The perennial "which fridge is best" question...

Submitted: Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 13:27

ThreadID: 62867 Views:19398 Replies:13 FollowUps:28

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Grunter65

Hi Folks

Yes, I'm one of the nomads going from shop to shop trying to make sense of every 12/240V fridge option out there. Companion have a fridge at BCF for $699.00, but what am I getting? High amp draw? Little insulation? Or a real good fridge? From where I sit, Engel's are too dear (though have runs on the board and a very loyal band of followers) and Waeco's, while comparably cheaper, tend to play up, or so I hear. This may be due to Waeco's being more prevalent in the market too of course. All I'd like to know is, bang for buck, what's a decent, low amp draw 12/240 volt 50-60L fridge that won't be on a bench getting fixed more than it's on the road?
Your thoughts and experience will be appreciated.

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Reply By: Member - Footloose - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 13:33

Reply By: pepper2 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 13:55

Reply By: wazzaaaa - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 13:59

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 13:59

Hi Grunter65,
I have three waeco's, one in the van and two CF50's all trouble free apart from the fan in the 8year old one. I like the look of Dereks fridge he sells he has all the info on what it's power consumption is on his website.

Wazzaaaa

AnswerID: 331791

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:05

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:05

Hi Wazzaaaa
You really are a fan aren't you! 3 fridges, you must have a good power supply! Yes, I'm seriously considering Derek's option. Reason for looking away from Waeco currently is my own experience. We went to Fraser in September armed with a mate's CF60, performed great. However, on a track to one of the inland lakes, lumpy and bumpy as it was, the lid come out of the hinge. As it's one moulded section, the (what I consider to be) flimsy little lug on the side of the lid that is the hinge snapped, leaving me to wrap an occy-strap around the lid for the duration of trip. When you're spending >$1000 on a fridge I would expect it to be more robust, especially when they are specifically marketed to the camping / off road market. Again, fridge was great, just a doubt on its robustness from my limited experience. BTW, the lid to replace was $103 , not happy Jan

FollowupID: 599634

Follow Up By: wazzaaaa - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:21

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:21

Yes I forgot about the lid on my 8 year old CF50 when I first got it it had a plastic lid and when a mate sat on it it bowed and did not seal( this is when it was 3 years old), waeco replaced it no charge. As I go up the beach a lot the salt air affected the performance of the internal fan so I replaced it for $30. On talking to the fridge repair guy he did not say any fridge was better than the others as he repairs them all no matter what brand. One thing he did say was to spray the cooling fins with lanolin to prevent them rusting as I camp on the beach.

FollowupID: 599639

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:24

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:24

I'm with you, we pretty much exclusively camp on the beach so I'll keep that tip in mind for when I eventually get my own fridge. I'm just so confused, maybe I get photos of them all on a wall and put a pin in one and be done with it!

FollowupID: 599641

Follow Up By: wazzaaaa - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:24

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:24

Power suply 3 x 100AH agm batterys and 6 x 65w solar panels and for back up honda 2kva and two 25amp chargers

FollowupID: 599642

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:54

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:54

OMG wazzaaaa, I hope you're making a buck or two from putting the leftovers back into the grid! That's a large investment, I'm jealous!

FollowupID: 599652

Follow Up By: wazzaaaa - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:08

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:08

I did read about this guys research into fridges before he bought, may be of interest.

rays webpage

FollowupID: 599657

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:09

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:09

Thanks very much wazzaaaa, I'll read up

FollowupID: 599658

Follow Up By: Member - Boo Boo (NSW) - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 17:13

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 17:13

wazzaaaaa

Quite a good article.

I have a three year old bushman.

I bagged it recently on this site. However, although the fridge had a problem, and my wiring was undersized (now fixed) it was basically the poor service received from the supplier. The supplier actually worked on my wiring and made no comment. It was with the help of this site that my problem was solved.

Now that everything is fixed I would have to say it performs extremely well and has a permenent home in the back of the troopy.

Regards Bob

FollowupID: 599673

Reply By: Best Off Road - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:22

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:22

G,

I've owned an Engel and a Waeco, both terrific.

In my business I get to see a lot of customer's fridges and the one that has really impressed me is the Fridgemate. It's a big yellow thing in various sizes. Made in QLD and they advertise on this site.

Very robust, great insulation and the price is very good. They use a Danfoss Compressor.

My advice would be, whatever you decide on, get something with a Danfoss compressor. This way, if you have any problems with it you will be able to get it fixed just about anywhere.

Jim.

AnswerID: 331793

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:26

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:26

Thanks Jim, sounds like good advice. I've got one of their eskies, works a treat and yes, the insulation must be good coming from an esky manufacturer. Their factory is 10 minutes from my home, know them well.

FollowupID: 599644

Follow Up By: Shaker - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:28

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:28

Isn't Fridgemate just a rebadged, cheaper EvaKool in a plastic body instead of GRP?

FollowupID: 599645

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:36

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 14:36

Same factory, cheaper version I understand. Though I'd offer that it's just the look that's cheaper, not performance. I think boaties like the 2-pac look and finish and pay heaps more for the same thing, it's just canary yellow (or Australian gold!)

FollowupID: 599649

Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:05

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:05

You'd struggle to put an axe through that "cheap" looking case.

The whole thing is basically a bloody good esky with a compressor grafted onto the end of it. Simple but effective. No need to baffle such matters with science.

Jim.

FollowupID: 599655

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:07

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:07

Can't fight logic like that Jim!

FollowupID: 599656

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:59

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 15:59

Hey Jim, I went to your website, click on the "products" section, there's a typo. The word "avaiable" needs the spell checker run over it.

FollowupID: 599667

Follow Up By: MP - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 16:53

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 16:53

I've been lucky enough to be able to borrow the outlaws 55 litre Fridgemate. Great fridge, no performance issues. Running only from starting battery but whenever we go away we are always going somewhere each day. The only negative is external size, but I suppose that is the price you pay for good insulation. Also the casing is a tough as. I would love to see how some of the other sizes fit in the back of the ute.

Cheers

Mark

FollowupID: 599671

Follow Up By: Grunter65 - Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 17:18

Saturday, Oct 25, 2008 at 17:18

Hi MP
That's a key consideration, the physical size of the fridge. I have NP Pajero (one before latest) and space isn't the same as a Cruiser in the back, functional no doubt, but not abundant. They're a big unit compared to others of same capacity aren't they. Good as I'm sure they are they do take up more space.

FollowupID: 599674