Whynter 45 Qt Portable Refrigerator Freezer, Car RV Camping 12V, FM-45G

I'm a new owner to this brand and so I'm skeptical when it comes to portable refrigerator freezers that go in a big truck. My concerns are will they hold up to vibrations of driving over the road as many have troubled compressors that blink out as a result of vibrations. Many name brand units can be rather pricey but I try to go for one that has good ratings and hopefully it will last more than 2 years. 5 plus years would be super! Anyway, what brings me to this Whynter (Winter?) Brand was because my beloved Norcold 45 after 12 years of bliss no longer would refrigerate. It still works but, it freezes everything! I only want it to work as a refrigerator so here I am. Can't find my beloved Norcold anywhere on the market as they are either soldout from reputable places or folks are selling them at an outrageously jacked up price. So, when I found this unit, it checked off all the marks. The size is right for my space, it seems well built. It's actually taller and deeper than my old unit and I like that. It seems to cool down rather quickly to my set temperature of 36°. I have an inverter and it is running seamlessly on AC power without any issues. Mind you this is just day one but I'm writing this review to say that so far I like what this unit is giving me. It was priced very well and it is actually made very well and is working very well. I even bought the travel cover. It runs very quietly as I can barely hear when the compressor is running. The boxy shape doubles as a nice table actually. I plan to update after a month of using it and hope it will stay positive. I need to see how it handles after some vibrations of being over the road. Because it's built like a tank with all metal. I especially like the metal handles which are surprisingly comfortable when you're trying to carry it. It is heavy but manageable as I was able to get it into my truck but it was empty. Also the little lady who delivered it from Amazon had to walk upstairs with it in its big well packaged box and she managed without any issues so I definitely can't complain about it being too heavy. Although I don't plan to move it in and out, especially with food in it, so if that were the case I would be taking the food out before moving it. One slight drawback that I feel could be improved is actually where the controls are. Because they are located on the short end at the bottom of the right side, it would have been nicer to have them on the long end on the side where the unit opens and closes so that I can actually look back and see what the temperature readings are. So for extra measure, I have my thermometers placed inside the unit so that when I open the case I can actually see how cold the temperatures are inside. As I said before, I have it set the 36° but because heat rises and my thermometers are at the top they are registering at 40° so there's probably a plus or minus 4° on the temperatures. It's all fine with me as long as it stays under 42° which is in the safe refrigeration zone. Oh, and there is no way to change which way the top will open as it is fixed. So today I'm going to end with giving this a very glowing review and hope it stays that way as I will update this and let you know how things go after a month or so and hopefully after a year of using it. As it stands now for my first day of using, I would definitely recommend. It comes at a good price point, is well built, and it works well. UPDATE: Well, my update is coming about 3 months later..lol Good thing is that I can't report any problems. I did end up turning the unit so that I could always see the control panel and temperature. The lid is not reversible and so now the lid opens from the seat side or opposite my bunk. The temp inside has held steady as I switched it to the automic temp setting, which I believe works best. I believe the automatic setting keeps the compressor from working unnecessarily. I just plug into the DC outlet and go. I added a picture of the new positioning. Hope it continues to function without incident. I still would recommend.

Great refrig. Cools and freezes fast, only uses 60 watts on AC and 5 amps on 12v DC. Great for camping, and much lower power draw than my thermo-electric cooler, and 5X faster cooling. Very quiet too, it has two motors: One 12v compressor motor and one 12v condenser fan. So quiet, even at night in the camper, it lets me sleep, no problem. Well insulated and all metal construction, very strong but weighs about 48lbs. Thermostat is digital and is +/- 3deg of my calibrated thermometer. Unit cools to about 4deg below set point, then cycles off unit it rises to set point, then turns on. Has 3 compressor power settings, MAX, Auto and Eco-mode. Amp readings: MAX=5.5 amps, Auto=4.5 to 5 amps, Eco=2.8 amps. Has low battery cut off. DC voltmeter to show input voltage and current Temp at the same time. Also has automatic switching from AC to DC and back to AC without moving wires, switches or plugs. Just leave both AC and DC connected all the time, and it prioritizes AC if present. During travel, it falls back to DC seamlessly. Seems like there is a 110V to 12V step down supply inside that runs the controller, and that runs the motors. Had mine for 2 weeks camping and so far it's a solid unit. 5 stars, I should have bought it years ago. Arrived double boxed and no dents or damage. It was late about 5-6 days.

My friends were laughing at me..... I travel quite a bit and cannot fly. I need to take special food with me. I removed part of the back seat in my truck and mounted the Freezer there. I made a quick disconnect set up with bungy cords and it plugs into the trucks DC power. My laptop uses more power than this freezer. When I go to a hotel I pull it out of the truck, move it to the hotel room, and plug it in to the AC. Its quiet and the temperature regulation is accurate. My family and friends were laughing at me at first, now they want one and want my help to install it. I don't have time to go through that. I bought the extended warranty, which I never do. I also bought the jacket and if you are going to travel with it, you need that. This thing has been great and it allows me to stay on a special diet and go through my travels. One reason I mention this is that some people have to carry certain meds or have special diets and need to travel. I have attached a picture and it shows how it sits in my GM truck in the back. You can open the back door of the truck, raise the freezer lid, and get what you want. Quick, easy, and convenient. Maybe this will help someone. I also save a lot of money taking my own food and I prefer to eat and snack in a hotel room and not waste time in a restaurant where I might catch a nasty bug. It happens. A freezer is not a cooler. I keep this set at 0 deg F. Great product. 2016-11-08 As a follow up, I am still using this freezer. Several people got a real laugh that I travel with it,and then I started getting questions on how to set up the power and mount it in my Avalanche. Several people want to do this now. I guess I get the last laugh. This has been a great product and I would buy another one if needed.

Worked great for 3 years. I unplugged it for a few weeks and when I fired it back up nothing Update 6/25- After discussing several options to get it working again with customer service, it was determained that it was not fixable. As a good will gesture, customer service sent me a replacement unit at no cost, except for shipping. New unit is working well. I sure hope it will last this time as I really like the unit. It's a metal case that tough, and I can stand on if needed.

I have had my FM45-G for 16 months and now with over a year’s experience I wanted to provide a review of the both the refrigerator and of the company Whynter. First, the unit is as solid as a rock and keeps my food at between 38 and 40 degrees all the time. I love having the large and small baskets as it makes retrieving food and drink so much easier than my former fridge, which just had one big compartment. The unit uses about 260 watt hours per day (about 21.5 amp hours). The FM45-G costs much less than a comparably sized ARB or Dometic unit. I have a lot better things to spend my money on than paying an additional $500 for a big name unit that does the same thing as the Whynter model. My primary use of the refrigerator is in my camping van and I find it to be very quiet. I am a light sleeper and even at 3 feet from my head, it does not wake me when it turns on. Additionally, over the holidays it served as a backup freezer for the turkey and other other items that couldn’t fit in my regular fridge. With respect to Whynter, after 10 months of use, I experienced a power surge that fried the power controller. As the unit was still under the 1 year warranty, Whynter quickly shipped me a new power controller switch. When that didn’t fix the problem, Jackie with Whynter sent me a prepaid shipping label to send the FM45-G fridge back to them. I boxed it up and dropped it off at FedEx, and after checking it out once it got there, Whynter sent me a brand new FM45-G unit. You can’t ask for better customer service than that. I highly recommend this refrigerator.

best investment i made in a long time.works great. i spend around $10.00 to $20.00 a week on ice being a over the road truck driver. thats $480 a year on ice and that's on the low end. paid for its self in a year. the electric Colman coolers are totally useless and a BIG waste of $120.on a 90 degree day your cooler is 50 degrees inside good buy to your food and hope you like hot pop. not this baby everything is ice cold or frozen if you want.goes down to -8 degrees,shuts off after reaching temp which is a big battery saver plus it shuts it's self off when your battery reaches at around 11 volts. so it doesn't kill your battery and leave you stranding like the electric Colman coolers will.heavy as hell but it has a compresser in it and it's SUPER QUIET can barely hear it running have to put your ear to it to hear it. plus with the additional purchase of the SquareTrade 3-Year Large Appliance Protection 3 years worry free it pays for shipping both ways for the cost of the warranty it's cheaper than the cost to ship it for repair. UPDATE: this one lasted 4 to 5 years before it died.the new one lasted 10 days shy of a year and you have to pay return shipping for repair and i'm guessing shipping to get it back. $165 shipping one way you do the math. no one near authorized to do warranty work. will be buying a engle or snomaster there crazy expensive but last forever. good luck you'll need it.

I've had an Engel 45 for several years and an EdgeStar 60 for nearly two years. This Whynter 45 costs less and has similar technology. It will freeze to less than 0 degrees F, but I'm mainly going to use it as a fridge for drinks outside on the covered patio. I have it set for 40 F. The digital display seems to be fairly accurate. I've compared it with an analog thermometer. It holds the temperature very well even on a hot summer day. I've put some meters to it. On a summer day where the outside temperature was 95 in the day and 70 at night, the Whynter 45 used .5 kilowatt hours, meaning it cost me about $.05 to operate it for that day at my rate per kWh. Some complain about the lid sticking, so they now include some spacers to put over the seal. I removed those. I like a good seal, and the sticking is only after you open it and close it and then want to immediately open it again. It's the vacuum effect due to the hotter outside air coming into the unit. It's not really the lid sticking at all, and is only temporary. The sticker on the outside of the unit has some facts and figures. My measurements and meter readings are slightly different, as follows: Weight: 52 lbs. Outside Dimensions (including handles): 24" X 17" & 20 1/4" high Inside Dimensions of Large Wire Basket: 10 1/2" X 10 3/8" & 15" high Inside Dimensions of Small Wire Basket: 6 3/4" X 10 3/8" & 7" high 120 Volt Power Consumption (compressor running / compressor off): .87 Amps, 73 Watts / .07 Amps, 4 Watts 12 Volt Power Consumption - High Power (compressor running / compressor off) 5.67 DC Amps / .17 DC Amps 12 Volt Power Consumption - Low Power (compressor running / compressor off) 3.03 DC Amps / .09 DC Amps

It stopped working It’s &419 or so plus shipping to get it fixed Such a financial burden to fixing it this is my second unit I had in the truck

Excellent, well made but expensive product. We have carried it across Canada from Ontario to BC this summer, as a freezer adjunct to the small fridge in our 13' Scamp trailer. The freezer kept our fresh fish frozen all the way and a large, dwindling tub of frozen yogurt in edible condition. This despite some nights when it was without any power. It works extremely well as a freezer when plugged into the travelling vehicle 12 volt DC socket, as well as on 120v AC. A fully charged deep cycle battery keeps it going for about 1.5 hours before dipping below 10v and the automatic shutoff point. We carry a small, 1kw Yamaha gasoline AC inverter/generator that runs the freezer on fast freeze mode to -8 F. Thereafter, the box is so well insulated that contents stay frozen until the morning.

Bought this back in 2020. Been using it on camping trips since then. It's amazing, good quality and built to last. Allows long term camping without food spoiling. Highly recommended if you're looking for something like this.

Great Freezer, but really heavy... especially when full of fish! We use this for fishing trips and although it works really well, it is not very "portable" due to it's weight. We now use it at home as a secondary freezer (can never have enough freezer space). We bought the Dometic CC-40US to use as our travel freezer, and it is MUCH easier/lighter to haul around. Still, the FM-45G is solidly constructed, and has been trouble free operation from day 1. So 4 stars for that. But if you are looking for something truly portable, the Dometic CC-40US is only half the weight, and holds nearly the same amount.

Great fridge/freezer. Little bit on the heavy side but well built. Working very well in the semi truck. Not a power hog either like some of the thermoelectric coolers I've had in the past.

I bought this for a fishing trip in the early summer, unfortunately it didn't arrive until we got back. I then used it during a 3000k road trip and it worked wonderfully!. Took me a bit to get used to the Fahrenheit as I'm a Celsius man, but once that was figured out I always had cold food and drink for driving around. The cooler is also well insulated and I didn't worry about having it powered off for 12-30hrs and keeping everything cool. My only gripe is that it is very heavy for it's size, but I just left it in one place in the truck and didn't remove it until the trip was over.