Yep,, Fridges Again ??

condor22 said:

Thanks blisters will try that, the cables fuse holders are all fairly new, but will check.

and

Thanks for that John, will see if it is similar

Mike

Me thinks the job is for home with all my tools etc and a bench. Looks like a little dis assembly is needed and the bush aint no place for that...

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Here ya go this might be the right one, bloody hope so, lol

john

http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/upload/parts_books/mrft-530b.pdf

http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/2products_details.asp?pid=18&productid=21402

what volts is the battery at because they will cut off if power is low

Genuine $400 off all companion Brand Fridge//Freezers at BCF . I can confirm the discount is based on their normal price. A 45Litre i was looking at 3 months ago was $1099. NOW $699 !!

condor22 said:

I'm out in the GT, guess what, day 10 my Engel has crapped itself. However, it is 23 yrs old.

So here's what I've found so far;

• I checked the power line fuses, all ok.[/*]
• I checked the 12 volt plug that fits to the Engel, yup I got 12V there.[/*]
• I then got the 240VAC cable out, plugged it to mains and the Engel works no problem, so the Sawafuji Swing motor is ok.[/*]

So conclusion, something inside the Engel, possibly a loose connection on the 12V side (I hope)
Possibly the control circuit of the inverter i.e a capacitor
or worst case the whole bloody inverter.

Most likely gonna have to wait till I get home.

If anyone out there has any ideas where to start looking, before I have no choice but a repairer, I would appreciate any info.

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Condor,
Can almost guarantee you have blown a capacitor, my old faithful collapsed and died one trip two years ago and when I got home plugged it into the mains and she was a goer. Be wary if a complete replacement is suggested
Engel World (Graham) in Midland, WA, checked it over, fitted a new capacitor, charged me a very reasonable $110.00. (From memory was quoted about $600 or 800.00 if the unit was stuffed.)
It is used as a freezer on our trips so she works hard.
(Am sure I have already mentioned somewhere in this post, "Never run your Engels on generator 240V.")

Hope it is just a capacitor mate.

The solder connections at the plug and motor ends, can over heat and go soft.

normeves said:

what volts is the battery at because they will cut off if power is low

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Battery was at 13V it's charged with a Redarc BCDC

Thanks Nightjar, I remember you said that before on another thread.

Have decided to wait till I'm home before I fix it.

Bringing this back again. :Y:
After a bit over 12 Months with my Bushman Fridge,
All I can say is it is fantastic.
I run it at -1 Degree's.
In all conditions off grid I have ran it with a battery box with 4 x 14 Ah battery's and never had a problem.
The Battery's are Deep Cycle Long Life types used in UPS situations and are not your standard AGM's.
I will admit the last trip for 4 days was a bit of a worry but I have worked out that I did not charge
the battery's properly before going away.
They went full charge after a day with the panels running. ( 160w Rich Folding )

In all configurations with the lids and also in the back of the Car, I never had a problem keeping the frozen's
on the bottom and my Grog not frozen at the top.
I did have a slight issue with 3 litre Milk containers eventually starting to go icy after a few days as they were drained
but to me, Not a problem to worry about.
The trick is to move the sensor up a few inch's as these fridges are a zone unit. That way you layer your food properly.
The layer under the sensor will freeze. The layer above the sensor will stay at around 1 degrees Celsius.

The fridges response to temperature changes both ambient outside and also inside was worth noting.
On a stinker of a day in the shade and not opening the fridge too much, It would cycle about once an hour.
In the afternoon around beer o'clock, Maybe once every 45 minutes. Trick here is make sure you have moved the
night time meal to the top and ensure that there is enough liquid replenishment available for the evenings activity's.

The only known fault is the handles bend. This is a known fault and if any problems arise, Are fixed with a new set
very quickly from the manufacturer. You do not use the handles to tie them down, There are 4 lugs that share the handles
mounting points that are stainless steel and bloody solid.

All up, I am very happy with the fridge and it's capabilities that suite me for what I want.
Apart from the Handle issue, The construction is very solid and I have nothing else to complain about.
Except for frozen Beer if you do not do things the right way. LOL

Oh, I have not nor will accept any payments except a slab of Carlton for what I have said. ]
I will report back in another year how things are going.
Doug

Tath, you can cheat and add a sheet of polystyrene above the frozen goods and all items above it will stay warmer, I remember you getting that fridge sounds like a first rate piece of kit, As I posted elsewhere once you get in to a certain price bracket these fridges raise the Bar and it's all down what appeals to the buyer,

It's getting warmer so around Christmas you can give it an even bigger workout,

thanks for the update,

John.

Fridges.....hmmmmm

Well, My Primus polar,60lt, has served me well. However, its had 2 problems.
1St problem was it wouldnt run on AC current. Was fixed under warrenty, no problem.
2nd problem, similar to the 1st. It would cycle down to the set temp , then when it got there, wouldnt cycle again, or would keep going well into the minus,s ...-17.
Just got it back, rectifyer kaput.....replacment part now not available, as the polar model has been replaced by the mammoth.
So, i now have a waco rectifier, so have to use the DC lead into the rectifier, into the house power, no problem really, but makes me wonder if the 12v will go as well, leaving me with no fridge out bush....so will upgrade next season.

It will be either an Engel or a waco, with engel being the 1st choice.

Guess thats the problem with other brands, although, when working, the primus has been very good, its replacment parts for my model, are now difficult to source, and im sure i could find the right part somewhere, but its not easy. Waco and engel are easy to find parts for.

I have an 39 letter engel for about 9 or 10 years now run it on engel generator and battery I've run it in 39 degrees heart up past sworn hill a hep of times no problem good for two people when I get home I run it off the house I was told its better to run them constantly so that's what I do and the more that's in it the better it works hopefully it help but it's all up to your budget

Yeah, ran constantly for the last 16 months,no problem till after my last trip. As for keeping cool no worries there either.
39lt too small for me , let alone 2 people!
Need 60lt or better. The fridge runs cold,and dosnt draw all that much power either, and its 34 all year rou d here, and 30 at night for about7 months as well, so it passes that test. Handles the humidity as well, the old waco cf series struggles at times, and even the engel draws more power, it seems it was just one crappy component that lets it down, and you cant replace it , bugger. See how the waco rectifier goes.

Sorry to hear than Dave, I really like your fridge too,

I tested my ARB out and it is awesome, The power drain is around 0.73 over a 24 hour period, I sat up over a 24 hour period logging it's cycle times, I was surprized that it did even better than what ARB claim, I still want an Engel but I put that down to being an Aussie, But this ARB is Australian and for me is just better and like all of them they are made overseas.

Hope you get it sorted soon Dave.

John.

RR is this the new arb one i seen advertised somewhere a while ago,certainly looked the goods,only read a couple of posts here but a good topic,theres so many different brands around now.
Weve got a 80 waco and a 55 fridgemate,started packing up for a trip cuppla weeks ago and the waco temp buttons wernt working,pulled the control panel off tried to fix it myself over a cuppla nights but no luck,dust more or less destroyed the little button behind the panel Had this fridge a few years for longer trips.
Had the fridgemate for 8-9 yrs,its awsome,just a reostat type dial for temp,simple and robust,uses bugger all power compared to 80 waco (yes is smaller)and heaps better in the hotter weather,it just keeps on purring away,dont think id buy a waco again,engal or fridgemate would be my 1st stop,Dave NT have a look at the fridgemates if ya shopping about,there is a 70 litre plastic one i think,alot out there prob happy with there wacos but im not overly impressed......

Yep to the fridgemates.

We've had Engels, Waco's, a few other brands and stuck with the fridgemates. Ugly but tough as nails. Basically a tried and proven ice box with a motor whacked on the end.
Made in Aust for Aust conditions and don't need a insulation bag. The mob in QLD are great to deal with also.
Mine lives on the back of my ute 24/7 and has done for years without skipping a beat.

Yep Engel 45 Ltr-goes forever. :Y:

madtuna said:

Yep to the fridgemates.

We've had Engels, Waco's, a few other brands and stuck with the fridgemates. Ugly but tough as nails. Basically a tried and proven ice box with a motor whacked on the end.
Made in Aust for Aust conditions and don't need a insulation bag. The mob in QLD are great to deal with also.
Mine lives on the back of my ute 24/7 and has done for years without skipping a beat.

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Is yours the divided fridge freezer?
If its divided, are there seperate controls for the freezer, just watched an add on u tube, and it didnt specify, just lookeed like an ice box with a divider and a lid on one side? 70 lt.
Youre right, its ugly.
But if its reliable all well and good. My primus also runs a danfros compressor, its the other components i think?

Yep divided, but no separate controls. You can have it all freezer or all fridge or both fridge and freezer. The divider just lifts out.

Mine is the 55 and I've had it for years. We had a white fibreglass one as well, prettier and worked brilliantly just the fibreglass doesn't take the beating the yellow one do. You have to care for fibreglass where as the yellow ones you just don't need to give a rats about.

Not sure if the 70 has separate controls though sorry.

With evacool, I'd go the fridgemate line (fibreglass white or yellow plastic) and stay away from the others (tin casings) which are just rebadged chinese jobbies.

Just bought an engel eclipse, same as the normal engel, but in a plastic box, spose ill have to be a bit more careful.
The primus still runs fine on 12v, and will run on 24 with an external rectifier, which i got for $110.
So now i can run the engel as a freezer and the primus as a fridge, so long as the primus keeps going that is!
Engel came with a cover.

Goldchaser1 said:

RR is this the new arb one i seen advertised somewhere a while ago,certainly looked the goods,only read a couple of posts here but a good topic,theres so many different brands around now.
Weve got a 80 waco and a 55 fridgemate,started packing up for a trip cuppla weeks ago and the waco temp buttons wernt working,pulled the control panel off tried to fix it myself over a cuppla nights but no luck,dust more or less destroyed the little button behind the panel Had this fridge a few years for longer trips.
Had the fridgemate for 8-9 yrs,its awsome,just a reostat type dial for temp,simple and robust,uses bugger all power compared to 80 waco (yes is smaller)and heaps better in the hotter weather,it just keeps on purring away,dont think id buy a waco again,engal or fridgemate would be my 1st stop,Dave NT have a look at the fridgemates if ya shopping about,there is a 70 litre plastic one i think,alot out there prob happy with there wacos but im not overly impressed......

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No GC, mine is the ARB 47L, That new one is an American Idea from what I have read and it is heavier than the normal 60 litre version, I prefer the Blue and Grey models, It is a set and forget affair, I like everything about it so I am going to add the 78 litre version as soon as I can, I only wish they made household freezers, I am glad I went with ARB because they have the best world wide Customer Service out of all of them, Everything I have read about them has be Rock Solid from around the World, Like I said I wanted an Engel with a National Luna as my third choice but the Dealer would not answer the phone and on their website they only had the older model Engels for sale. My ARB Dealer was there to answer all my Dumb questions, and I ordered it that afternoon and it was here by 10:00am the next day.

With the ARB's having the place above the motor really works as a fridge when using it as a freezer, Set it to -9*c and the Dairy area keeps things from freezing, and it can hold 72 Cans and the 60L holds 90 Cans and the 78L holds 120 Cans So I can keep me lunch in me pocket, Lol.

Seriously though, the 47L will hold enough food for just me for about 21 days when used as a freezer, So If I get the 78L I could use that as a freezer and then use the 47L has a fridge,

John.