<span class="highlight">Waeco</span> Fridges Vs Other Brands

Trailblaza - owned for yonks (probably close to 20 years). One issue. Fixed promptly.

I reckon you may have got a lemon, my weaco has done tour duty in pretty rough conditions then is plugged in at home all the time and not a problem. The lid needed a bit of draft seal as theres quite a gap the cold can escape (warm air enter...) but its a good unit. Reliable and efficient, even when its hot it doesn't seem to run that much it just needs good ventilation around the motor. I also like the turbo button for a "quick cool". Don't pay full price go to the waeco seconds website (getawaeco) and sometimes they have really good deals on ex-demos - picked my 50L up for $700 it had a few marks but forgot about them after a week! If its going to be around sun or back of the car the weaco insulating cover seems to help a bit. Probably the only negative thing I can think of is if you are using it in the back of a metal lined truck the plastic exterior would probably get knocked about a bit and a metal cased fridge (Engel) would take the knocks a bit better.

I think its fair to say Waeco sell far more fridges than Engel and other brands so it stands to reason that you will read about more problems. Unless off course we are comparing Toyota with other brands, where even though Toyota sell more vehicles we read more about Nissan issues etc etc. On Waeco I think they have their fair share of issues and perhaps Trailblazer or Engel are better built and more robust, not sure on this, perhaps someone in the fridge market knows?

My vote is ENGEL
Had our 40ltr for 14years without trouble. It has been treated pretty rough over this time living its first 5 years in the back of the ute under a canopy and tied down. We also use it at home for the xmas drinks etc where it seems to be always opened but still keeps the liquid of life cold.
Mostly lives in the back of the Patrol now and is in use constantly.

.

M&T,
Only relatively short term (18 months), but I have an ABR Sidewinder bought from Derek Bester. It has been to Cape York and through outback QLD (corrugations you know) without drama. It has worked fine under a ute canopy at around 45+ degrees, been covered in fine red dust (bull) and still performed great.

It is quite inexpensive when compared with same size fridges from the major players.

I'll vote for my evakool. Been running in the back of my ute non stop for three years now without a hitch. Got hit by a forklift tyne which tore out the fridge slide, just a small scar in the fibreglass which was rectified with a smear of white sikaflex. Had an 60l engel combi prior to that and anyone who thinks the metal exterior of one of those will stand up to much more than a harsh stare is kidding themselves. Not to mention the nightmare of cleaning the thing after a trip - (just hose out the evakool). The old boy runs two 33l waecos in his cruiser and apart from broken fan blades (foreign object damage) they have been a good buy for him. Trailblazers/snapper fridges etc are top line robust things as long as they fit where you want them to fit. I've found most times when buying fridges, its the shape of the item that ultimately wins the sale - for me anyway.

I don't have a Waeco but have got a Engle fridge/freezer never missed a beat

I don't know where you are in WA but take a trip to Lyons in Kewdale, they sell and repair both Engel and Waeco and ask the man behind the counter

Cheers ob

Martin & Tina Z I find this thread a bit hard to understand.
I own both a Waeco 60ltr & an Engel 50ltr and both work well and have done for a very long time.

I did have a problem under warranty with the Waeco and found them to be top rate in their handling of my problem, and I am not alone in saying that about Waeco's service, not to be confused with an agents service. My repair took 4 working days with an apology from Waeco for taking "so long".

I suspect that the agent might be the weak link here. Have you spoken to Weaco directly, as I found them very easy to deal with????

I suggest you do speak to their warranty dept and raise your concern with them, as 2 months is a ridiculous amount of time for a repair even allowing time for parts to come from Qld etc & out of character for the company.

I have also had a problem with the Engel that was out of warranty at the time, mechanical things do go wrong from time to time.

A comparison was done some years ago which is why I got the brand I did and another one has just been done again under all sorts of conditions.
Here is is
In total power consumption over 48 hrs with varied temps they are as follows from lowest to highest consumption.
Evakool
Bushman
waeco
ARB
Engel
National Luna
Explorer

With a 60 degree ambient temp the compressor on times from lowest to highest were
Bushman
Evakool
National Luna and waeco tied
ARB
Engel and explorer tied

There were other tests done and in the end it appeared that at an ambient temp of 37 degrees constant the ones that use the least power to keep temps constant and accurate were
evakool and Bushman

Autofridge.
12 years and still going strong.
Lots of rough trips, but looked after.
Run continuously at home in shed.
Keeps beer cold.....verrrrry cold.
Good gear, but pricey at current prices.
Can use as eutectic fridge when camped for extra days.....good.
Great on battery power.
Would like a slightly bigger one now with billy lids.

Cheers,

Mark

G'day
We went looking at both Engle and Waeco when shopping for a fridge freezer and came home with the Evakool and are happy that we did
One other point they are Australian made , and that is a bonus

Garry

Martin & Tina - saw some figures the other day on another forum about which fridge would you buy. 334 people responded.

Engel 115 or 49.15%
Waeco 61 26.07%
Evakool 15 6.41%
Autofridge 10 4.27%
Trailblazer 13 5.56%
Other 20 or 8.55%

A J

I own an engel 40 lt and I'm very happy with it. I believe they have stood the test of time and are solidly built. I do like the trailblazer, and believe they are worth every cent.
I don't think I'd ever buy a Waeco but funnily enough my pick is the (Waeco built) ARB fridge
I like how you set the temp setting and it automatically keeps it there. The drain in the bottom is a good thing to.

I guess its like the Holden v Ford or Toyota v Nissan We will be having this discussion ten years from now.

Thank you for all of your responses...there are a few names there that keep getting the mention and some have certainly stood the test of time! Perhaps Engel or Evakool will have to be our second fridge or back up.
Yes we could be getting the run around from the service agent but a lack of communication from Waeco isnt helping either...and we are in the Northern Goldfields town of Leinster so we are limited to our service agent to some extent....
Our frustrations started when we had planned a holiday (A LOT of planning) for 12 days travelling from Wiluna along the Gunbarrel thru to the NT and we didnt get our fridge back in time....With 4 kids in a remote area we needed a fridge....instead we packed the esky. We couldnt be so remote for so long....it was to be a trip to be remembered....anyway we still went across but travelled the Great Central there and back....still good....the Gunbarrel will have to wait for another day.
well hopefully the fridge comes back before our next holiday.....Its hard going back to an esky....spec with the 4 kids!!!

Cheers to you all and happy travels
Tina