Wireless fridge thermometer
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 16:20
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Austravel
Hi,
Has anyone tried those wireless fridge thermometers? I want to put the probe in the fridge in the back of a tray back. The display will be in the cab. Not sure if the signal will be good enough to go through glass/metal. If you've got first hand experience with one please let me know.
Thanks
Reply By: 4x4 Equip - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 16:44
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 16:44
I have one in my Pajero station wagon - works
well, and no cords which is perfect. Can't tell you how it will go through glass but if you talk to the manufacturer Two-Zone they will probably be able to help.
AnswerID:
368255
Reply By: RobAck - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 17:04
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 17:04
We've been using the TwoZone system for the last six months and it works perfectly through two cargo barriers, tents, and other stuff we carry when touring so you will not have a problem
As
well we have been testing the battery life by leaving it running at
home and so far six months have passed with both send and receive switched on and no sign of battery failure yet
Regards
RobA
AnswerID:
368258
Reply By: Member - Fred B (NT) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 17:09
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 17:09
I bought
mine from BCF; had it for two years now and still going strong. Works
well even with vehicle loaded to the hilt (all between fridge and receiver hanging on the glove box door).
AnswerID:
368259
Reply By: KiwiAngler - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 18:48
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 18:48
I have 2 fridges - one set on +5 (ish) and the other on -10 (ish) and I have 2 Two Zone thermos
I park my 4x4 in the drive and often have 1 of the fridges inside the house running
The Two Zone will pick up a signal from that unit even though it is some considerable distance away and located inside the house
So the Two Zone gets Two thumbs up from me too :-)
AnswerID:
368278
Follow Up By: andson - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 21:09
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 21:09
Kiwiangler,
I currently have a two zone unit and wanted to buy a second one for the engel one for the van, And I was told by twozone in
perth that two units will work because they actually pair together is this right?
Thanks
Shane
FollowupID:
635884
Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 21:34
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 21:34
Hi Shane
You are able to have multiple units running side by side in various fridges all working independent of each other. We were told that there were over 10,000 frequencies that are changed every time the batteries are replaced, so the chances of two units using the same frequencies is extremely low. We checked 2 units at work, one in a freezer and one in a fridge, both working perfect side by side.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
635889
Follow Up By: KiwiAngler - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 21:39
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 21:39
Gidday Shane
Yes you can have the 2 units for 2 seperate fridges alongside each other.
Stephen is absolutely correct about the frequency etc
Here is a
pic showing my 2 units located on dash mat
FollowupID:
635891
Reply By: Tenpounder (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 18:48
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 18:48
Hi there. We've gota Twozone unit too. It works fine, even when the sender is in the back of the Prado under the carport, and the master unit is inside the house. Also has done a bit of rough travel without harm (including 3 times across the Simpson).
AnswerID:
368279
Reply By: Member - Kroozer (WA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 18:54
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 18:54
Have the engel wireless fridge thermometre and it does pick up a signal from a fair way, but not sure how accurate it is. I have fridge set at 3 degress, and fridge is telling me that its 2 degress inside, but thermometre telling me its 4-5 degrees. Got me stuffed.
AnswerID:
368281
Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 19:02
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 19:02
Hi Austravel
If you look around, you may still find some of the good Two Zone units on the market. I say good, as the company has folded, with the loss of some great products for the Aussie public. I use one and they are great and very simple to use. Engel have one now, but more fiddly to set up. I can have the main receiver in the car and the Engel fridge down on the back shed, about 40 metres away with the sender unit still working, and still talks to the main unit in the car in the shed.
Have a look and try to get a Two Zone. If not, and you are after one,get in contact with me, as we still have a few left at work.
Cheers
Stephen
AnswerID:
368285
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:02
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:02
I've had an engel wireless thermometer for about two weeks. I little fiddly at first - have to put batteries into the receiver before the sender and hope it works. Took 3 goes for us. Batteries are AAA which is good. Cost is only about $35 I think.
AnswerID:
368294
Follow Up By: Krakka - Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 06:07
Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 06:07
I had an early Engel unit and it was hopeless, got my money back and bought the two zone unit, been great. Another issue with the engel unit is you have batteries inside the fridge. I would assume this to be detrimental to battery life. Any thoughts on that line of thinking?
Regards
Krakka
FollowupID:
635906
Follow Up By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 15:20
Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 15:20
Hi Krakka,
I guess my thoughts on the battery being refrigerated is the slowing of the chermical reaction within the battery, the part that creates the voltage.
After all a battery is only chemical reaction that produces electricity. If we cool a chemical reaction it slows, if we heat it it accelerates.
That's why our car batteries tend to fail on that first cold snap of winter, the chemical reaction has slowed sufficiently for the battery to no longer start our car.
That's also why the bush mechanic trick of taking the electrolyte out of a car battery, heating it over a fire and putting it back in the battery works. (Or pouring boiling water over a seemingly dead battery may work too)
The chemical reaction is accelarated allowing the car to start.
Geoff
FollowupID:
635949
Reply By: fawkesp - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:06
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:06
Austravel,
I purchased
mine from Dick Smith.
We have it in the fridge in the caravan with the receiver in the car with us in the centre console, no problems at all.
Peter F.
AnswerID:
368296
Reply By: Austravel - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:45
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:45
Thanks everyone. Stephen, how much for one of your units?
AnswerID:
368298
Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:56
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 20:56
Hi
They were selling for just inder $29.95
Postage would be less that $5.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
635882
Reply By: Member - Agroe (WA) - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 22:02
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 22:02
hi austravel,
We use two, one in the canopy for the fridge ( always works). The other is for the fridge /freezer in the camper. Works most off the time. the distance and steel of the camper must be close to the limit. If we pull up and the display is blank i grab the remote and sit it on the canmper. After a minute it will read and tell me the temp in the freezer with out opening the camper. I attached the two remote heads to the rear window of the dual cab so i could see them in the rear view mirror. it also handy to be able to
check the temp at the fridge sender With the two you have to get them into sync so they read the right temp. We did twelve thousand km last year through nt & kimberlys. Worked a treat. Agroe
AnswerID:
368319
Reply By: Shaker - Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 22:45
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 22:45
The Engel one is hopeless.
AnswerID:
368324
Follow Up By: Member - Kroozer (WA) - Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 00:30
Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 00:30
Thought so. Glad i brought a Waeco then Ha Ha Ha
FollowupID:
635902
Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 15:22
Thursday, Jun 04, 2009 at 15:22
Here is an idea:
We bought an RF Weather Station / Clock from the
Post Office. It was around $34.00. Main unit has perpetual calendar, alarm clock, moon phases and measures temp, humidity and probably more. It uses 2 x AA batteries.
Remote unit is about 1.5 times size of a match box. It uses 2 x AAA batteries and sends (by RF) the temp to the main unit approx every 35 secs. You can use up to 3 remote units with each main unit as it has 3 different receive channels. You can also set a min and max temp for the remote unit and an alarm sounds on the main unit if the remote goes out of the set range.
Just for a trial, I put the remote unit in the fridge in the van and the main unit out in the annex. It works fine. After about 10 mins in the fridge, I'm measuring 4.5 C.
As an aside, I'm at King Ash Bay in NT (near
Borroloola) at the moment. Temp in the shade is 35 C. I put the remote unit in the sun for a while and when it got to 53 C and still rising, I bought it back in, - worried it might 'overload'. No wonder we drink a lot of water when out fishing.
Norm C
AnswerID:
368397