Which Fridge, (its Driving Me Nuts)

[jon_m]

Has anyone one of these- EvaKool Fridge Freezer 42L Ridge Ryder? Until tomorrow $498 at Supercheap auto - I'm not a shareholder!! Thought it has a reasonably small footprint for its size. But then even in my little riceburner any footprint needs enlarging to avoid suffocation?

 

[Ridge Runner]

Has anyone one of these- EvaKool Fridge Freezer 42L Ridge Ryder? Until tomorrow $498 at Supercheap auto - I'm not a shareholder!! Thought it has a reasonably small footprint for its size. But then even in my little riceburner any footprint needs enlarging to avoid suffocation?

No I don't think anyone has come up with one yet, That's A Good Price, It will be good to see how long they last because at that price it would get someone out of a Jam,

John

 

[Redfin]

Hi mate, I have an Evakool 47L Fibreglass fridge, they retail for just over $1200.
I have had it for about 10 years and even freezes stuff in 45-47c.

I also know folk who have purchased the cheaper of the Evakool range [imported], and they struggle in 35 - 40c.
If you read the specs on these it does not mention performance at designated ambient temps, unlike
the Aust made models.

as mentioned before, you get what you pay for.

If you are on a budget, buying a 3 way might be better.
Run on 240 at home in preparation, 12v in car in transit, then gas immediately upon arrival.
They are very frugal on gas and work well.
Rays have one on special atm.
http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/onli...ay-45L-Fridge.aspx?pid=366234#Recommendations

 

[Ridge Runner]

Hi mate, I have an Evakool 47L Fibreglass fridge, they retail for just over $1200.
I have had it for about 10 years and even freezes stuff in 45-47c.

I also know folk who have purchased the cheaper of the Evakool range [imported], and they struggle in 35 - 40c.
If you read the specs on these it does not mention performance at designated ambient temps, unlike
the Aust made models.

as mentioned before, you get what you pay for.

If you are on a budget, buying a 3 way might be better.
Run on 240 at home in preparation, 12v in car in transit, then gas immediately upon arrival.
They are very frugal on gas and work well.
Rays have one on special atm.
http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/onli...ay-45L-Fridge.aspx?pid=366234#Recommendations

NICE,, I want the Engel for the Truck But the Evakool sounds like the thing for the Camper 3 way aye?? now that's A Good Idea the I can Leave the Engel in the Truck so then I got all bases covered.

 

[Redfin]

Hey RR, not quite what i said.
Read my post again and click on the link.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Hey RR, not quite what i said.
Read my post again and click on the link.

Sorry your right, The Proper Evakool is the bees knees, But the cheaper 3 way Fridge might be a good choice if funds are Getting Low, I agree, I have been Buying lots of Toys Lately and Have cleaned up quite a few K, But when I have got the Fridge Ordered I will concentrate on the Camper, I have bought all the Off Road Gear Like winches and HiLift Jacks and all the accessories, I got a couple more detectors to buy and I'm Ready for anything.

Thanks John

 

[Tathradj]

Before the last Oallen meeting in November I bit the bullet and bought a "Cenco" 42l Fridge.
2 Year warranty all of that stuff.
When we hit the 50 to 55 degree mark I got worried that the fridge could not cope nore the battery. It did.
Kept every thing at -1 no trouble and I only had a 50watt panel to top it up.
It is fitted with a genuine danfoss compressor.
It is just soooo good to be able to reach into it and grab an ice cold beer, especially while the heat was so rampart.LOL
Only cost me $450.00 delivered and while I am not camping we use it at home to keep the drinks cold.
Very well built and does me well but I am going up to a bigger panel just in case.
If it last's 3 or 4 years I would be very happy. Longer even better.

 

[Bobh]

Hi John
As a new member as of today here is my opinion.
Until very recently I had my own retail outdoors store for 20 plus years where I was able to sell Engel, Waeco, Evakool and Primus fridge freezers.
What did I buy myself before I retired?
A 60 litre Evakool, the White fibreglass one not the yellow or grey plastic models.
If I was only wanting a 40 litre then I would have gone for the Engel.
This is based on 20 plus years experience and customer feedback.
What I noticed just recently is that Evakool have gone digital with their controls.
Cheers
BobH

 

[Guest]

we have an engel , did a 4 state trip , hot to bloody cold an the engel never missed a beat, so nice to reach for an icy cold poppa on a hot day in the Ozzie outback

don't have a dual battery setup , because we don't need one

stock 55dl battery in the Vitara handled overnight stops with ease, 2 amp starts down to .25 while running

 

[Monty]

Hi RR

Engel. My 40l model has lived in the back of two different utes for over 6yrs. Been to lots of places, probably travelled close to 100,00km in that time and never missed a beat. Bought the cover with the unit. Fridge now on a slide out rack in the ute, a great investment there.

Think I saw BCF had a special on for $1100 including cover for the MT45 model.

Cheers Monty

 

[Ridge Runner]

Hi John
As a new member as of today here is my opinion.
Until very recently I had my own retail outdoors store for 20 plus years where I was able to sell Engel, Waeco, Evakool and Primus fridge freezers.
What did I buy myself before I retired?
A 60 litre Evakool, the White fibreglass one not the yellow or grey plastic models.
If I was only wanting a 40 litre then I would have gone for the Engel.
This is based on 20 plus years experience and customer feedback.
What I noticed just recently is that Evakool have gone digital with their controls.
Cheers
BobH

G'day BOBH and Welcome Home,,,

Thanks Bob that's good to Know,, We Need People Like you here Know about such things from another perspective,

Thanks again,, John

 

[RadioGuru]

Condor,

Dometic make a few 3 way power models. I've never used one so I can't vouch for them but as they are Waeco's parent company I'd assume similar quality and performance levels. I just thought it'd be nice for 3 way power in Waeco's monster models. Gas seems to be limited to the medium capacities.

http://www2.dometic.com/enau/Asia-P...boxes--Freezers/products/?productdataid=67793

If I had one of these, it'd be as you suggested. Gas during camp but switch to 12v on the road.

 

[condor22]

Condor,

Dometic make a few 3 way power models. I've never used one so I can't vouch for them but as they are Waeco's parent company I'd assume similar quality and performance levels. I just thought it'd be nice for 3 way power in Waeco's monster models. Gas seems to be limited to the medium capacities.

http://www2.dometic.com/enau/Asia-P...boxes--Freezers/products/?productdataid=67793

If I had one of these, it'd be as you suggested. Gas during camp but switch to 12v on the road.

I know they do, but they are still very different technology. A 3 way is commonly called an absorption fridge, it uses a heating element or gas to drive it.

Evaporation - A liquid refrigerant evaporates in a low partial pressure environment, thus extracting heat from its surroundings the refrigerator.
Absorption - The gaseous refrigerant is absorbed dissolved into another liquid - reducing its partial pressure in the evaporator and allowing more liquid to evaporate.
Regeneration - The refrigerant-laden liquid is heated, causing the refrigerant to evaporate out. It is then condensed through a heat exchanger to replenish the supply of liquid refrigerant in the evaporator.

Reference - http://www.portablefridgesonline.com.au/fridge-faqs/fridge-faq-how-3-way-fridges-work.html

They typically for a 90lt van fridge have a 175W heating element, which at 240VAC is no problem, but at 12VDC they pull about 14.6A. So need pretty heavy duty wiring and not to far from the battery to the fridge. The Dometic 90l fridge uses 13.5gr of gas/hr which should last near 2 weeks on a 4.5kg gas bottle.

However in a camper or a caravan you also use gas for cooking and if fitted hot water for a shower. If a stove uses 20Mj of gas per hour a 4.5kg bottle will last about 11 hrs. My Dometic Truma gas elec hot water system uses 120gr/hr which equals about 37 hours. So if the fridge is on all the time and I allow 1 hr per day for hot water and the same for cooking or boiling the kettle.

My total usage is about 850gr, which brings the 4.5kg bottle back to about 5 days worth.

Also, if you stop for lunch when on 12VDC on a hot day you really do need to put it on gas, which if in the back of a vehicle is not wise. Plus it is illeagal to operate it on gas even in a caravan whilst driving.

I'm not trying to sway one way or the other, but there are more things to consider than going cheap.

 

[condor22]

Forgot to mention a 3 way fridge on 240VAC will lower the temp to the desired level. However when on gas or 12v all that does is attempt to maintain temp. Neither is designed for initial cooling.

 

[Claws]

I have a 73 litre Autofridge and have had it for 17 years trouble free. Very efficient on 12v, is eutectic and for a weekend we turn it on during the week to freeze the walls then throw it in the back of the cruiser and don't even plug it in.

Engels are a great fridge and we are considering getting a 40 litre plastic case model for weekends as the 73 is a bit large... Our Autofridge is all fibreglass and we used it a lot on Fraser while living in Noosa, friends had an Engel and it rusted pretty badly so not great if you do a lot of beach camping.

 

[normeves]

I have two engels and cant say a bad word about them never let me down

 

[Jaros]

Ditto Engels are great.

 

[PabloP]

Two Engels for me, both good machines, but they haven't had to live in a salty environment.

Rob.

 

[Colmaca]

My Engel 40ltr 3 years old runs 24/7 as my beer fridge when not camping

I did use it as a freezer for 4 months as well , kept @-18C all the time .

 

[condor22]

The other thing about Engels is; If you have a cover on it, regardless of insulation effect, it protects the casing. Similarly, if you are rough with the inside and break through the paint, odds on it will rust.

Mine's done 1000s of kms, been used as a beer fridge, soup freezer and camping fridge. 22 yrs old, still going strong, no noise, no scratches and NO rust.

Most things will last if you look after them. I have a Vernier calliper and a micrometer I bought as an apprentice in 1967, put them next to a brand new one and it would be difficult to tell the difference.

Given the cost of an Engel, it would be foolish to abuse it, but I've seen many that have..