engle 40 liter fridge problem

Yup - I run mine 24/7/365 too - even though it has nothing in it sometimes. Cheap as chips to run in terms of electrickery used. Never had a failure - ever.

Erroneous belief roachie...sealed systems do not have seals ......thats why they are called "hermetically sealed"

your domestic fridge, freezer, airconditioner, Waeco, Engel, Trailblaza (and copies) together with even that power hungry Reefer are hermetically sealed systems.

Automotive airconditioning systems do not have seals that "dry out"...rather they need lubrication to ensure that that dont wear prematurely which requires one to operate at a regular frequency.

in fact ...shaft seals should leak a miniscule amount of oil to ensure that all of seal surface in contact with the shaft is "wet"...(film surface tension).... due to poor manufacturing tolerances the seal may be inadequately lubricated causing premature wear or become too "wet" the latter of which dampens the film surface tension ability to prevent the high pressure refrigerant from also passing through the shaft seal...

Thanks for that Nudie....I sort of understand what you're saying. I certainly don't know much about fridges (best thing I know is how to open and get beer out!!heheheh)
Do you think there is any merit in running the fridge full time for any other reason? What I mean is, even theough there are no seals to dry out etc, could it be that this bloke's fridge is playing up cos it's been sitting idle to too long?
Cheers mate
Roachie

yes there may be merit ...but a lot of info is required to assess such merit...and it must be accurate...
so i take mine out of the car after each trip and store in shed...till next time.....
about 1 month b4 next time i test to make sure all is ok!

nudenut, i live in uruguay, south america and we don't have any engle or for that matter any portable fridge vendors other than perhaps a cheap chinese model thats draws many amps and does not cool in extreme conditions. please tell me if the system is hermetic, how does the gas escape? or is this just the compressor that is hermetic? if there is a leak does it need a special seal or are the seals rather generic? thanks to everyone for the help. regards, robert

the total system is hermeticaly sealed...so if a leak is the cause then it must be found and repaired....

engels have an aluminum evaporator (same as domestic fridge) which is thin and susceptable to damage whcih may puncture the skin tubing... if this is the case a new evaporator is required.

other tubing joints are also brazed and any one can be a cause of a leak!

reccomend you get a qualified fridgie to look at it.
the electronic side of the equation will however most likeley be outside his his scope.

I'm interested in why you say the Reefer is power hungry. I am interested in the 47 litre model which has a Danfross compressor and 50mm insulation. Just not sure why it would use a lot of power. Thanks

Should be more carefull in what I say....
the 240v compressor models are the power hungry ones...
the ones with the danfoss compressor should be ok

NudeNut, can you please explain why you believe the NEW REEFER fridge is in your own words:

"Should be more carefull in what I say.... the 240v compressor models are the power hungry ones... "

Have you tested the amp usage yourself ? ?
or
seen tests results on the NEW REEFER fridge ? ?

I'm wondering how you can state in all honesty that you believe the NEW REEFER fridge is "power hungry" when you can't show any link to test results on the NEW REEFER fridge .. even when asked.

The NEW REEFER does not use an inverter as in the Liemack.

He said he only uses 12v

thanks everyone for your great input. the problem has been solved and many of relayed the answer----BATTERY PROBLEM. i have a jeep that has 2 delco 140 amp batteries running in parallel and a top of the battery in the rear which has quick connects which were loose. the reason i did'nt realize this is we use the battery for spotlighting and hunting at night and never had a problem. another thing hard to believe is a friend of mine has a LIEMACKfridge that is about 6 years old and unbelievably it worked well in the jeep the other day. perhaps in some rough roads the terminal loosened and that was the problem. when i went to the fridge tech he alerted me to the problem but said he could'nt fix it if it needed gas because he only has the old gas, no 134 refridgerent. once again appreciate all the help. this is a great forum. for the last 5 years we have been spending a month in OZ this is how got to know about this forum. cheers, robert