The BEST Portable Fridge and Solar Combo for Camping on a Budget!
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- We spent three weeks testing solar powered refrigeration in sun, shade, and rain to find the "never run out of power" portable refrigerator and solar combo for camping on a budget. We use the term "budget" loosely as this 12v fridge and solar combo is going to cost a bit more than your average cooler and ice. However, in terms of off-grid refrigeration seen on UA-cam, this system of refrigeration and solar is the most affordable we have seen for endlessly keeping your food cold and dry. And as for portability, this combination of solar portable generator, 12 volt refrigerator, and fold-able 100 watt solar panels is about as small and portable as you can get.
Links below for everything seen in this video as well as a link to the Indiegogo and Kickstarter Campaigns for the 40% discount. This discount is on the newest ICECO iCOOLER designed with boondockers in mind that functions similar to a Yeti Cooler, but with the ability to run 12v refrigeration. If you want a 12% discount on any ICECO product there is a link/code for that as well (we do earn a small commission on this one). Also there is a 15% discount code on RockPals gear, no kickback for us, just a nice discount for all of you as part of the Playing with Sticks Family!
Some of the most innovative camping gear for 2020 has been in the form of solar generators, fold-able solar panels, and 12 volt refrigerators. There currently is a push for smaller and stronger technology from the offroad and overland community. As teardrop owners and small camper enthusiasts we have greatly benefited from these new technologies that allow us to get off-grid using smaller refrigerators and power sources than ever before. If you are like us and thought you never needed a teardrop refrigerator while camping, you may want to give it a try. No more warm, wet, or soggy food. No more stinky smells, and best of all no more time spent cleaning that cooler after every trip. And the biggest selling point for us, this fridge can be run off of very minimal power meaning affordable solar solutions.
If you would like to see the solar charging speeds compared from different solar portable generator brands check out this amazing video from Will's channel • Micro Solar Generator ...
Looking for a detailed list of all the gear we currently use: www.amazon.com/shop/playingwithsticks
By purchasing items through these links there is no additional cost to you. Our family gets a small kickback from amazon for any purchases you make using these affiliate links.
Want a 15% discount on your Rockpals Order? Click links below and use discount code: PLAYWM to get 15% off. We also have Amazon affiliate links below for these Rockpals products if you want to support our channel or feel more comfortable shopping through Amazon.
www.rockpals.c...
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Our Rockpals 300 watt solar generator amzn.to/2T69Gvr
The 500 watt solar generator from Rockpals amzn.to/2Z3NAgJ
The 100 watt solar panels we use amzn.to/2Wv157A
ICECO Link to receive 12% of your purchase at their site. discount code: Playing with Sticks
icecofreezer.c...
ICECO Amazon Affiliate Links:
-ICECO Go20 Fridge from this video: amzn.to/2Z6uSUh
-Looking for a little smaller 14 qt Version amzn.to/2Yp74M6
-Looking for a little bigger 43 qt Version amzn.to/3fV4W4L
still runs on very low power as low as 33 watt vs GO20's 27 watts.
-Need the big guns at 53 qts: amzn.to/3hTNDTp
also runs on very low power as low as 33 watts.
-Looking for Rugged Offroad Overland Style Fridge: amzn.to/2Z6T88u
*One of the best features on all ICECO Fridges is that they come with Dan Fross Compressors with 5 year warranties.
*The GO20 was a little too small for our family a 31 or 43 qt would be more suitable for us, just in case you were wondering. We made do, but would benefit from a bit more space.
ICECO Campaigns Although they appear to be over. I think you can still get the discount on certain colors of their new 3 in 1 model. Multiple colors still seem to be available at Kickstarter.
ICECO Kickstarter campaign: www.kickstarte...
ICECO Indiegogo campaign: www.indiegogo....
ICECO Official Store: icecofreezer.com/
ICECO Amazon Store: amzn.to/2MitOXl
The 2 way radios "walkie talkies" in the video are from the company Retevis.
New to the channel? we have quite a few small camper playlists we think you would enjoy. Thanks for subscribing and joining us on the journey.
Edit: Newer BETTER power station now exists since making this video. We currently have found a solar portable power station that does it all (fast solar charging and regulated power) and would be the perfect match for this fridge. Here is the link to the solar portable power station amzn.to/3mzGSqZ If you want to hear our review on it, you can find it near the end of this video ua-cam.com/video/Hxt98bcmQTs/v-deo.html
Thanks 😊
Your son couldn't get any cuter!
This will work for me, in my truck, on my trailer and at my land... Talk about off grid.
Thank you very much so far, I'll check the BETTER power station next.💪😇👍
If no one has told you yet. Dan Foss are the best fridge compressors on the market. All Engels have them, as an example. As long as your no-name brand fridge has a Dan Foss, you'll be good for years.
Thank you for sharing. Yes, when we originally got this fridge I don’t think we understood the beauty of the Dan fross inside it
We have used the ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxOTeIs0vv4_9B5hsmnLsk9r930uDQLu_Y for probably 30 hours with our camper and it’s been great! The noise level is really only noticeable when running the AC and other appliances like the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot. It’s not huge like other ones and it has wheels so even at 90lbs, I can move it!
I have this great IceCo fridge/freezer with a Jackery 300 and their 100W panel. Great setup for a little camper van!
And it never has to be unplugged? I live in my car and am looking for a tiny fridge setup that would work in my build. Currently have the jackery 160 but looking to upgrade to a bigger one with the solar panel
my dude is mystified, straight dazzled how the mini fridge keeps his stuff cool in ....... ALASKA
Haha. I don’t think it’s the fact that it’s running here in Alaska at 70°. That’s not much of a feat like you’re mentioning. It’s the fact that it isn’t draining the battery at all. Everything else we use in terms of power consumption drains batteries pretty quick when we’re camping so we thought this fridge would be the same.
@@PlayingwithSticks Ah I did not realize it was 70 degrees, my bad, please forgive my dumb joke :) I don't get out much so I thought was like 40 or something. Thanks for the video, was a pretty cool and informative! I need to get me one of those DC fridges!
@@p.chuckmoralesesquire3965 We actually loved your comment. It was a good point. Most people don't realize it gets in the 90s here. Even in the middle of Alaska where it gets 60 degrees below it gets over 100 degrees in the summer.
I just purchased the Iceco GO20
+ The Bluetti P200 + two 200 watt Bluetti solar panels. I actually thought I would need that much power for the fridge, I’m just now realizing it’s overkill. Oh well I have enough energy to run a ton of gadgets.
But Im really super pleased with the iceco and I am eager to see how well it works when I’m in the California desert.
That is awesome to hear. You will be glad you have all the extra power. This will also allow you to charge the power station quickly so you don't have to charge the power station while the fridge is running. Doing that like we did in the video can take a toll on the battery over time.
Your commentary is quite misleading regarding the stat of charge variation under load. It’s a lithium battery you’re using not FLA or AGM. Lithium has a very different charging and discharge profile! The voltage does NOT drop off until the state of charge is typically down to less than 10% of full charge!
FYI for any 12 volt portable compressor fridge. Be aware of where you put ice in them. If it is against where the fridge monitors fridge temperature, it will fool the fridge into thinking it is very cold, and never turn on.
Now this is new to us, but completely makes sense. Thanks for sharing this Mike! I'm wondering if that also is why some folks with these 12 volt refrigerators get different temperature readings in comparison to what their panel is telling them.
Playing with Sticks, Yeah. When you think about it, it makes sense. I believe this was a Bob Wells observation obtained from his own long term 12volt fridge usage and contact with other long term users. I think about loading my fridge with frozen bottles before I leave. I think it would work fine, but position against walls may be key.
And, on yours, if you load the freezer section with frozen items (ice?), I wonder what would happen if the freezer section is set to different temps: fridge temp, high and low freezer temps. Using strategic frozen items when starting out may be a way to use less power and extend hard frozen items.
A lot of you have been asking us to put links in the description for gear we use while camping. We tried our best to put them in today, but if there is anything you see missing please let us know. Happy camping everyone! Hope you are all able to get out there soon if you haven't yet!
Does the unit work on a incline? Some need to be level to keep from damaging the long time running of the refrigerator/freezer.
Good question. And good point. We have had great results with bumps and inclines. One of the features that sets them apart is that they design their refrigerators to be tilted 40 degrees and still be operational.
@@PlayingwithSticks are their bsnds that don't preform as you claim? Is there away to know before making a purchase. I've looked at several models and other than what you have said, I didn't see anything about in the specifications for the refrigerator freezer units.
@@michaelpearce8661 We have had a few comments on the channel from folks who have had many issues with their refrigerators, unfortunately I can't remember any of the brands. If it was us we would just stick with brands like ICECO and Dometic who have been making fridges specifically for cars for 40-50+ years. What does have me a little concerned is like you said when we went back to the ICECO GO 20 newest specs we don't see anything on there about the tilt. We found the 40 degree tilt specs on all their other models. When we first received the GO20 the tilt feature was listed all over their literature. Hope they aren't making any changes to their new supply. We had heard a rumor from someone in the community that the Danfross plant was shutting down. But, with a Google search we didn't find anything. Hope this helps a bit. I am assuming this just made it a bit more foggy.
@@PlayingwithSticks all information is appreciated. It gives me a base from which to work with as I search for what will work for my personal application. Been living off the grid for many years doing without refrigeration and have tried several different ways to keep my milk cold overnight.
The all in one solar generators charge faster since I first started being off grid back in the late 80's after the roommate of thirteen years decided to move to another state and I wasn't ready to leave southern California. Not having the income for a place by myself and you probably can figure out why I'm living off the grid. Have had roommates since but that doesn't last for long and renting a room has been a horrible experience everytime I went to a different places the same thing happens. They steal what they want after going through all of your personal property.
Thanks for the knowledge seed. I went back and watched Will Prowse’s Micro Solar Generator Comparison video. I understand now your emphasis on the charging speed criteria, and really think the Rockpals is the best choice for your setup. Nice job! Jackery is nice, but two days for a full recharge is a deal killer. I have always looked at charging speeds for those little pocket backup-battery phone chargers. Some can charge a phone very fast, but a full charge of that backup-battery takes days😬. Now I know charging speed is important with solar generators too. Thanks!
That was an accidental discovery on our part. We honestly thought we would be under powered, but thought it would be fun to do some tests to see how long we could make it. Come to find out with a portable setup like this it really isn't about the size of your power source, but more about how quickly you can convert the sun's usable energy. And the best part, this means folks on a budget could potentially now have a fridge outdoors without having to purchase large quantities of solar panels and large quantities of batteries. The Jackery still has it's place in most people's setup, but maybe as the more reliable backup power source. In a perfect world and money was no option, I would suggest to people purchasing one of each, a Rockpals to get the sun's energy quickly and a Jackery for those long rainy weeks.
Playing with Sticks, most discoveries in history were accidents. After you explained the charging reasoning, it makes perfect sense! So much so, it is almost obvious now! Thanks! The other thing is the Rockpals can take more solar input, so with additional solar you get even faster or more low light charging.
That's why I went rockpals too.
The new Jackery 300W has a regulated 12v power outlet and charges quickly. So I think that would work even better than the Rockpals 300W.
Yes, the regulated power is hard to beat. I just looked up the 300. You are absolutely right. The new recharge time is only 4.5 hours. And off of 100 watt solar it is 5.5 hours, so very similar to the Rockpals in terms of quick solar charging. Looks like I have a new portable solar power station to be recommending to others. Thank you!
Interesting how many power stations, fridge/freezers are coming out... and other neat toys to use off grid.... got the toys fridge, power stations and portable panels, was curious what your power station was rated at for watts... not volts... I was testing my Goal Zero Yeti 500x, a new toy, with the parallel chaining adapters... Puget Sound Washington ....overcast most of the time, was glad the 500x had the watts in and watts out display... I checked the volts enough to figure the volts stayed to same for one or 4 panels. 11.2 to 11.4 volts charging the power bank for the fridge/fusion cooker toys the day before so power was down to 61% and my watts from the panels were from 5 to 80 watts as shade or clouds covered the 178 watts in 4 panel I out out it got the power station back up to 95% the 500x is rated for 150 watts max input. The MPPT controller seems to be a key to being able to put larger panels on, the protection from over powering ... the Goal Zero site does do panel matching, the 200 watt panel was listed as charging the 500x in 3-6 hours, the 50 watt panels are smaller in weight and parallel is easy to do.
The power station in this video holds 280 watts of power and I believe its peak watts are 300. BUT, our current favorite power station is the Bluetti AC50s. Best of both worlds in terms of Jackery and Rockpals. MPPT, Regulated Power, and Fast Charging on Solar! It feels good to finally have a small-ish power station that can do it all. Yes, we learned that you can't overpower as well. Meaning on those cloudy days you can double what the power station can handle and that is fine. Gives you more surface area to capture energy. But, if you are out hiking and the sun comes out you don't have to worry because the power station won't allow the extra watts in. Meaning you can't overload it. Wish we knew this years ago!
@@PlayingwithSticks saw you leaned panel on fridge at one point, picture this idea to push up your results... a silver tarp or even a survival silver blanket, put part of it over fridge and lean the panel in direction of sun against fridge on blanket, so that the blanket is a couple feet sunward of the panel flat on the ground... serves two purposes deflects sun heat from fridge and directs a little more sun at panel... directional directing of just a bit more light at panel. How much does a silver tarp or space blanket cost? I have a 30 foot and two 15 foot extension cords from Goal Zero for the Goal Zero products... one gets cord power drop with DC power... minimum cord length counts too.
Just some info: the Rockpals battery box includes a built in solar charge controller (SCC for short), probably an MPPT type (most efficient). The solar panels themselves typically have no smarts other than a diode to prevent current from flowing backward into the panel. Think of a diode as a check valve for electricity. If the battery is lithium based, voltage doesn't tell you a lot. If it's AGM (lead/acid Absorbed Glass Mat) then 11.2 is almost depleted to the point where further discharge will damage the battery. Lithium batteries have a Battery Management System (BMS) to prevent over discharge and overcharge, and a few more features besides. Since your battery stayed at the same level all day with little sun I would guess there was just enough current coming in from the panels to maintain the battery at par. Sounds like a super efficient refrigerator! Cheers!
Thank you for sharing all this Richard! These are the types of comments that we love receiving. Thanks for leaving this community a better place than before you came.
Ha! Stopped charging - AT MIDNIGHT🤣
Alaska is too cool!
It is pretty neat isn't it! Sometimes we take it for granted.
This cooler got me really excited. Im very interested in this. I would need to watch a bunch of reviews on this.
Charles Moman (great guy, takes no commissions) a fellow small camper owner has a review on this ua-cam.com/video/vQtm_OIdgjs/v-deo.html . CheapRVLiving I believe has a review on the JP line of ICECO Fridges. I'm guessing HoboTech has one as well. Those are the three I would check first.
@@PlayingwithSticks thanks for the reply! I wish I knew about these earlier, we are leaving on a week long trip in a few days lol.
Watch Charles Moman for another review of the fridge. Great fridge.
I had this fridge for a good while really liked it. It did seem to struggle in the southern heat as it's insulation isn't as thick as some of their other fridges. I needed more room and wanted one thicker ended up with ICECO VL60 dual. That thing runs off of my 280ah diy battery and 100 watt solar panel.
Do you still have the VL? How has it been for you? Thanks.
@@dingdongdaddy589 yes I do has been running 24/7 in my car and has been reliable and awesome in these 100+ degree days. Freezer will get up to 11 degrees when the interior of car gets 120 ish. Pretty solid fridge!
@@TimShelnut - Great input. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time. 👊🏽
Did you have the insulating outside cover for the go20? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the investment if I go this way
@@NoZenith on the go20 I would skip and get small VL. Or research thicknesses. Normally calculated via interior space minus exterior. I did not have cover on the go20.
Don’t know why they call it a solar generator, it doesn’t generate anything.
It’s a power storage station with a inverter.
You folks do a great job with your videos. Much appreciated!
"This one charges 50% faster than it's competitors " this kind of sales point is false, it sounds so silly when you've know how all the products work. Discharging your battery lower than 12v is also bad news for the life of the battery and is a sign that your 100w panel wasn't keeping up with the demands of your fridge. You can find a voltage chart online for the type of battery you have to see the healthy range of charge and discharge, gel, agm, lithium, all have different voltages for 100% charged and different minimum voltages for the lowest you want to discharge each.
Bro, it's not say 100% at 12.6. they have a regulated 12v output. So regardless of the battery soc, you will see the same output on the 12v side . Lithium run mostly above 13v for a good portion of their cycle. And you don't use voltage to determine their charge status.
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Yes!!!
I recently found your channel while looking for reviews on teardrop trails. My friend, you are doing it right! I appreciate your honesty, sarcasm, and humor. I also appreciate you respect the people of the different regions by mentioning their "mileage" may vary on certain items. Case in point, I live in Arizona, and you hit the nail on the head when speaking about compressor runtime. Thank you for providing valuable information to newbies like me in a way that is down to earth. Oh, I think it's great that you link other's videos to exemplify a point. That shows me a good deal of professionalism. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to watching your past and yet to come, content.
Hi Thomas. Glad you are enjoying these videos. Quick question, can you tell us more about teardrop trails? Is that a company, forum? Sounds interesting. Thanks for the positive feedback by the way. Much appreciated!
@@PlayingwithSticks Lol, that was a typo on my part. It should have read teardrop TRAILERS. I was tired and did not catch the mistake. Over the next couple of months, My hope is to acquire a trailer to pull behind my VW Atlas. I want to avoid the mistakes my friends have made. Thus the hours of research to find the style and size that will suit my needs now and into the future. Though, if there was a trail named "teardrop", I would want to hike base on the name alone.
I loved your video showing how much power is used! I wondering if you happened to test how much power it used when using the fridge/freezer function for this ICECO 20??
Great video! Just a side note on the portable power station. If you plan to use it like this, like a power inverter, make sure it allows pass through charging. Some don't have this capability, meaning you can't use the outputs while it's charging. Take care!
Great tip here! Because ours does have pass through, we just assumed everyone else had the same capability. But, you are right. They are not all created equal. We just got the new Bluetti AC50s. Loving it! It has regulated power, pass through, 200 watts of solar input capacity, basically everything we said we needed in this video from one unit. I think it comes out November 15th. This may be something folks want to check out. Again, thanks Dean for your comment. Definitely important to know.
@@PlayingwithStickshi there. Are you still using the bluetti ac50s and how was the testing result in similar scenarios ? Thx
This setup is legit. We don't do a lot of off grid camping but we're always looking to reduce weight when we do. Have to check this thing out for sure! This is cool and thanks for sharing!
This video got us thinking about other uses besides being off-grid. We are going to have to try it out for picnics, long bike rides to return to cold drinks without worrying about loading it with ice. Today we were thinking about the ability to haul some ice cream around. Could you imagine going to the lake and halfway through the day asking if anyone wanted some ice cream?
I hauled produce across the USA and we always set the temp at 34 degrees to keep the freshest foods
Now that is the type of information I like to hear. Thank you! Sounds like I need to do a new test at 34 to see if there is a difference.
Hobo tech assumes I know what a solar generator is. He never shows a solar panel or I havent every seen his video showing a solar panel and I havent seen him hooking up to a a small heater always electronic equipment in your videos you show me what a solar generator can actually be used for that solves my needs . Heating primarily. . I can survive on the heat from a 250 Watt heater . Two of them running at the same time 500 Watts would be better. . I'm not a camper but a hermit in a stationary hovel ( 1991 ford ambulance with 110 shore power on a 100 foot 12 gauge extension cord good for 1200 watts continously draw but deathly afraid of power outages outages. My area ( Washington DC suburbs) typically is 24° Farenheit but has gotten down to 10 ° day and night for a two week stretch. Yea. I'm looking for an alternative to a save my ass and your channel seems to be in line to where I want to go back up electric power
I like your setup Robert. And I agree with you. At those temps a backup power supply would give you a little peace of mind. That combined with a nice set of candles would have you ready for almost anything.
I'm sick of millennials presenting something old as new. We've had Engel compressor fridges years before UA-cam and pimple face presenters. If you're as clever as you think you are. Then you'll already know the sawafuji swing compressor is far more efficient and reliable than the danfoss compressors.
Thanks for your insight. The Engel compressor is new to us. Love the simplicity of the design and the fact that it has only one moving part.
Really enjoyed your videos- been debating about getting the overpriced Bean trailer- I really like what you have- did you get your awning from beAn?
Thank you Patty. Have you checked out the Road Toad? It is a fiberglass teardrop for under $7k. Made by Camp-Inn which is a great company. Which awning are you referring to? We use so many on the channel. Are you referring to the 270 degree awning? Haha f so check out our awning video. We had some real issues with it this last summer.
Great video! I wish (now) that I had wired my teardrop up for power. Right now we can only get out on weekends. So there was no need for power. LED battery/solar powered lights were plenty. I guess I can retrofit some porch lights... maybe. Any how. You are putting out great information for us rookies.
Up here in Alaska with all the light we realized we didn't need to wire ours at all. We rarely use the lights, just for a short time before bed. And a good ol Luci Light would have been just as effective. And in the fall when we are pretty dark here we always forget to use the porch lights because we never use them all summer. Currently in our opinion wiring is a bit overrated for such a small trailer. I get it, if you have a 13' trailer or larger, but I think most folks with a teardrop will do pretty well with a bare bones setup like you are doing.
You can now find solar lights inc ones that are motion sensored.
I love my iceco 40 qt fridge freezer iceco uses Danfoss compressor wich is reliable and Durable. As long as you're not deep freezing it will go all week on a single charge deep cycle battery
We are thinking the 40qt may be the route we go as well for our growing family. After these tests we are hooked on these 12 volt fridges. Thanks for sharing your everyday results. We have been trying the deep freeze this week and definitely a bit more power draw. But still amazing in terms of how much time we are still getting out of it.
This isn't necessarily mobile but on the same vein: I've been messing with home un-powered cyclical refrigeration as a prep/energy conservation technique. Started messing around with a Blue brand rotomolded 55q cooler, those blue ice block thingies, and a home ice maker powered by a Jackery. I can keep perishables cold in my basement in a 55quart cooler indefinitely by making just a gallon or so of ice once a week, which only takes about 30 minutes with the ice maker.
What's the brand name of your ice maker? I've thought of going that route.
Name of ice maker?
Enjoyed the video. I have done a few video reviews of several of lithium power banks including the Jackery 500 (ua-cam.com/video/AWzuPctcIzw/v-deo.html) and yesterday I uploaded one of the Ecoflow Delta 1300 (ua-cam.com/video/kpeCl8DxKGw/v-deo.html). The Delta 1300 is not cheap, but has a huge inverter (1800) and it recharges a 1300 watt lithium from 0% to 100% in less than TWO hours. Ecoflow has smaller units with fast recharging too. BTW - I am not monetized and I do not do affiliate links or commissions. I can run my AC in my Runaway for 7 hours with the Delta.
I personally think that for "most" average campers - weekend camping trips and a now and then longer trip - the Jackery 500 is a great choice. Whatever lithium anyone buys, please DO NOT buy any lithium power bank that does not have a regulated 12v port. Why? Many 12v fridges will simply SHUT OFF as the capacity of the battery drops during use. It may start at 100% sending out 13.6 volts or 12.5 volts to your 12v fridge or CPAP or other 12v device, and then as the battery drops to 80% or 60%, the 12v port output will drop to 11 volts or 10 volts.
I gave away a Lion Safari 400w lithium power bank to a Runaway Camper friend after doing a review with it and his Alpicool 12v fridge shut off when the Safari dropped to 50% - a non-regulated 12v port was the issue. I no longer allow that Lion Safari review video to be viewed because I cannot in good conscience promote that lithium battery. What good is a lithium power bank if it will not automatically run your device? Buy only power banks with regulated 12v ports. Period or you will waste your money,
I have a video where I demonstrate my simple solar set up based around a Jackery 500 on our Runaway Camper 6x8 square drop some of you might find it useful - especially the safety aspect of it = protecting your gear. ua-cam.com/video/TUrZMk9cBow/v-deo.html
Thank you Charles for sharing. Yes, the Delta 1300 isn't budget, but you are right in that the recharge time in the field is incredible. I wonder how much their smaller units are? As this would be a perfect combination of fast charging and regulated power as we discussed in the video. As for your regulated power concern, I understand your concern if one doesn't mind the higher cost and is willing to wait two days to recharge their lithium power banks when they become exhausted in the field. If it is just about ensuring your refrigerator and CPAP machine will run only on battery these are the way to go, but if you want to run this days on end you are eventually going to run out of that power. If you want a budget setup, almost 50% less and want an unending supply of power I still believe unregulated power supplies have their place. We are not sponsored by Rockpals, meaning we are not paid to endorse their product. However, we have been using this product in the field week in and week out with great success for multiple years now. If you also notice in every video where we mention the Rockpals we also tell folks that we highly recommend the Jackery as well. Both have their place. Before owning a 12v refrigerator, regulated power meant nothing to us. If you are just recharging phones, running lights, electric blanket, etc. there is no need for a regulated power supply. These non-regulated units also run pure clean sine wave so are safe for your electronics and they are very affordable. If you want to know more about how non-regulated solar power generators stack up to their regulated counterparts in terms of recharging time check out this video from Will Prowse, the Solar Expert ua-cam.com/video/8k1URSZZ9uY/v-deo.html if you watch at timestamp 8:18 click here ua-cam.com/video/8k1URSZZ9uY/v-deo.html Will actually calls the Rockpals test vs all the other tests including Jackery "The Moment of Glory, this thing is insane it has the fastest charge rate I have ever seen!" Spoiler alert the Rockpals pulls in over 50% more watts than the competitors including Jackery. Like I said in our video at 10:17 ua-cam.com/video/6x9LdWfKBqc/v-deo.html the majority of batteries such as Jackery once depleted on a cloudy day would take more time to recharge than you actually have sun in the day. In theory with many of Will's tests these other batteries would take two days in the field to completely charge. So, in my honest opinion the best option for any "average camper" is to own one small fast charging solar portable generator aka Rockpals and one small regulated power supply for rainy days aka Jackery. Now you have spent the same amount of money roughly $500 as you would have on a 500 watt Jackery, but you have the best of both words Rockpals= 100% ran off of solar power and Jackery= Regulated power supply for those rainy days on end. Now you have a system that is endless and reliable and best of all with 2 different units it means you can use them in two different places in the campsite at one time. You can also use them to chase the sun in different areas. Love it! For those of you reading this post definitely check out Charle's channel. We love what he is doing and we are pointing people in his direction daily. He has become one of our new go to sources for all things small camper trailers. Similar to what I said about the benefits of 2 generators, Charles also does a great job in this video ua-cam.com/video/TUrZMk9cBow/v-deo.html when he shares the benefits of owning both a mounted permanent solar panel and having a portable panel as well. He even shows how this helps with protecting your valuables. Like he convinced me, it often is best to have multiple options when it comes to camping gear in your campsite.
@@PlayingwithSticks Ecoflow is coming out soon with their R600 model with different variations this August I believe. Their Kickstarter campaign for the R600 is over soon. Supporters will get the basic R600 - 288W - 600W output with a surge of 1200W and the same fast recharging as the Delta for $269-299. If they did the R600, plus an add-on battery module - capacity moves up to 576 watts, 600W output, 1200w surge for $399 and the same fast charging. Their beta models set Will Prowse free - not in a good way, because of the initial bugs, but they seem to be getting the final version right. I am hoping they will send me the R600 to review too - it is much more affordable for the average camper and is 12v regulated and fast charging all in one unit. It will be interesting to see what the final price will be. Lots of options out there and folks just need to nail down their needs and find what fits their budget. Options are a good thing! : )
@@charlesmoman Wow Charles! This seems to fit everything we need. Fast charging, regulated power, and affordable. It kind of backs up what we've been thinking lately... A lot of folks end up purchasing batteries such as LIPO4 because of the long-term investment. But lately we've been thinking that battery technology is changing so fast you may not end up benefiting from the long-term investment as you may get a different battery Midway through your initial batteries life cycle due to faster charging rates of the new batteries coming out every year. It is hard to keep up with everything changing this fast.
@@PlayingwithSticks Ecoflow is sending me the R600, but I do not know which configuration yet. It will probably not be until late July or so. I think they are still doing final tweaking of features and the app. I will let you know when I get them and when my video review is up. They really liked my Delta review.
@@PlayingwithSticks I almost bought the rockpals 300wh, but I had two concerns. 1) there are a number of Amazon reviews claiming dead units and NO support, and 2) virtually identical units are sold by other no-name companies (not a good sign). Watch a tear down video and the jackery stuff is crazy quality compared to most. Yes, I wish they charged faster. I'm not using them every day, so 500 cycles or 1000 cycles doesn't mean anything to me. I will say also, I'm looking at some of the maxoak stuff coming out for my next jump up in size, or eco flow, but even the bluetti 1500 seems to be rebranded by someone.
I know very little about solar, but I thought I had read somewhere that it will kill the battery over time to charge it and use it at the same time, is that only the case with some solar generators?
You are absolutely right. And I should have mentioned that. The majority of our viewers are weekend warriors so for them it isn't as crucial. But if you are doing this full time the pass-through charging can slowly degrade the life of your batteries. Well, actually not that slow if you are doing it daily. Glad you pointed this out Raylin. I will have to be conscious to mention this in future videos.
You tested a refrigerator...in Alaska?!! With an ambient temp of 65 degrees, that's not much of a test. Most people who find themselves in need of a battery powered cooler are not going to be enjoying such mild temperatures. For a substantial test of a 100 watt solar panel to sustain a refrigerator/freezer 24/7, the air temp should be AT LEAST 85 degrees (95 would be better).
In South Florida 65 degrees is a cold front. Time to get out the cold weather gear! It's supposed to get into the 50's here in a couple of days AND windy! I mean, it's not iguanas-falling-out-of-the-trees cold, but there could be fatalities. Light a candle for us...
For those who follow the channel they’ve seen us use it everywhere. All over the lower 48. But you’re absolutely right Alaska is not the ideal location. But you use what you got.
@@PlayingwithSticks Don't mind me, I'm just jealous.
I imagine everything is easier to cool when you are in Alaska. I'd love to see how it does in the south.
Very true even when we did the home test we only did it 75° I believe. This is typically the temperatures we camp in the mountains in the lower 48. HoboTech has some really good tests in the desert and he uses a lot of insulation and awnings etc.
I've done the Van conversion and loved it. Spent over $26,00 on vehicle modifications. Now looking to downsize @ 66 years old.
hello. where can i get this fridge in Anchorage AK? im having a hard time finding it locally.
Unfortunately you won’t find these locally. To my knowledge there are no budget or mid range 12 V refrigerators in Anchorage. But it’s been a while since I looked.
Awesome! Now I need a solar pack for my Ac unit
The way technology is rapidly changing. I think we aren't far off from being able to power a mobile ac unit with ease.
I'm sure we will see jackery come out with something in the next decade with enough juice.
@@JS-qi1ou I agree! And I bet soon most solar generators will be both fast at charging and have regulated power supplies, not one or the other.
I returned my Iceco Go because it does not work well as an eco freezer when you are camping with a solar battery. It runs constantly even when it's chilly outside. The insulation is awful. It does work very well as an eco fridge, though. Also, the opening is pretty small and you cannot fit pizza. The screen doesn't allow you to lock it, and when it does lock my kids manage to unlock it anyhow. It's very pretty, but a terrible deal at 400+. I'm getting the VL45
We are also looking at the 43, but in the JP Series. We have had a great experience with our ICECO minus the cigarette adapter slipping (easy diy fix though). Other than that it has been amazing. But, our family is starting to outgrow it as the boys consumer more food. Based on all the tests we have seen we are leaning towards the JP because it is almost as efficient as the GO20. 33 watts in the eco mode! The VL is like the rolls royce of their fridges. It would make an amazing overland fridge, but probably a little higher quality than we need. We will have to try out the freezer feature this summer. We only used it a couple of times as a party trick for our friends. Funny pulling out ice cream around the campfire. And yes, that opening of the GO20 is very narrow. Wow, the price has really went up on all of these lately! But, I still think they are worth it. Let us know how your experience goes with the VL45. We would love to know.
@@PlayingwithSticks Okay will do!
Here is my case that I would like to see if it works before I get a Portable Fridge.
I have a Jackery 300 portable power station. We go to national parks in AZ, or UT, and camp out there. Most of the time we will drive to one location in the national park, and start hiking. So having the solar panel and fridge being left in the camp site might not be a good idea to me (security reason that both items might be stolen, or being attacked by wild animals).
Do you think that Jackery 300 would be able to charge the fridge for 6-7 hours without the power station being topped up?
I got a jackery 290 and a dometic cfx75dz and it keeps it on for about 10 hours.
another great share! Thanks so much, and too cute 'Little Foot' with walkie talkie :) Momma foot and tiny one :) Thanks again, brings smiles to all of you! Cheers! :)
Glad you enjoyed it Marty. The Little Foot was one of our favorite memories we caught on camera. We have a growing list of shots from this UA-cam channel that we know we are going to love looking back on one day.
Very good video. I appreciate it. I just sold my goal zero (old yeti 400) with two batteries in order to get something smaller for my new project but I have been debating which way to go but have been put off by the unregulated 12v dc. I had not considered about compensating by massive panel. One question. Did you guys see how long it would go in let’s say just room temp before the error popped up? Thanks again for the video you guys are awesome!
Hi Galvain. Yes, we have done the test multiple times at 72 degrees in the house. In the house and outdoors regardless of the temp if it is between 60-80 degrees we get about the same time frame. However after using this all summer we NEVER ran out of power using solar and that is completely disconnecting from the solar every night due to the bears (also doesn't give us the Alaska advantage in terms of 24 hour sun). We are huge believers now in owning 2 small generators. One that is regulated plus this 300 watt Rockpals because how quickly it charges. The regulated comes in handy as a backup in case for some reason there is rain days on end (we have never had to use one, but just in case). Also, we find we need 2 generators as you aren't always using powered items in the same place at your campsite. For example when the bears are roaming I need my cooler in, but want my projector outside on a rock. We will be trying out our first massive solar portable generator this fall. We are really interested to see if it integrates well with small camper living or if it is just plain ridiculous. Good to see you on here. We will have to hop over and check out your channel. We are getting a bit behind this summer on watching our favorite channels.
Great review and thank you.The length matters of plug in due to resistance per foot and due power drop.Use a short cord whenever possible.
Thank you-very helpful. Which generator were you using?
That is good to know. We should have known this as well as we do a lot of wiring for many of our projects. But, we honestly didn't even think of that.
Is this a question for rubber ducky or us? Just making sure in case you were asking about ours.
Nice to see someone using Rockpals. It’s a shame that so many people out there only review Jackery because Jackery gives those out for free like candy to youtubers.
Love our Rockpals. However, we also love the Jackery too. We typically mention both in our videos although we don't own a Jackery. You are right they do give them out like candy. But honestly, in terms of budget solar Rockpals and Jackery are at the top. And in comparison to high cost solar they both hold their ground against the pricier versions as well. We like to tell friends to use a little of both. Rockpals for quick charging off the solar panels and Jackery for regulated power on those rainy days.
Other people have reviewed rockpals. Will Prowse really liked the 300w unit until someone mentioned amazon reviews about dead units and no support. Yeah, you're probably going to get a great performer, but if there are issues..
@@clange50 Good point. On our channel everyone who has worked with them has had great customer service. The last person we talked with had a humming sound when charging or on, I can't remember. But, the next day they had already sent him a new unit no questions asked. I think channels the size of Will's can help keep businesses honest. Hoping that is what happened there.
@@PlayingwithSticks If they are supporting their products that would be stellar. Hope they continue to do so.
Thanks for the nice video! 😊
Our pleasure! We were pleasantly surprised with these results and I know quite a few others on a budget will be as well.
Thats not a really good test. Your in a place where its cooler then most places. The outside temps depict the temp inside the cooler. So if its cool outside then the cooler don't have to work as hard so that means less power. If its hot out the cooler will harder to keep the cooler cold so it will take more power.
Sounds like you didn’t watch the entire video. However you have a good point. In this video we mention we did these tests at 72° in a controlled environment and had the same results. But yes also in the video we mentioned multiple times if you were to do this in somewhere like Arizona you are going to have different outcomes because the compressor would be running almost the entire time, where as at 70° it’s more intermittent.
@@PlayingwithSticks I just feel if you do a review on a product as what you are. You should go to other clinlments to really give a proper review. And right, I didn't watch the hole video had somewhere to be. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who hasn't watch the hole video but still think that they will get the same results as you did. It sounds good and I'm not saying you didn't give a good review from your area I just believe that in order to give a good review of a product you need to test it out in all clinlments. So don't think I'm bashing you or your video, its just my take on it.
lil Foot.. so cute!
We love to sneak moments like these in there. Makes it so fun for us to look back on every year. Fun to know others enjoy the little family bits as well.
Really nice informative video. Iceco looks like the way to go.
We are pretty convinced! It wasn't hard to convince us though, as many subscribers from this channel have been sharing with us how much they love their ICECO fridge/freezer. It is always nice to get some real world advice from the community. Typically we buy something and then find out quickly there is something better out there for us. Luckily this time the community helped us get off to the right foot.
Neat fridge! Love the fridge freezer at the same time! Impressive power usage!
We would have never known about this, but many of our subscribers own this same fridge. After hearing all their positive reviews we thought it was time to give it a try. May says this has been the best upgrade we have experimented with yet. Her and I both felt we didn't have a need for a fridge, but after using one I am pretty sure it will be with us most trips. The biggest thing for us was eliminating wasted food. We often feel terrible getting home with wet soggy food or food that got a little on the warm side knowing we had to throw it out. Now we get home and all the leftovers just go right into the home fridge.
Playing with Sticks, YEAH! Best camping tool I ever bought. Could not get past the price at first, then I was out camping for a month in AZ. Buy ice every 3 days. Small quantities of food. Plan for no leftovers. Soggy food I did not trust. Bad diet out of cans. The fridge solved all!!! If it died, I would immediately buy another!
Stop calling it a generator, it isn't generating anything.
Thanks for the tip. We haven’t called it a generator in a couple years now.
I've been on the fence about buying that Iceco Go20 fridge. I've read so many bad reviews re: the 12v power plug being too loose and constantly falling out of the cigarette lighter socket. Have you experienced this? and if so.. how have you dealt with it?
Funny you mentioned this. We just addressed this in a community post. We had this happen a handful of times, but thought it was our children. Now we are thinking we may have experienced the same issue others have. Fortunately it has never come unplugged while driving and that has been on some pretty rough conditions as well. We are going to have to dig around for a hack to ensure it doesn't come unplugged, that would be awful if it did.
Worse would be dead fridges. I don't know, there was an alpicool that looked good until I saw reviews about dead fridges after ~6-12 months and crickets from the "company." I've already used iceco's support, for a go20 divider that was jacked up, and they were great, had a replacement in under a week. I'll tie the dc adapter together if I have to, if it means I have support on the fridge and compressor. Edit: I recall reading about people that took the plug apart and clipped the spring on the plunger, to reduce it's strength. YMMV
@@clange50 Thanks for sharing. You are the second person who mentioned issues with Alpicool.
I've been doing something very similar .. Charge Speed is so important and so is regulated 12v. IMO, nothing charges faster and more brainlessly than your primary Led Acid starter battery over alternator + Solar. I've been doing endless refrigeration and running a roof vent fan on medium overnight in my van WITHOUT a house auxiliary battery and I'm in very HOT Florida. I did not want to sleep with batteries or take up any precious floor and storage space with another battery and all the wiring. So all I did was upgrade my starter battery from 65AH to a 115ah Deep cycle dual purpose marine battery ($100) and mounted a 100 watt solar panel ($75) on my roof. My Fridge is an Alpicool c15 ($199) with a very similar 12v compressor. During the day my battery is usually close to full @12.6v with almost any level of sun and since i like to cool off in the van when taking a break my batteries quickly top off with just 15 minutes of alternator charging.
I consume about 500WH overnight (for 25F refrigeration and a rooftop Maxxair vent fan on medium) and wake to 12.2v (60% remaining). Have never been stranded with a dead battery. but just in case I do carry a cheap lithium jumper brick ($50) that works great when I've tested it. My inverter is 1200watts and can power a 1200w electric kettle that can cook even steak with the engine running without any charge loss so no propane tanks here either. Some details and testing on my channel.
So simple! I wonder why more people aren't doing this? Like you said, it eliminates the need for an extra battery and saves a lot of space and money. Thank you for sharing!
I diged into this. I found out the deepcycle batteries are not made for starting your car. Do you have any problems with this?
@@Rauppie Ive been working fine for over 18 months on this battery. No issues.
My 110 watt Dokio runs my 12 volt fridge without a battery between the charge controller and the fridge.
Love your channel, super informative and constantly learning from you, thank you! I have a classic 50qt arb fridge freezer and wondering what power station and size is recommended to power it off grid (West coast)? Thanks so much!
I noticed that the 300w unit listed "pass through charging" in the description but the 500w did not show that. I wonder if that feature was how it ran the refridge off the solar panel without discharging the solar generator. I don't mind spending more for more storage, but if it won't perform the same it would be a waste. Any idea on this? Not sure if I will afford a refridge but like the solar generator with panels for all uses.
That is a really good question. That unfortunately we don't have the answer too. However, we have watched quite a few videos from the solar expert Will Prowse and have been surprised to find quite a few that can't do pass through charging. If it was us, we would get one little Rockpals like the 300 for the pass through and quick charging and one Jackery with the regulated power supply. This would cost no more than a larger 500 watt solar portable generator, but you would get the best of both worlds.
That “pass through charging” criteria is a really good catch! I completely missed that including in Will Prowse’s videos. That is a good feature to have. Thanks!
Great video, fantastic set up, amazing fridge and solar!! , beautiful setting and great people. Very cool walkie talkies! perfect for so many applications that don't demand expensive, top end stuff. As for your child?! WOW!! so articulate and well mannered , congrats to you all.
Thank you so much for this really kind comment. Much appreciated!
Great video! Renewable energy is such an important topic. If you're into outdoor camping or RVing, I highly recommend checking out the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series. It's a versatile power station with a massive capacity, powerful output, and fast recharging. Plus, it's built tough and even waterproof! It's perfect for keeping your devices and appliances running during your outdoor adventures.
For a weekend trip if you freeze all your meals before you go a standard cooler will be fine. Look up dump dinner recipes for easy one pot meals, and prepping ahead of time will save a lot of work at your campsite, like cutting veggies, searing/ roasting etc.
Great video, beautiful family!
You are so kind. Thank you!
Your campsites are insane! Stunning. I love all your videos and appreciate all the effort and detail you put into each one. I picked up a Scotty Serro last night. Have Tent camped for years but your videos inspired me to take next step but also to focus on the outdoors and simplicity of a a smaller camper.
Thank you for this. I watched so many of your videos but I skipped right over this cuz I wasn't shopping refrigerators. I'm shopping this specific unit and here is a video from you guys lauding it! LOL
Do you still use it?
Very helpful. I bought an iceco so now I will purchase this entire set up. Thank you.
Since this video there is a much better setup out there. Rockpals no longer makes the 300 watt generator from this video. However, there is something much better out now. We suggest the Bluettie AC50s. It does everything the Jackery and the Rockpals does combined. Meaning best of both worlds. Here is the link amzn.to/3eAHM6c Also at the end of this video we talk about it briefly and why it is currently the best in our opinion ua-cam.com/video/Hxt98bcmQTs/v-deo.html.
I bought the RockPals 100w solar panels. Haven’t decided on power station yet. Really want to charge my RV 12V marine battery directly from the solar panels. Wanted to use power station to RV battery but not sure that is possible. I believe I need a charge controller in between solar panels and rv battery? Help!
My jackery 1000 runs the dometic cfx3 45 for 120h so 5 days with the fridge at 41F and ambiant temp 77F. i haven’t tested yet outside under the sun, i will give more test result after june and my first trip.. but at home it uses only 7.79w per hour. 187w per 24h. And it is really precise at the minute. The usage is really constant and predictable. I tested the solar charging and was able to fill from 21% to 58% just by plugging it in the morning 2 or more hours at the rate 118wh. The efficiency is good so adding 20% battery with solar give you one extra days of fridge.
First off, pass thru charging is generally not recommended because it reduces the battery life. I can't personally verify this. I read this from jackery so before purchasing any power station, probably should check first. Use in arizona? Um, heat and lithium batteries don't go together very well. Most power stations have a top operating temp of 45C (113), and from personal experience, 95 ambient temp, maybe 4-6hrs on 300wh pack. At 85 I've gotten 20hrs on the same pack but this drops off a lot as the ambient temp goes up. I have two portable fridges. Both have eco mode which means the compressor runs slower so it uses less power but in eco mode you can actually use more power because it runs more to keep up; depends on ambient temp. Portable fridges draw very few watts, usually shows 0, when the compressor is not running. So again, at 85 degrees, and fridge set to 40, I can get 20 hrs off one pack but most of the summer, and part of fall and spring, can't use a fridge outside this way because it's too hot for the power station, or too hot for the fridge. Solar panel can operate at higher temp and ignoring what I said about pass thru charging, you might get away with it at 100+ degrees but for how long? Also, whatever power station you use, you have to make sure (with portable fridges) that they don't shut off automatically if the draw goes down to 0, and a regulated 12v output is not always necessary but it's highly recommended for a bunch of different reasons.
Hello. Great info and testing. Do you think this setup would work for emergency or possible long term solar fridge cooling for insulin storage? My son has Type 1 diabetes and am looking for a solution to keep emergency insulin storage cool in event of long term power outage. I can keep insulin for about two years as long as it's refrigerated 50 degrees or under. We live in midwest and usually have plenty of sun. If the system you tested won't work for my application do you have any suggestions or modifications to make it doable? Thanks so much!
That is a tough one. I would say with food yes, insulin now we are talking a bit more risk. Even if you had a system like this I would still want a redundant/backup system in place. Meaning if there is no sun I would want a generator that had a larger capacity battery. There is currently a newer solar portable generator on the market made by EcoFlow I think it is called the 1300 that came out at the same time or shortly after this video went out. What is so neat about this generator besides that it is large over 1,0000 watts which would run refrigeration a long time, the biggest selling point is that it charges quicker than any other brand out there off of solar. I know some of the main solar gurus like Will Prowse had some issues with it when it first came out, but I heard there were some firmware updates. I am not sure if this route would be right for you, but it would be worth checking out. Here is the link to Will's channel, he is definitely the go to guy for solar ua-cam.com/users/WillProwsevideos. You can find many Ecoflow videos on his channel. Hope this helps.
@@PlayingwithSticks Thanks you very much for your response and for recommending something that provides more security for us. I will be checking the EcoFlow very soon. Thanks again!
@@libertyman3717 You are most welcome!
Hey plz answer!? I got a 12v freezer and a 300wh powerpack. The return window has passed for the powerpack so I'm stick w it now... My question is, is it really dangerous what I'm doing health wise? .. I'm at work 12 hrs and powerpack seems to work for only about 5 hrs and when I get back the temperature of freezer is around 21 degrees. I turn generator back on and freezer gets back to temp... Tho it seems to stay at 10 degrees for several hrs before climbing back to 0. Weird ... Is this fine as long as the food still taste good or am I eating poison cuz of all the degree changes the food undergoes??? I don't care if it's poison as long as isnt killing me without me knowing basically. Thank you, sorry for long explanation
Just subscribed- miss the mountains and pines. Just relocated out of Colorado to ND
Thanks for your advice, is it cheaper to get a cooler that holds ice and food for four days? By then you're ready to go to the store, bless you and happy trails
That is a really good question. You are talking in terms of a Yeti I am assuming. Let's do the math here for fun. Lets take a small Yeti 35 as it is one of if not the lowest price hard sided Yeti, with about 10 extra liters to account for all the ice. This would set us back $250. Lets say we purchase a $2 bag of 10lb ice once every 4 days. If you travel 20 days a summer, which is probably fairly average for many of us. You would only spend about $10 on ice for the entire summer. Do this for 5 years and you have only spent a total of $300 all in. Do this full time you are in about $183 a year on ice for 5 years we are now at a total of $1,165. Now lets run the solar option. ICECO Go20 at $381.65 with the discount. Wow, this price has really increased the last month due to Covid. Plus the Rockpals Generator $225.17 with discount. Plus Rockpals 100 watt solar panels $178.42 with discount. Total=$785.24. So in 5 years you save $379.76. And truthfully I haven't bought many bags of ice that are down as low as $2. And my guess most folks would buy the larger Yeti's that cost about twice as much. Plus don't forget about all the time and gas saved making ice runs, the hassle of the runs, the wet soggy food that is thrown out from ice (big loss there), etc. And best of all now you have an entire solar power system to run everything else you want as well. That was a fun little exercise Nathanial. Thank you! One more thought...like you said we are usually ready to go to the store by that time. We pick up fresh food about every three days, so maybe not a huge hassle on the ice for us.
Sooo now we're about to enter October with talks of grid possibly going down ETC. Bags of ice would not be available if such a thing happens, or any one of another scenarios due to this A gend a ETC. I shall be looking into it along with some type of faraday set up.
On my 100w panel with MPPT controller in bright sun (Florida) I can produce about 6-7amps of charge. My Ausranvik 37qt cooler on max, sitting outside in 86-90 degF and set on 40 deg draws about 2 amps per hour during the day. It draws 3.75-4A while running. Eco mode reduces the draw to less than 3A but I haven't done testing on the hourly draw. With the lower draw it will cool more slowly and I wonder if it would then run longer, and potentially mitigate any savings I would see in this climate. That is yet to be seen. Overall it's entirely possible to reclaim 20ish AH in less than 4 hours of direct sunlight charge.
We are going to have to get some sort of accessory to measure our amps of charge. It would be really nice to know this information so we could share it here. Unfortunately the Rockpals doesn't show this info on the readout. We are able to see our amp draw as we use a Kill-a-watt for that, but have not figured out how to see what is coming in. 20AH in less than 4 hours is impressive. Before getting into this we had know idea you could get that much energy so quickly.
@@PlayingwithSticks I just moved from Florida to Washington State, and after my original cooler was damaged from water I got an ICECO VL35. It is even more efficient if marginally. I was completely unplugged for 5 full days with no sign of running flat. On my 130AH battery I capacity tested with the cooler, with my phone/tablet/watch charging, and the roof fan and led lights used normally in 90 deg weather. With no input I ran 78 hours, which worked out to about 1.6 amps per hour for everything. The cooler was by far the minority in that mix. The advertised .6amp per hour seems totally reasonable.
I have a small R.V. ...pictured that I want to build a system that will power air cond. And refrigerator. A system that will go and support ..I want to use Brattleboro batt. If recommended. Any ideas ? Do you know anyone that will build ? I'm in central indiana
Hmm I need something like this in my life!
We never thought we needed one. But we picked one up mainly due to questions from folks in the community. After testing this out we realized this was something we should have done long ago! Great to see your channel really getting some momentum. I think your topics are really hitting home right now as we are living in a state of unpredictability. I could see a lot of folks interested in moving to Alaska just to start over, get away from it all, and have a more simple life.
Its pretty awesome... but I made my own. Small box, 12v battery, solar charge controller and wire it up. Cost me $150 + the folding panel from Amazon.
@@soldermecold7456 Now that is awesome to hear. We are all about the diy frugal approach to things. Thanks for sharing.
New to your channel and i appreciate all your efforts and attention to detail. I'll check it out tomorrow, here in S FL.👍👍💜🙏
Thank you! Glad you are enjoying it J R.
You're cheating with those long Alaska days lol Kidding...kinda. Yes, a nice panel with a cheap batt charger, and a dedicated battery for a camp fridge is awesome.
Desperately need a small cooler/fridge this size or even smaller for my insulin while camping or even emergencies. Have never seen one like this. Where can I find it/who makes them besides ICECO.
Love the video! Such a beautiful family
Thanks Nadia! We appreciate the kind words.
It`s really dumb that Jackery is still making inferior products while other companies pass them by. My 300 watt Rockpals and GoLabs power stations can be charged very quickly from a portable 60 watt panel and if light conditions are less than ideal I bought cables to connect another 30 watt folding panel in parallel with it to get 20 watts on cloudy days.
I have the Rockpals model that was released right after this one I think. My GoLabs has a LiFePO4 battery, and I got an awesome deal on it, and the 12 volt output is stable. But my Rockpals doesn`t have a regulated 12 volt output. I bought them for different uses though. The Rockpals will run a warm white USB bulb and a six inch Opolar USB fan for days.
The reason I bought two less expensive ones instead of spending the same money on a larger capacity one is to have a backup, and in the long run I got more battery capacity (rated almost 600 wh...a bit less in testing...570ish) in two units that can be charged faster, and during a power outage I can be charging one and using the other, plus the GoLabs has pass through charging, so I just ordered a 100 watt outdoor panel to mount on my travel trailer to take advantage of that feature.
TO THOSE WHO READ THIS: I just found an amazing little 12 volt rice cooker that works great with these and only uses 95 watts. I was shocked at how quickly it cooks rice or lentils! It`s similar to a little pressure cooker because it seals when closed and has a tiny steam hole on top. It even came with an extra fuse. I also bought a 120 watt 12 volt immersion water heater. You can boil eggs too with either of these and make tea or instant coffee. I was very surprised that these work so well with such low wattage. So yes you can cook with solar more than one way which is incredible!
Getting a modern inverter-compressor fridge was a game changer for us. (Alpicool in our case)
No more dumping food from our camper's 3-fuel fridge (works fine on AC, or stationary on propane, but fails at DC on the road), or having to mess about with coolers and ice and the subsequent soggy food.
Nice to have when going shopping too if your grocer is half hour or more away to keep the frozen stuff frozen.
We run ours off our tow vehicle rather than the camper's solar so we can bring our lunch with us and keep food out of the camper when in bear country.
I don't worry about running down the battery as we are frequently running the vehicle from place to place keeping it topped up, and the cooler uses very little power.
This sounds like us, but we have learned these lessons a bit later than you. This morning was the first time the thought hit me that I could take this fridge with me to the store. Often I divide up my store runs due to the temp in the car. But, you are right this would make it so I could even stop and go fishing before going home :) May may never see me for hours in the future when she sends me off to run a simple errand :)
Be aware that your Alpicool will shut off if you have a lithium like a Rockpals that does not have a regulated 12v port once the Rockpals drop to 50% capacity. A friend had that happen with his Alpicool and a Lion Safari 400w lithium that has non-regulated 12v port. Not. Good.
@@charlesmoman It's a battery protection feature as it expects to be hooked to a lead acid battery and as we all know lead acid doesn't like to be deeply discharged.
@@dorvinion Yep. My friend also has an ICECO GO20 ( I did a review of it for ICECO and just did one of their new iCooler Drew mentioned - ua-cam.com/video/d8xdxJnUpWw/v-deo.html). The ICECO does not shut off with the Lion Safari when it drops down, but the Alpicool does. The GO20 is a much more sophisticated fridge. Buyers need to be aware. Hobotech and Will Prowse preach about it on every lithium power bank that review. They know their stuff. Be safe.
Great info and video !!! I was wondering if you have any info on using the Rockpals solar panel for charging an RV battery ? Is there a charge controller built into the solar panel or would I need to install a separate charge controller ?
Good question. Yes, you would need a separate charge controller as most of these are designed for solar portable generators that have mppt controllers.
@@PlayingwithSticks much appreciated, thanks 👍
Hello from West Virginia. Thx for the great info. I ordered one from your link. Thx for the discount. They are not in stock till July, but that'll work. Love your videos. I ordered a little Rockpal 300w after watching your review then ordered a 100w foldable solar panel after your review on that. Very happy with them. Thx again
Hey there Cindy! Always fun to have folks on from all the way across the States. My wife was just saying we need to get over that way sooner than later. Thanks for the heads up about them not being in stock. Pretty popular little fridges. Glad you are enjoying the little generator and solar panel. Isn't it amazing what you can do with such small equipment? Out of curiosity what kind of trailer do you have?
@@PlayingwithSticks I have a Little Guy 4x8. We like you have some beautiful mountains and the New River the only other river besides the Nile that flows south to north. Great whitewater rafting. We'd love to have y'all.
Can you send me the link for the solar panel and solar generator?
Will do. If you use the code PLAYWM at Rockpals website you will get a 15% discount www.rockpals.com/products/300w-portable-power-station www.rockpals.com/products/rockpals-100w-foldable-solar-panel
These are amazon affiliate links if you are more comfortable purchasing at Amazon.Our Rockpals 300 watt solar generator amzn.to/2T69Gvr The 100 watt solar panels we use amzn.to/2Wv157A.
Do you have any recommendation for people from EU ? Your videos are really good and everything .. but.. I am from EU , and I either can't buy them or I can for double the cost with Tax and import charges
to everyone this concerns we bought this fridge and found there is No way to turn off the blutooth if you are sensitive to the radio/microwave radiation it gives off like we are, this radiation gives us headaches and it mutates the cells in food over time, you may want to research and do due diligence before buying....
Oh wow! Shows how naive we are. We have never heard of this. We don't use much bluetooth due to the draw it has on our camera and phone batteries. Thanks for sharing, we will have to look into this more.
I have the 100 watt panel and the 500 watt 540 wh rockpals power station too. Also do review's of want to check out my channel. I'm disabled and working on going off grid.
I have question do you use the ac output on your solar generator or the cigarette lighter slot to power your fridge
nautical twilight , sun is down below the horizon but the glow still gives light
That is a neat term we have never heard that before. Love learning little things like this!
you I see the Liberty own in the house here too (o)IIIIIII(o). Do you ever use the 12v plug in the back to either charge the fridge/battery or to even power the battery to charge the fridge? let me know I want to do this with the Ice VL45 and I would rather not re-gauge the wiring in my car directly to the battery, but I will if I have too. awesome video man! Lets get some more camera action of the libby!
Yes we do. Typically during all drives we use the back 12v plug (love the location of it) and then switch to the generator once we get to camp. From what we have heard people go their entire trips with efficient fridges like yours only attached to the 12 volt on the car. For some reason that makes us nervous. But, really it is because we aren't very knowledgeable about batteries that are not deep cell. Not sure how much of a discharge it put on the battery, maybe it is very minimal. We will have to look into this sometime. But as for re-gauging the wiring like with a car stereo setup I don't think you will need to do anything like that. These fridges on DC pull very minimal power. Funny, I purposely try to not show the Liberty because I absolutely hate the stock rims. Every Liberty I see with stock rims going down the road seems to have the same peeling issues as ours. Looks like someone tried to paint them, then the paint wore off, and the rust took over. Going to have to get new wheels one of these days.
How do you even mount the fridge to the vehicle? Most other fridges have a spring loaded handle that you can lash it to tie down points. The IceCo seems to have a recessed handle so you can't loop anything to it. Seems like it would just bounce around inside the vehicle if you're taking it on any off-road terrain. Guess it's fine in the back of a subaru or if you're just doing daily duties but I don't see how you'd want to take this thing going off-road.
That is a really good question. We never thought of that. When off-roading most folks use the insulated cover for this model. The cover has metal o-rings for attachment tie downs. But, if you aren't using the insulated sleeve you would have to use a ratchet strap. Good eye, we never even noticed there wasn't an attachment point. I know ICECOs other models have them as they are designed more for overlanding. This model does have the other overland features, mainly the ability to tilt 30 degrees without turning off. That is quite a bit of tilt.
I'm so glad I re-found your video. I saw it but was going to watch something else first then I couldn't find it but then when I Googled off-grid fridges I found it again.
Glad you found it. We just picked up the larger version ICECO JP40. So far it seems to sip very low power. But, we are currently in Utah. This heat will definitely put it to the test.
My teardrop has a glued on 100W solar panel and a built in mppt controller that charges the battery (which I switched to a LiFePO4 battery, but of course that's not low budget). More interestingly, I also wired a plug to the side of the trailer which connects via a switch to the solar controller. This allows me to plug in a external foldable panel, so my total solar capacity is 220W. The switch allows me to "wire" them in series or parallel. Parallel is the setting you usually want, but if you're in a spot where both panels are in the shade, going serial will likely improve your ability to charge. My controller (Victron) will only start charging when you hit 18Volts (even if the voltage sinks a little later, but you have to make it over this threshold). In serial you add the voltages up, so two panels producing 10V each will result in 20V at the controller, thus triggering the charge. I don't know whether all MPPT controllers do this, but my Victron does.
My trailer came with a Norcold 30 quart fridge and it has been working flawlessly on solar. Of course, I don't live in Alaska, so chances of being in a sunny spot are quite high here on the west coast. On the other hand as mentioned we also have a lot of high temperatures which is why I built an extra insulation around the fridge to help with maintaining the temperature (caution: do not cover vent openings!!)
All these modern low energy compressor fridges are amazing and a total game changer to what you can bring. I usually bring a lot of stuff because I like good food and always cook. I store certain things outside the cooler (unwashed eggs don't need a fridge and a lot of hardy veggies do well in a ventilated box with a couple of moist rags in it - cabbage, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers wrapped in plastic etc. ). Having 30 quart of real fridge capacity allows to bring a few perishables without having to find ice every few days. With careful planning I can stay out for at least 2 weeks without needing anything - that's a nice boondocking trip!
Uwe we probably say this too often, but you have some of the best posts we have seen on UA-cam. Your setup sounds perfect. As you are probably aware, we don't stay very often at campgrounds. The bear rules added a unique twist to our solar setup. It made us realize we need something like yours where we can run both built in solar from the roof and portable solar from a fold-able panel. If you are out hiking or can't leave things out due to bears the more secure option of a mounted panel would give you peace of mind when hiking and the ability to run the fridge inside. Charles Moman just made a great video on this where he drilled through his fiberglass Runaway trailer to be able to not only charge his regular batteries, but also charge his portable solar generator inside his more secure trailer. ua-cam.com/video/TUrZMk9cBow/v-deo.html
Thanks for the tip on the veggies and eggs. We do the same when we purchase eggs from our friends, but not with our store bought eggs (you can't do that with them right?) The vegetable tip we have never heard before, but makes sense.
@@PlayingwithSticks No, you can't keep store bought eggs unrefrigerated and FDA regulations require that eggs are washed in the US. In Europe nobody does that so the first time I saw eggs in a fridge was when I came to the US. Eggs have a naturally waxy coating courtesy of the chicken and that's what keeps the bacteria out. Naturally a egg is sterile on the inside, so it lasts. Anyone "commercial" is prohibited from selling unwashed eggs, so you have to find someone who has chickens in the backyard (or you know a farmer really well and he can hand you some off the record - I used to trade them with a farmer and since he didn't sell them he didn't break the law - yet that's a slippery slope unless you're good friends)
You may want to check out Slim Potatohead ua-cam.com/channels/5LjexFk9wZEnFsXA3TOx-g.html
He's from Canada and not only has a very soothing video style, but also has a bunch of videos on low budget and some quite ingenious improvements for small trailers, particularly for storage, shower etc.. He used to run an A liner and now has some sort of fiberglass trailer like a scamp (some canadian company, forgot the name). He just recently did a inside and out solar solution for that trailer using a AGM battery and a solar generator with fixed and mobile panels. Not as refined as I would usually do things but quite usable (I'm German, so of course I over-engineer everything)
Uwe Schroeder, Great Information!
I just learned why fresh natural eggs last a long time. Chickens lay about 1 egg a day. They want a batch of eggs, and they want them to hatch at the same time. They gather eggs (including stealing eggs and things that look like eggs like avocado pits), but don’t sit on them. The eggs are dormant until activated by heat and moisture when the hen decides to sit on them for the hatching phase. Once the hen adds heat and moisture, all the eggs start growing at the same time. Before washed and before activated by heat and moisture, the eggs are in the dormant phase and can be stored at room temp for weeks. Some people in Europe will buy fresh fertilized quail eggs from the store and hatch them as pets 😃
Hi, what’s the brand and model of your kayak....it looks great, just what I’m looking for....love your videos, you do a great job....very good descriptions . Thank you very much for the videos. 😀🛶🏕
We absolutely love this kayak. We actually have an entire video about it. ua-cam.com/video/YneGuXyfZMk/v-deo.html Glad you are enjoying the videos. We really appreciate the positive feedback David.
Drew and May; not only do I LOVE your channel, Its content, but it is a delight to see your little ones as they begin to grow and enjoy the outdoors. I have a photo on my mantle showing my little one on her very first camping trip. She was three months old and I dreaded changing her nappie on the tailgate of my red Ford 250 pick 'em up truck due to the still rather cold weather temps. But instead of screaming, my little one squealed in delight!! Cherish this time, one blink and you will be watching them walk across a stage to get their diploma! Now that will scare the stuffing out of you!! Good luck to you both and keep up the great work! I, loving your content!
Love the imagery of the change on the tailgate. We get you there! Thanks for the words of wisdom Alice. They sure do grow up fast!
I am converting a GMC work van to living in full time boondocking. I am reviewing fridges and coolers. I don't want to run a bunch of things. I have solar lights for inside. Charge my iPad and phone of portable charger. Any advice!!!!!! Trying to keep things simple. And I am solo female.
Love your simple approach. If it was us we would start with Will Prowse. Check out his channel great guy and an expert in solar. ua-cam.com/channels/oj6RxIAQq8kmJme-5dnN0Q.html. Most of his videos will be much more than you need, but he also talks simple budget setups. You are like us in that your needs aren't too large. Luckily for you, this makes getting started pretty easy and affordable.
This video is exactly what I needed. Not only did I get my answers for a smaller PPS and fridge, but I also know now what brands to look at.
My plan is to run the fridge with the Jeep's 12v until I get to the site, then plug in the PPS and panel...
Thanks mate!
Great idea. Basically what I look for is a Dan Fross compressor. Unfortunately they’re under different names/branding today so it is a little harder to find. I do know iceco is still using them
@@PlayingwithSticks Any thoughts on the LG compressor? I have never had an issue with LG anything, and I have heard that they are up there with DanFoss. I know that the Rough Country, and Vevor fridges use them.
How much battery drain did you get overnight? What was the generator at when you woke up?
Exactly what I was looking for....great concise video
Glad to hear it! Thank you. Love the Voltron username.
Did you have to pay $250 in shipping for Alaska? That’s what their website is saying, and Amazon won’t even ship it to Alaska!
Are you talking about the refrigerator? Our friends have all received theirs with free shipping. But, this was before Covid. Since Covid it has been a lot more difficult for companies to send us products for testing as the shipping rates have been so much higher for them.
Fantastic video! Thanks so much for these ideas!!!
You are most welcome Juliette. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for the video and beautiful family! Which size freezer is the one in the video? Is it Go12 or Go20? Thanks!
You are most welcome. The fridge/freezer is the GO20 in this video. Loving it so much. If you are interested in it, we did mention in our community tab that it is a little on the small size for families. It works for us because we restock almost every 2 to 3 days while on the road. However, it would be nice to have a little room at the top of the fridge each day. We keep it pretty loaded. May and I almost daily comment that this fridge has been our best purchase yet in terms of camp comfort and enjoyment.
Fantastic information!
Keep the camping fridge at 35f. The colder the better for food longevity and the thermal mass gives you a bit of insurance.
Thank you David. I honestly had no idea what to keep it at. I just followed the little food guide on the fridge. 35 from now on it is!
Approx how long does it take to charge an iPhone off the solar panel directly?