Fridges again - Evacool, Waeco, Engel, Liemack comparison ?

Beddo

Off your question topic but what is your approx itinerary for the Kimberley. I have seen on other posts that you are heading up there soon via Mt Isa etc. We are heading up early June from Syd for 7 weeks wanting to cover Bungle Bungles, Mitchell Plateau, Kalumbaroo, and a few other places. Broome is a maybe depending on time but if we do I want to do Cape Levaque whilst there. We are wife and 9 & 6 year old boys in white Nissan Patrol with Camper Trailer, and myself.

Rob

Better have a go at your question while I'm here.

4x4 Monthly had a good comparo a year or so ago covering most of these fridges, it is worth tracking down for a look.

Most of these fridges go to -18C or close if turned right down.

New Waeco looks good with the little dairy compartment and they have had some very competitive deals lately, free cover and inverter. I believe their lid problem has been fixed.

Engel is still a competitive fridge and there are no shortage of people recommending them.

I think the Liemack is the fridge that requires heavt duty wiring due to high start current. It uses more power but I think it has a higher cooling capacity.

We have had a Bushman for a year and a half and it goes well. It had good figures in the 4x4 comparo and that helped swing my decision. The temp control is digital and you dial up the temp you desire and the readout gives constant indication. This is superior to a mechanical dial in that it doesn't alter when bumped.

Hope this helps
Rob

Jeff the Evakool insulation as you have found with the Evakool esky is just as important on a fridge to aid low battery use.

Evakool has always had a dairy compartment

Never had or heard of the mechanical thermostats moving when bumped
I do know of those in our group that have had the electronic thermostats fail more than one.

Many in our environmental group in Victoria and N.S.W. (about 80) have had various brands of fridge, now the large majority have Evakool. I think that speaks well for Evakool for quality, low power consumption and importantly reliability.

According to tests done by 4wd monthly the evakool is the most efficient.
The Liemack was an absolute shocker.

If you want the results which list all the makes email me
desertdust@hotmail.comHooroo

Jeff,
The short answer is that Quality of the insulation of any refrigerator is very important, the Evacool have gone to long lengths to make sure it's spot on, basic rule is the thicker the greater the resistance to heat infiltration, the better foam fill the better the quality of the insulation. If you already own one of there Eskies you already know from experience what a differance it makes.

when just sitting the biggest heat load on a fridge is the heat infiltration through the insulation, then anything that is inside the fridge making heat(vegetables are still alive so make some heat). of course when you put something in warm (hot beer!)you have to suck the heat out this is where the refrigeration comes in. the more Efficient the design of the refrigeration "system" the less power used to remove the heat put in by leakage & product put in.

as for getting service, ask anywhere that sell's them for a list of service agents for each of there products & see what sort of response you get.

The unit's that use the Danfoss compressors would be better coverd out of warranty by the fact than just about any refrigeration service company would have access to Danfoss compressor's in the event that on fail's later, with the Engel's Sawafuji, you have to get on through whoever the agent for them is(you cant get wholesalers to compete on price when they can only by them thought on place). Danfoss are sold by most commercial refrigeration wholesalers australia wide.
as for the Liemack/Reefer thats a whole differant kettle of fish. they use a Much bigger capacity refrigeration system than most of the other "portable units" in reality they are a "Commercial Quality" cabinet, If you where wanting to actually fast freeze they have the balls to do it compared to any other unit on the market and in all fairness is not a comparable product. basically they would appear to have no better or worse insulation than other units on the maket, what they have is a Much high capacity refrigeration system that will shift a lot more heat quicker than anything else on the market. this of course requires a higher power input while the unit is operating. a lot of people will bag these units but if you need to fast freeze you can't defy the laws of physics.

Thanks all for the responses it comes dowe to dollars - I have another look at the Waecos seeing they are cheaper - but the Evacool is leading at present.Cheers, Beddo
Surf KZN185
<- Yengo NP, Central Coast NSW

I've had an EvaKool for 68 litre 18 months now.

We live in Far North Queensland and rarely turn the fridge above the lowest setting. Over easter it ran for 65 hours off a 90Ah battery that is as old as the fridge.

we have a waeco. Karyn at 18000212121 looked after us we have no complaints after all what do you expect from a fridge . yep ours does that very well and we had no complaints about the cost either regards peter

Thanks everyone for your assistance - sounds like insulation is the go so I will be looking very closely at the Evacool if I can afford the extra.Cheers, Beddo
Surf KZN185
<- Yengo NP, Central Coast NSW

I read with interest the debates on use of fridges and the devastating effect on batteries. About 16 years ago I had my first experience with one of those on a yacht which has very little battery recharging opportunities. One weekend and the battery was flat. I figured that there had to be a better way than this on/off every few minutes, draining the battery.
I set out to improve, did my homework and made an electronic unit that gives me control as to when the fridge should start and how long it should run for. The initial unit was perhaps a bit clumsy but an electronics engineer helped me improve this unit to the extend that he urged me to lodge a patent. This was succesful and I made many units for friends. I called it Battery Current Saver.
It simply works on a user select time cycle that automatically repeats infinately until you switch off the power.
You simply set your fridge thermostat to maximum - the coldest seeting, which may be freeze - dial your time and the fridge will turn on and keep running until your selected time has expired. Each total cycle lasts 38 minutes and you can run your fridge for, say, 3 minutes, 12 minutes or whatever you have dialed and the remainder of that cycle your fridge is not running.
Effectively four fridge turns on only once every 38 minutes so you can as an example, run for 8 minutes on and for 30 off or whatever combination you dial.
The end result is just one start, saving up to 70% of current drained from your battery by the fridge. The BCS was tested 'in house' and 'in the field' by University of WA and the field test with an Engel proved that the Engel used 3 Amp but with the BCS installed current drain over the same period is only 1 Amp.
I know this may sound as a commercial reply however I am not in business as such. I just build units 'on demand' and there are now more than 400 units working happily somewhere. If anybody wants more information you can see a brief description under advertisers but you can ask for a pamphlet I have written on the subject. All my friends swear on the BCS and I just want people to know that there is an alternative available although not commercially. You can email me on noelex@bigpond.com and address your message to Fred V. I will be happy to supply a copy of the official tests.
Fred VVGR

Terry
Noted your comments. With the standard set up your fridge probably turns on, runs for about 3 minutes and stops for a while only to turn on again when the ambient temperature again activates the thermostat. The ambient temperature is not necessarily the inside fridge temperature. I am not claiming anything about temperature. With a BCS you can set your initial cycle for a continuous cooling for 30 minutes or more, giving you rapid cooling which should be quicker than half a dozen on's and off's in the same period. My point is that the instance of an electric motor starting _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx more power than it takes to run. To make it easier to understand I use a scale of 1 to 10. Assuming a fridge runs 3 minutes on and 3 minutes off, you have 10 starts each hour. If the starting current used is 7 and the running current used is 3 and the average fridge _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx 5 Amp each hour then the starting sequence has used 3.5 Amp and the running 1.5 Amp. With a BCS you have only 2 starts each hour using 1 Amp for starting, with the running remaining on 1.5 Amp.
Total battery drain is now 2.5 Amp or a saving of 50%, assuming the fridge runs for the same period of time. As the thermostat reacts on the ambient temperature there are between 3 and 4 starts each hour which are not necessary if the fridge were to remain closed for that hour and you cannot do much about that. At least with a BCS you can select the number of minutes of continuous running providing you have selected the coldest setting on your thermostat. I do not claim a miracle but it is a vast improvement on the standard thermostat set up. I suppose everything has pro's and con's. Temperature wise there is very little difference in normal fridge performance. My argument is simply that without a BCS a standard fridge will flatten a battery 3 times quicker than with a BCS.
Fred V

OzyGuy
You are correct in that sense but does your fridge not stop and start frequently to keep up with the ambient temperature? The BCS is not limited to time. You can simply dial to maximum and it will run for about 35 minutes and will only stop for three minutes. You can select any time you like for running within that time frame. The difference is that you set your fridge to maximum cooling and it should continue to run. Without a BCS the contents should eventually freeze and you have to manually control the on/off sequence. In the southern states you probably only need 8 minutes on each half hour but in your area you most likely need at least 20 minutes on each half hour.
The big secret of course is insulation. You can do this cheaply with poly foam sheeting which you can obtain from those bigger coolroom builders. If you want to do it at reasonable cost, line the outside with the sheeting and stick it on with a few dollops of silicone. You then cover the entire foam surface with white contact that you can buy in most hardware stores. A total wrap around will prevent the foam from crumbling and actually looks good. A BCS and the foam worked for me.
Fred V
VGR