Engel Reliability

100 Pipes

Mate you've been stiff. They are the only two Engels to ever break down and they both belong to you. How unlucky is that?

Seriously though, I've never heard of premature compressor failure like that. The Danfos compressor is bullet proof and should last as long as one of those old fridges that weighs about 200 kg and still works after 50 years.

Bob

My engels compressor quit after 12 years but I reckon it was because in the last couple of years, before the breakdown, I was only running it when going camping/picnicing etc. Prior to this it ran constantly as it does now and by doing this I have not had a problem. At the moment it is in the shed acting as a freezer for a heap of dog bones! Once they are gone it'll have the drinks back in it. The old fridges that lasted forever did that because they were never turned off!

G'day 100 pipes

As has already been said - you are unlucky.

I use 3 Engels - 2 at work and 1 at play. The oldest is about 25 years old, lives in an open runabout boat and gets the crap knocked out of it - and it has never failed. A 60 litre lives in the back of my work 4x4 so it too gets bounced around even though it's secured to the floor of the service body (Telstra style thing) and it's never failed.

And I have a 59 litre Combo in my own 4x4 and the same story - never a problem.

My Camper has 2 of the other ones that start with "W" and they too have never goven a problem over some really rough bits of Oz.

Cheers

My original 39 litre is 28 years old and still going strong. Never had a problem. Son uses it now.

I purchased a new 40 litre 4 years ago because I was afraid the 39 litre may give up on a trip. My son knows if it does, he can put his beer in my new 40 litre. (his mother will let him!!!!)

I have never heard of an Engel failing until I read the above reply.

100 pipes

I have had my Engel since 2000 I have just purchased a new one because of the price $1080 with bag inverter food containers cooler/warmer and a thermometer could not pass it up now I have two Engels. By the way I do have a "w" and its for sale (80ltr).

Use 2 fridges

1 Engel 40 liter that ran for 30 years before needing a regas, and now works fine for another 5 years.

1. Waeco 40 liter that works great and never misses a beat, about 2 years old almost.

Cheers

A bit disappointing that a company who advertises reliability as its cornerstone wouldn't fully warrant a three and a half year old fridge.

Like FW I've owned both W and E and they both keep stuff cold.

But, both have poor insulation and there are better fridges on the market.

Cheers,

Jim.

I have a 10 year old Engel which is in the service agent at the moment for a failed thermostat. The thermostat cost is usually about $60 for the part although ther eis a possibility it could be the main circuit board which is $.
It still cools perfectly.
I consider that pretty good seeing it has gone 10 years of continuous operation as a beer fridge when not in the car.

The service agent said he would not touch Waecos as the parts were too expensive . He quoted $900 for a compressor and that he had to "chop the thing open " to fit. An engel compressor assembly is approx $400.
He also said my model was the most relaible and that he saw more of the later ones.

Regards Philip A

Engel Fridges simple do not live up to the reliability reputation they have - yes the old ones were reliable, but the grey coloured generation are not.

My 40l compressor is stuffed and Engel don't want to know me. I am waiting for some reports and user feedback on the new ARB fridge - It can't be any worse than the Engel.

I have been stung by Engel and my loyalty is gone.

Jack

As Jim said, the insulation is ordinary on Engels and Waecos, and for a few bucks extra one of the fridges you couldn't go past would be a Trailblaza......
I own a Waeco 60, and although it runs terrific, my next choice of fridge would be a Trailblaza....no nonsense, aussie owned, good insulation and tough.....

A fridge is a fridge and the old "this brand is more reliable than that" is really a myth.

My parents bought a Leonard Fridge/Freezer for our home in 1961. In 2005 (when Mum died) it was still running after just one regassing of coolant. With 5 kids this fridge was opened and closed constantly for a period of 44 years and was still working perfectly. There were no fancy electronics, circuit boards or dials. Just a fridge that you could vary the temperature on by a simple twist of a rotary dial.

The point I'm making is that the fridge ran constantly, as does my Waeco FF40. The Waeco is my beer fridge while it's not travelling (and also while it is I suppose).

For me, it's not about reliability because I believe that if you run your fridge constantly it will last forever.Those who buy a car fridge and only operate it when they want to go away can't really expect their product to last that long.To me it's all about insulation and to be honest neither Waeco or Engel cut the mustard here. I don't know anything about Trailblaza but I do know that an Evakool Fridge is going to work really well as I use a 60L Evakool FG esky that I've had for years and am delighted with it's insulating abilities.