Tuesday, Jan 10, 2012 at 21:17
Horses for courses Bill.
I am a Trailblazer man myself & tend to think most other compressor fridges are inferior to them. I have seen a couple that I would buy if I had to replace the Trailblazer as
well. If I do change from the Trailblazer I certainly won't be changing to one of those skinny non insulated power hungry jobs, that's for sure. They might be OK down south where it is cooler or if you've got an unlimited power supply.
I struggle to see how a non compressor 3 way would work for someone like me who tours. I sometimes park up for the day to do tours or long walks or push bike rides. I can't see how you would power a 3 way in a locked up car in the sun for 6 or 8 hours. If you take a reef trip up here in
Cairns in summer you will be gone for up to 10 hours & today your car would have hit 60 plus degrees. You can't leave your 3 way on the battery for that long & you certainly can't run it on gas in a locked up car. It probably wouldn't work with that ambient temperature anyway would it?
I can understand how a static bush camper would benefit from a 3 way.
With my Trailblazer we turn the thermostat setting to our desired setting when we turn it on to go away. We usually do not touch that again until we turn it off when we get
home. A weekend, a week, a month or 2 months, it doesn't matter. We don't unplug it. We don't adjust it. We just treat it like your every day household fridge.
I put a 240 v pack on the Trailblazer 6 years after I bought it. On our last 2 month trip I did not connect it to 240 v. I did charge the battery with a charger once in
Alice Springs after the car had sat for 3 days. The fridge was still running fine when I decided to charge the battery. I did it because I thought it must have been getting low.
At the moment I am purchasing a solar panel & regulator to assist with power supply. The reason is that I don't want to put a charger in my car. If I don't take the charger I don't take the extension as
well. Our next trip starting as soon as the solar goes on this month it is for 3 months.
On this next trip we hope to ride our bikes every second day. This will mean locking the car up & going off for at least 3 or 4 hours at a time. How would you do that with a 3 way.
I reckon I will spend just over $400 on
solar power. I have spent, probably around $1000 to set up my 12 volt dual battery system on the hilux already. This includes the under tray battery box, battery, switching gear, power points, wiring & labour. I think the fridge was about $1100 16 years ago.
So that's how we roll. I doubt a 3 way fridge would suit us with the way we get around & the ease of use we seek.
I have seen people touring with 3 way fridges in their cars. But I doubt they have the flexibility to do what we do because of security issues with their fridges.
Possibly if my set up wasn't waterproof & dust proof & I was willing to keep playing around with fittings & making sure I was parked on a flat surface a 3 way might work for me. But that is not the case.
Something else about trailblazers. They work at up to a 15 degree angle. So that means when you are parked in a gutter for the day they keep working. No need for sticks under the corners to level her up.
My sister & her husband spent several seasons fencing on stations along the Qld/Nt border. Their only refrigeration was an 80 litre Trailblazer running of a battery & a pair of folding solar panels. In the remote locations they were in she swore by solar. No gas bottles to cart hundreds of kilometres each way when you went to town to get supplies each month.
So that's my rant.
Sorry if I upset anyone by criticising their appliances.
It's horses for courses.
Fatso
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