3-way or not to 3-way?

Go with the three way, far better than solar on those 2 or 3 wet days with no sun.

Best advise is to set aside 2 or 3 nights a week for the next 2 or 3 months and read the Archives on this forum , just type in fridges or chescold or batteries or solar or waeco or engle ect ect ect into the SEARCH function ,,thousands of pages to help you make up your own mind.

Hi Mrs Clan,

It always happens that it rains on the first trip - its a given. There is a lot of debate on this and the search function will located previous discussion on this. The main issue realy is that a 3 way seems best if you are camping in one spot and can hook the gas up for a period of time, these units don't appear to operate at their best when running off 12v. If you are on the moove then a 3 way may be a bit of a pain and you might be better served by one of the compressor fridges that run well and economically on 12v.

Kind regards

Hi Clan

If you don't want to outlay the expense as you say, then this fridge is probably it. Chestcold is excellent when run on gas and when kept level. Run it on 24v before you leave for your trip to get it cold before filling it. If running on 12v don't open unless needed too. When stopped for lunch it drained very little from the (one) heavy duty battery. It is 22+ years old and has been re-gassed the once and to this day, it's probably still going? (the ex has it - I have the Trailblaza)

Cya
:)

Hi The CLAN
I have a 12v fridge because i think they are the best option, the gas version (3 way) use a lot of gas i think and the other people that i know that have them and have seen being used i wouldn't own one unless they have improved a lot!!! We have been camping together and the gas was not cooling well enough on the hotter days and using a lot of gas. The other person i know that owns one that i have seen in action when ever he has had it off then later (a week or so) when he wants to use it he is always turning it upside down to get it cooling again, i do not know the reason for this but by doing it eventually starts to cool down. They also are bulky for there capacity and use 12v only when vehicle is running as they use lots of 12v power.
Not what u wanted to hear, hopefuly others have betterexperiences.

Mattie

Sorry, I don't follow.
If you get a 3 way fridge, won't you run it on gas when stationary, and 12v when in the car running of the main battery? And maybe 240v volts at home?

This is what my friend does when they go up to Fraser Is, and are stationary for more than a couple of days. Others could confirm, but I think a couple oof kgs of gas lasts a good week or more, depending on temp. Main reason they bought a 3 way, so they didn't need to keep recharging a battery every couple of days.

Only hassle I understand on gas is making sure the fridge is level. Chescolds are not as effecient on 12v s our Engel, but if the car is running at the time, it isn't so critical.

We tend to do touring holidays, so a 2nd battery and the Engel works well for us, as we tend to move or drive some where every 2nd or 3rd day.

My 2 cents worth - I will not have a gas fridge. I have seen and had first hand reports of too many BIG BANGS. They should not be run while travelling, and need to be fairly level to work. Not at all suitable for the type of travelling we do.

We bought a old small wind-up caravan a few years ago and the 3 way fridge was kaput. We purchased an Engel compressor caravan fridge 12/240 volt and built it in where the dead one stood. We already have an Engel 12/240 car fridge. For around $2000 we got the fridge, a solar panel, deep cycle battery, regulator and a couple of 12 volt lights. Jim made a stand for the solar panel, so we could put it out when we stopped in the afternoon (usually not long before it was in shadows, but it charged the battery much quicker than the line from the car whilst driving)and leave it facing East overnight ready for the dawn. If we stopped with family, we just plugged to caravan in to 240 v and the fridge ran on that. We didn't even take the gennie and wouldn't have used it.

Just excellent.

Hi Ireland Clan, I bought a Repco 3-way fridge after reading advise from here, I believe it's the same unit as the Chescold - Anyway - we've used it a few times now and it really does work. I once took a spare battery thinking that I could use this instead of gas, but it flattened before the night was through - not good. So it chews up 12v and a 2nd battery would'nt be an option with a 3-way. I always put it on gas when we make camp and it usually hovers around 4-8'C during the day and first thing in the morning it's 0'C or below. I havent noticed that it uses a huge amount of gas. When in the car it's on 12v and is around 8'C depending on ventilation and how hot the car is and the car is never level LOL. I bought a digital temp gauge for $12 which you should get too. I checked our fridge at home and it's set at 4'C. I'm very happy with our 35ltr and so far it fits all the food we need although not much room for many beers as well :o(
Andrew

Just be aware of the pluses and minuses of the 3-way fridge:

They usually run for say 10 days off 3kgs of gas. Gas cyls need to be filled before you go away. But they usually are fine if you camp in the one place. The gas pilot light can blow out in windy conditions.

You cannot run it off gas while in the vehicle - can blow up the car. So you need to take them out of the vehicle for every overnight stop, and set them up. To run overnight on 12 volts will flatten your starting battery as they draw 10amps continuously. If you go for a drive during the day, and wish to take it, you may find it a pain to put back in the car.

To work well, they need to be perfectly level. They also need good air circulation around the fins. They also struggle in hot weather. They can freeze easily in cold weather.

So for vehicle based tourists, a compressor fridge is the best option. For the stay put campers, a 3-way may be a better option.

Had one for ages - now using a Waeco because our formula has altered.... A few concise points on 3 ways........
4kg of gas might run it for 10-14 days ! (depending on weather).
Must be level when static (when moving in the car, level doesn't matter)
12V circuit is only good for car-mobile ..... has a heavy current draw.
240 V is good, if you have mains available.
Inside temps depend on ambient temp outside, to an extent.
Hot weather - chilled food, at best.
Mild weather- sub zero possible, at the bottom.
Vcold weather - can freeze everything.
We changed over because our fridge space is in the car, and we did not have a means of powering the 3 way in the car, while parked and away from the car for a few hours (as often happens when on the wallaby track)..... gas not safe in our view......a mid sized 12V battery would be flat as a tack in about 2 hours or less, on the 3 way..... not a disaster if its the aux battery, but flat is not good for battery health ! Chrs.......

Ireland Clan,
Got a 40 lt Chescold 3 way, had it for yonks. Good on gas. 9 kg bottle lasts about 2 weeks on medium. Not really suited for freezing things but will do your clan for drinks and stuff that does not require freezing. Don't like to be opened too often.
Got an 80 lt trailblaza also but that is another world and stepup away. LOL.
Cheers,
Bros.

G'day there Ireland Clan,
I too have this same dilema, and as much as i would like to go for a trailblaza or something similar i have been pondering over the 3 way. I did come across a waeco CA-35 on their website for $399(its in the kompressor section)..... I don't know how good they are, but they are a waeco ( which obviously is a good reliable brand ) and for the handsome sum of 400 bucks, i thought was a very good price compard to the chescold which from memory is in the $600 or $700 mark here in Gladstone (q.l.d.). Whichever you decide on, I'de be interested in knowing what your thoughts are after you have used it.........

Good luck in your choosing !!!!
Dan

We have a 60ltr chescold in the camper,has a frozen section and a frig section.
When we crossed the simpson we would fire it up on gas when we paked every arvo let it run until we were off the next day, switch the gas off fold the camper up and nothing was spoiled,all the kids had icey poles in the simpson desert kept them happy and quite.Great bit of gear.It suck's the power on 12v ,so we don't worry about 12v no need.We traveled about 7to 8 hours every day ,so the frig stay's cold no one can open it either until the camper is opened.
I hope that is of some help, go the 3way.
Regards Scoof

Hi to the clan all viewers (200+ ) Obviously a topic close to heart.

Its great to get the spread of opinions and more importantly - experiances by other fridge users. We have used only 3 way caravan fridges over 30 years and being mostly in southern climes they usually operate adequately.But we have found them ok on fraser/ Whitsundays / Perth and Alice.
In 240volt mode they seem to work best which is ok for those stops in caravan parks. But like my car air conditioner - when the going gets really tough say a sunny hot 38 -40 c then they start to let you down a bit..

We freeze those blue ice packs in the little freezer to help with the day time travelling. Mind you we dont bother trying to cool lots of beer cans!!
For that I think you would really need to go the compressor way.

It would be nice to have a fridge that gave dual cooling sytems one being the compressor type for 12/240volt the other for gas to suit the prolonged bush stay.
That would be a little more expensive but would seem to help solve the debate and perhaps save a bit on solar panel / generator / battery capacity requirements

Happy camping to all.

Yeah... I thought about them but no good for a 40c+ day on the beach, which we often do during summer. A) I wouldn't really want to be setting it up in the heat on the sand, trying to get it level etc, B) it just wouldn't get cold enough!

I ended up with a superworks cheap ass compressor fridge and it's bloody not bad. 42L fit's HEAP of gear and I can run it all day at -2c which is just cold enough NOT to freeze everything but keeps the drinks ICY cold. It's got a digital thermostat so you're not having 8c beers in summer and frozen coke in the winter.

I think the 3 ways would have their uses, but just out of pure conveinience the 12v fridges really have it over them.

Also, charging your batteries on the way home is free (well almost). Filling your 3kg gas bottle for $12 is still $12!