Gas Fridge

Garry, I've got 2 Chescolds. One is a fridge about 16yo and has given me no trouble in all that time. The other is a 4yo fridge/freezer of about 40 litres and is just as good. I'm very happy with them but their cooling abilities depend directly on the ambient temp' of the day eg they easily cope on cold days, cope on hot days and struggle on very hot days. The following are some observations I have made on them.
They won't work if shaken up eg sitting in the back of a car all day over rough roads.
Make a frame for the thing to sit on. This gives air circulation to all 6 sides.
Keep it in the shade.
Keep the coil free from dust etc.
Use a power feed cable that is EASILY capable of providing maximum voltage.
Open it as least many times as possible.
The Engle is a great fridge but if you're staying in one place for a long time you will need a lot of batteries to keep it going. The beauty of the Chescold is that so long as you have gas it will keep going. A friend of mine recently sold his Chescold because it couldn't quite cope on the really hot summer days and bought a big Engel. He also bought a 2 stroke mini generator which he uses to charge his aux' battery which all adds up to a lot of money! Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.

Garry. I have a Chescold 39 ltr 3 way fridge freezer, very happy with it. I have it mounted in a metal box on the draw bar of a camper trailer & have used it in temperatures up 39 deg running on gas, not a problem. Although I have the box well ventilated, I guessing you could add at least another 5 deg to the temp inside the box when in the sun. Gas consumption is 375 grams per day according to the brochure. I use 12 volts when travelling, again no problems.

I have a 20 yo 3 way Sadec which has served me very well (do a search on "Sadec" to see how you can improve their performance). Don't know about being affected by vibrations though - there are no moving parts! (but I drive Subaru's so that is not in my equation !!) Both types of frig are affected by high ambient temps, so keeping them cool and well ventilated is important, but comparing one against the other is difficult. Gas consumption is very low so a 9kg bottle would last 'forever'! Perhaps you could run the Engel as a freezer and the 3 way as a frig ?? - or give up beer and eat dry food!

I have a 40L Engel (gas) which is about 10 years old. I love the thing! A 9kg gas bottle lasts about 2-3 weeks running constantly (try that with an electric one when camped in the one spot for 3 weeks!), the only problem I have ever had is that it can get too cold, have to keep it turned way down low!

Garry I'd do a search through the forum on this site there's a wealth of information on this topic....................but it may not convince you one way or the other. In fact you may end up more confused.............probably easier to make up your own mind.

Garry why don't you look at the fridges on the market with the Danfoss Compressors in them They are a lot more efficient than the Engels Approx 2.6 amps per hour draw Check out the Evakool fridge with the Fibreglass Icebox. Very Light and with large capacity inside Hope this helps

Hi Garry, have just returned from a month trip, bris, birdsville, lake ayre, yularu, alice, and the plenty, we had 5 vehicles all with fridges,3 gas and 2 with danfoss compressors, one waeco and a exploer. All the gas fridges let there owners down and needed a lot of work to keep them going, they also ranged in age. The wacoe worked alright till we hit the dirt road then failed, the explorer never missed a beat, with a twin battery system and driveing or ideling the motor at 800 revs when staying in one place never had flat batteries. The exploer has a seperate freezer from the fridge and both have their own thermostat so you have contol on how the fridge runs. The size of the fridge was 60 litres which was more than enough for a family of 4, hope this helps Col.

Garry see that you have decided on an Engel Interested to know what the interesting interchange was on the Everkool

Steeve

Steve,
followed recommendations and researched archives. Found sufficient evidence to steer me away from the particular fridge you mentioned.

Have a look as there appears to be a lot of derogatory stuff about them. Can't say myself as had no experience but staying with the time proven Engel. In support, when I last went away (2 weeks in NT at + 30 degs and sunny) a mate lent me his. Now something like 12 years old, looked like something the cat dragged in, all rusty and dented, noisy as hell, but worked like a beauty. How can you knock em.

Regards Garry