Just on fridges and electrics...........I have a 37L Engel and a 35L 3 way. can't run them both together as the alternator won't keep up when driving. They will take a 13.8 v deep cycle battery down to 5.6v in about an hour. A good idea is to carry a multimeter on your trip to keep an eye on battery voltages and current draw. You can buy a good digital from Jaycar for less than $20. Just as deep cycles can take time to discharge they take an equally long time to fully charge up again.
Comments about running 3ways on 12v and 240 v have some creedence. They perform best on gas. My 3 way is the cheapie from Repco also sold as Coleman from K-Mart. Performs very
well on gas. Despite comments elsewhere I have never had to hang from my ankles from a tree to light it. First thing to do is to remove the plastic feet off the bottom and put something decent there. They need to sit level and sans one foot compromises this concept. The handles are obviously for small mitts as I can't get a grip on them either. The fridge and I have developed quite a relationship as I give it a cuddle every time it needs to be moved. Chop the non-removeable 240v lead short as
well as it is a pain away from
home base.
Just on that, had another camper fooled one night as I found a hole in a tree trunk that took the plug perfectly. Had this guy and his wife convinced that the fridge would run off 'tree power' and fill a gas bottle at the same time! (sorry mate, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.)
Our modus operandi is to run both engel and 3way on 240v overnight prior to departure and to put the critical stuff in the engel for the journey. 3 Way will hold some cold for about 4 hours with no power/gas so it is useful for non-critical stuff. If we do travel away from the
camp for a drive we load some food into the engel for the trip and chill it on the drive. Can be useful for freshly caught fish which would take overnight in the 3way to chill to below 5 degrees. As for the beer, nothing beats the ice esky. Use it to transport the hot tinnies and throw the ice in at the last ice stop before the
camp. Bloke I saw recently transported 2 slabs of cans and the EMPTY esky to the
campsite and then went off to buy ice. Thing to remenber with the 3 ways is that they perform heaps better if you turn them upside down before plugging them in if they have been sitting for a while. Obviously, do this before your partner loads it up with the camembert and the caviar!
Craig
Quebec 1770