trailblazer 60 l fridge

old r12?
will require an oil change( which aint easy) if & when a leak develops.

not a lot of difference between r12 and r143
trailblazer are good ....i am a fridgie and built my own Wow! am I cute
If yer ain't fishing, Yer ain't livin
Richard

Hi Robert. I owned a Trailblazer 60l for a few years and did a number of trips in the tropics where it kept its cool beautifully.
Doubt if many others are as efficient, but it is bulky & as I often travel solo & nowadays find it too heavy to lift in & out I switched to a Waco 45 when they first came out & were quite cheap.
It may be best to get the genuine factory 240V adaptor even if it is dearer than others. It will NOT freeze in standard trim but the factory has a different thermostat which they sent me free of charge so I could use it as a freezer but never installed it.
It was heavily use by 3 people in the tropics & everything cooled quickly after re-loading it.
It was used in unshaded area of truck in 35-39c & was fine.

Hi Robert, I run a 60ltr. Trailblazer which is 15 years old & have never had a problem with it as I have mentioned in previous forum discussions. Mine does have the 240 volt adaptor but I have run it in the 12volt situation from the ambient temperature condition to full freeze (i.e. thermostat at max cooling position) & managed to freeze an ice-cream container of water in 6 hours which I thought is pretty good. Provided you have the battery storage capacity & recharge capabilties they are a very good portable refrigerator. Once the internal temperature has reached its cut out setting, mine in the fridge/freeze condition (setting 4. on thermostat) draws about 20amps of battery power over a 24hr. period. I have a wooden partition to separate the frozen food on the bottom from the items I just want to cool on the top. I have a Solar Panel recharge set-up to my deep cycle batteries which keep my batteries fully charged so battery usage is not really a problem.
If you want to test it why don't you run it with a battery charger connected up to the battery you plan to use & put some water in a conainer, e.g. ice cream container & see how long it takes to freeze it. This is just one man's opinion but I reckon the trailblaizer is one of the best portable refrigerators ever built. Mine has stood up to some of the roughest road conditions ( & this includes the Cape York Bi-Pass road) in Australia without spring base cushioning like some of the Engels need & not as much as a screw has ever come loose.Have Wheels Will Travel

Robert

We have just updated to a 70L fully optioned Trailblazer. The previous model was a 60L that had travelled round oz twice as well as many other trips.

I have one of the older Trailblazer brochures that states the BD2.5 compressor has a refrigeration capacity of 81watts and current consumption of 5.4 amps (@12V).

They work an example for a BD35F compressor but substituting the figured for the BD2.5 it looks like this...

Carton of stubbies (used as their measure)
Cooled from 32C to 2C
Heat to be removed 1134Kj or 315Watt Hours

315WH/81W=3.88hours
3.88h x 5 amp/h = 20.95 AHs

From this it looks like your stubbies should be 2C in just under 4 hrs and you'll use 21amp/hs to do it. I am only going on the fugures they supplied.

Trailblazers also have a coefficient of performance of 1...that is the compressor uses one unit of energy to remove an equivalent amount of energy. I am not sure what other brands claim.

While this doesn't directly answer your question it may provide some other info.

Cheers

Bundy

Following other positive comments I also reckon they are beyond doubt the best 12v. compressor fridge available. Have had mine 10yrs. not one problem. Yes, they are bulky, heavy, but mine is bolted permanently in the trayback so dont have to worry!
When I bought mine (new) Norcoast reckoned should easily last 25yrs. I dont doubt them! As we usually camp 4/5 months one spot (work) it is used as a freezer only. meat, frozen veg. fish etc. The energy consumption figures Norcoast provide are quite accurate. I cant say how long it would take to discharge say a 100ah. battery, I use a small honda motor to drive a 12v. car alternator to keep things topped up. This uses about 5l./week.
Dont think you could go wrong.

Robert, I also have a 70litre unit and fully agree with the other's comments in cluding the weight and bulkiness but wouldn't swap it for any thing else. They are a great fridge and the only problem I had was of my own doing. (Changed the cable entry point and arced a bare wire on the cabinet. It was disconnected but it had a residual[I think] current. Norcoast after sales service was excellent.Dare to Lead not to Follow