12v Fridges

Hi Doinit I have a Waeco CR80 in my van works good in 50Deg temps. Daryl

Hi Doinit,

We had a 190lt upright (2 door) Waeco which was already fitted in the new van we bought a couple of years ago but had it removed and put in a 3 way Dometic (184 litre) because it drew so much power and we had continual problems staying more than a night or two off road without using a gennie. I wrote all about it in my blog 'Queensland Adventures Winter 2008' if you want to read it. That was a major learning experience in the workings of batteries and solar!!

Basically we were very underpowered with two 64 watt solar panels and two 100amphr batteries and it was a case of paying for extra panels and batteries if we wanted to keep it - we chose to replace it which put us about $1600 out of pocket. However to add the extra solar and batteries probably would have been also that much.



We also had major problems keeping the fridge door closed when in transit and had to attach straps to each side of both fridge and freezer doors which we clipped closed before travelling.

As to which brand you should get - sorry I cant help. The waeco worked well in warmer weather but so does our Dometic which is tropical rated. Just make sure you get adequate power to run the compressor fridge.

Cheers

Heather G

Hi Doin it
We have the waeco HDC 190 2-door fridge freezer combo and it is just like the fridge at home,it just works! and works well, no levelling van, no switching back and forwards from 12v,gas and 240v.

Yes to be fair you do need a reasonable solar set up to run it, especially in winter, but we have 300w and 220 A/H batteries,and it manages fine. We do live and travel in sunny WA so yes that helps too.
130W of solar as per previous poster is not nearly enough. as these fridges take approx 80A/H per day to run.

As for the doors coming open, ours came with the straps fitted as standard and have never come open in over 2 1/2 years of travel.

We have had 3 previous vans with 3-way fridges and would never go back there !
At night we do not hear ours running unless we go in the ensuite (next to fridge) where just a faint hum can be heard occasionally.

Cheers
Brian