Waeco CF 18 or CF 25 questions

[CSG]

I'm looking at maybe getting one of the smaller units for my Cruiser and short solo trips. My question is can I unplug these overnight to save battery and still expect the temp to hold? I do that all the time with the two-way Norcold 2.7 built in fridge in my Traverse camping van and everything stays cold overnight.

Norcold unit

 

[esh]

You probably don't need to turn it off. I just ran my CF40 for 2 days in 80 ambient without any critical battery drain or need to run the engine. Going to try 3 when I stop long enough to try it. I had it on 4 of 7, the bottom 1/3 or so was frozen. Fridge was full. Had a transit bag and I usually keep a wool blanket over it as well.

 

[spressomon]

I have a CF50 and CF25. If full and with refrig temp inside they don't cycle much during the night...assuming its reasonably cool ambient temp. How many hours do you think you'd want to unplug?

 

[CSG]

With the van fridge I usually turn it off 10-11 PM and restart 7-8 AM. In this case it's because of the humming noise when it cycles, not because of any battery concerns as I have two G27 house batteries in the van.

In the Cruiser I just have the starting battery. I could carry a jump starter I suppose but it's one more piece of gear in the way. The guy at Dometic customer service said the low battery indicator would shut the thing off before I drained the battery and that it would keep things cold for hours without running.

The stuff I'd tend to put in there would be eggs, butter, cheese, lunch meats, yogurt, and beer. I suspect none would spoil overnight but I'd rather not take the chance.

BTW, espressomon, if you were traveling solo, able to resupply, and didn't have the 50 would you find the CF25 sufficient for two-three days? They don't have the same open interior of a typical 25 qt cooler but it seems like it would be big enough for me. Even the 18 might do but the 25 weighs the same, doesn't have a much bigger footprint, and draws the same power for just $100 more than the 18 at American RV Co.