Dometic CFX3 35 Cooler: Impact to R1T battery level after 24 HR of 120V connection

[EVTrukHog]

I recently did a garage test of the impact of plugging a new Dometic CFX3 35 cooler into the 120V auxiliary outlet in bed of R1T. I started with a pre-cooled temperature setting in the CFX3 of 36F. Outside temperatures ranged from low 50s to low 70s during test period. No direct sun as truck stayed in garage during test period.

Day 1 @ 11AM: SOC 61% (plugged cooler in bed outlet)
Day 2 @ 11AM: SOC 54% (outlet automatically turned off after 24 hours)

Since I normally lose 1%-2% of SOC in a 24 hour period, I'd attribute an approximate 6% SOC discharge due to the cooler. While this may not be a linear discharge, you could approximate about 1% SOC discharge every 4 hours of being connected to the 120V supply of the R1T. YMMV.

Be interested to see what results others are getting in similar tests.

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[EVTrukHog]

As someone who has the same fridge (it’s fantastic for those wondering), thanks for posting!

For weekend trips, I currently power it off my Bluetti EB55 in my Wrangler, which just about lasted a full weekend in the trunk with outdoor temps in the mid 90’s high and mid 70’s low. I have a solar panel to help charge it up if I need it too.

I will probably end up keeping this setup in my R1T, and just use the outlets for phones, batteries, lights etc to manage power a bit better. I can test this myself soon too, having a guide assigned today

I also bought the Dometic PLB40 portable battery... going to do a similar test to see what the R1T's SOC discharge is associated with re-charging the PLB40 battery.

 

[mini2nut]

These compact fridge/freezers are pricey. I was looking at the gold standard (Australian made ARB) and they are around $1k.

 

[EVTrukHog]

These compact fridge/freezers are pricey. I was looking at the gold standard (Australian made ARB) and they are around $1k.

they all are certainly pricey. I’ve been on the fence about whether value is worth it but I’m giving it a go. Best price I found was here: https://rackupgo.com/search?type=everything&q=dometic CFX3 *

 

[Dark-Fx]

I recently did a garage test of the impact of plugging a new Dometic CFX3 35 cooler into the 120V auxiliary outlet in bed of R1T. I started with a pre-cooled temperature setting in the CFX3 of 36F. Outside temperatures ranged from low 50s to low 70s during test period. No direct sun as truck stayed in garage during test period.

Day 1 @ 11AM: SOC 61% (plugged cooler in bed outlet)
Day 2 @ 11AM: SOC 54% (outlet automatically turned off after 24 hours)

Since I normally lose 1%-2% of SOC in a 24 hour period, I'd attribute an approximate 6% SOC discharge due to the cooler. While this may not be a linear discharge, you could approximate about 1% SOC discharge every 4 hours of being connected to the 120V supply of the R1T. YMMV.

Be interested to see what results others are getting in similar tests.

The amount of energy the cooler uses is inconsequential. Just keeping the 120V inverter powered up will read basically the same. It's probably my biggest disappointment with the truck. I eventually plan on having a secondary battery system for just low voltage electronics like the cooler, just haven't figured out how I will tie in with the truck's electronics for charging it yet.

 

[EVTrukHog]

The amount of energy the cooler uses is inconsequential. Just keeping the 120V inverter powered up will read basically the same. It's probably my biggest disappointment with the truck. I eventually plan on having a secondary battery system for just low voltage electronics like the cooler, just haven't figured out how I will tie in with the truck's electronics for charging it yet.

...so this makes me want to test how fast I can add a meaningful charge to the PLB40 portable battery from R1T 120V outlet...and I guess it explains why the truck auto shuts-off the 120V outlets at max of 24 hours.

 

[ads75]

These compact fridge/freezers are pricey. I was looking at the gold standard (Australian made ARB) and they are around $1k.

I think I bought mine from REI using a 20% off coupon that they send out annually to their members. But I’ve only used it a couple times.

 

[Singletracker]

I have the CFX40 in my FJ Cruiser, connected to a cigarette lighter type 12v power. It sips power and will run well past 48 hours, without starting the car. Running an empty fridge may not be the best test. If that fridge is full of food and drinks, I’ll bet it will use even less power. Yeah, I know. It’s not an R1T, but you get the idea

 

[the long way downunder]

I recently did a garage test of the impact of plugging a new Dometic CFX3 35 cooler into the 120V auxiliary outlet in bed of R1T. I started with a pre-cooled temperature setting in the CFX3 of 36F. Outside temperatures ranged from low 50s to low 70s during test period. No direct sun as truck stayed in garage during test period.

Day 1 @ 11AM: SOC 61% (plugged cooler in bed outlet)
Day 2 @ 11AM: SOC 54% (outlet automatically turned off after 24 hours)

Since I normally lose 1%-2% of SOC in a 24 hour period, I'd attribute an approximate 6% SOC discharge due to the cooler. While this may not be a linear discharge, you could approximate about 1% SOC discharge every 4 hours of being connected to the 120V supply of the R1T. YMMV.

Be interested to see what results others are getting in similar tests.

I have the little iceco 20 plugged into the 12V in the frunk – it seems negligible in actual impact, it's also left closed and it's cold outside, so it's not really working much.

 

[Dark-Fx]

...so this makes me want to test how fast I can add a meaningful charge to the PLB40 portable battery from R1T 120V outlet...and I guess it explains why the truck auto shuts-off the 120V outlets at max of 24 hours.

It'd be a decent option to have a battery in the truck that the fridge runs off of and a charger off of 120V, but you'd have to deal with the charger competing for power with any other uses. Running my LFP charger and the induction stove at the same time would most likely trip the circuit. The fridge and stove can run at the same time just fine, but it does cause our 120V string lights to flicker when that happens.

 

[BCal55]

I recently did a garage test of the impact of plugging a new Dometic CFX3 35 cooler into the 120V auxiliary outlet in bed of R1T. I started with a pre-cooled temperature setting in the CFX3 of 36F. Outside temperatures ranged from low 50s to low 70s during test period. No direct sun as truck stayed in garage during test period.

Day 1 @ 11AM: SOC 61% (plugged cooler in bed outlet)
Day 2 @ 11AM: SOC 54% (outlet automatically turned off after 24 hours)

Since I normally lose 1%-2% of SOC in a 24 hour period, I'd attribute an approximate 6% SOC discharge due to the cooler. While this may not be a linear discharge, you could approximate about 1% SOC discharge every 4 hours of being connected to the 120V supply of the R1T. YMMV.

Be interested to see what results others are getting in similar tests.

It would be interesting to see the same test with the fridge powered off of the 12v power supply. I would guess you'd see less range loss since you don't have the losses associated with the power inverter in the truck.

 

[TBL]

According to a review by GearLab, ”.. CFX3 draws around 50.7 Watts of power. Once it has reached your desired temperature, this model draws about 1.0 Watt of energy to monitor internal temps.”

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/powered-cooler/dometic-cfx3-45

Even if the cooler ran constantly for 24h you would expect max power consupmtion of
50.7W x 24h = 1.2 KWh.
This is less than 1% of the Rivian battery capacity.

Agree with Dark-Fx about the inverter likely being the culprit of 5-6% of your 24h loss.

Has anyone tested:

• Power consumption leaving the inverter (110V outlets) on over 24h without load
• Power consumption leaving the inverter (110V outlets) on over 24h with load

 

[DJG]

I recently did a garage test of the impact of plugging a new Dometic CFX3 35 cooler into the 120V auxiliary outlet in bed of R1T. I started with a pre-cooled temperature setting in the CFX3 of 36F. Outside temperatures ranged from low 50s to low 70s during test period. No direct sun as truck stayed in garage during test period.

Day 1 @ 11AM: SOC 61% (plugged cooler in bed outlet)
Day 2 @ 11AM: SOC 54% (outlet automatically turned off after 24 hours)

Since I normally lose 1%-2% of SOC in a 24 hour period, I'd attribute an approximate 6% SOC discharge due to the cooler. While this may not be a linear discharge, you could approximate about 1% SOC discharge every 4 hours of being connected to the 120V supply of the R1T. YMMV.

Be interested to see what results others are getting in similar tests.

It would be helpful to do the same test with it plugged into the 12v to compare. However, I'm not exactly sure if those stay on the same as the 120v does now when that switch is flipped (they didn't early on).

In theory the 12v doesn't have the conversion losses, but given you can't tell it to just leave the 12v outlets on, the issue is it is leaving the invertor on which is what consumes all the energy. From my experience with the same fridge, the fridge actually consumes about 250 watts over 24 hours, or about 0.2% of the battery, on 12v power. Even on 120v, it's negligible.

 

[DJG]

It would be interesting to see the same test with the fridge powered off of the 12v power supply. I would guess you'd see less range loss since you don't have the losses associated with the power inverter in the truck.

Just posted the same, but the problem is the invertor would still be on, even if not being used. The choice for outlets being on is all or nothing, you can't choose just the 12v.

 

[DJG]

...so this makes me want to test how fast I can add a meaningful charge to the PLB40 portable battery from R1T 120V outlet...and I guess it explains why the truck auto shuts-off the 120V outlets at max of 24 hours.

Don't know about that one specifically, but my Jackery 240 charges at 60w plugged into a standard house outlet. I would assume something similar for the PLB40. That means the Jackery charges 0-100% in 4 hours (240wh).

My operation will be to run the fridge on the truck's 12v in the cabin (I pass it through into the gear tunnel outlet) while driving (no extraordinary losses because the truck is already running/awake and I'm on 12v), then switch to the Jackery at camp/destination so that the truck can sleep.

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