Description
You would pay over $700 for the Travoca Rigel 35L — a 24/12-volt dual-zone e-cooler that was supposed to be the centerpiece of my Honda Element camper build — and it showed up dead. Not glitchy. Dead. In this Travoca Rigel 35L review I plug it in every way a 12V fridge can be plugged in, walk you through exactly what happened, and show you why this one ended up in a dumpster.
https://buymeacoffee.com/wanderlustestate
⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 The dumpster (why it's trash)
0:18 Unboxing & first impressions
1:24 AC power test — dead
1:48 Roadside 12V DC test — still dead
3:33 The customer-service runaround
4:44 Back in the dumpster
5:25 Buyer beware + the Vevor that actually works
7:15 What's next on the channel
On paper, the Travoca Rigel 35L is everything you want in a portable 12V fridge freezer: olive-green powder coat, real bamboo paneling, a dual-zone fridge-and-freezer layout, heavy-duty handles, and a 24V/12V e-cooler setup that should run off household AC power, your vehicle's cigarette-lighter socket, or a battery bank. Unboxing it, I was sold on looks alone — it matched my camping mattress and my OKMO battery setup, and I genuinely thought it'd be the sharpest-looking fridge in any Honda Element camper conversion on YouTube.
Then I tried to turn it on.
Plugged into the AC adapter — green light glowing on the brick, power confirmed at the wall — the control panel stayed completely black. No display, no beep, nothing. Short presses, long holds, reset sequence — dead. So I took it to the road and ran it on 12V DC straight from a vehicle outlet that pushes 100 watts minimum, engine running. One subscriber told me to hold the cog/gear button to trigger a reset and watch for "F1" on the screen. No F1. No reset. I moved the cable to the second DC port, pushed it all the way in, tried again — still nothing. Both ports, both power sources: this 12V fridge would not power on at all. Dead on arrival.
Here's where a bad unit turned into a bad experience. Travoca sent this fridge out for an honest review right before I picked up the Honda Element. On May 16th, after confirming it didn't work, I emailed them. Silence. I followed up on the 23rd. Silence. After about three emails I tracked down their official Facebook page and messaged them there. It took roughly eight days for anyone to respond. When "Leon" finally replied on June 1st, he asked for video proof — so I sent the clips immediately. That was almost two weeks ago. Still not a word back.
I went out of my way NOT to pin this on a marketing company or some middleman. They went dark on their own business page, after asking me for proof, on a unit they sent specifically to be reviewed and promoted. If that's how they treat a creator they wanted exposure from, ask yourself how they'd treat you as a paying customer sitting on a $700 problem.
So here's my honest take, and the real reason this video exists. If you still want the Travoca Rigel 35L because you think it looks cool — I get it, it does — then at least protect yourself. Don't buy direct. Buy through eBay or Amazon, or any reputable storefront that gives you real consumer protections. Pay with a credit card that has purchase protection built in. Never hand $700 straight to a direct-from-China connection with no recourse, because if it shows up dead like mine did, you could be out the full price with absolutely nothing to show for it.
Because mine never ran, I had to grab a replacement 12V fridge for the Honda Element camper setup. I went cheap and bought a Vevor model — and look, it actually works. It's holding 29°F right now, doing the one thing a fridge is supposed to do. Sometimes the budget option is just the one that turns on.
#TravocaRigel35L #12VFridge #HondaElementCamper #VanLife #PortableFridge #CamperConversion #OverlandingGear #NomadLife #VanLifeGear #BuyerBeware