadCA]

On our boat, we've found that having a sheet of flexible packing foam inside the freezer reduced air circulation and that improves efficiency. Obviously when the freezer is full we don't need the foam sheet. Perhaps for the textured top, a sheet of vinyl wrap would help smooth out the bumps for easier cleaning.

[@freelyroaming]

Good ideas! We will give those a try.

[@Yerevan1964]

You could use magnets to keep the doors open. Tape one on each of the outside of the doors, and the locations on the inside of your vehicle where the magnets on the doors meet.

[@codyfarrias7239]

You should put a little magnet strip on the cooler or wall and put a little mettle strip on whichever end doesn’t have the magnet strip so it holds the lids open.

[@garygiles63]

Great detailed review, many thanks

[@sailingpanana4221]

Great vid! Looking at getting one of these for liveaboard on our boat. Very thorough thanks!

[@freelyroaming]

Thank you!

[@luispablolee77]

Hey, found you by chance, I was looking for information about dometic’s fridge since I am planning to get the anker everfroze (KS), I am actually subbed to Mali Mish❤, first video watched of you, Mavic 😊

[@peterdeagrella3035]

Awesome video I am getting cff45

[@freelyroaming]

Thank you Peter. Enjoy your new fridge!

[@surfinghollywood]

Love your vid

[@michellecrawford6952]

Loved the video. I'm curious if you had to defrost during your year trip. We will be using ours for 7 months straight, and that is a question we had. We were also concerned about the durability of using it every day for that long, but after watching your video, I have my answer! 🙂

[@poellot]

You talked quite a bit about efficiency and energy consumption difference when using fridge or freezer combinations, another thing to keep in mind about efficiency. Fresh fruits and vegetables will actually create heat for awhile. The fresher they are the more it will. It doesnt not get talked about much in home refrigeration because its negligible compared to where it really matters, in semi truck refrigerated trailers. And entire load of fresh commodity can produce more heat that the unit can remove. But in a battery or solar system this may have some effect.

[@kanuckster1]

Great review!👍 👍👍👍👍 I have the CFX3 55im, only used it a couple times and love it. I had to order the insulating cover from Australia since, for some reason, Dometic does not sell them in Europe 🤔 The Dometic PLB40 portable battery is also a perfect fit to the Dometic CFX3 lineup. Dometic had more come out with a small unit, CFX3 25 which is on my shopping list for this summer. I think it'll be the perfect size to take whatever you need to the beach for a day outing. 🌞

[@freelyroaming]

Yeah I wish Dometic sold the insulating covers in Europe too!

[@emptyoften]

Do you find that the temperature difference between the bottom and top of a zone are wide enough that veggies placed on the bottom of the fridge side might freeze if the upper section is cool enough to keep milk fresh? Also, keeping the freezer at the temp that you do, you have found that your can’t keep ice cream and ice frozen all the time if placed in upper part of the freezer? We try to organize our fridge and freezer so that most frequently accessed items are on top (milk, ice, ice cream) with the less frequently accessed items on the bottom (raw veggies, frozen meats). However it sounds like we couldn’t do that with this unit. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this. Love your vids! You guys are an inspiration to us.

[@freelyroaming]

You definitely need to learn where the cold zones are. The bottom is usually colder than the top as you would imagine. Ice cream should definitely be kept lower.

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

Nice video 18f is pretty warm for a freezer

[@freelyroaming]

Thanks. 18f might be warm if you compare it to a residential freezer. Its just fine for a small compressor freezer. It makes ice, keeps ice cream and freezes meat. That is all we need. It can go lower but the compressor would run more, make more noise and consume more power. This is a good balance for us. Super cold, subzero freezers are unnecessary fancy features company use to sell fridges and for people who expect their ice to be made quickly. Water will freeze at 32f. Anything lower than that can technically be called a freezer. It will still eventually freeze water, just might take awhile.

[@steelontarget]

11:24 that's 1 Amp hour for the fridge side. That isn't for both sides. Look at your app and see what you have selected.

[@Lifereportage]

Great video, thank you! Does it have to be on a flat surface to work, or can you park however? Also how many hours can it run with a fully charged 120amp car battery? Thanks again!

[@VideoByPatrick]

How did you wire voltage to the damn thing?

[@freelyroaming]

What does that mean? Are you asking how to plug it into power?

[@VideoByPatrick]

@@freelyroaming Yes, how long is the a/c cable and the length as well of the cigar cable ? Don't you have to first start it on a/c voltage to get cold than then hook up the 12v cigar plug to keep it cool.

[@freelyroaming]

@@VideoByPatrick it's using the 12v DC cable powering directly from our house battery. You don't need to first cool it with AC power. That's just a nice feature for people planning weekend trips.

[@jordonstevens9327]

Hello, just purchased this fridge. How did you wire this fridge into your battery system?

[@viktorjarinov8854]

Useful review thank you. I almost decided to but one, but one thing is bothering me. Official manufacturer spec shows 9!! amp for DC. May be they meant starting regime, when unit working hard with lowest setup temp?

[@ZNotFound]

@10:22 It seems you only showed the fridge zone to show the graph for, so it might be higher for the freezer side.

[@drewb4824]

I had a 95 cfx in warmer temps in van the fridge did not keep temp. How does yours do?

[@bretthawton]

Thermistors on the big side keep failing right before 4-day trips with this fridge. Really ruins a trip when it freezes everything and uses 3x the power because the compressor's running 24/7.

[@freelyroaming]

I had the small side thermister fail recently but I carry spares and was able to repair it myself fairly easily.

[@bretthawton]

@freelyroaming we only use ours about 40 days a year, so it's very frustrating that I've had to replace 2 thermistors in 2 years.

[@freelyroaming]

@@bretthawton I find that these fridges work best if they are always being used. Intermittent use always seen to cause issues.

[@bretthawton]

@@freelyroaming I have 700 watts of solar so I could keep it running all the time... Just thought the compressor, etc... would last longer if I only turned it on when needed.

[@waldemarreczydlo3830]

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I wanted to ask, if today you had a choice between 75 and 95 which would you choose?

[@freelyroaming]

I personally would still choose the 75. It's as big of a chest fridge as I would ever need.

[@waldemarreczydlo3830]

@@freelyroaming Thank You very much . Best Regards . Ps. Today I will order CFX3-75 DZ

[@punxnotdead3873]

I have same cooler! Nice. Have you ever got code 33 ? Low dc voltage

[@marcoijzer7449]

very nice video. my kids want too sell ice cream in the summer. so i want the whole space for ice cream. is that possible for 8 hours? or should i buy a batterypack? and how many amp,s would it take or last for only freezing? hope you can anwers my qoustions. thank you

[@freelyroaming]

You can run this all day on freezer mode for both sides. I was at an event where Dometic had this same model fridge filled with popsicles. It was late May in Flagstaff, Arizona so pretty warm out. It sat in direct sun more or less all day and everything stayed frozen. It will take significantly more power to run it like that though. Definitely buy at least a 100Ah lithium battery to use with it.

[@carstenhansen2987]

Love your rewiew. Nice. Whats bordering me is your statements on powerconsumption,, Is that for real?? You say 1ah average running fridge/freezer Thats only, like 288Wh/24h. The Dometic specs. says 1663Wh/24h Sorry but i'm totally lost here. At the moment im planning an upgrade on my sprinter van, and want to go for the Cfx375dz, but i just don't know what size batterys and solar system i need.

[@freelyroaming]

Yes that's right. It uses about 300Wh per day. I don't know why you're seeing the Dometic spec but 1.6kwh a day is totally wrong.

[@carstenhansen2987]

@@freelyroaming Thx. for your reply, It makes me happy and thx for your rewiew. Still surpriced though, only 300Wh/24h. I placed an order already, my new cooler is on the way. Btw. This is what it says on the specs. (Dometic.com) (DC@5/25 °C) 1.68 kWh/24h 3.04 Ah/h I even called dometic support to ask them if the specs. were correct, And he said yes,, 1680 Wh/24h average. Don't know how they test them, but your test is in my opinion more reliable (Real life use) Exatly what i needed.

[@freelyroaming]

It can certainly draw 3 amps when the compressor is running. Though 1680wh a day is more like 5.5 amps which I never see it draw that much. So if you assume that the compressor will be on constantly for 24 hours, it has the potential to draw maybe 900wh a day. But in reality, the compressor only turns on when it needs to. For us it's about 15-20 minutes per hour. It depends on the temperatures set and what the ambient air temperature is around the fridge.

[@Yerevan1964]

Thanks for the post. Do you wish you had the larger 95DZ model? That is, if you had a space to fit it in.

[@freelyroaming]

No I don't wish I had a 95dz. This one holds more than enough food for us.

[@64MAGA24]

Hi guys. I recently had to switch out a fuse on my fuse box with my 400 watt dolor system. I also lost a fuse. System was installed 4 me and I’m not technical but after the fuse even when I use dc it doesn’t work properly and error code comes on n off and lose temp. What size fuse do u use in your fuse box off the cfx95 (same as u have). Thanks for great content

[@caeciliusmetellus3038]

Norway is expensive, because Norwegan are very very richt people. The income is very high (nett about double of Germany) and the country is providing a very high retirement salary for every citizen. But now with the EURO inflation (about 20% loss in 2 years) all prices with EURO are extremly high for EURO paid people.

[@sophieharicot1619]

You stated it can be run as refrigerator & freezer, both sides as refrigerators, or both freezers. The Dometic user manual does not address this. On the REI website, they say you cannot run both sides as a freezer. I questioned where they found this info and their response was they “ reached out to Dometic.” As ambassadors for Dometic, what are your thoughts on this? Thank you. PS Love that you shipped your van to Europe. My goal in another year or 2.

[@emptyoften]

Sadly you can’t trust what Dometic’s customer info staff say. I called Dometic with this question and I was told that my question about both sides being set to freezer wasn’t applicable because the CFX3 75DZ isn’t dual zone. I confirmed that she was referring to the CFX3 75DZ and she said yes. Then why does the model number end in “DZ”? Amazing.

[@freelyroaming]

I'm not sure what you mean by this. There is definitely separate temp controls for each side. We don't use both sides as freezer but you certainly can. In fact we had fridge side set as 32F and freezer set as 18F. It's not as cold as you would a residential freezer because we run it offgrid and this help use less power but they are certainly dual zone fridges.

[@Sloba1992]

I want to buy cfx3 95dz but dometic website says it needs 12v 10.4A and cigarette lighter plug in my truck is 12v 10A, I don’t know is it gonna work properly ? Or what I can do to increase power for my cigarette lighter plug ?

[@peterdeagrella3035]

Next one will be that Dz 75🤦‍♀️🙆‍♂️

[@dta97392]

So does it draw more with ac or dc? maybe I missed that?

[@freelyroaming]

It's natively a DC fridge. It will always draw more if conversion is needed.

[@suzettecalleja3122]

Would your amps be higher if you didn't have the ice in the freezer? I was wondering also, is the Frig side the same size as the freezer side?

[@freelyroaming]

If that space was empty then it's possible the compressor would run more and use more power. But it wouldn't matter if we kept ice in there or something else. As long as it's frozen solid it all works the same to keep power usage down. One side is about 3/4 the size of the other because in that corner is where the compressor is located. Since each side has independent temp control, there isn't really a fridge side or freezer side. You can switch them around or make them both fridge or freezer.

[@CAMDEC1217]

How did you manage not having the frig ability in your old one? Could you still have things in it without freezing by placing them on the top?

[@freelyroaming]

We had a single zone which can be fridge or freezer but not both.

[@CAMDEC1217]

@@freelyroaming Thanks for you reply. I saw your video reviewing this dual zone after you had had it while and showed how it was set up in your van. During the video you mentioned you were careful to know where to place what because things at the bottom would be more frozen than other areas. Just wondered if the placement and temp could be played with a bit to get things on bottom more frozen and things on top less. Thanks

[@freelyroaming]

@@CAMDEC1217 yes the placement does matter as the temperature can vary inside.

[@shaynegeiger4348]

I’m wondering if you could answer a specific question for me. I’m wondering how well the fridge holds a constant temperature. I currently have an ARB dual zone and the temperature fluctuates +/- 5 degrees or so. They do this to increase efficiency so that the compressor isn’t always on but I’m not a big fan of the fluctuations. Does the dometic hold more true to set temperature?

[@freelyroaming]

It will also fluctuate above and below by a couple degrees in each direction.

[@dimsum9146]

@@freelyroaming źźź

[@barbaragarcia7383]

I’m trying to find your item list and budget from when you built the sprinter out but I don’t see it on your website. We’re a family of 5 who want to do the same thing

[@freelyroaming]

The build series is on our @Mali Mish channel. Here is the spreadsheet with all the items malimish.com/vanbuild

[@barbaragarcia7383]

@@freelyroaming Thankyou so much! Our family has just started watching the build series. We can't wait to buy our own van to build out.

[@Twink_Twins]

Hi, question the battery shut off feature does that have an issue with your new lith batteries you bought, (basically we bought off your link for the battery's and we also want this fridge as its best in class but have seen people have said that this feature can shut itself off due to lithium battery running at lower voltage?)

[@freelyroaming]

It won't do that with LiFePO4 packs. Other lithium chemistries can have those issues as their voltage is too high as a 4S so they are usually built as 3S packs. You will be fine using these cells.

[@Twink_Twins]

@@freelyroaming genius thank you, hope you guys are having a great start back to being on the road

[@LT11859]

I’m thinking of getting one, just don’t know what’s a good power station to pair it with so I could the freezer and fridge for 3 days . Any suggestions?

[@HugDeeznueces]

Look at Bluetti

[@LT11859]

@@HugDeeznueces thanks!

[@waldemarreczydlo3830]

Good morning I'm sorry that I bother you, but I wanted to ask you for an answer where your cooler was manufactured and is it operating in the current range of 110-240V (AC)? Yesterday I just picked up my new CFX3 75 DZ and in the instruction manual and on the rating plate it was stated that the cooler works in AC connection only on 110V. I checked the manual on the internet and it says that you can use 110-240V current. I am kindly asking for information because I am a bit worried

[@freelyroaming]

I can confirm that our fridge works with 240V AC. I'm not sure of where is manufactured. I don't have the paperwork anymore that came with the unit.

[@waldemarreczydlo3830]

@@freelyroaming Once again, thank you and greet you.

[@jhamelvisify]

Hi, just asking can you use it for 2 sides for a freezer and can you use it for 2 sides for a fridge? Let me know please.

[@freelyroaming]

Yes. Whatever you want. Just simply a temperature setting you can independently adjust on either side

[@jhamelvisify]

Thanks you for that information you message me back. What temperature you put on for the freezer and fridge please? I will buy one of these about next month time. Thanks again. ✔️👍☺️

[@freelyroaming]

@@jhamelvisifymine is set 32F for fridge and 19F for freezer. Freezer could be set lower but I had to balance it's power consumption.

[@CanadianTexaninLiguria]

Americans - carrying around a bag of Ice lol, As soon as I heard ambassador - gone

[@cjam3660]

dont make them as good as they use to. not as bulky, not as insolated, issues after 2 yrs and sooner. for double the cost of whst they use to be because you have a phone app. lol...ill give up the app for the old better built dometic fridge.... im right on this...good luck and beware buyers.

[@freelyroaming]

Tell me you're a boomer without telling me...

[@Dave-nl3zr]

@@freelyroaming wth are you talking about?? I'm not a boomer and would absolutely give up an app for a better built unit and better insulation🤷‍♂️

[@alfredtovar6451]

Waaaaaay too much talking

[@freelyroaming]

I guess you are the comic book reading type. What did you expect? Pretty pictures and music?