12/240 Fridge

I'm not so sure that you should consider the instantaneous current draw to be the final answer.
Duty cycle has a lot to do with the actual daily Ah used.
Supposing the Engel has a duty cycle of 90% (54Ah/day) and the Waeco has a duty cycle of 40% (54.72 Ah/day) then the Waeco would be the better choice as it would provide shorter recovery times when loading is high.
I don't know what the relative duty cycles are, but it is a pretty safe bet that, simply due to the lower power rating, the Engel will run for a lot longer to get down to temperature that will the Waeco.

Brian,

I have quoted the maximum current draw as given in each brand's specifications.

The Engel took around 4 hours to get down to 2 degrees from an ambient of 22 degrees on the first test after installation.
It then maintained this temperature for as long as I left the fridge on.

I didn't care (or test) how long the Waeco took from ambient to cold.
I was more than happy to upgrade it.
When you consider the normal practice of starting the fridge the day before departure then loading it up, the length of time to achieve this is somewhat irrelevant.

What is relevant is the drain on the battery bank (two 80Ah AGM batteries) and the ability to keep them charged.
160Ah and an 80 watt solar panel while stationary was not enough to support the Waeco. It was a hungry mongrel.

The upright 57l Engel has the same efficiency as my 40l portable Engel which also has a max. current draw of 2.5A.

Once a fridge has reached the selected cold operating temperature, it is then simply a matter of maintaining that temperature.
Coupling the Engel to the 160Ah battery bank and supported by the 80 watt solar panel achieves this easily.

Brand names aside, I have no favourite of the two and make no bones regarding your choice, my point is to do with the brute cooling capacity of the unit.
Quote"I didn't care (or test) how long the Waeco took from ambient to cold.
I was more than happy to upgrade it.
When you consider the normal practice of starting the fridge the day before departure then loading it up, the length of time to achieve this is somewhat irrelevant."Unquote

The length of time it takes to get there is most relevant as it is this time multiplied by the current draw that determines the total Ah of the unit. A larger instantaneous current does not necessarily mean a larger daily Ah draw.

Quote "Once a fridge has reached the selected cold operating temperature, it is then simply a matter of maintaining that temperature." Unquote

It is how much running the compressor does to achieve and then maintain this temperature that is important, especially when warm weather, adding warm product and door openings are taken into account.
This is why the duty cycle matters.
A compressor running for 22 hours at 2.5 amps will consume the same daily Ah as one running for 10 hours at 5.6 amps, however, whilst your solar was not up to the task for the Waeco (it's even borderline for the Engel), consider a proper setup where the solar capacity is more than adequate for recharging the batteries before the end of the peak sun period, a fridge with a higher draw but a shorter duty cycle will make much better use of excess generating capacity than one that runs well into the off peak periods.

This means that you will end the day with both a colder fridge and more fully charged batteries.
It will also recover more rapidly from the addition of warm product and door openings than will the lower powered unit.

I have had an Engel ST90F 80 litre fridge/freezer for about 5 years and have never been happy with its performance. It draws 3.5 amps but is running more often than not, making it a heavy user of power even with a 130Ah AGM and 120 watts of solar.
To be fair to the fridge, its life has been spend in the Far North of the country in East Arnhem Land and Cape York where the ambient temperature in high during the day.
Having owned at 40 litre chest type Engel, which was a great performer in the same conditions, I feel the insulation in poor in the upright model. The only cooling comes from the freezer compartment as that is where the evaporator is, the rest of the cooling relies on convection, meaning you get warm beers unless you put them in the freezer compartment for a couple of hours before drinking...
When that fridge dies, I'll be looking very carefully at other upright 12v fridges.

Chris

Chris,
I have the same fridge with no problems, as said, once the ambient temp goes up so does the power consumption.

I haven't had problems with the bottom of the fridge being hot at all, in fact many times I have had to adjust the thermostat to stop lettuce freezing.

Best way to fix your problem, is to install a very small computer fan in the fridge wired to run on the run cycle of the compressor. That fixes all.

Thanks for that suggestion mate, it makes perfect sense. Fan force the cold air downwards from the freezer compartment to improve the air convection cooling of the lower area.

At the moment, when running the fridge in 35 degrees ambient temperature, drinks put into the bottom of the fridge are only slightly cold after 8 hours but everything in the freezer compartment remains frozen solid. Your fan suggestion should make a huge difference and the only decision is where to mount the computer fan so that is out of the way, but still provides good air circulation to below. Maybe, a fan forced air duct down the back corners to deliver icy cold air to the bottom should get it running better for up here to get the cold air circulating?

Cheers,
Chris

I live in Geraldton.I can see fridges on Ebay i.e. 142 litre 2 door 12/240 fridge freezer for $800 dollars.much less than the traditional brands,however freight to WA is costly.That is why i am asking if these fridges re available in WA.