Everchill 12 Volt Fridge looking for good experiences

[mppd20]

Most of the forum posts I see on here about the 12V Everchill is griping about how bad they are. Anyone have any positive longer term experience with them? I know there are relatively new but I am looking to go with one and want some good reviews.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by mppd20

Most of the forum posts I see on here about the 12V Everchill is griping about how bad they are. Anyone have any positive longer term experience with them? I know there are relatively new but I am looking to go with one and want some good reviews.

I think you're thinking about the wrong brand. The one that has been savaged by bad reviews, is the FURRION 12v fridge. It was so bad that FR ended its relationship with Furrion. It didn't help that a number of other Furrion products were problematic.

[mppd20]

I know Furrion was a disaster but I still didn't find much love for the Everchill either.

[WanderMore]

We have the Magic Chef in our 2205S. I believe its a rebranded unit made by the same manufacturer as the Everchill.

Took delivery on 11 March so not a long time owner but so far it’s performed well.

Having a compressor it does have a bit of a low frequency hum when running but not much different than a household refrigerator.

Love the extra space over the absorption fridge.

[Ryan-OH]

We've had the trailer a year now and haven't had any problems with our Everchill. We haven't done any real boondocking yet so not 100% sure how long it will run on the factory battery. I do know if you forget the kill the battery and let it sit for a week at at the storage lot the battery is deader than a door nail.

It's big enough for the two of us for about a week with eating out once a day occasionally twice.

The only thing I would like to see is an external switch to turn it off and on. Right now I just pull the fuse when I don't want to run it.

[RockDodger]

Our Everchill performed flawlessly last season. The bad news is that it will drain your battery in short order of you are not hooked up to shore power or unless you run a generator. Solar power might keep it running during the day, but your battery will be dead or near dead in the morning. We never boondock at all, so this fridge works fine for us.

[RGrimm]

Originally Posted by mppd20

Most of the forum posts I see on here about the 12V Everchill is griping about how bad they are. Anyone have any positive longer term experience with them? I know there are relatively new but I am looking to go with one and want some good reviews.

I purchased my 2021 Vibe 21BH last April and it has an Everchill. While I have only taken 3 trips so far, the refrig has worked perfectly. When not traveling the unit is plugged in to my 50 to 30 amp pedestal at home and the Everchill runs 24/7, I just lower the temp setting so the refrig doesn't have to work as hard. So my Everchill has been running for a year now.

I do not have any need or desire to boondock beyond stopping at a Cracker Barrel for a few hours when on the road and have a second battery installed. So for my type of travel and preference for a residential style Refrig over an absorption type, the Everchill has been a great refrig.

In late April we will be on the road for a month, so the Everchill will get a true travel test, but I feel it will run without any issues as it has for the past year.
-Russ

[Rlbccb55]

Originally Posted by mppd20

Most of the forum posts I see on here about the 12V Everchill is griping about how bad they are. Anyone have any positive longer term experience with them? I know there are relatively new but I am looking to go with one and want some good reviews.

My DF and I are full timers. We have been in a new rv with an Everchill for 5 months now. No complaints at all, has worked well for us with the 5 months continues use.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by mppd20

Most of the forum posts I see on here about the 12V Everchill is griping about how bad they are. Anyone have any positive longer term experience with them? I know there are relatively new but I am looking to go with one and want some good reviews.

One of the advantages of a compressor refrigerator which no one's mentioned is the rapid cooldown, both initially and after opening the door. Absorption refrigerators need to be cooled for 24 hours before camping, or loaded with frozen gallon jugs (which consume have the volume). You can treat your Everchill compressor refrigerator just like the one in your home--that is, by not having to think about special precautions.

[StrangeBird22]

We bought an EverChill 12v fridge to replace the original Dometic 2-way fridge that died. Have had it for one year. So far we like it but have not boondocked with it yet. Our TT stays plugged in at home and I use the fridge for beer and occasionally use the the freezer when the freezer in the house gets too full. So it runs 24/7 and the only problem I've noticed is when the outside temp drops below freezing the freezer doesn't stay cold enough to keep ice cream hard. I think that in colder temps the fridge doesn't kick on enough to keep the freezer cold. In warmer temps it works great and keeps the ice cream good and hard.

[bobneal69]

I bought a 2020 Wildwood 171RBXL last April. It has the Everchill 12v refrigerator. I used it all summer. In summary, I love it. It works flawlessly and I've had zero problems with it. I have three minor issues with it. The door latch will not keep the doors closed when traveling. I fixed this by wrapping a washrag around the latch and I hold the washrag in place with a small bungie. On my unit, the door will not open far enough to remove the shelves to change the levels of them so I am stuck with them where they are. And there is no on/off switch so the refrigerator is always on when there is power to the RV. This is an easy fix by pulling the fuse when you don't want it to run.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by StrangeBird22

We bought an EverChill 12v fridge to replace the original Dometic 2-way fridge that died. Have had it for one year. So far we like it but have not boondocked with it yet. Our TT stays plugged in at home and I use the fridge for beer and occasionally use the the freezer when the freezer in the house gets too full. So it runs 24/7 and the only problem I've noticed is when the outside temp drops below freezing the freezer doesn't stay cold enough to keep ice cream hard. I think that in colder temps the fridge doesn't kick on enough to keep the freezer cold. In warmer temps it works great and keeps the ice cream good and hard.

Yes, that's right. Residential refrigerators have the same problem.

There are actually two problems with refrigerators when the ambient temperatures are near freezing. The design is based on the observation that the refrigerator side needs to be tightly controlled between, say, 36-38F. The freezer side can be anywhere between, say, 25 and -25F.

There's only one thermostat, on the refrigerator portion. The temperature adjustment for the freezer portion is merely a damper that regulates how much cold air is ducted to the freezer side and how much to the refrigerator side.

The problem you mentioned is that when the ambient temperature is, say, 32-35F, the compressor never runs and the freezer comes up to ambient temperature.

The other problem occurs when the temperature stays below freezing for a while. There's no heater in the refrigerator portion, so both sides go below freezing.

[RGrimm]

Originally Posted by bobneal69

I bought a 2020 Wildwood 171RBXL last April. It has the Everchill 12v refrigerator. I used it all summer. In summary, I love it. It works flawlessly and I've had zero problems with it. I have three minor issues with it. The door latch will not keep the doors closed when traveling. I fixed this by wrapping a washrag around the latch and I hold the washrag in place with a small bungie. On my unit, the door will not open far enough to remove the shelves to change the levels of them so I am stuck with them where they are. And there is no on/off switch so the refrigerator is always on when there is power to the RV. This is an easy fix by pulling the fuse when you don't want it to run.

Here is a thread
(Everchill Latch Thread) concerning the Everchill Latch. I added an elastic strap with a loop on it and I just slide it over the travel latch to keep it from moving. See photo in post #22 of thread. It was an easy solution.
-Russ

[markb422]

Daughter and son in law have used theirs for one season so far and love their 11 cuft everchill. I kind of wish, at times, we had that kind of volume in our dometic 7 cuft. When I first saw theirs I thought about replacing our dometic but we do some dry camping. I have two good batteries but if we needed to run the furnace and the fridge over night we might run out of juice. The only problem I have noticed is the 12 volt only frig is not vented and the pantry cabinet next to the fridge gets very warm. My daughter found out the hard way not to store chocolate bars in the pantry.

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by RGrimm

Here is a thread
(Everchill Latch Thread) concerning the Everchill Latch. I added an elastic strap with a loop on it and I just slide it over the travel latch to keep it from moving. See photo in post #22 of thread. It was an easy solution.
-Russ

Is there perhaps an alternate solution which involved the manufacturer fixing the thing so that it works the way it's supposed to?

[RGrimm]

Originally Posted by Adrian Gordon

Is there perhaps an alternate solution which involved the manufacturer fixing the thing so that it works the way it's supposed to?

Mine was and still is tight (some friction moving it into the 'travel' position), but that friction comes from the rivet that it pivots on. That pivot point will loosen over time and if it does and the vibrations of bouncing down the road cause it to swing to the side, no longer preventing the door(s) from opening, you are going to arrive to your destination with a big mess. I look at my elastic band as a very simple and inexpensive solution to preventing a solution to a 'possible problem'.

When I saw another member's post about his problem when his travel door lock handle moved and allowed his refrig doors to open while traveling, I came up with a solutions. I appreciated the thread by Mandog (Here) describing the latch problem. I won't deny the latch design could be better, but I also have owned enough RV's over the years (all different brands and types - TT, 5th, Class A DP) to understand this is just the way the RV industry is.

As I posted above (#7) I am very pleased with our Everchill.
-Russ

[Mandog]

Hey,

My Everchill model-WD 282FWDC has been fantastic. A few things to consider. While traveling the first time the doors flew open spilling everything all
Over the camper, denting the door against the diner table. No I wasn’t happy. I tried peening the rivet in the handle to tighten the latch. Didn’t work.so....
1- I used a piece of parachute cord and tie one end to the refrigerator mount on the right and tied a loop in the other end. Place it over the latch an no more issues. Forget to use it and there will be a mess.

2. No way to turn it off except pulling the fuse.....

3. Run time is 6 hours on my 2 interstate deep cycles. It does depend on how it’s loaded though. Place a lot of frozen food in freezer or ice packs and it will keep the run time down and battery life up....

[Philip1]

My first posting. I have a 2020 Wildwood 19DBXL with an Everchill 12V fridge. Worked great on first short trip last year then started having issues holding temperature. I have digital thermometers in fridge and freezer that show the highest temperature since the last reset. After being away for the day with outside temperatures in the 80-90's, I would find the fridge reached 52 degrees at some point in the day. The freezer also fluctuated. The control board was replaced by the dealer. Was ok for a weekend trip then started fluctuating again on a two week trip to CO and UT. Had to keep ice with perishables to be safe. Odd thing was the temperature held fine while towing. TV is 2012 F-150 and it charges my trailer battery with fridge running just fine during a full day of driving. I use a small bungee cord to secure the travel latch; not a big deal to me.
Dealer has replaced the Everchill with a new unit. Hope to pick up the trailer this week. I like the idea of the 12V fridge, so I hope the new one works.

[horsrman]

I have a 2019 WildWood 26DBLE with the Everchill. It has worked perfectly for two years. If I turn it on when ready to leave it will be cold enough to use by the time I get to campground, of which the closest one is 45 minutes. When on a trip my 2018 F150 will fully charge the camper batteries, 2 size 24 Interstates, while traveling. On my unit is you turn the control to 0 it turns off. Have not tried dry camping with this unit so not sure how long batteries will last, but it does not kick on often if door is not opened often, like kids may do. I am a fan of this frig.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Mandog

Hey,

My Everchill model-WD 282FWDC has been fantastic. A few things to consider. While traveling the first time the doors flew open spilling everything all
Over the camper, denting the door against the diner table. No I wasn’t happy. I tried peening the rivet in the handle to tighten the latch. Didn’t work.so....
1- I used a piece of parachute cord and tie one end to the refrigerator mount on the right and tied a loop in the other end. Place it over the latch an no more issues. Forget to use it and there will be a mess.

2. No way to turn it off except pulling the fuse.....

3. Run time is 6 hours on my 2 interstate deep cycles. It does depend on how it’s loaded though. Place a lot of frozen food in freezer or ice packs and it will keep the run time down and battery life up....

So you are saying if not connected to an external 12v power supply (converter on shore power or generator) that from 10:00 PM (typical generator quiet time) to 4:00 AM in the morning, BOTH deep cycle batteries will be dead?