Mobicool MCF 40 portable freezer - Any opinions?

Irish Rover said:
I'm thinking of buying one of these for the boat to store some frozen meat, chicken etc to supplement the fridge and let us stay at anchor for a few days longer without the need for shopping. I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has experience of using one on 12v.
Mobicool MCF40 - 38 l compressor cooler, blue/grey – 12/24 V DC /
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I am skeptical. As you probably are as well.
It certainly won't freeze anything - but that is not what you asked for.

Now whether it can keep frozen stuff frozen for long enough is the question. And I am doubtful it will be able to keep the inside down to below 0C when the outside temperature is 35C as is normal for a summer down here in the South of France.
 
We have that exact model but only use it as a fridge set around 4 deg C. Excellent performance and uses little power on 12v although you do need heavy cabling to avoid errors on the compressor at startup. We also use it as an extra fridge, so this last weekend we had 2 fridges running and kept the batteries topped up to 100% with 200w of solar on a fairly sunny uk weekend.
 
We have a similar but older model, its round 10 years old and very reliable. It is in the utility room on 240V at the moment and is at -12 degrees to freeze some surplus food that will not fit in the house freezers. We use it on the boat also, either as a fridge or freezer. When in freezer mode on 12 volts, it really struggles to get to -12 degrees and thats deep in a cockpit locker in Scotland at perhaps 15 degrees, sea temperature will be similar. Looks like you are in Turkey? Could be challenging.
 
ambient temp is the key, if you manage to fit it low in the cool(ish) bilges it will be OK with plenty of air around to dissipate the heat produced.
Mind with circa 25C seawater in the Aegean summer, bilge area will be around that temp and fridge wont be particularly happy at freezing temps and will cycle more.
 
I bought one of these and installed it on the boat yesterday on 12V. I didn't have any food to put in so I put 8 x 1.5l bottled water. These were at shaded cabin temp around 14C when I put them in. I set the temp for -5 and it was down to 1C after around 4 hours. It was -5C when I got to the boat this morning and throughout the day it was cycling on and off although I was otherwise busy so I didn't take much note of relative on/off durations. I definitely think it will serve my purpose especially if I put food in pre-frozen.
 
not bad at all, assuming cabin temp was circa 15C, which sounds rather low for this time of year-my cabin reached 28C noontime (boat locked with only two small hatches raised a bit) See how it goes when cabin temps go up. My problematic fridge works fine in the winter with 10-20C ambient and it's crap when temps hike to 35C. During August it's demoted to drinks fridge and all sensitive stuff go to the other one :)
 
vas said:
not bad at all, assuming cabin temp was circa 15C, which sounds rather low for this time of year-my cabin reached 28C noontime (boat locked with only two small hatches raised a bit) See how it goes when cabin temps go up. My problematic fridge works fine in the winter with 10-20C ambient and it's crap when temps hike to 35C. During August it's demoted to drinks fridge and all sensitive stuff go to the other one :)
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Outside temp today was 27C and the mobi is in a small forward cabin with the hatch fully open but no direct sunlight on the unit. I'm assuming nonetheless the cabin temp not far off 27. The water I put in yesterday was in an underbunk locker close to bilges and that's why I was assuming around 14C. It may not have been that cool but if so that's a bonus.
 
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