Dometic CFX3 45L 6+ MONTH Review

It’s been over 6 months since I bought the Dometic CFX3 45L fridge. The Fridge itself has been a truck camping game changer. The fridge has gone on countless truck camping adventures, ridden on some rough trails and traveled over 2000 miles as we moved/drove from Alaska to Nevada. The convenience is probably the most note worthy but there have been a few things that weren’t so great with this purchase.

The Good and the Bad

Pros

• NEVER dealing with ice again, except when you want ice for drinks 🙂
• Having a fridge onboard – keeping food and drinks cold easily and cracking a cold beer at the end of the day is amazing
• Doesn’t take much battery power to keep it running (low battery draw)
• Cools down fast (15-20 minutes) 
• Stores a good amount of food if you pack it correctly 

Cons

• The unit by itself was expensive – the fridge was on sale (which was a really good deal at) $750 + 200 shipping to Alaska = $950 Total
• Extra expense of buying a battery for it. The fridge on its own does not sustain a charge by itself so I ended up buying Goal Zero Yeti 400 for $450 on top of the fridge cost. I’ve seen some people who just run it off their vehicles but I’d be hesitant about that due to the potential risk of draining your car battery. (NOTE: CFX3 has the benefit of shutting off if it notices its power source is getting low. So in theory it shouldn’t completely drain your car battery if you leave the fridge connected but I personally wouldn’t want to risk it.
• Takes up space in the back of the truck (losing 2 seats) so I only have room for the dog in the back but this depends on your setup. Alternatively, you could put the cooler in your truck bed but with my current truck bed setup it barely fits under my Yakima cross bars.
• Is the lid closed? When I first bought the fridge there was a good clicking sound to let you know the lid was closed all the way. The click has stopped since then so there is no affirmative click to let you know the lid fully closed so you end up having to really press down to hear anything.

Notes / Other problems

• I’ve been having issue with keeping the Dometic powered on using the DC plug connected to the Goal Zero. I’ve attributed this to a possible DC Cord issue (the cord was unscrewing from the socket or it could be an issue on the Goal Zero DC outlet itself) I’m still testing and researching to verify. I’ve also toggled the DC power switch on/off without messing with the plug and the Dometic turns back on by itself. I’ve seen comments from people that say the Goal Zero’s AC outlet may not have enough power to run the fridge which is why it shuts off, more testing to come though!

Other devices I’ve heard about

• Cheaper (Cheaper than $850 if your just looking for a fridge)
• Better lid system – affirmative close / clicking sound
• Dual compartments (one Freezer AND one fridge) – This Dometic is all or nothing, you can choose to make it a Fridge OR Freezer but cant have both.

Other fridges I’ve heard of: https://offroadtents.com/blogs/news/the-best-vehicle-portable-fridge-freezers-for-overlanding 

Conclusions

Having an onboard fridge is truck camping game changer! I have no regrets about buying the fridge but if I had to do it over again, I would really have considered one with dual compartments so I can bring Ice Cream on the trail 🙂 especially now that we live in the desert