fridge/esky advice needed

Submitted: Tuesday, Sep 06, 2005 at 23:58

ThreadID: 26224 Views:4770 Replies:10 FollowUps:2

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bware

Greetings all,
At the moment we use two eskies when camping and use ice packs until they thaw out then buy ice. This is fine for short trips but longer stays (even 5 days, if not close to ice supplies) are a hassle. I'm toying with the idea of a 40 or 50 litre fridge/feezer within which we can keep the things that need to be really cold like beer, meat, etc and using the freezer compartment to rotate ice packs to keep the esky cold for things like fruit, veg, butter etc. Does anyone use this system? The other option is no esky and get an 80 litre fridge, but if the first way works why spend the extra money?
Secondly, as yet not having a dual battery set-up, Engel etc offer portable deep cycle batteries which means the fridge isn't limited to the vehicle but how long do they last without recharging? And assuming you take the car for a drive every two days and plug the portable battery in, how will this affect your car battery?
I'm happy to spend the money on good equipment(well, not ecstatic) but I like to keep things simple. We can take everything to the extreme but I don't want solar panels or a generator. My father-in-law has his 'ultimate rig'; a big red F150 with a custom canopy and a22ft van. It's got solar panels, invertors, loads of batteries, ALL his tools, an extra fuel tank to run the generator(all under the canopy) and they're all set up to go to places they'll never go. The ford must weigh 3 1/2 tonne without gear in it. Yeah, I know, horses for courses, but that is not what we want to do!
Brian

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Reply By: muzzgit (WA) - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 00:17

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 00:17

Brian, although you DON'T want to use solar or a gennie, in the end you may need to think about one or the other. Once you get over your reasons and get one or the other, you will kick yourself for not doing it EARLIER !!!

Most 40 or 50l fridge/freezers have only one compartment. It's the bigger ones that can be used as both a fridge and freezer at the same time. If you plan on using a 40 or 50l waeco or engel, or whatever, as a freezer, you will find that battery life is very short. A dual battery setup is paramount and, I have seen vehicles with large fridges that have two aux batteries run together just to get enough power for a few days camping without having to use solar or a gennie.

I run a 50l waeco and our traveling buddies run a 40l engel. We both have a dual bettery system and we can camp in one spot for three days without any problems, even using 12v fluro's at night. We don't need to run the cars or use a gennie or solar, but any longer than three days, my mate takes his solar panels which keep things ship shape. Any longer than 7 days and I take my gennie.

AnswerID: 128773

Follow Up By: bware - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 00:24

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 00:24

yes, this is the info I'm seeking! Thanks for your reply. and your msg is so-o-o-o true!

FollowupID: 383356

Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 10:30

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 10:30

Yes, I agree with muzzgit re the dual battery setup.
Three days from the secondary battery is a fair statement.

To extend power requirements beyond this, you would need to invest in a Gennie, or solar panel, or do what I have done.

I have the "standard" dual battery setup managed by a Piranha DBS II Electronic controller. The primary battery cannot become drained because all electrical accessories are run from the 55 Ah AGM Secondary battery. This battery will recharge fairly quickly from the alternator if I have to by going for a drive, etc.
However, to extend my fridge life, I chose to include a portable battery supply in the way of a "Thumper" which is rated at 75 usable Amp hours and like the secondary battery, is of AGM style.
The Thumper is also charged via it's own pair of high output controllers, one of which is connected to the secondary battery terminals and one which is terminated in a 50 amp Anderson Connector which provides connection of the Thumper. During normal driving, both the secondary battery and the Thumper can be quickly brought up to (near) full charge in two to three hours.

This option like most others is not exactly cheap. The 75 Ah Thumper and a high output controller package cost in the order of $700 which is about that of a dual battery system installation. But the added flexibility it gives to my camping requirements suit me perfectly.

The "Thumper" is manufactured and sold by Blue Apple and is available in a variety of sizes. The 75Ah unit is the best compromise for output versus portability. Anything bigger becomes impractical to lug around.

Blue Apple trade under another name which I am unsure of (The 12 volt Shop?) and advertise in 4X4 Monthly magazine.

Everybody will have different requirements and solutions and none are necessarily right or wrong.

The solution I have identified above, gives me 6 days of 12 volt supply before I need to consider recharging and that is sufficient for my needs. I also have a Gennie if I need it, but haven't needed to take it with me yet and probably never will.

Bill

I'm diagonally parked in a parallel Universe!

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FollowupID: 383384

Reply By: Eric from Cape York Connections - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 06:44

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 06:44

Why do you want to freeze ice packs for and esky as you said just get a bigger fridge.

All the best
Eric

AnswerID: 128782

Reply By: Member - Ivan (ACT) - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 06:59

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 06:59

a couple of other things to keep in mind mate:

- as discussed, freezer means more juice/less time
- are you thinking along esky days of putting ALL your beer in the esky?? - we are a family of 5 and live comfortably out of a 40l fridge - one beer out, new beer in.. (and I get merry most nights when camping ;-)
- if you do go a bigger (80l) fridge, you won't be lifting it in and out - AND it will take considerably more room - you would struggle to lift a full 40l out....

I reckon if you are after simple, go with:

40l fridge, dual batteries for longer stay, fridge slide so you can get at it easily, rotate your beers - works for me and many others (understand that may not be for you - but work through that in your mind!! ;-)

One thing though - **definitely** go the fridge - you'll love it..

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AnswerID: 128783

Reply By: Wok - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 07:01

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 07:01

Brian,
I use that system [freezing ice blocks] & a day cool-box for dairy & veggies.The down side is the space taken up by the freezer-blocks in the fridge/freezer where volume is at a premium.There is the inconvenience of packing & unpacking the fridge/freezer when changing over the blocks [I use a Trailblaza].
A suggestion is to number or colour-code the blocks[eg 4 black,red,yellow etc] helps in rotating the "hard " ones.
Agree about battery capacity & charging, get as much capacity as you can afford. I believe the commercial portable-packs are relatively slow to charge? There are threads on homemade packs which are better value.....just not as pretty!
eng

AnswerID: 128784

Reply By: Gully - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 07:02

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 07:02

Hi bware;
I am in agreement with the advice above. I would also add a couple of points, in order to run a larger fridge/freezer you will also be using more power to freeze your ice bricks. When we go out we freeze our meat and put it at the bottom of our (already cold) 40 litre Waeco, they then act as ice bricks. Using this system we have actually brought home frozen meat after a weeks camping. The portable deep cycle battery units that you mention are another power supply option, however the best one that I have seen is a 36amp/hour one from Waeco. This is very small, you might be looking at a days worth of power for a fridge. They are also very pricey, this makes a 55 to 75 amp/hour bual battery system look pretty good.
We have found our fridge for camping and travel to be one of the best accessories that we have ever purchased and when and if it dies will have no hesitation in replacing it immediately. The big thing with them though is that they require some management, keep them out of the sun and well ventilated; cool them down well at home on 240 before leaving; pack them at home with cold food, drinks, etc.; when camping restock with cold items if possible (I replace my beer early in the morning when the cans are coldest); try and reduce the number of times that the fridge is opened; fiddle with the temperature control to find the optimum setting that keeps things as cold as possible without freezing.
I suspect that quite a few of us started out with ideas of minimalist camping but over the years have accumulated such things as fridges, dual battery systems, solar panels and generators and are now fairly comfortable with these "little luxuries".

Cheers.

AnswerID: 128785

Reply By: Member - Jack - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 07:16

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 07:16

All the above advice is good. I might just mention that you can buy a larger top compartment called a "Twozone" that fits easily onto an Engel fridge, which allows you to have a fridge/freezer. If you don't need that much capacity, you just leave the Twozone behind. I have this setup and find it works very well. Frozen goods in the bottom compartment, other stuff in the top.

Click here to take a look at their website.

Jack

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll-Alice In Wonderland)

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AnswerID: 128788

Reply By: Jimbo - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 08:00

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 08:00

Brian,

Speaking from experience I would suggest an 80L. I had a 39L for six years and it was always a struggle choosing what to take. Swapped to an 80 about a year ago and it makes life so much easier. You get to take all the little extras you can't with a smaller one.

Not much more expensive if you buy from the Fridgeshop.

They do of course use extra power. A dual battery is essential. I also have Solar.

Cheers,

Jim.

AnswerID: 128792

Reply By: Mainey (WA) - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 10:29

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 10:29

Brian,
Your idea of having two seperate fridge units takes up a lot of extra "area or room" and the freezer could be freezing the actual food, not making ice and creating extra work for you to move it to the esky!

Why not use only one 50 or 70 Ltr fridge that has both a normal fridge area and also a totally seperate FREEZER section, which are both contained with-in the same fridge, using the same compressor, but with totally different refrigeration temperatures in the two seperate areas, like your fridge at home, but running on 12v ?

AnswerID: 128819

Reply By: vitara - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 12:47

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 12:47

HI there bware, have a read forum no's 26177 and also 26182 they were written yesterday may give you some idea's. Hope it helps you out. Regards Vitara

AnswerID: 128842

Reply By: Drew - Karratha - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 16:04

Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005 at 16:04

Hi Brian
I uas a 57litre Engel Combi Box (30 Fridge and 27 Freezer), Dual batteries and a Cheap generator with a 10amp purecharge charger. This lets me camp as long as I want. Usually each night when I have the lights on I will also connect up the battery charger and top up the car battery. To ensure the Engel doesnt draw too much power I keep the freezer section at about 1 degrees and have the meat and beer in there and the fridge ends up being about 5 - 6 degrees with the milk, veges etc in it. This works for me and doesnt require too much extra equipment
Drew

AnswerID: 128883