Fridge advice

Hi. Depending on the ages of your party I think you would possibly need two fridges.(You will need to determine the size/s) One as a fridge and the other as a freezer. Your 12v power supply would then need to be adequate to keep them running. Either Waeco or Evakool or Engel are all good brands. Cheers,Bob.

gday
we have a evacool 95 ltr and have never had a problem with it. We have a family of 4 and have used the fridge for years, we started with a tent and now we have a jayco swan outback and the fridge has done us the whole time with no worries.
The only small thing is the power pack that you use when running 240v has a small fan in it that makes a liitle bit of noise when you in the quite camp bush camp, we over came this problem by simply moving the pack away from where you sleep. Its not load buy any means but when there is no other sounds around you do just hear it. The fridge does use slightly more power than the a engal or waigo but nothing major. the price diference soon makes you forget that. A 100ah bat gives us about 2-3 days with no worries when its set on eco and on a setting of 2 or 3 which is all you need. They can also take a beating and still come out strong, no fancy gadges etc to break. Replace the fuse with a circuit breaker which most service places will do for free. We got ours from ranger camping but i think there called rays outdoor now. We payed about $1100 back in 2007.

hope this helps
trev

The latest 4wd action DVD has a segment on this brand. They seem to have a nice sturdy box.

They use the Danfos compressor, which is the worlds biggest supplier of compressors for fridges. Reliable and efficient compressors.

BW.

The white RF series evakool is the pick. Reflects the heat and the cabinet stays cool even with some sun on it. The engel will be very warm to the touch in the same position and the waeco cabinet being plastic will get nearly hot enough to cook a egg with the same amount of sun on it. So yes the RF evakool reflects the heat and the half evaporator plate inside is a bonus so you can keep fruit and veg in the end without the evap plate so they don't get too cold and the meat and drink toward the motor / evap plate end. Simple, reliable, well insulated and keenly priced. However engel will have a better resale should you want to sell it later on.

My recommendation, particularly if you only have 12 volt power, would be a eutectic fridge. The days you’re travelling you will find you don’t have to run it at all when you’re camped for the night. When you are stationary for days you run the fridge early morning and early evening and during the day the solar panels recharge your batteries fully. I’ve found you can stay indefinitely with only 12v power.

Extracted from Wikipedia:
A eutectic system is a mixture of chemical compounds or elements that has a single chemical composition that solidifies at a lower temperature than any other composition made up of the same ingredients. This composition is known as the eutectic composition and the temperature is known as the eutectic temperature.

I’m guessing most fridges on the market will work adequately on 240v. Not all work well or economically on 12v.

Mine is an ‘Autofridge’. It’s either 75ltrs or 80 litres… can’t remember.
Myles.

Hi

Just to throw in my bit - agreeing with the various comments made about maybe one fridge and one freezer - depeniding on your budget you will generally get what you pay for in terms of efficiency and quality.

I bought an RF series Evakool and it is a great unit as far as I go, but cannot say I have a lot of experience to compare it too. As always I did a fair amount of research and made my best judgement decision for my needs and budget.

These guys might be worth a look

http://www.australiandirect.com.au/shop/portable-fridges/chest-style-12-24-volt/1008

My suggestion regardless of brand you choose is to consider 2 smaller fridges rather than 1 large one. The $ outlay will be more I know but as others have said you have the option to run one as a freezer but the main reason is ALL fridges can breakdown so it is best to not put all of your eggs in one basket so to speak.

Also look at the weight difference...

Evakool RF-60l is 21kg
Engel 60l is 33.00 Kg

Evakool RF-85l is 23.5 Kg
Engel 80l is 39.00 Kg

Evakool are brilliant on amperage too...


Goodluck

G'day AstroTravel,

Edited bits of a reply I made to thread 95311...

I've a family of 4 children and we decided in the move from icebox (esky) to fridges to buy a smaller one (Evakool 47L) and keep an ice box.
We bought the Evakool as we liked the ice box we already had, Evakool Australian made, Fridge/freezer combo or just fridge, can be used as a seat etc.
Other reason to buy a smaller one you can lift it easier, and it is far more useful when you are not camping for putting the groceries in the car, day trips, picnics etc.
That being said we had it for a while then bought a second one, so now when camping run two 47L Evakools, one for food in the camper, one for drinks and snacks when doing day trips in the car.
Car one powered by car second battery, trailer one powered by 100AH AGM supplemented by 120W solar.
Works well for us although with four kids I can see the day that the 47L food fridge will be swapped out for a 60L EvaKool!
I've been very happy with EvaKool and bought one of the fridges of Ebay. Have a look there, occasionally they come up secondhand.
My tip, buy a smaller one, then when you're flush with cash again, buy another one!
Cheers
Corrugate

Hi!,

Have a look HERE

Hi AstroTravel

I would not go with a 12 volt/240 volt Fridge on such a long Trip Unless you have a Genny or Solar Panels

A three way fridge is the best for such a long trip
You must have Gas for Cooking as you cannot always have a fire to cook by

I would suggest that you contact complete campsite and ask them what fridge they recommend for the CT

Terry