Engle's (and other portable fridges) left running to "make it last longer" ..

More than likely for the same reason that you need to run your car airconditioner from time to time over winter. If you don't the compressor seals dry out & it keeps the compresser lubed too.

Would not think you have to run it 24/7 but I guess by suggesting you keep it out & running you won't store it away for 6 months without giving it a run at all.

plenty of us dont as well, mines just a baby at 5yo but hopefully will keep going

my suggestion if you dont want to waste power is to keep it running by taking it out bush camping very often :-)

My evacool basically hasn't been turned off in 5 years - don't know if it's good or bad - but I know it doesn't owe me anything.

I have 2 Engels, and when they are not "in use", the are left switched off..
(always leave something such as a folded towel under the lid to allow ventilation)...

The oldest (29L) served us well for 32 years before finally turning up it's toes midway through our recent WA trip:(

As it happens, about 5 or 6 years ago I spotted a US ebay seller selling "new old stock" Sawafuji (Engel) cooling units at what I thought was a very good price.. picked one up 'just in case', and it was delivered to my door for a little over $100 (from memory)....

When we got home, I swapped out the 'dead' cooling unit for the 'new' one, and now my ol' Engel is new again ;-))

I still leave 'em turned off when not in use...............

:)

Same as Ed says

"I have 2 Engels, and when they are not "in use", the are left switched off..
(always leave something such as a folded towel under the lid to allow ventilation)..."

Ours both were second hand and quite old. Use is spasmodic and has sometimes been years between uses.

Motherhen

Joe and Mel

I run both the Engle fridge and 2kva Honda generator once a month. The three way fridge in the camper van is also switched on for half a day during this period.

I’m not a fan of leaving things idle for a long period of time.

Cheers

We were advised by the Engle Repair Man in Toowoomba to leave them off when not in use.
Im thinking more sales if they dont last because they are running 24/7, just a thought.

In our manual it just says that "it should be used at regular intervals if being stored for periods of time" which makes sense to me. It then goes on to recommend you can use it as a 2nd fridge or freezer or Bar Fridge at home during these periods.

So basically you don't have to use it all the time but you should give it an occasional run if you're not going to be using it otherwise for extended periods.

Ours stay in the camper. They get a run for a few hours when I charge the batteries in the camper every month. No real reason and no science other than things tend to stuff up when not used for long periodes.

Steve

I had all my household stuff in storage for 10 years (long story, some of that time I was working Overseas) On unpacking it all most of the electrical equipment was unusable. Most items emitted a cloud of smoke when turned on or popped the ELCB.

Hi,

I have an explorer fridge and have run it for the last 10 or so years, i fill it with water bottles in the fridge and freezer, as fridges don't work efficiently with just fresh air inside.

I have mine running of a spare battery connected to a C-Tek charger, so i am utilising 2 fixes, having a spare battery fully charged while camping.

My reasoning is the inside of the compressor has very small parts that need movement for lubrication.

The amount of power a 12 volt fridge uses is minimal.

If one has solar panels for camping you could also set it up at home.

Cheers Col