With a stache like that your credibility immediately increases at least 37%. I for one, am completely convinced. Seriously though, nice review. How has their customer service been?
Thanks Scott! Their service has been very good. We have been dealing directly with their USA importer since we got one of the first ones in the country and they are super responsive. If you've seen episode 16 you know that they sent us a new unit to Puerto Vallarta because our original unit was damaged during shipping. As soon as I told them which Fedex facility to send it to they shipped it out so we could pick it up as we made our way through the area. Super helpful! We lucked into a bit of a relationship with them since I was trying to get a SnoMaster just as they started to import them into the USA, but I know they have also offered to help other travelers in Central America with fridge issues too, so good company :)
Thank you. Saw one of these on CZcams Primal Outdoors. Then I found your review. Great review, No constant talking about nothing got to all the important information, what a joy. Now I have subscribed to your channel.
Thanks for the great review! The only thing missing is a walk through of the issues you were having with your first fridge and how that got resolved. Your videos so far from the trip show y'all on the struggle bus with the first one, and then without a ton of explanation you get a new one... I guess the new one worked out? I have enjoyed all y'alls videos, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching Brad. It's encouraging to know we have viewers following along. We do go into our electrical issues a bit more in the next episode, but you are correct the fridge has been resolved. I guess we didn't do a great job of explaining it all because it was a simple cause and I never learned 100% what the technical issue was, but here's the low down: SnoMaster sent the original fridge to us in California via FedEx. FedEx dropped it hard enough to bend one of the bottoms corners up about a 1/2 inch on the compressed side. Since it was on the compressed side, it didn't affect the insulation and we plugged the unit into AC power and froze water in both compartments, so we figured it worked and was just a cosmetic issue. You can probably tell from our rig that we don't worry too much about looks and SnoMaster was nice enough to hook us up with the fridge so we just went with it. As you've seen in the videos, the fridge's ability to function quickly deteriorates when we try to keep it plugged in full time. SnoMaster was super cool with customer service. They texted back and forth with me in Baja to help me look for simple issues and I sent them some pictures that they passed on to their tech department. In the end it seemed to be an issue with the compressor not circulating the refrigerant. SnoMaster decided that it would be better just to send me an entirely new unit apposed to a new compressor that I would have to try to get installed somewhere in Mexico, so I looked into where they could send it that was on our rout and as soon as I let them know when and where they sent it. You got to see in episode 16 that the FedEx in Puerto Vallarta wasn't much better than the one in California (rollin it out upside down) but they managed not to break it this time and SnoMaster had good customer service again. Letting me know that if I don't turn it on for 24 hours after setting it upright then it should be fine. If you ever get a compressor fridge of any brand shipped to you I would recommend not plugging it in for 24 hours. Chances are the shipping company rolled it at some point. Hopefully that clears things up Brad and stay tuned, I think episode 17 is going to be the conclusion of our electrical issues : )
The Traveling Together Journal - Thanks! Its great to hear the company stands behind their product that way, and that their customer service is easy to work with. Based on your experience I'll definitely be considering them when I buy a fridge this fall!
Cool. What kind of vehicle you putting it in? I feel like their on par with National Luna or other top offerings in the market, so it's all about who makes the best size and shape for your needs. Well, and price point I guess ;)
The Traveling Together Journal I have a 2001 4runner that I have slowly been working on over the past couple years. If you click to my profile you can see some videos I made of weekender trips we have taken. In the one we took to Cape Lookout you can really see the truck. One day it would be awesome to follow in y'alls footsteps, but right now my kids are young.
Cool. Looks like a fun rig. The slow build is the way to go. I wish we would have had more time to build, test and modify our rig before committing to living in it for so long, but you live you learn I suppose. Keep having fun and getting out there:)
Here's an idea: put reflectix in the windows of your truck and camper shell, to keep out the sun, and prevent heat build up. It's super-inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to store. Also, you can line the outside of the cooler (inside the bag) with the reflectix--it'll make it much more efficient.
That's basically what the bag on the fridge is made of. Just with a tougher exterior. We tied reflectix on the windows, but didn't see any improvement according to our split thermometer. Maybe if we coxed the entire inside of the camper and bed with it...
@@TheTravelingTogetherJournal I cut a roll of reflectix to fit the windows in my shell--they press-fit into the window channels, so no adhesive needed. There was always a measurable difference in the outside heat vs. inside the shell; approx 15-20 degrees on a hot summer day. The biggest difference came when I added a 6' x 7' section on the outer top of the shell. Total cost for 4 large windows, and the top, less than $16. AND my fridge didn't have to run so much.
Thanks for the review. We purchased a less $ brand/unit that looks very similar......here's hoping it lasts and after a year we can do a review too. The separate freezer part is something ours doesn't have....I was super interested in that feature, but in the end decided we could live w/o it on the road. Nice luxury to have though! Rock on.
Thanks guys. I agree that the freezer is totally unnecessary, but nice to have. I hope your fridge lasts for you too. I've watched some of your videos before, but I can't remember, Where are you guys planning to travel when your camper is all done?
I bought one, thanks for the great review now I can use it in RV, but some day I will get a Sail boat and use it again. When will you guys turn into sailors?
We bought a sailboat last week. We've got a few project before we can move in, but plan to be full-time live aboard in the marina while we work and save money for our next big overlanding trip.
The 4AH/Hour on Auto is that actual consumption per hour including idle time or only when compressor is running it's pulling 4AH? I heard the compressor can run as little as 20% of the time which would significantly reduce actual power usage over an hour.
That's actual consumption per an hour. Our "run time" was very high and it can draw as much as 5AH when it's running. I learned a lot about power consumption of 12V fridges during this trip through my experience and talking to manufacturers and forums. Most manufacture specs and even 3rd party comparisons are based off of ideal circumstances with mild ambient temperature, cabinets full of cold items, and the fridges don't get opened. The size of the cabinets, ambient temperature, what is in the fridge, and how often you open it play big rolls in how much time the compressor needs to run. Talking to other people with the same or similar fridges reported 2.5-3 AH because they weren't using them in the tropics and because they were packing them full of cold food and drinks. We were in the tropics and living out of it full time, so we regularly added warm drinks or produce to the fridge or meat that we wanted to freeze in the freezer. If you plan on using your fridge in a similar way, I would expect similar power consumption from any of the top brands. I've also had multiple people with smaller SnoMaster fridges that run the same compressor tell me they use less than 1AH, but they are in mild temperatures and are prepacking the fridge with cold food for 3-5 day trips. So, when trying to determine power consumption the real question is, how are you going to use your fridge?
@@TheTravelingTogetherJournal I want the fridge to be in my car full time and I live in Ontario so it's not that hot here during summer, most days between 75-90 degrees. When we go camping it's usually 2-3 days. But the rest of the time I want the fridge to be as efficient as possible and likely will just use only one side to keep cold drinks and some snacks for day to day. I also drive my car almost daily and that should top up battery somewhat. I use 120AH 27Fsingle battery so I want to avoid getting into solar or dual battery setups. I like that in Dometic 75DZ you can turn off one side and basically have a small 30L fridge. But on Snomaster you can't. So if I just crank up temp on one side to 55F and use a smaller side as a fridge set at 39F, what do you think would be my typical power draw with ambient temp around 75F? I like the parts availability of Snomaster in case there are issues down the road, otherwise I would have probably went with Dometic but once the warranty is out the support is not very good.
@@hikeroutpost I have had a very good experience with the SnoMaster company. Both the USA distributer and the South African company. I can't honestly guess the power consumption accurately for the situation you are describing since I never tried it. If you fill the fridge with something like water bottles for example that retain the temperature better, it will be more efficient than leaving it empty. As far as your camping trips go, I would think that that battery should be sufficient if you are charging it when you drive and you are packing it with pre-cold items.
No. This is something that Amie and I have talked about. It would be a very cool option to be able to stock up for a long outing, but then be able to turn half the fridge off when you eat through your food and don't need the space any more. Hey SnoMaster (just incase your paying attention) this Jon fella has a good idea ;)
no. As far as I know there are no units on the market that have that ability. You can adjust the temps and use both sides as fridge (no freezer) SnoMaster, if you read this, This is something that people (myself included) want.
Without having extensive personal experience with ARB fridges, I'm under the impression that they are of similar quality when it comes to the technology used. You're have to look at the specs for the exact units you are considering to compare thickness of insulation, type and quantity of hinges and latches and how well the design of the product fits the space you want to use it in.
Have you owned any other dual zones in the past, and after all this time has past since you uploaded this video, would you still recommend the snomaster?
I have not owned any other dual zone. We have continued to use this fridge for another ~3 years since we made this video and I would still recommend the SnoMaster brand. If you are based out of the USA, I can say we have had great experience with their USA distributer as well when I wanted a new power cord and one of their new bags👍
Hi have you done a check to see how accurate your fridge readout is? You say you set freezer to -17 deg c. Not sure what your fridge was set too. Have you checked this with a thermometer? Im interested to see how accurate it is as some fridges are known to be out by 7 deg c. Cheers.
Isn't 4Ah a huge draw when comparing it to ARB and Dometic who claim .85Ah for a similar size, but single zone? We've been following along since the beginning, kind of doing binges when we have down time. We're leaving Agust 10th for a trip similar to yours except 4 of us and a dog. Good luck with the sailboat! They're a lot of fun!
Thanks Justin. When I got the SnoMaster it claimed 3Ah for this unit. I think other manufacturers with similar units were calming the same +- .5 Ah. If ARB or anyone else is making a freezer this size that actually averages a .85Ah draw, that is very impressive and I hope it is true. The fridge was our biggest power draw since it was plugged in 24/7. I asked a lot of people on forums and representatives from various fridge manufacturers and I found that for how we were using the fridge our power consumption was not surprising. That's having half the unit at 36F and half at 0F in an uninsulated truck camper in the tropics and opening the fridge periodically for food or drink. I haven't looked in a while, but every compressor driven fridge that I looked at drew 3-4.5 amps an hour while running. The key seems to be expected run times. If the manufacture's test environment results in the fridge only needing to run 50% of the time to stay at the set temp and the unit draws 4 Ah, then it averages 2 Ah and that is what they claim. Sorry for the rant. I spent quite a bit of time trying to tack down information from people who had long term experience with fridges like this. I hope you have a fantastic journey. I'de happily do it all over again and again :)
hi what amp hour is your battery thats runnng your fridge? i have same fridge and my 120ah only runs it for 13 hours on freezer and fridge in 22 deg c weather and sitting indoors. running it on auto speed with 11.7 cut off. are you getting a full night out of yours? have you set your voltage cut off to 10.8 by chance? cheers
hi Lee. I have a 150 amp hour battery bank. and can run the fridge for approximately 24 hours before my cut off shuts it down if it is the only thing being used and everything in it is already cold when I start the clock. I effectively don't use the cut off on the fridge. I set the fridge to the lowest cut off setting but have the fridge wired through the load terminal on my solar charge controller. The charge controller has a more accurate reading on the power draw since it's closer to the batter and has a more adjustable cut off setting. I think I have the cut off on my charge controller set to 11.6 If I look at the charge controller and the fridge display, the fridge always shows a lower voltage reading. I've checked with a multimeter and found the charge controller more accurate. -My suggestion would be to remove any draw besides the fridge and let the fridge run until it hits the cut off (11.7)and shuts down. Then unplug the fridge and let the batteries sit for at least a couple hours. Then use a multimeter to test the resting voltage of the batteries. -This reading will be a more accurate state of charge of the batteries since it is taken at the battery terminals and without the artificial low created by taking a reading with a draw on the system. We'll call this the "soc reading". -Now subtract 11.7 from the soc reading. (we'll call this "the difference")use "the difference" to decide what cut off setting to use on the fridge by subtracting "the difference" from your desired minimum state of charge. Ex) Desired minimum state of charge=12.1 soc reading= 12.3 soc the difference 12.3 -11.7= .6 desired minimum state of charge - the difference = desired cut off voltage 12.1 - .6 = 11.5 Adjust your cut off voltage and try the experiment again. If you are running more loads besides the fridge then "the difference" will be larger. The numbers in the example are totally made up so expect your to be different. Let me know how it goes:)
Thanks so much for that information. I have also noticed the fridge shows a lower voltage than a multimeter reading from the battery. Interesting setup you have there. I'll try what you suggested and see how far i can let battery get down to. Thanks again and please keep the vids coming on how you have things setup and fixes you have had to do. Lot of people find it a huge help and do appreciate it. Cheers.
I bought this fridge and have been testing it in my house 23 deg c ambient temp and it draws 5.2 to 6amps on auto setting. Mostly sits on 5.45amps - Snomaster specs state 4.5 amps @32 deg c temp on auto. I am struggling to keep it running on a 120 ah deep cycle battery. 😕
Hi Halls. That sounds frustrating. You may already be aware of all of this, but here are the first things that pop into my head. - I don't know what temperature they set the fridge at when they do these tests, but obviously maintaining -8 c will require more power than 4 c. so that may be something to look into. I would be interested to hear if there is an industry standard. -Makesure that the compressor side of the fridge has adequate ventilation. this make a big difference. -The manufacturer's specs will be based on the entire unit and it's contents already being at temperature. In order to achieve this during your test I would set the fridge to desired temperature and run it for 24 hours on AC power before starting to quantify the amp hour draw. If you are switching to DC for the test (probably recommended since its your real situation) then I would also let it run .5 hour on DC before starting the count. -I'm pretty sure that all fridge amp draw specs from manufacturers are based on the cabinets being FULL, so if your cabinets aren't full, consider filling them with bottles of water or something else that won't go bad if the fridge does run out of power while your not watching it. This will allow the fridge to be more efficient because the water bottles will warm up more slowly than the air that is otherwise filling the cabinet, so the compressor will spend more time in standby mode instead of running. These fridges have relatively powerful compressors, so they draw a relatively larger amount of power when they are working. The theory is that they spike at a higher amp draw, but then drop off sooner than competitor's fridges because it completes it's task of cooling things down sooner. Mine would draw 5-6 amps while the compressor was working hard, but it shouldn't be constant. As long as we are talking about the same stat, the 4.5 amp/hour is an average that will include the 6 amp/hour spikes, the 1 amp/hour resting periods, and everything in-between. Hopefully this was helpful. If you've already considered all of this, than let me know. We can talk more about your setup and how your getting your measurements. I was frustrated with my fridge/electrical system at first so I know what its like. I want to help you if I can.
Thanks so much for your help and yes filled fridge with cold frozen water.had it running for few days on 240v before going onto 12v. Doing tests on new 120ah battery. I had to drop the cut off to 10.7v in order for my 105ah car battery to run it. All these factors you mention certainly make a big difference how it runs. Next test will be battery charger if battery test comes back ok. I was getting 5.62amps to 6.80 amps readings on auto setting when running fridge from 105 ah car battery through car wiring. Much higher readings than 120 ah battery which i ran fridge straight from rather than through car wiring. The battery was at 12.9v when I plugged fridge in so maybe it was drawing more amps due to slightly being under fully charged and the distance from 12v socket in rear of car to the battery. I'll keep on testing. I should be getting 30 hours tops out of 120ah battery running in 23 deg c ambient with fridge not being opened and battery starting at a fully charged state and drawing 5.45amps from my calculations.
If the outlet in you car is factory, I would assume that it probably isn't as heavy duty as you would like for this application and for the distance from the battery. Your most likely fighting a lot if resistance in that circuit. 12 V outlets in general aren't very efficient, so it's a good call to avoid using it if it's an option. If your using a lead acid deep cycle battery, its generally accepted that you should avoid discharging below 50% or you will greatly reduce it's life. So you should avoid using more than 60ah of your battery's 120 ah unless you aren't worried about keeping the battery functional for long. If you have 120ah of usable power, then you would be able to run the fridge for 22 hours at 5.45 amps 120/5.45=22.01 or 26 hours if you were getting the 4.5 amps from the spec sheet. 120/4.5=26.66 How are you measuring the power draw? I found that the readings on the fridge display were not a representation of what the battery is putting out. They tend to show a lower voltage and higher amperage compared to readings taken at the battery with a multimeter. You may be able to multiply the readings( VxA=W) and get an accurate watt consumption rate, but I never tested that. I used the charge controller from my solar system to monitor the circuit that my fridge was attached to. The charge controller was wired very close to the battery and using a multi meeter to cross reference I found that it gave a much more accurate measure of power consumption and state of charge than the fridge. My test (which I did many times while trouble shooting my own system) was to hook up the cold, full fridge to my battery bank through the circuit monitored by my charge controller. This was without the panels or any other loads being hooked up. The charge controller is programed to do many things including to sum up all power consumed on the circuit in a day. By setting the charge controller clock so that it thought the starting time of my test was 12 midnight I could come back at anytime in the next 24 hours and know how much power had been consumed in that mount of time. For example; I start my test and come back 10 hours later to see that my fridge circuit has consumed 40 amps. 40/10= 4 My fridge circuit is consuming 4 amps per hour. I also found that the low setting on the fridge did a fine job of keeping things cold even in the freezer and it saved me about 1 amp an hour. I imagine this would depend on your usage however.
Thanks again for your info. My 12v socket was put in after I purchased 4wd. 2 auto electricians have checked the wiring since. Its 5mm or 6mm wiring. I was originally calculating on 50% - 60 ah on the 120ah deep cycle battery but the company where I bought battery assured me I could use all but 30% -11.8v. In reality if everything is working well the battery shouldnt be left uncharged for more than 17 hours. I'm using a multimeter on the batteries to get V as the fridge display is 1.1v less thru car wiring and 0.7v less when fridge is plugged directly to 120 ah sitting in my garage. Exactly what you said. This is why I had to drop fridge cutoff down to 10.7v as fridge would not run on 105ah as soon as compressor kicked in the fridge display dropped to 11.8 the actual battery reading was 12.9 on multimeter on battery terminals. I use a cps ac750 clamp ac dc meter for amps. Clamp positive wire direct from battery .i run both meters as the fridge cycles. I have freezer side set to -18 deg c and fridge side on +3 deg c. With ambient temp 23/24 deg c the fridge runs 6 minutes 50 secs on and about the same off. So 50% cycling time. Be interested to hear what your cycling time is when you're out in the heat travelling using auto setting. I know theres a lot of factors but roughly? Do you have any water under the fridge? When I moved mine i noticed some water left on floor. Was wondering how it goes in the car in the heat? Good to hear about the low setting was wondering about that. When on low running thru the 120ah battery i got 2.70 amps. If i can use this in the heat I'd be happy. I have been using an aussie made evakool fibreglass danfoss compressor 60L fridge in my car for years which I've used in outside temps of 45 deg c and its run fantastic only pulls 3.5 to 4.5 amps and never had an issue running it on my 105 ah in car. I wanted a dual compartment fridge with remote control so went the snomaster. Appreciate your knowledge its a huge help.
Your explanation of the different readings your getting on your different set ups all sounds exactly like what i would expect from my experience. same with the fridge reading the artificial low state of charge and turning it's self off too early. I think I just realized where we have a disconnect in language. When you were saying that the fridge is drawing 5.45 amps do you mean at a given point in time when you test it with your multimeter the reading you see is 5.45? I was reading it as 5.45 amps per hour since that was the unit of measurement I was always concerned with when figuring out my system. If it is drawing 5.45 amps when the compressor is running then that is perfectly in line with the 66w manufacture rating. with a 50% duty cycle your consuming 2.725 amps per hour and if you are using 70% of your battery's capacity then all of your math makes sense and you would be able to run the fridge for 30 hours except for that the unit will continue to draw .5 amp while in stand by to power the computer,cooling fan, ect. so you end up with an expected run time of 28 hours off of your battery and an average draw of 2.97 amps per hour. Our duty cycle was roughly 70% in the back of our truck with 32 deg C ambient temperatures, but I think you could get a shorter duty cycle in the same conditions if you give it better ventilation. I was encroaching on the minimum recommended vent space and that space only had narrow gaps in the cabinetry to vent out through. I wouldn't be surprised if the air around the compressor got to 40 deg c when we had the camper all closed up mid day. I will do things differently when I redesign our camper in the future. We never had any water under our fridge. We did notice some condensation between the cabinet and insulating bag on occasion, but didn't think anything of it. The cabinets do have drain plugs at the bottom for easy cleaning, so if you have moisture accumulated at the bottom of the cabinet it could theoretically leak out although ours never leaked and we had plenty of spills inside of the cabinets. Now that I have a better understanding of the numbers you are sharing with me, I would say that your fridge is working the same as ours has. Our duty cycle dropped off considerably with cooler temperatures. I can't say exactly how much since we were no longer concerned with power consumption I stopped checking it regularly. How long are you able to run your fridge on your 120ah battery?
Enjoyed the review. I have another brand, very popular brand, an the temp from top to bottom is absolutely terrible. The one I have is off by about 10-15 degree. I was just wondering how even the temp is from top to bottom?
Sorry Johny, but I have never tested it. I guess I can say that the temps are even enough through out the cabinets that I haven't noticed any discrepancy and never though to test it. The freezer freezes everything in the top and bottom baskets and everything in the fridge is cold with out freezing. Hope that helps. sorry for the lack of exact info on that one
This is good info. I only tested mine because I would get frozen things at the bottom, milk, meats, ECT., and the top things like cheese, yogurt, ECT., would spoil. I think I will be switching to one of these. Thank you for the reply.
Larry Queen FedEx dropped it on the compressor side of the fridge. It had a huge dent when we opened it. SnoMaster offered a replacement, but we thought it was only aesthetic and went with it anyways. Once we were on the road it got worse every day. SnoMaster sent us a brand new one to Puerto Vallarta where FedEx proceeded to have it upside down. Fortunately it was very easy to get a hold of SnoMaster and they advised us to wait 24 hours so the fluid could drain back into the compressor. The problem was FedEx not our fridge.
Hearing your review of noise level was super helpful, thank you!
With a stache like that your credibility immediately increases at least 37%. I for one, am completely convinced. Seriously though, nice review. How has their customer service been?
Thanks Scott!
Their service has been very good. We have been dealing directly with their USA importer since we got one of the first ones in the country and they are super responsive. If you've seen episode 16 you know that they sent us a new unit to Puerto Vallarta because our original unit was damaged during shipping. As soon as I told them which Fedex facility to send it to they shipped it out so we could pick it up as we made our way through the area. Super helpful!
We lucked into a bit of a relationship with them since I was trying to get a SnoMaster just as they started to import them into the USA, but I know they have also offered to help other travelers in Central America with fridge issues too, so good company :)
Thank you. Saw one of these on CZcams Primal Outdoors. Then I found your review. Great review, No constant talking about nothing got to all the important information, what a joy. Now I have subscribed to your channel.
Glad it was helpful!
Great review, also great videos about your travels.
Nice job on the review Matt!
MUCH better presentation in this video than your review of the water filter/jerry can. Really nice work on this video.
Thanks for the great review! The only thing missing is a walk through of the issues you were having with your first fridge and how that got resolved. Your videos so far from the trip show y'all on the struggle bus with the first one, and then without a ton of explanation you get a new one... I guess the new one worked out?
I have enjoyed all y'alls videos, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching Brad. It's encouraging to know we have viewers following along.
We do go into our electrical issues a bit more in the next episode, but you are correct the fridge has been resolved.
I guess we didn't do a great job of explaining it all because it was a simple cause and I never learned 100% what the technical issue was, but here's the low down:
SnoMaster sent the original fridge to us in California via FedEx. FedEx dropped it hard enough to bend one of the bottoms corners up about a 1/2 inch on the compressed side. Since it was on the compressed side, it didn't affect the insulation and we plugged the unit into AC power and froze water in both compartments, so we figured it worked and was just a cosmetic issue. You can probably tell from our rig that we don't worry too much about looks and SnoMaster was nice enough to hook us up with the fridge so we just went with it.
As you've seen in the videos, the fridge's ability to function quickly deteriorates when we try to keep it plugged in full time. SnoMaster was super cool with customer service. They texted back and forth with me in Baja to help me look for simple issues and I sent them some pictures that they passed on to their tech department. In the end it seemed to be an issue with the compressor not circulating the refrigerant. SnoMaster decided that it would be better just to send me an entirely new unit apposed to a new compressor that I would have to try to get installed somewhere in Mexico, so I looked into where they could send it that was on our rout and as soon as I let them know when and where they sent it.
You got to see in episode 16 that the FedEx in Puerto Vallarta wasn't much better than the one in California (rollin it out upside down) but they managed not to break it this time and SnoMaster had good customer service again. Letting me know that if I don't turn it on for 24 hours after setting it upright then it should be fine.
If you ever get a compressor fridge of any brand shipped to you I would recommend not plugging it in for 24 hours. Chances are the shipping company rolled it at some point.
Hopefully that clears things up Brad and stay tuned, I think episode 17 is going to be the conclusion of our electrical issues : )
The Traveling Together Journal - Thanks! Its great to hear the company stands behind their product that way, and that their customer service is easy to work with. Based on your experience I'll definitely be considering them when I buy a fridge this fall!
Cool. What kind of vehicle you putting it in? I feel like their on par with National Luna or other top offerings in the market, so it's all about who makes the best size and shape for your needs. Well, and price point I guess ;)
The Traveling Together Journal I have a 2001 4runner that I have slowly been working on over the past couple years. If you click to my profile you can see some videos I made of weekender trips we have taken. In the one we took to Cape Lookout you can really see the truck. One day it would be awesome to follow in y'alls footsteps, but right now my kids are young.
Cool. Looks like a fun rig. The slow build is the way to go. I wish we would have had more time to build, test and modify our rig before committing to living in it for so long, but you live you learn I suppose. Keep having fun and getting out there:)
Here's an idea: put reflectix in the windows of your truck and camper shell, to keep out the sun, and prevent heat build up. It's super-inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to store. Also, you can line the outside of the cooler (inside the bag) with the reflectix--it'll make it much more efficient.
That's basically what the bag on the fridge is made of. Just with a tougher exterior.
We tied reflectix on the windows, but didn't see any improvement according to our split thermometer. Maybe if we coxed the entire inside of the camper and bed with it...
@@TheTravelingTogetherJournal I cut a roll of reflectix to fit the windows in my shell--they press-fit into the window channels, so no adhesive needed. There was always a measurable difference in the outside heat vs. inside the shell; approx 15-20 degrees on a hot summer day. The biggest difference came when I added a 6' x 7' section on the outer top of the shell. Total cost for 4 large windows, and the top, less than $16. AND my fridge didn't have to run so much.
Thanks for the review. We purchased a less $ brand/unit that looks very similar......here's hoping it lasts and after a year we can do a review too. The separate freezer part is something ours doesn't have....I was super interested in that feature, but in the end decided we could live w/o it on the road. Nice luxury to have though! Rock on.
Thanks guys. I agree that the freezer is totally unnecessary, but nice to have. I hope your fridge lasts for you too. I've watched some of your videos before, but I can't remember, Where are you guys planning to travel when your camper is all done?
Great review!!
Great review!
I bought one, thanks for the great review now I can use it in RV, but some day I will get a Sail boat and use it again. When will you guys turn into sailors?
We bought a sailboat last week. We've got a few project before we can move in, but plan to be full-time live aboard in the marina while we work and save money for our next big overlanding trip.
Love your shirt! Where can I get one?
Thanks guys, love your videos!
😎🌮👍
prices have gone up to over 1200 us unfortunately.
What's your noise update? Any rattle in the long term?
No. It never got any louder. just here the little cooling fans and a slight gurgle when the compressor starts up
The 4AH/Hour on Auto is that actual consumption per hour including idle time or only when compressor is running it's pulling 4AH? I heard the compressor can run as little as 20% of the time which would significantly reduce actual power usage over an hour.
That's actual consumption per an hour.
Our "run time" was very high and it can draw as much as 5AH when it's running.
I learned a lot about power consumption of 12V fridges during this trip through my experience and talking to manufacturers and forums. Most manufacture specs and even 3rd party comparisons are based off of ideal circumstances with mild ambient temperature, cabinets full of cold items, and the fridges don't get opened.
The size of the cabinets, ambient temperature, what is in the fridge, and how often you open it play big rolls in how much time the compressor needs to run.
Talking to other people with the same or similar fridges reported 2.5-3 AH because they weren't using them in the tropics and because they were packing them full of cold food and drinks. We were in the tropics and living out of it full time, so we regularly added warm drinks or produce to the fridge or meat that we wanted to freeze in the freezer. If you plan on using your fridge in a similar way, I would expect similar power consumption from any of the top brands.
I've also had multiple people with smaller SnoMaster fridges that run the same compressor tell me they use less than 1AH, but they are in mild temperatures and are prepacking the fridge with cold food for 3-5 day trips.
So, when trying to determine power consumption the real question is, how are you going to use your fridge?
@@TheTravelingTogetherJournal I want the fridge to be in my car full time and I live in Ontario so it's not that hot here during summer, most days between 75-90 degrees. When we go camping it's usually 2-3 days. But the rest of the time I want the fridge to be as efficient as possible and likely will just use only one side to keep cold drinks and some snacks for day to day. I also drive my car almost daily and that should top up battery somewhat. I use 120AH 27Fsingle battery so I want to avoid getting into solar or dual battery setups. I like that in Dometic 75DZ you can turn off one side and basically have a small 30L fridge. But on Snomaster you can't. So if I just crank up temp on one side to 55F and use a smaller side as a fridge set at 39F, what do you think would be my typical power draw with ambient temp around 75F? I like the parts availability of Snomaster in case there are issues down the road, otherwise I would have probably went with Dometic but once the warranty is out the support is not very good.
@@hikeroutpost I have had a very good experience with the SnoMaster company. Both the USA distributer and the South African company.
I can't honestly guess the power consumption accurately for the situation you are describing since I never tried it. If you fill the fridge with something like water bottles for example that retain the temperature better, it will be more efficient than leaving it empty.
As far as your camping trips go, I would think that that battery should be sufficient if you are charging it when you drive and you are packing it with pre-cold items.
Can you turn off one side and just use one compartment at a time? to be more efficient
No. This is something that Amie and I have talked about. It would be a very cool option to be able to stock up for a long outing, but then be able to turn half the fridge off when you eat through your food and don't need the space any more.
Hey SnoMaster (just incase your paying attention) this Jon fella has a good idea ;)
Hi great video thanks, question 2.5 on low and 5 amp on high does it have a auto if so do you use auto
it does. and we have, I can't say for sure because I haven't done controlled testing, but it seems similar to "high" in its function
Can u turn one side completely off and just use the fridge?
no. As far as I know there are no units on the market that have that ability.
You can adjust the temps and use both sides as fridge (no freezer)
SnoMaster, if you read this, This is something that people (myself included) want.
Are these better then an ARB?
Without having extensive personal experience with ARB fridges, I'm under the impression that they are of similar quality when it comes to the technology used. You're have to look at the specs for the exact units you are considering to compare thickness of insulation, type and quantity of hinges and latches and how well the design of the product fits the space you want to use it in.
Have you owned any other dual zones in the past, and after all this time has past since you uploaded this video, would you still recommend the snomaster?
I have not owned any other dual zone. We have continued to use this fridge for another ~3 years since we made this video and I would still recommend the SnoMaster brand. If you are based out of the USA, I can say we have had great experience with their USA distributer as well when I wanted a new power cord and one of their new bags👍
Hi have you done a check to see how accurate your fridge readout is? You say you set freezer to -17 deg c. Not sure what your fridge was set too. Have you checked this with a thermometer? Im interested to see how accurate it is as some fridges are known to be out by 7 deg c. Cheers.
Interesting. I have not checked this, but I will in the next few days and get back to you.
Thank you. Also interested to know what voltage do you set your fridge to so the battery doesnt go completely flat when you are out bush?
Isn't 4Ah a huge draw when comparing it to ARB and Dometic who claim .85Ah for a similar size, but single zone? We've been following along since the beginning, kind of doing binges when we have down time. We're leaving Agust 10th for a trip similar to yours except 4 of us and a dog. Good luck with the sailboat! They're a lot of fun!
Thanks Justin. When I got the SnoMaster it claimed 3Ah for this unit. I think other manufacturers with similar units were calming the same +- .5 Ah.
If ARB or anyone else is making a freezer this size that actually averages a .85Ah draw, that is very impressive and I hope it is true.
The fridge was our biggest power draw since it was plugged in 24/7. I asked a lot of people on forums and representatives from various fridge manufacturers and I found that for how we were using the fridge our power consumption was not surprising. That's having half the unit at 36F and half at 0F in an uninsulated truck camper in the tropics and opening the fridge periodically for food or drink.
I haven't looked in a while, but every compressor driven fridge that I looked at drew 3-4.5 amps an hour while running. The key seems to be expected run times. If the manufacture's test environment results in the fridge only needing to run 50% of the time to stay at the set temp and the unit draws 4 Ah, then it averages 2 Ah and that is what they claim.
Sorry for the rant. I spent quite a bit of time trying to tack down information from people who had long term experience with fridges like this.
I hope you have a fantastic journey. I'de happily do it all over again and again :)
hi what amp hour is your battery thats runnng your fridge? i have same fridge and my 120ah only runs it for 13 hours on freezer and fridge in 22 deg c weather and sitting indoors. running it on auto speed with 11.7 cut off. are you getting a full night out of yours? have you set your voltage cut off to 10.8 by chance? cheers
hi Lee. I have a 150 amp hour battery bank. and can run the fridge for approximately 24 hours before my cut off shuts it down if it is the only thing being used and everything in it is already cold when I start the clock.
I effectively don't use the cut off on the fridge. I set the fridge to the lowest cut off setting but have the fridge wired through the load terminal on my solar charge controller. The charge controller has a more accurate reading on the power draw since it's closer to the batter and has a more adjustable cut off setting. I think I have the cut off on my charge controller set to 11.6
If I look at the charge controller and the fridge display, the fridge always shows a lower voltage reading. I've checked with a multimeter and found the charge controller more accurate.
-My suggestion would be to remove any draw besides the fridge and let the fridge run until it hits the cut off (11.7)and shuts down. Then unplug the fridge and let the batteries sit for at least a couple hours. Then use a multimeter to test the resting voltage of the batteries.
-This reading will be a more accurate state of charge of the batteries since it is taken at the battery terminals and without the artificial low created by taking a reading with a draw on the system. We'll call this the "soc reading".
-Now subtract 11.7 from the soc reading. (we'll call this "the difference")use "the difference" to decide what cut off setting to use on the fridge by subtracting "the difference" from your desired minimum state of charge.
Ex)
Desired minimum state of charge=12.1
soc reading= 12.3
soc the difference
12.3 -11.7= .6
desired minimum state of charge - the difference = desired cut off voltage
12.1 - .6 = 11.5
Adjust your cut off voltage and try the experiment again. If you are running more loads besides the fridge then "the difference" will be larger. The numbers in the example are totally made up so expect your to be different.
Let me know how it goes:)
Thanks so much for that information. I have also noticed the fridge shows a lower voltage than a multimeter reading from the battery. Interesting setup you have there. I'll try what you suggested and see how far i can let battery get down to. Thanks again and please keep the vids coming on how you have things setup and fixes you have had to do. Lot of people find it a huge help and do appreciate it. Cheers.
Found it haha
I bought this fridge and have been testing it in my house 23 deg c ambient temp and it draws 5.2 to 6amps on auto setting. Mostly sits on 5.45amps - Snomaster specs state 4.5 amps @32 deg c temp on auto. I am struggling to keep it running on a 120 ah deep cycle battery. 😕
Hi Halls. That sounds frustrating.
You may already be aware of all of this, but here are the first things that pop into my head.
- I don't know what temperature they set the fridge at when they do these tests, but obviously maintaining -8 c will require more power than 4 c. so that may be something to look into. I would be interested to hear if there is an industry standard.
-Makesure that the compressor side of the fridge has adequate ventilation. this make a big difference.
-The manufacturer's specs will be based on the entire unit and it's contents already being at temperature. In order to achieve this during your test I would set the fridge to desired temperature and run it for 24 hours on AC power before starting to quantify the amp hour draw. If you are switching to DC for the test (probably recommended since its your real situation) then I would also let it run .5 hour on DC before starting the count.
-I'm pretty sure that all fridge amp draw specs from manufacturers are based on the cabinets being FULL, so if your cabinets aren't full, consider filling them with bottles of water or something else that won't go bad if the fridge does run out of power while your not watching it. This will allow the fridge to be more efficient because the water bottles will warm up more slowly than the air that is otherwise filling the cabinet, so the compressor will spend more time in standby mode instead of running.
These fridges have relatively powerful compressors, so they draw a relatively larger amount of power when they are working. The theory is that they spike at a higher amp draw, but then drop off sooner than competitor's fridges because it completes it's task of cooling things down sooner. Mine would draw 5-6 amps while the compressor was working hard, but it shouldn't be constant. As long as we are talking about the same stat, the 4.5 amp/hour is an average that will include the 6 amp/hour spikes, the 1 amp/hour resting periods, and everything in-between.
Hopefully this was helpful. If you've already considered all of this, than let me know. We can talk more about your setup and how your getting your measurements. I was frustrated with my fridge/electrical system at first so I know what its like. I want to help you if I can.
Thanks so much for your help and yes filled fridge with cold frozen water.had it running for few days on 240v before going onto 12v. Doing tests on new 120ah battery. I had to drop the cut off to 10.7v in order for my 105ah car battery to run it. All these factors you mention certainly make a big difference how it runs. Next test will be battery charger if battery test comes back ok.
I was getting 5.62amps to 6.80 amps readings on auto setting when running fridge from 105 ah car battery through car wiring. Much higher readings than 120 ah battery which i ran fridge straight from rather than through car wiring. The battery was at 12.9v when I plugged fridge in so maybe it was drawing more amps due to slightly being under fully charged and the distance from 12v socket in rear of car to the battery. I'll keep on testing. I should be getting 30 hours tops out of 120ah battery running in 23 deg c ambient with fridge not being opened and battery starting at a fully charged state and drawing 5.45amps from my calculations.
If the outlet in you car is factory, I would assume that it probably isn't as heavy duty as you would like for this application and for the distance from the battery. Your most likely fighting a lot if resistance in that circuit.
12 V outlets in general aren't very efficient, so it's a good call to avoid using it if it's an option.
If your using a lead acid deep cycle battery, its generally accepted that you should avoid discharging below 50% or you will greatly reduce it's life. So you should avoid using more than 60ah of your battery's 120 ah unless you aren't worried about keeping the battery functional for long.
If you have 120ah of usable power, then you would be able to run the fridge for 22 hours at 5.45 amps
120/5.45=22.01
or 26 hours if you were getting the 4.5 amps from the spec sheet.
120/4.5=26.66
How are you measuring the power draw?
I found that the readings on the fridge display were not a representation of what the battery is putting out. They tend to show a lower voltage and higher amperage compared to readings taken at the battery with a multimeter.
You may be able to multiply the readings( VxA=W) and get an accurate watt consumption rate, but I never tested that.
I used the charge controller from my solar system to monitor the circuit that my fridge was attached to. The charge controller was wired very close to the battery and using a multi meeter to cross reference I found that it gave a much more accurate measure of power consumption and state of charge than the fridge.
My test (which I did many times while trouble shooting my own system) was to hook up the cold, full fridge to my battery bank through the circuit monitored by my charge controller. This was without the panels or any other loads being hooked up. The charge controller is programed to do many things including to sum up all power consumed on the circuit in a day. By setting the charge controller clock so that it thought the starting time of my test was 12 midnight I could come back at anytime in the next 24 hours and know how much power had been consumed in that mount of time.
For example; I start my test and come back 10 hours later to see that my fridge circuit has consumed 40 amps. 40/10= 4 My fridge circuit is consuming 4 amps per hour.
I also found that the low setting on the fridge did a fine job of keeping things cold even in the freezer and it saved me about 1 amp an hour. I imagine this would depend on your usage however.
Thanks again for your info. My 12v socket was put in after I purchased 4wd. 2 auto electricians have checked the wiring since. Its 5mm or 6mm wiring. I was originally calculating on 50% - 60 ah on the 120ah deep cycle battery but the company where I bought battery assured me I could use all but 30% -11.8v. In reality if everything is working well the battery shouldnt be left uncharged for more than 17 hours.
I'm using a multimeter on the batteries to get V as the fridge display is 1.1v less thru car wiring and 0.7v less when fridge is plugged directly to 120 ah sitting in my garage. Exactly what you said. This is why I had to drop fridge cutoff down to 10.7v as fridge would not run on 105ah as soon as compressor kicked in the fridge display dropped to 11.8 the actual battery reading was 12.9 on multimeter on battery terminals. I use a cps ac750 clamp ac dc meter for amps. Clamp positive wire direct from battery .i run both meters as the fridge cycles. I have freezer side set to -18 deg c and fridge side on +3 deg c. With ambient temp 23/24 deg c the fridge runs 6 minutes 50 secs on and about the same off. So 50% cycling time. Be interested to hear what your cycling time is when you're out in the heat travelling using auto setting. I know theres a lot of factors but roughly? Do you have any water under the fridge? When I moved mine i noticed some water left on floor. Was wondering how it goes in the car in the heat?
Good to hear about the low setting was wondering about that. When on low running thru the 120ah battery i got 2.70 amps. If i can use this in the heat I'd be happy.
I have been using an aussie made evakool fibreglass danfoss compressor 60L fridge in my car for years which I've used in outside temps of 45 deg c and its run fantastic only pulls 3.5 to 4.5 amps and never had an issue running it on my 105 ah in car. I wanted a dual compartment fridge with remote control so went the snomaster. Appreciate your knowledge its a huge help.
Your explanation of the different readings your getting on your different set ups all sounds exactly like what i would expect from my experience. same with the fridge reading the artificial low state of charge and turning it's self off too early.
I think I just realized where we have a disconnect in language.
When you were saying that the fridge is drawing 5.45 amps do you mean at a given point in time when you test it with your multimeter the reading you see is 5.45?
I was reading it as 5.45 amps per hour since that was the unit of measurement I was always concerned with when figuring out my system.
If it is drawing 5.45 amps when the compressor is running then that is perfectly in line with the 66w manufacture rating.
with a 50% duty cycle your consuming 2.725 amps per hour and if you are using 70% of your battery's capacity then all of your math makes sense and you would be able to run the fridge for 30 hours except for that the unit will continue to draw .5 amp while in stand by to power the computer,cooling fan, ect. so you end up with an expected run time of 28 hours off of your battery and an average draw of 2.97 amps per hour.
Our duty cycle was roughly 70% in the back of our truck with 32 deg C ambient temperatures, but I think you could get a shorter duty cycle in the same conditions if you give it better ventilation. I was encroaching on the minimum recommended vent space and that space only had narrow gaps in the cabinetry to vent out through. I wouldn't be surprised if the air around the compressor got to 40 deg c when we had the camper all closed up mid day. I will do things differently when I redesign our camper in the future.
We never had any water under our fridge. We did notice some condensation between the cabinet and insulating bag on occasion, but didn't think anything of it. The cabinets do have drain plugs at the bottom for easy cleaning, so if you have moisture accumulated at the bottom of the cabinet it could theoretically leak out although ours never leaked and we had plenty of spills inside of the cabinets.
Now that I have a better understanding of the numbers you are sharing with me, I would say that your fridge is working the same as ours has. Our duty cycle dropped off considerably with cooler temperatures. I can't say exactly how much since we were no longer concerned with power consumption I stopped checking it regularly.
How long are you able to run your fridge on your 120ah battery?
Enjoyed the review. I have another brand, very popular brand, an the temp from top to bottom is absolutely terrible. The one I have is off by about 10-15 degree. I was just wondering how even the temp is from top to bottom?
Sorry Johny, but I have never tested it. I guess I can say that the temps are even enough through out the cabinets that I haven't noticed any discrepancy and never though to test it. The freezer freezes everything in the top and bottom baskets and everything in the fridge is cold with out freezing. Hope that helps. sorry for the lack of exact info on that one
This is good info. I only tested mine because I would get frozen things at the bottom, milk, meats, ECT., and the top things like cheese, yogurt, ECT., would spoil. I think I will be switching to one of these. Thank you for the reply.
Not one of there units is under 1k........
Ok affordability is the proper English term lol
M
Dude, it broke on you less than a month in the road. Sorry, but I can't get on board with this thing. I'll stick with ARB.
Larry Queen FedEx dropped it on the compressor side of the fridge. It had a huge dent when we opened it. SnoMaster offered a replacement, but we thought it was only aesthetic and went with it anyways. Once we were on the road it got worse every day. SnoMaster sent us a brand new one to Puerto Vallarta where FedEx proceeded to have it upside down. Fortunately it was very easy to get a hold of SnoMaster and they advised us to wait 24 hours so the fluid could drain back into the compressor. The problem was FedEx not our fridge.