The great fridge debate - Compressor vs Absorbtion

Oops, it's actually spelt "Absorption"

Also, the only 3 ways worth having in my opinion, are the Dometic RC1180 and F400

How will your Chescold fridge work in constant 35 degree heat if it's like mine the Engel will win every time and the Chescold will struggle big time.

Just my experience I have both.

Cheers Scoot . :-)

Ozwasp

Its not quite set and forget.

There is a gas flame that can blow out.

It will never achieve the temperatures of a compressor fridge. You can't freeze anything.

Some would say the need for gas is annoying- extra cylinders etc. After all you have electricity in the car anyway. And with careful use you'd get better refrigeration even with a single battery system than with gas. Adding a second battery or even a solar panel has other benefits too.

Having had both there is no way I'd go back.

Bob

Ozwasp



I have seen what is left of a campsite after a gas bottle explodes.

Hence I use a dual fuel stove, dual fuel lights and a compressor fridge.




Tjilpi

Been camping with two sets of friends who have Chescolds.
On two separate occassions at 40C the Chescolds couldn't even maintain 10C, they were above that. Our Waeco worked hard, but didn't get above 3C.
Gas fridges are good up to 30C, maybe even 35 if you don't open them. Worked on remote properties with 150L Gas frisdes, they were good.

Glad I spent the $s and have a dual battery system though for our famiily set up. We aren't old enough yet to have the luxury of spending more than 3 days in a camping spot which is when Gas fridges shine.
You also don't want to have your vehicle turned off for too long with a Chescold, you either have warm food or a flat battery.

Got to agree I wont go past the compressor fridges these days for keeping constant cool under extreme conditions and buy the right one and the power usage is not too bad I have left mine connected to a normal falcon battery for over 8 hrs in extreme conditions and when I started the car you wouldnt have even known it was there.

Gas fridges are OK if the temps are not extreme, and depending on size,how much beer you need to drink etc,but if you have the battery power ( and this is the most important thing ) the compressor fridge will win hands down..

Too many experiences with 3way fridge vans running hot so now it is compressor fridges all round, 3 of them to exact. My new van (10yrs old now) was less than 1 minute old when the 3way was removed and the waeco went in. Yes you need battery power if you plan on staying anywhere but well worth the effort in the setup to have cold beer every night. The 39lt engel must be close on 15yrs old and has not been touched mechanically and at $1100 thats pretty cheap per year if you want my opinion. I remember spending many times this each summer on 3way van fridges in the early days.

Maybe you are Pommy and like your beer warm??? but me I am fair dinkum and cold beer is the only way to have it hehehehe.

Regards, Trevor.

I have one of those cheap repco 35L 3 way fridges, I take when I go camping for more than a few days other wise I just use the esky which will hold ice for that long.
The 3 way works really well on gas, even though it is only a fridge it has sometimes frozen things overnight and runs for weeks on a 9kg bottle. The flame has never blown out even in howling winds.
I can only imagine how well a quality gas fridge/freezer must work.

My mate has a compressor fridge in the back of his duel cab which is a great idea as you have your food and more importantly cold beer with you where ever you go. He did have a more than a few dramas keeping up the power to it but seems to have it sorted now with plenty of batteries, he loves showing off with ice blocks for the kids.

Usually I just use an esky for day tips away from camp in the car but it is a bit of a pain having to get ice for it.

I've just bought an old viscount camper van with a 3 way in it which is working good on 240 but not so good on gas, hopefully i can get it sorted out on the gas. hopefully having the van will help me get away more often and will obviously change my camping style.

I'm thinking I wouldn't mind a small compressor fridge/freezer for the back of the car along with the gas fridges for camp, I would imagine the compressor fridges would cool down pretty quick if I'm out driving about on day trips or traveling and I could basically turn it off at camp and put anything back in the gas fridges.

Both have their pros and cons, so it would be nice to have both.

Ozwasp,

I am one of those who disagree. Complaints about three-way fridges seem to be very common. If the Chestcold type do work, then perhaps they are the exception. The upright ones certainly attract negative attention. We use a 40l Engel and a small Waeco for food and drinks and the three-way to keep the spuds and bread 20 deg below ambient.

Cheers

Skull

Bit like the tyre thing isnt it, no real answer. My 25 year old Finch 3 way works
fine on all 3 power sources, & will freeze on gas if turned up. Many complain about 12v performance , but usually run on tiny wire & cig plugs...hopeless.
Put decent wiring on them & see the difference. Ok, they struggle a bit at high
temp, but the advantage of hassle free operation on gas when parked up for a week is hard to deny. Sure,you can run your Engel for a week if you spend another motza on batteries, solar, genny or whatever, & no doubt they are superior if you can power them, but the humble 3 way is a very useful item
nevertheless & should not be dismissed lightly.....oldbaz.

The know problems with the 3 way fridges are numerous, one big problem is you can't just pick it up and throw it in the back of the ute or the boat when you want to quickly cool down the fish fillets.
Then they have to be close enough to level, they have to be in a breeze free area and should to be plumbed into position with a stable method of eliminating the built up heat they create out to the outside area, not safe to sleep with them beside you as the fumes may send you to sleep permanently.

None of the above problems are associated with compressor fridges

Maîneÿ . . .

I cannot speak for compressor fridges but I have a finch 3 way running on 240v and gas over the past few weeks in my kitchen. Gas is a bit better but not by much. Temps have been getting up over 30 most days.

I have a temp probe inside it and the temp varies immensely depending where the probe is. On the coil it may get as low as -3 even in hot weather - at the bottom it is also very cold as the cool air sinks - but everywhere else in the fridge it can be up to 10 so the air is not mixing. I put in a fan and the temp went up even higher.

I have put some ice in the bottom and I have found that while the fridge will not pull temps down much - with the frozen ice the fridge is able to keep it frozen and the overall temp is lowered.

I have formed the view that a three way is not much use without outside help - freeze what you can before putting stuff in (even if it is just water to help with cooling efficiency) and this should help keep other things cold. Also do not keep things that go off easily near the top as the temp is a lot hotter than the rest. Overall a 3 way does not work any better than a 12v electric cooler style fridge. Putting in frozen stuff into them makes them work OK as well.

Garry

Well I've owned both a couple of different 3 way fridges and a couple of different Engles. I expect them to work reliably in 40 + degree heat. I've never had a warm beer out of the Engle, but I've had butter running out the bottom of the 3 way. Unless you are completely stopped for a few days and not charging the batteries, the Engle will always out perform a 3 way fridge.

At last !!!!

A topic where Engel and Waeco owners will agree !

I think what everyone seems to forget is that when you're camping, you may not have your car nearby or someone could be off in it!!
At least with 3 way fridges, you can set them up next to your deck car and just lean over to get another beer... Definitely saves having to buy solar panels/generators and waiting for the fridge to come back!!