ARB or Waeco

I can only comment on the ARB fridges of which I have two. They have been fantastic, we normally use one as a fridge and the other as a freezer and they have not missed a beat since we bought them a year or so ago.
They have been through central Australia on a six week trip, two trips to Fraser and a punishing two days at Levuka where they copped a thumping in the back of the truck. I also keep one in the truck permanently whilst not away and on full time. They have a couple of clever design ideas which have been great, ie the lift off lid and their power draw has been very pleasing.
The only thing that they have not done thus far is prove themselves long term like the Engel, but time as always will tell.
Cheers

Doddgey

I too have been going through the pro's and con's of various fridges and recently discovered the Primus range as well. I am now seriously considering changing my choice to a primus. Might be worth considering. Just a thought incase you hadnt seen them.

I hadn't seen the primus range before. They do look a very strong unit, being 60L they offer a good mid size fridge/freezer. Will continue to look and see how they compare against the ARB fridge.

My vote is for the ARB. IMHO I like the exta strength in the shell compared to the Waeco.

Cheers Wilko

To my knowledge ARB have never made a fridge
The old fridge marketed through ARB was as we all know was a Engel.
A bit ofgf a bun fight with Engel about pricing and ARB turn to Waceo.
So enter the New ARB fridge, a Waceo in a new body. Mark 2 soon to be released with a better lid lock.. Retail in Brisbane for $1170-00 including a transit bag.

Cheers Teza

Ironman are now doing there own fridge.

Looks very good and it's made in Germany.

Jim.

We have 2 waeco's, a 40L and a 50L. Had an issue with the 50L after a year or so but that was fixed by waeco at no charge and they also replaced the small lid strap at no charge.
Never had an issue with the 40L and both of them hold their temp reasonably well.
When camping the 50L usually resides in the butterfly box in the camper and the 40L in the back of the Patrol. I have modified the 12V power cable for the 50L and put an anderson plug on the end. I also made up a connector piece to go from the anderson plug back to a cig plug in case it is needed in another vehicle, but I have put an anderson plug in the back of the patrol for the 50L waeco especially for it. I will be doing the same to the cable for the 40L when the plug on the end melts like the 50L one did (not a big problem just replaced it with another cig plug). There is also an anderson plug in the butterfly box for the 50L.

BCF have had some good deals on waeco, engel and evacool fridges in the past and probably will continue to do so.

Cheers

Greg

4WD Action issue #136 did a big fridge comparison of seven portable fridges around 40-50 litres, replicating climate extremes and measuring things like min, max and average temp., total power consumption, av consumption, max compressor on time, off time etc.
Also they took them on a 2500 km trip to test in the wild and ran them 72 hrs straight on clay pans, opening the lids for a minute at random intervals. Lots of data charts and graphs, you would have to read the article.
End result for the fridges most mentioned were ARB 47L best overall, Bushman 35/42L best value for money, Engel 40L most rugged and Waeco 50L runner up.
Course they had something nice to say about each of the seven.
Personally I had set my sights on ARB after seeing them in the shop, but couldn't resist the package Engel was offering last year with a host of goodies including the travel cover. But it looks like you should be happy with any of the top brands, just check them out to see which of the design details suit you best.