Rod replied:

Rosalie

I haven't tried Ice Cream in the Freezer but I can vouch that you can get as cold as -22 in the freezer and not freeze water in the adjacent fridge compartment.

With regards to your other questions, see message #3553 back on Feb 26th. Since my results there, I have experimented more and can get the average amps consumed per hour down to 1.31 if I set the themostat down low enough that the compressor won't allow the freezer to rise above -7 degrees. -7 may be too warm for Ice Cream but given that I don't leave meat in my camping freezer for weeks on end but only days, I expect -7 will keep most things OK. You can always go colder if you want.

You will read the occasional article about EvaKool horror stories but they seem to be limited to the first model they ever bought out that did not have a Danfoss compressor. I spoke to a few people before buying mine and it seemed that these problems have been long since ironed out.

I spoke to a local caravan fridge repair business before buying my new fridge/freezer. The guy had worked there 4 years and had only ever seen 3 Danfoss compressors fail. I know Engel have had a larger market share for some time, but he said the number of Engel Swing compressors he had replaced in the same time was very high. He also stated that whilst the Waeco's also had a Danfoss compressor, the fancy control system with the lights didn't seem to be reliable and was a weak link. Hence I bought an Evakool. I'm sure there are lots of Waeco and Engel owners out there who are very happy and never had a problem and for their sake I trust they keep powering on forever.

JohnS replied:

Rosalie,
I am a great fan of the Evakool iceboxes, they have superb cold retention abilities. With just a couple of blocks of ice you will easily take care of a long weekend trip. I have gone bush for a week mid summer and been amazed how good they are (must drain ice melt twice a day).

The Evakool fridges are the ice boxes with a fridge unit added (can be retrofitted I believe on some models). This means that even if the fridge unit is switched off, the insulating properties of the Evakool box will keep your stuff cold for many hours.

If you only intend short trips and can switch off your fridge during sleeping hours your main car battery would probably support the fridge and still be able to start the engine .... BUT BE WARNED!

Most vehicles can accomodate the next size up in their main battery position, so this could be a cheaper way to gain some reserve capacity.

JohnS

paul replied:

Rosalie

If flat battery is your only concern you can buy from Jaycar and probably any other electronics shop what sells car stuff a low voltage cut out box - two alligator clips go onto your battery and you plug in the 12v plug in the other end and it won't let the battery be drained below about 11.4 volts or something like that, should be enough to start your wagon.

Otherwise, for under a $100 from supercheap you can get a protable jump starter - don't use if for the fridge, keep it under the seat so if you ever accidentally drain your battery (which is terrible for a starting battery anyhow) you can start from the box under your seat and drive off and recharge if at home.

Rod replied:

Rosalie

Rod Miles?, no I am not him, nor do I know him. Nor do I live on the Sunshine Coast, nor do I have any association with EvaKool. I'm just a happy customer who wanted to do their homework before buying. Just like you.

Member - David replied:

Rosalie,
I have owned and used an Evakool 60L Retrofit fridge freezer for about 6 months now. Performance on and off road including this Brisbane summer has been brilliant. Yes I think all of what the salesman said could be achieved, however,ideally the unit would be more efficiently used with a second battery

KAK replied:

Rosalie,

I have a 70 litre with seperate freezer area plus the divider. Fridge and freezer works well. I have a second 68 litre and would recommend them to anyone as long as you be aware of power problems, which is the same no matter what the brand.

A tip that I use is to have some of the kids water ice blocks in the plastic sleeves at the top of the freezer as they will be the first indication of things going soft.

In relation to power usage they say averages about .7 amps per hour. I think just over 1 amp per hour.

I have dual batteries in car and further deep cycle battery in camping trailer through an anderson plug.

I have not long returned from trip in queansland were I had a bit of a disaterous time with the power. (Second battery in car died) However, the main problem came from voltage drops and blown fuses. I will give you a long winded explaination as the method you intent to use will be okay for quick stops but be wary of the following.

The plug that it comes with is a cigarette lighter plug. It is spring loaded with a glass cartridge fuse in the actual plug. It has a light in the plug to show when power is connected. The workings of the plug are very close together and I found that there is a small metal bar that feeds the light. When the fridge plug is inserted into the vehicles cigarette holder this metal bar gets very close to the earth wires in the fridge plug and occasionally shorts out blowing either the fuse in the plug or vehicle. Had to bend this out of the way. Know of others that have had the same problem.

For three days had no cooling occured at all, however the fan worked the whole time which made me think that it was working when I checked on it. We lost the food, beer was hot etc. The problem was from voltage drops. To explain, the compressor has a low voltage cut out built into it for protection. Depending on the model it will either be 10.7 volts or 10.3 volts at the compressor. I found my problem by measuring the voltage at the battery (when the compressor cut in) (which was fine) and also measuring the voltage at the compressor when it cut in. I found that there was a 1.5 volts difference between the battery and what was reaching the compressor. Hence the voltage cut out came into play. (12 volts minus 1.5 = 10.5 at the compressor so it cut out. ) ( Long story as some of the fault lied with the wiring fitted to the camping trailer as well as being fitted with cheap cigarette lighter plugs. I cut the fridge plug off and put the wires direct to the battery and it worked. As I was travelling past Caloundra I called into the factory and they were very helpfull.

Simply put, cut off the plug that comes with the fridge and fit a good quality plug to the fridge and have good wiring to rear of car (or were ever) with a good quality plug which will stop the voltage drop across it. This advise came straight from the factory. I have since changed the plugs in the car, the trailer and fridges and no more problems. There is a number of different type of plugs that can be purchased from auto electricians, Repco, super cheap etc. I know others that have had same problems on long stays. If you read the fine print they recommend fitting better plugs for serious campers.

If you purchase the 240 volt convertor (which I recommend you do so you can cool everything down in the house prior to putting in car or for use if you stay at a powered swight) you will need a lead fitted with the cigarette lighter plug that it came with. The factory supplied me with some extra plugs that screw onto the frdige so I have two leads for each fridge, one for the car and one for the convertor. Problem solved and works well, just took some stuffing around. It was worth it as they are cheaper and better insulated than other brands such as engel etc,

paul replied:

dunno where people gets these averages from. 4WD monthly did a lab controlled test in September 2001 - yes evakool uses the same waeco danfoss compressor then as it does now, the average over a controlled 24 hour period was 1.9amps. Now if you have increased the cooling pipes around one end to override the other end so one end is more like a freezer then that will increase power consumption and you will end up with an average more like the Explorer (which i have) of about 2.4 amps on a brisbane winter's day.

Don't get me wrong, i love evakool and swear they have the best esky in the world, but you can't get away from the fact that they use the danfoss compressor - and which i believe is the best on the market, but there is no compressor fridge in the world at the moment that with a freezer unit can achieve an average of 1amp on an average day in the sun. maybe overnight in winter down south.

Rod replied:

Paul

Heard about the article you refer to but have not been able to secure a copy. What ambient temperature was the test conducted at, what model was tested and what temperature were they running the freezer at ?

My tests have been at 26 and 27 degrees C in Brisbane. The best I can get is 1.31 amps averaged over the hour at -7 in the freezer with the 60L 3/4 full.

Thanks

paul replied:

Hey Rod

I live in brissy too, can post you a copy of the article if you want - but no need to be that anal. I can see how you can get the average you claimed, its just a matter of the variables being varied, the 4WD monthly test, now i've dug it out, was over 48 hours starting at minus 25C sliding over 12 hours up to 55C then sliding down over 12 hours to minus 25C then going back up to 55C then back down to finish at minus 15C. The fridges started from scratch and were empty.

If you run your fridge down to cycling temp. and if the freezer is 3/4 full with frozen goods (which acts as a eutectic bank), and then measure the current draw over 6 - 7 hours in the shade, i accept you will get that average. I would too.

cheers

Rod replied:

Paul

Thanks for the update.

Member - Nigel replied:

My folks have a Waeco in a sedan and have fitted an N70 Exide Endurance (deep cycle) battery as their only battery. It happily copes with running the fridge (even overnight occasionally).

I wouldn't recommend running the fridge for more than an hour without the car running if you have a standard starter battery as the life will be reduced greatly.

We have an Evakool 68 litre (fridge or freezer, but not both) and it's more effecient than my folks waeco. I have left it off overnight at times to conserve the battery and while the drinks aren't ice cold, everything is still cold enough. I wouldn't do it everynight tho.

Rosalie replied:

THANKS EVERYONE for all your help. We purchased an Everkool RF60 - Retro Fitted 60L Dual Temp. Friday 7th for $1200 with 240Adaptor + Protective Cover included. Can't wait to try it out now. Am still looking for any hints/tips on wiring heavier cable direct to Battery, which plugs to get, batteries, etc, etc.