WAECO CCF40 fridge

Jacko

last months (or maybe the month before) 4wd monthly has a back issue attached that did a comparasion on all the fridges. The Waeco did not fare as well as I thought it would by all the claims.

Cant help further as I have only used the Engel.

Are you the Jacko from Port

Sean

G'day Jacko, just been down this road myself. All Waeco's use the Danfoss? compressor, darn good compressor by all acounts, however, the CF/CCF range are built in China and don't have anywhere near as good insulation as the German built FF range, consequently, the compressor is running a lot more often and for a lot longer. I believe this is why they are cheaper to buy. They don't include the 240V adapter (you really need to pre-cool all portable fridges and their contents before setting off if you can), these cost about an extra $80 or so. I remember from an article I recently read, there are very poor tie down positions on the FF range and I think the CF/CCF range are similar in that respect. The other thing I wasn't convinced about was the plastic cabinet. Sure it may be strong in the showroom, but in the real world of the Outback, will it take repeat poundings from things tied next to it, or rubbing against it. You may have to dedicate a shrine to it to ensure it comes home in one piece?

I ended up buying an Engel MT45F, the new 40 litre model, at AGFEST here in Tasmania. The cost was $1,149.00 but as a show special I got the insulated transit bag and a small wire basket (it clips onto the big basket to hold the butter) thrown in as a "show special". These have 240V built in. When I did my sums, this was a far better buy than the Waeco. There are many stories about 20 and 30 year old Engel's still going strong, there aren't many other (any?) brands that can that can come close to that!

Hope this helps,

Cheers!

Hi Jacko
I have the new cf-50 dam good to. It's selling for $987 and was given the adaptor to plug in to 240 volts. I tested it by filling it up with items that were hot then went in and out now and then and turned it off at night turned it back on in the morning. Filled it up with more items that have not been in the fridge and I got 18 running hrs out of a 40 amp battery before the fridge turned it's self off to save the battery at around 10.5 volts i think.The battery started the jackaroo afterwards.

Regards Geoff

I ran an engel for 30 years and was very happy with it. It could pull down to -25 deg C very rapidly. A year ago I bought a Waeco FF30 at the very cheap price and it has worked well. It will only pull down to -15 deg C but uses much less power than the old Engel did and ven when turned off with a full frozen load and in its protective cover will remain frozen for several days in warm to hot weather. I have a Chescold made out of similar plastic and have used it constantly for over 10 years with no probelms with the plastic. The only probelms with the waeco are the tie down points and the power plug is very difficult to get in and out and needs something to hold it in.

Hi,

I have a CCF-40, which I have been running for several years now (it was one of the first sold). This fridge has been running basically
every day since the day I bought it, and has been to Birdsville (in 40+ heat) and all the corrugations around Betoota, Simpson desert, Maree,
and numerous other trips. I rate it higher than the Engel. The Danfoss compressor can be fixed almost anywhere. The concerns raised by
other replies regarding the plastic case are, I think, misguided. The metal case of other fridges dents whereas this case bends. It has not
had any marks left on it or suffered any problems. I do agree, however, that the tie down points aren't that great - however, Waeco has
fixed this and as of last month, all CCF's come with tie down handles as per the new CF50 (I don't think this has been addressed on the CC
range). The fridge has never run down my second battery, even when the car has been stationary for several days, and everything has
been kept frozen - even when thawed esky blocks were put in to refreeze overnight none of the other contents were thawed during the
process. I use one of the insulation bags (as well as the 240v converter when running the fridge at home), and to be perfectly honest I'd
buy another Waeco in preference to anything else. Another advantage of the plastic case is the weight saving over the metal fridges.
Another comment regarding a reply above about the compressor having to run more often - what this is, is theactually the fan running to
circulate air, and this is done rather than use all that extra space for the mesh grille to allow air to circulate naturally. Given that the fridge
works in the car most of the time, I'd rather have the electronic fan to force air through the condenser area rather than rely (rather
hopefully) that fresh air will manange to work its way around everything packed in the car and thus provide the necessary heat exchange.