Companion Lithium 75L Dual Zone Rechargeable Fridge/Freezer

G'day Kirsten,

The 200W panel would be a great option.  The Companion solar panels are the only ones compatible with the Lithium rechargeable fridges as they require a specific regulated voltage.  Other brand or generic solar chargers do not have this capability.
Hope that helps.

G'day Peter,

There's no other solar panel option that we carry that will allow you to tailor the charge output to the 12.8V required.  The Companion Solar charger panels are the only ones we have in our range.
I'm not aware of any solar panel sets around, but you may be able to find a stand-alone solar controller with this capability to pair up with a solar panel of your choice.

G'day John,

Yes, you absolutely can.  This unit will power from an external source, either 240V or 12v, when the battery is removed.

G'day Jason,

There may be, but unfortunately nothing suitable in our range.
As long as the internal dimensions of the slide line up with the Companion Fridge, it won't matter what brand it is.
It might be one for googling, there seem to be a few businesses around that make generic fridge slides.

G'day Peter,

Yes, your fridge will run and simultaneously charge the battery from a 12v power supply of any kind.
12v outputs are usually rated to 10A so that'll more than cover you for the fridge requirements.

G'day Darren,

Unfortunately, there's no option to charge the battery outside of the fridge.
It would definitely be handy, and it's something we have recommended to Companion for future consideration.

G'day Jeff,

Yep, no problems!
This fridge also has an onboard battery with around 16hrs run time, & with combined solar input for the Rover to keep it trickled charged, you'll be covered.

G'day Michel,

Yes, each zone is able to be independently switched off. You can find out about all of the modes and options in the owners manual, which can be downloaded on the product page.

G'day Peter,

From outside edge of each door, so incorporating both compartments, we've got a measurement of 71cm.
Hope that helps!

G'day Michael,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you on this one, I was waiting on confirmation from Companion who has been playing catch up since the QLD lockdown.
Whilst you can physically plug all inputs, only one will ever be utilised.  There is apparently no default prioritisation for a particular input, so we can't be sure exactly which one would actively be charging.
Companion have advised that it's probably not best practice though, if you are concerned about 12v solar charging cutting out in low sun or overnight, your best bet would be to have an external battery supply that you can charge with 240v as a backup power supply.

G'day Paolo,

The maximum solar input is 12.8V, so you won't be able to charge the battery faster by trying to attach 2 x 200W panels. You'll need to ensure that the solar regulator on the panels you've got can be limited to 12.8V maximum.

G'day Paolo,

Just to follow up on this, no - you can not run two separate solar inputs through multiple Anderson points.
You can only have one solar input at any given time.
You would be able to hook up a second identical solar pannel to the original in parallel, however, you would need to make sure you are running only one solar controller.  If the second solar panel has the solar controller attached, you would just bypass this.

G'day Sam,

The Companion Lithium 75L Dual Zone Fridge doesn't haven't a built-in solar regulator, so you will need to ensure the panels you use are regulated. Companion mentions the following in the fridges user manual: IMPORTANT NOTE: The Solar Controller being used must be adjusted to only output a maximum of 12.8V to suit the integrated lithium-ion power pack specifications if charging the integrated power pack directly via the Anderson Plug/s. Hopefully this clears it up.

G'day Sam,

Yes, they've been designed with this in mind, so you can plug regulated solar panels into the unit with an Anderson cable. We'd recommend having a read of the user manual for extra details about this (you can download it at the bottom of the specification section).

G'day Ben,

Companion hasn't listed a specific life span for the battery, however, in general, most lithium batteries will last a few hundred charging cycles if looked after. There are a number of tips to keep your lithium battery healthy, one of which is to make sure you fully charge the battery at least once a month. When the battery does come to the end of its life, Companion brands should have some options for battery replacement available. 

G'day Tony,

Companion currently holds stock of replacement batteries, we'd just need to special order them. We assume they will continue to hold replacements of these batteries while they are a current model.

G'day Dean,

I've just watched a short video on this fridge and yes you can charge the battery from your 12v socket whilst driving. You can find the link to the video HERE.