Gear Review: 5 Years with the Dometic CFX3 35 – Cold Gold or Costly Letdown?
There are few things that separate seasoned overlanders from weekend warriors quite like the moment you ditch the ice chest. For us, that moment came in 2020—peak COVID, peak "let’s get outside before we go nuts." One soggy, ice-drenched, seven-day shakedown trip was all it took to say: never again. So we bit the bullet and picked up a Dometic CFX3 35—a compact, feature-rich 12V fridge/freezer that promised to keep things cool without the constant churn of melting ice. At over $900, it felt like a reckless splurge. But for a while? It earned every penny.
The Nomad
6/13/20252 min read
The Early Days: Cold Perfection
This little 36-liter powerhouse delivered in all the right ways for years. The CFX3 35 boasts:
Temperature range: -7°F to +50°F (-22°C to +10°C)
Bluetooth/WiFi app control
Removable wire basket
Power draw: ~0.95 Ah/h on average
Weight: ~37 lbs empty
We ran it off a dedicated 12V outlet wired directly to our Odyssey dual battery system. It lived in the bed of our truck under a SmartCap—never exposed to dust or weather, just doing its job across 15 states, ~35 days a year.
From the blistering Mojave to frosty Colorado nights below freezing, the CFX3 stayed dialed. It cooled fast, held temps steady, and never made us question whether our bacon or beer would survive another day on the trail.
The Decline: A Slow Fade into Warm Beer
In July 2024, we embarked on a 4,000+ mile trip to pick up our Mammoth Overland HV camper—the kind of journey where cold food is less luxury and more survival. Halfway through the trip, the fridge temp started to fluctuate. We cleaned it, reset it, tried different power sources. But it just wouldn’t recover.
By the end of that trip, we knew the compressor was toast. After only five years of moderate, protected use, our once-great Dometic was dead—and well out of warranty.
The Big Picture: Is It Worth It?
If you’re spending over $900 on a fridge, it should last longer than five years of seasonal use. That’s just the truth.
Could we have babied it more? Maybe. But we didn’t abuse it either. It never saw dust storms, water, or freezing while off. It simply... wore out.
Would I recommend it? Only with caveats. It’s beautifully engineered and performs like a champ—until it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, you’re stuck with a very expensive paperweight.
Would I Buy It Again?
No. Not because it didn’t work—but because the value didn’t match the longevity. For that same money, I could’ve bought two or three budget fridges and probably made it a decade with cold drinks and peace of mind.
What’s Next?
I’m eyeing SetPower’s DT55, which fits perfectly into the Mammoth’s galley and costs a fraction of the Dometic. If it gives me even close to the same performance over a similar time span? That’s a win.