DOMETIC CoolFun CK 40D Hybrid - Thermo Electric/Compressor Cooler / Freezer for Normal and Deep Cooling, 38 Litre Capacity, Mini Fridge for Car, Truck, Boat, Motorhome and Power Socket [Energy Class F]

If you are looking for a duel fuel mobile fridge freezer then you need look no further. I am getting back into camping with my VW Transporter and have started getting my food and cooking equipment up together. I wanted something to keep food cool and fresh when mobile. I did some basic research into mobile powered coolboxes but could not really understand the large price difference from one to another. So I started off going with the lower cost end and purchased the 40 litre coolbkx from Halfords. This is a 240 v a and 12v dc thermoelectric device. It claims to hold the internal temperature at up to 18 degrees Celsius below the ambient temperature. In brief, it was rubbish! On full power it barely cooled the internal. On ECO mode it did nothing! The inside of the coolbox was the same as the room temperature. This was running on 240 v mains! I didn't bother with the 12v mode in the car as it could only get worse! So I returned the Halfords coolbox.I wentered back to the drawing board and did some more research. I came across Dometic and Waeco as a brand with good reviews. I really wanted a device that would hold temperature irrespective of the external ambient temperature. I wanted a device with a thermostat and a temperature display and adjustable temperature in 1 degree Celsius increments. The Waeco CK 40D fitted the bill. So I took the price increase hit and ordered one. It arrived promptly and I was keen to test it. I plugged it into the 240 v mains in my house to test it's cooling. I set it to 5 degrees Celsius initially. When I powered it on the temperature gauge read 20 degrees. I expected to leave the unit over night to cool to 5 degrees. So I was delighted and amazed when 30 minutes later the unit was holding 5 degrees! It is very quick to cool in 240 v ac mode running the compressor. It holds the temperature accurately and consistently too. I varied from 0 degrees to 6 degrees and it was superb. In the car I switch to 12 v dc mode which runs a thermoelectric cooler. The unit holds the precooled temperature excellently. I've done three hour journeys in hot conditions and the unit has only increased by 1 or 2 degrees. I've left the unit running on 12v mode with the engine off for many hours and the battery has been fine.In my opinion, this is what I would expect a powered coolbox to do! So forget about the cheaper options. If you want a coolbox that really is cool, then this is the box for you!

Works perfectly and keeps my products ice cold.

The cooler is first class easy to use and has a great lid that stays open…previous coolers had to physically hold the lid up. It keeps things nice and chilled and appears to use very little when connected to a leisure battery which is fed from a solar panel In my VW transporter.The only negative is it’s size - it is a beast so be mindful if you have a narrow space for it to fill - plus it’s weight it is extremely heavy so much so I did consider returning it and getting a rival brand that only weights 12 kg for the same spec but have hung onto this one

Product works very well both at fridge and freezer temperatures.

We had fridge at_18 it was connected to car was parked up for 12 hrs all food was still frozen great product

Excellent product... Capacity was far greater than visualised. Heavier than expected if weight limitations are your concern for touring. However it exceptional quality an excellent product!

Great Product and low draw on the batteries on either th inverter or 12v system. Loads of space

The temp sensor/thermostat isn’t reliable, 2nd fridge too.Diagnosis from a paying customer, not a paid product tester, how did was this basic thermostat issue get missed in product testing?If you minus the temperature to colder than 4°C, e.g. 3°C, it correctly flashes the intended 3°C temp, then switches back to showing the current temp.If the set temp is below the measured temp the fridge switches on.When them temp drops to the set temp (e.g. 3°C) the compressor should turn off. But the display temp stays stuck e.g. at 4°C temp reading, so it continues to cool and freeze the food.So it thinks it’s at 4°C when actually my 2 handheld non-digital type temperature gauges which agree with each other sat on the food at both top and bottom heights within the fridge show it’s actually freezing temps, freezing the bottled water and food inside, I’ve had to switch it off to prevent it from deep freezing the contents.This second Dometic CK40 fridge has the same issue as the first, where the temperature displays it’s stuck on 4°C even though the 2 temperature sensors I place inside show the same -5°C temperature. If left to itself the fridge goes on freezing my food without end.I’ve tried turning it off, waiting several hours, turning it on again, unreliably it can still stick on displaying it’s 4°C and continues freezing the food.This is the second of these fridges from the same seller LeisureShopDirect, and I’m extremely unhappy to have to pay £300 to go through repeated upheaval of the 2nd one again not working and a 2nd return during my working week over what should be a reliable out-of-the-box experience fridge from a big name brand manufacturer.I have contacted Dometic to explain the situation.All I could find for Dometic Contact Us was a web text form, they may or may not get back.I did find some Mon-Friday only phone numbers for some dealers around the UK, but during work hours I have to work, my lunch breaks are short and for lunch.Besides, in addition to freezing my food and the many hours of upheaval involved with this fridge so far, it’s not right to expect the customer to continue to give up more of their non-working limited time spent on trying to understand what the ongoing technical issues arising with this fridge thermostat are.I have contacted Amazon which have provided me a return label.I will not be purchasing a third of these fridges from any seller.