Brass Monkey Fridge Review

Ridge Runner said:

Good stuff, I like fridge tests,

Click to expand...

So do I. This is how I do mine.

Step 1, look at the brand, yep Engel, tick.
Step 2, fill it with beer, tick.
Step 3, turn dial to max, tick.
Step 4, wait 1 hour, tick.
Step 5, drink one of the beers, if you can drink it the fridge is fine. If you can't drink it the fridge must be rooted or the beer is either XXXX or Southwark or Westend.
Step 5, turn the fridge dial down to 2 now, tick.

Cheers

Doug

Held temp between -17.3 and -19.2 overnight, so as a freezer happy
Got a spare DC cable today to fit Anderson to it.
Be about 6 weeks to next trip away, so will see how it goes on car power. I did check it fits snug between the Engel and Travel Buddy and sticks out enough to clear the compressor vents when put in compressor at the rear, pics to come.....

YO "C"man, I bought some nice digital thermometers for testing fridges, They have 2 channels so you can monitor 2 places in the fridge at once, I was a bit sceptical about them but they are spot on, using the right probes they can measure from -250*c up to or Over 1700*c,

Having bought 2 of them I can either test 2 zones in 2 fridges or I can test 4 fridges at once, good thing is they are fast reacting, :Y:

Got any more details on them RR? Link?

Sounds good. But re the Brass Monkey......

As I'm now at home unable to travel the BM fridge is in the lounge on 240 VAC. It has 18 tinnies in it. It's set to 4 C and its own gauge says it hovers 3 to 5 C, which I will assume is the compressor cycling.

The beer is cold, all of it, I tried some tonight, yum. So really speaking, if it's 2 deg one end and 4 the other, who cares lolol.

:beer: arty: :gemstone: erfect:

It's actually a win win for me - I got coldies and no complaints from SWMBO about taking valuable food space in the big fridge, lol...... plus it's near my lounge chair so I don't need to stand up to get a refill, isolation aint so bad .........

condor22 said:

Sounds good. But re the Brass Monkey......

As I'm now at home unable to travel the BM fridge is in the lounge on 240 VAC. It has 18 tinnies in it. It's set to 4 C and its own gauge says it hovers 3 to 5 C, which I will assume is the compressor cycling.

The beer is cold, all of it, I tried some tonight, yum. So really speaking, if it's 2 deg one end and 4 the other, who cares lolol.

:beer: arty: :gemstone: erfect:

It's actually a win win for me - I got coldies and no complaints from SWMBO about taking valuable food space in the big fridge, lol...... plus it's near my lounge chair so I don't need to stand up to get a refill, isolation aint so bad .........

Click to expand...

Sounds like it is doing what every other fridge does when it comes to cycling, every one I have tested does exactly the same, I can't believe the price you paid for it, You stole it at that price, and more power to ya for getting such a great deal,

Given they are made in China, like most things nowadays, and the current lockdowns, I was lucky to get the fridge and even luckier to get a cover for it.

At least if mains power drops out, I have 30 lt in the Engel, 15 in the BM and 128 in the van (173 total).

I can't believe the 279 quid price in the UK and that's Amazon, =AUD $565 (reminder $199 here) which is close to 2.8 times the price.

Bloody NBN has been down in my area all morning. Glad I can mobile hotspot the laptop lol......

condor22 said:

Given they are made in China, like most things nowadays, and the current lockdowns, I was lucky to get the fridge and even luckier to get a cover for it.

At least if mains power drops out, I have 30 lt in the Engel, 15 in the BM and 128 in the van (173 total).

I can't believe the 279 quid price in the UK and that's Amazon, =AUD $565 (reminder $199 here) which is close to 2.8 times the price.

Bloody NBN has been down in my area all morning. Glad I can mobile hotspot the laptop lol......

Click to expand...

Yeah they do sting ya over here, You will find that even though they are small and use a lot less power when used as a fridge when you turn them right down to -18 etc they seem to use as much power as a 40/50L fridge. I don't know why but that is what I found with the ones I've tested, :Y:

Simple - No matter the size of a fridge or brand, if they draw 3 amps when running, then when running as a -18 freezer, they are running pretty well constantly if the ambient is 20 C or higher. It's the temperature differential i.e when run as a 4 C fridge, if it's 45 C outside or higher in a car, it will use a similar amount of power as just mentioned.

When run as a fridge, it will depend on size, insulation, which compressor, what's in it and ambient temp etc etc and here you see a difference in daily power use.

So if you measure power usage outside in England in winter, lol - you basically don't need a fridge. I was 16 when I emigrated here and up until that time, the only fridge I saw was in the local Co-Op supermarket, we didn't have one at home.

condor22 said:

Simple - No matter the size of a fridge or brand, if they draw 3 amps when running, then when running as a -18 freezer, they are running pretty well constantly if the ambient is 20 C or higher. It's the temperature differential i.e when run as a 4 C fridge, if it's 45 C outside or higher in a car, it will use a similar amount of power as just mentioned.

When run as a fridge, it will depend on size, insulation, which compressor, what's in it and ambient temp etc etc and here you see a difference in daily power use.

So if you measure power usage outside in England in winter, lol - you basically don't need a fridge. I was 16 when I emigrated here and up until that time, the only fridge I saw was in the local Co-Op supermarket, we didn't have one at home.

Click to expand...

The crazy bit is when used as a fridge the small fridges will use almost half the power a normal 40/50 L fridge when it is in fridge mode but when the little ones are used a freezer the littler ones will use more power than a 40/50L when it's in freezer mode, regardless of the ambient temp, I ran them indoors in the warm and then I ran them at 14*c and in both cases the little ones chewed more power So in a Hot environ like a car in Aus in summer the small fridge will chew even more than the bigger ones in freezer mode, :Y:

Even crazier, the BM is rated at 1.9 A on Eco mode, but I got figures of 2.7/2.7 and on full power rated at 3.8 A which I measured at 4.7 A.

So it obviously sucks more juice than the specs.

I might add that these figures were from a full, new AGM at 13 V, so the amperage didn't increase due to a low voltage.

condor22 said:

Even crazier, the BM is rated at 1.9 A on Eco mode, but I got figures of 2.7/2.7 and on full power rated at 3.8 A which I measured at 4.7 A.

So it obviously sucks more juice than the specs.

I might add that these figures were from a full, new AGM at 13 V, so the amperage didn't increase due to a low voltage.

Click to expand...

Ouch, no wonder one of these chewed a heap of power, The disturbing part was when I tested a little one in 14*c when set to -18* it chewed nearly 40Ah So in Aus that could easily rise to 80Ah per 24 hours, Yet when set to 2*c it only used 8Ah.

When you charged your AGM ? does it charge quicker than a lead acid battery and is the AGM your main source of power for your fridge ?

J.

So, here's the setup. My 4x4 is a 2.8 lt diesel, it has a huge battery and I'm not sure what it is. I say this as it is sealed and my general voltage from the car when driving is around 14.5 V, not the 13.8 V we grew up with. I'll follow up to find out what type it is, lol.

I then have a 100 AH AGM deep cycle in the rear (boot) of the wagon. It is charged as mentioned in other threads by a Redarc DC-DC 20 A charger or a recently added 110 W solar panel manually switched via a 10 A cushioned circuit breaker. So when driving the Redarc charges when camped or stopped, the solar.

However at the moment, especially with no travel, the Engel is off and the AGM battery uses no power. I will keep my eye on the start battery and AGM during this downtime.

(The reason it's one or the other is that my BCDC1220 is not the auto demand solar compatible version and I didn't want to use a relay.)

As to charge time; An AGM is still a lead acid battery. So, I assume you mean the normal wet cell lead acid. There is also the underlying difference between a CCA and Deep Cycle. I've no experience with Wet Cell Deep Cycle v AGM re charging as I've only ever had AGM.

My main reason is that in my caravan the AGM is under the dinette seat and as mentioned the 4x4 Auxiliary is in the cabin space. Wet cells gas off whereas AGMs don't (or should I say not to explosive levels). AGMs are sealed and don't need electrolyte top up and they will accept higher charge rates, so I would imagine charge quicker.

Bottom line is that especially in the van I don't want a "Bomb" under my arse, lol.

Offline for an hour or so

Beauty, Thanks for that, That would explain what I saw when using a smart charger in that other Thread,

Well done, :Y:

J.

Re my start battery - It appears to be a "Sealed maintenance free battery with Calcium plates." Which would account for the increase in voltage and I assume for the larger diesel engine.

condor22 said:

Re my start battery - It appears to be a "Sealed maintenance free battery with Calcium plates." Which would account for the increase in voltage and I assume for the larger diesel engine.

Click to expand...

So is it a Calcium battery not an AGM ?

I know the charge profiles are very similar like 14.7 Vs 14.8

Start battery is a CCA and a type of Calcium, I'm not ofay with the actual chemistry. - I use this for everything Vehicle + what's plugged into vehicle power sockets i.e. Hema, dash cam & HID spotties. When vehicle off, no start battery power is used other than the "ECU don't forget I'm a car, security coding" which is bugger all.

Auxiliary is an AGM Deep Cycle. - I use this for everything else, except my air compressor i.e. Engel, Oven and other items I might plug in, including my water pump for transferring 20 lt jerry to van tank. The fridge and anything else I might plug in can use this regardless of engine on/off.

The air comp draws around 35 amps, so it gets directly connected to the start battery, engine running. Although nowhere near what a winch draws, I put it into the same category. Plus it saves using stored deep cycle capacity. Lets face it, air up/down means imminent driving, but at a pinch I could use the AGM.

I have a 10M heavy duty Anderson Extension so the compressor unit can reach the caravan wheels without unhitching, plus the air line is about the same length. I prefer to have the unit near the wheel I'm pumping as the switch is then close as well.

Bit off topic but thought I'd add in.......

Looking to buy a fridge freezer pretty soon.
:Y: Good thread thanks

nucopia said:

Looking to buy a fridge freezer pretty soon.
:Y: Good thread thanks

Click to expand...

Been said before, but...... lol.....

Be aware most small portable fridges are either a fridge or a freezer, not both at the same time. Others, from approx 40 lt and above can have 2 compartments or a divider and vary in how they achieve the 2 zone control.

Again, "You usually get what you pay for"