Waeco fridge rattle/clonk.

We put our cans in those wet suit type can holders. Kinda softens the clonk when you go over a bump. Also means your can holder is loaded and ready to go when you pull up.

Seriously though - is your fridge and fridge slide secured to your car firmly?

I have 2 Engel fridges. The newer one is a 39l and about 18 years old. No clunks of any sort.

The older one is a 29l about 30+ years old. I inherited it from my late father in law when he passed away. Both fridges have accompanied us on many a trip including the CSR, although not so much the older one nowadays.

That older one has always made a noise similar to what you have described as in a metallic clunk when the vehicle hits a reasonably significant bump. I have checked out what I could by removing covers and not finding anything to indicate what could be causing the noise. And yes I have made sure it is nothing inside. It still works fine and will act as a freezer if needed. Actually better than the later one.
What I find interesting is that the internals of the Waeco and the Engel are quite different designs and yet seem to be able to make a similar noise.

Cheers
Pop

Whirlwinder,

The Waeco has a Danfoss BD35 compressor. I have a cheap Chinese fridge which had a Chinese copy of the Danfoss (legit because the Danfoss patent has expired, so it's an exact copy). It developed the metallic clunk on rough tracks. I had it swapped out for a second hand Danfoss unit.

I then cut open the Chinese sealed unit. The motor and compressor inside are carried on springs - three, I think, could have been four, it's a while ago now. One of the springs had failed or become unseated, allowing the motor-compressor assembly to wobble around too much and hit the canister. Hence the clunk. However, it was working ok when I took it out. I just didn't like the very frequent clunking down the back.

My second hand Danfoss makes a similar noise, but only in pretty extreme circumstances. I'm not going to swap this one out.

Cheers

It's not a fault, mine did it, I can simulate it quite easily on my friends Weaco. It drove me nuts so I ended up selling my fridge. It sounds like it's the piston inside the sealed unit. Quite annoying especially if you have a newish car that is rattle free.

I have same noise in my Waeco.
It was well outside of factory warranty period [18months ago] when I decided to do something about after putting up with noise for too long. The unit had only been used for 200 hours and only ever located in back of Cruiser in secure drop slid, the noise was apparent very early in it's life.
I emailed Waeco factory techos detailing the noise, I got what I felt was a poor response, they simply said - locate an Authorised Agent/Repairer and have them inspect it.

I did think it was a compressor related noise but the likely cost for dismantle and quote/ as well as inconvenience meant I did nothing about it.

I was hoping that with a detailed explanation of the noise that was provided that they would have responded saying something like.... Compressor possibly has defective spring etc and cost would be $x, or this is a common problem and we will rectify under warranty.

Perhaps I am/was overly optimistic as to the manufacturers response.

Bob

Your Kelvinator fridge at home will also do if it is bounced around. My Waeco CF28 does the same. It is the compressor hitting the inside of it's case. It does have to move around. Make the fridge more soft on it's mountings and it then should not happen.

My CF 28 has a Danfoss.