3 Way Portable Fridge/Freezers

Hi Nomads
I'll be brave and put my thoughts forward,
The type of fridge you buy really depends on where you are going to use it.
If you are going to use it in a cooler climate area i believe the absorption type ,which the chescold is would work fine.
If you intend to use it in the hotter climate areas, up the cape or over the kimbleys as an example the chescold type fridges really struggle, whereas the compressor type units handle it ok.
Just what type of compressor unit you go with comes back to what you can afford, how much room you have and how big you need it.
I have two 60ltr trailblazers, I bought them 2nd hand about 5 years ago one is in the back of the cruiser and has never been off other than to give it a clean, the other one is at home as the beer fridge when we're not camping.

Hope this has been a help

Cheers with beers

Franga

I'm in the unique position where I own one of both.

If I'm traveling or moving camp every day or 2, I take the Waeco, if I'm going somewhere to stay in the one spot for more then 2 days (when we do our annual fraser trip etc) I'll take the gas fridge.

I guess your decision depends on what your intended use is, and your budget.

I have had a chescold rc 1180 for about 20years and used it on gas , 12v and 240v

12v - just holds it between sites

240 - no problems

gas - no problems - jsu heep in then shade and well ventilated

only had one problem 12v connection melted , replaced it with something heavier , both male and female a couple of years ago - still going , need to have heavy wire for your 12v source

love the divider , take it out each Xmas and use it to keep the grog cold

freezes quite well

I would go again , but it would seem it will keep going

That fridge uses approx 375 grams of gas per day

We have a Chescold 1180 and a Waeco CF50. We bought the Chescold in Darwin in 1994 to camp around the top end. It was good and has paid for itself in the ice we saved over the period we used it. In really hot weather the fridge section would only hold "cool" in the afternoon but the freezer section was fine and would really drop it down overnight.

like other above we use the Waeco if travelling and the Chescold if we are planning stops of more that 3-4 days.

The only time the Chescold let us down was a week of 40+ days and nightime temps of 32+. We bought the Waeco just after that trip.

Cheers

Pete

Hello.....we have a chescold and they are great. Especially if your out bush for a long time. They get cold and stay cold......not great on 12volt but otherwise just the ducks nuts. Wish they had a temp guage and a spirit level built in....find it strange that these companies wouldnt desighn this fridge with these small refinements. Still a great fridge.

SARGE

Hi Nomads
Ihave a 40lt Chescold and swear by it, But it depends on what you want.
My chescold will last around 30 days on freeze.
I have it in the back of the ute ( under the canopy)and keep it out of the sun.
I constantly use it in 45plus degree heat and it works fine
When travelling from place to place I use 12v which will only maintain temp.
When stopped switch to gas and make sure the fridge is perfectly level.
I always carry a small spirit level and a couple of small wedges to level the Chescold.
One small mod I made is I obtained a couple of secondhand computer fans and installed them in the top above the evaporater fins to extract the heat away from the cooling fins
Good thing is no noisy generators ,not having to carry petrol for gen setand not having to find space for the gen set.
Ideal units if camping in one spot for any length of time

Sylvia

Nomads,
ive been very happy with my chescold for many years now.
i was told prior to buying it they were very average on 12volt.
i recently ran 6mm cable to it for 12 volt use when travelling. it works a treat now on 12 volts.
Gav

I've had the 40Lt. Chescold for 6 years now, and although it's pretty ordinary on 12volt, she's a ripper on 240 or gas, despite the temperature. Keep it in the shade, keep it ventilated, and make sure it's level. I bought a wooden bathroom base, about $10.00 in Bunnings. Get that level, then drop the fridge on to it. Works a treat. Used it in FNQ, the Kimberley and NT, in very hot weather with no problems. I'm going to up my 12volt wiring, and should see an improvement then.

A 3way fridge just isnt going to last in farth north queensland heat they work on 30 degrees delta (if I remeber coreclty) So if you're haveing a 40 degree day the fridge will be 10 degrees inside. If you plan on camping anywhere near queensland then I would advise you not to buy one I have people coming into my workshop every tourist season with 3 ways wondering why it wont work and drains there battery in 7-8 hours. These fridges draw upto 25amps when running. and why since they got into queensland there fridge wasnt kepping anything cold and there having to put ice in. on the flip side they work great in climates like victoria etc and are a very versatile fridge.

Thanks guys for all the info. I see there are a lot for and against the Units. It seems there is a problem in very hot weather in the North. Sam the Auto Elect. from Weipa made some interesting comments. Also the Units Not having a gauge or levelling indicator could be a problem.
I am now investigating the Waeco 60ltr. It seems that a Auxillary (deep cycle) Battery fitted to my Prado with a good quality Battery Management System may be the go. A Portable Solar system (80 watt) costing about a $1000 may be a good long term investment. I realise they are useless on cloudy days but then again up North in winter that does not happen very often.
I would now be interested to hear from you guys who have Portable Solar Power (say the 80watt unit) who only use it for keeping power up to a 60ltr Fridge/Freezer and a few Lights etc. If I left the Solar Unit outside say from about 10am to 1pm, would that collect enough energy to put about 30 amps back into my deep cycle or AGM battery. The reason I am saying this time frame is because we would be probably absent from our campsite during other times and I would be reluctant to leave the Solar Unit unsecured in case it got flogged. I realise energy produced would be greater in summer than winter.
I would appreciate your thoughts, thanks

I would say an 80 watt should roughly keep up with what you need without going into technical jargon and fiqures depending on if its a cloudy day or not cheers. there are alot of good sites for iformation like Site Link

I've owned an RC1180, now have an Evakool 60L and 80W of solar. My experiences are:

I was very disappointed with my RC1180 in the tropics as it never kept up on gas, 240 or 12V. Even struggled in Brisbane.

80W of solar will not run a 60L danfoss based fridge/freezer (Waeco/Evekool - cannot comment on trailblaza)unassisted if you intend to use part of it as a freezer. Believe me, I wish it would.

If you have an isolating type dual battery system in your vehicle and run it for 1-2 hours a day, plus supplement it with 80w, you will get by in the tropics. This is what I do.

I believe you need 100-120W of solar to run completely off solar in the tropics on an evakool/waeco.

If you are running as fridge only mode (eg 4deg), are in cooler climes, or have a unit with thicker isnulation (eg trailblaza) you will get by with less

A 'compressor' fridge is recommended up north for the reasons stated above.

Solar is available to do the work you require and has long term benefits that are worth the investment.

Use of a large capacity AGM Deep Cycle battery
120 watt solar panel (7+ amp)
and a decent solar regulator will deliver all the power you require.

Some of the more 'efficient' Solar panels available will also work in low light and 'cloudy' weather so don't be put off by adverse comments from people who don't own or use these more efficient (and yes more expensive) Solar panels :-(

I use a fridge that has a Freezer that keeps frozen in Darwin, running off an 'efficient' solar system.

G,day Nomads

I have recently bought the exact fridge that you intend to purchase and it is the second three way fridge that I have owned.

Let me begin by saying the new model is a vast improvement on the old one I used to own. The first real trip with the new fridge was to the Gulf about eight weeks ago with temperatures to about 35 degrees. I used it with the freezer partition removed and the only problem I had was the unit was actually getting too cold. I had half a a pumpkin and a bag of tomatoes that froze almost solid and this was with the fridge turned well down. If you ever use your fridge this way I recommend keeping drinks at the "freezer end" of the unit and everything else as far as possible to the other end. It seemed to work well on 12volt also.

The old fridge that I had was the 60l model with 3 inch insulation and on a similar trip a couple of years ago it really did struggle with the heat.

The greatest advantage of the compressor fridges is that they can cope better when loaded up with alot of warm material, e.g fish fillets. If you are mainly maintaining cold or cooling a few hot drinks the three way fridges are fine.

My opinion is that if you intend to be set up in any one place for a long period of time the rc1180 is an efficient and flexible means of refrigeration.

Regards
Darren.

I have this fridge and was recently up the cape (4 weeks ago). It was 37 degrees most days in the shade. We camped in the one spot for 8 days and it worked perfectly freezing some stuff that wasn't supposed to be frozen. It wasn't turned right up either. The only time it wasn't great was with the strong wind which blew out the pilot. We weren't around for about 10 hours and that took its toll. It took a good 24 hours to cool down again. Luckily the esky was loaded with ice so we could keep meat etc below 4 degrees.

I found that on 12 volt performance wasn't great until I changed the original connector to an anderson type. It now gets quite frosty after a few hours driving.

In saying all that I plan to buy a small 12v fridge (25-30l) as a back up and pre chiller. I can shut it off when we stay somewhere more than battery power provides.

Good luck

T