Comments on an EvaKool RF60

I offer these in case anyone has been wondering about an upgrade or second fridge.

It's a 60l fridge/freezer with a white fibreglass case and 40mm thick insulation. It can run in fridge, freezer and fridge/freezer modes.

We chose it because it's Australian-made and EvaKool has a good rep, and it was the only 60l fridge that would fit in the camper trailer. We'd had a Waeco 40l that worked without a hitch for around 6 years but was on the small side for our increasingly long trips.

The freezer is the smaller of the two compartments and has the chiller plates, a basket, an internal lid and a perforated divider separating it from the fridge section with its own basket. The idea is that cool air moves from the freezer to the fridge.

This doesn't happen automatically. You have to jack the divider up a little and stack the food so the air can move around. I found frequently that the food most distant from the chiller plates could easily read 7-8 degrees with the unit set on 2. A web search indicated that some folk fit a thermostat and computer fan to circulate the air.

I also found the unit consumed much more power than advertised. EvaKool shipped it back and tested it and found that it was within spec so clearly the conditions and mode of use were responsible.

It has coped with a lot of pounding over the best of outback corro. In due course the dual-mode cig plug on the power lead collapsed and was replaced with a single-mode cigar plug from Jaycar. In due course it'll get an Anderson connector.

All up we're pleased to have the extra capacity but not so pleased with the fiddling needed. We've worked on increasing the power available so the unit can be set at 0 so the fridge section is more likely to run at around 4-5 degrees.