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Is it just you or do you have a family? I've got 3 kids and we go fine with an ARB 60L.Quote:
Originally Posted by James2014
Only thing is, if you're looking at the 60L, make sure you have enough power in your second battery.....
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For yourself, or for you and another person the 40ltr would be o.k. Me and the missus survived on a 32L for 15years. Now the kids are here, we have a 75L we take aswell. Also, do you want to carry everything that needs to be cold in there? Food and booze. or just food and booze in an esky. I gave all my eskies away, as we have the 75L for all the food, juice and milk etc etc and the 32L just stores the booze. So no more ice to worry about.Quote:
Originally Posted by James2014
Hows your 60L go like Drew on the batts? My 75L I was quite impressed with it. Lasted 4 days on the two 105AH batteries. The voltage only got down to 12.7v by the fourth day. Not once the panels had to come out. And that was running light at night too.The biggest thing I found is even though I have the thermal transit bag the fridge ran colder if I had a large folded up tarp over it during the day. The temps would run around half a degree colder doing that. Regardless of weather.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drewboyaus
Most of the time it will be for 4 of people so I am leaning towards the 60 but thought I might get away with the 40ltr. I am looking at buying off that portablefridgesonline.
No way will a 40 do 4 people... I picked up a second Engel cheap and now I have no issues but would prefer a 60ltQuote:
Originally Posted by James2014
I know some people here get by with a 40 litre for a family of 4 and yes you can do it but its hard yakka, a lot of planning and a lot of rotating beers if you like to drink beer.
If you have the choice now and a family of 4, 60 litre for sure.
We use a 40 lt easily when touring, if I was given a 60 lt would sell it for the smaller one as they take up too much space in the car. Fridges empty quick when travelling so you end up with wasted space. Kerry thinks she would like a freezer though so we are considering getting 2, 21 lt instead of the 40.
I have a black widow setup and the centre divider and fridge slide so either way the fridge slide section will be taken up whichever fridge I get. What the thoughts on getting one with a freezer?
I run a cfx65 off a single battery and not once has my car sounded like it wasnt going to start. Love the thing. (Yes dual batts soon).
I might as well grab the 60ltr then, no point in getting one then having to buy a larger one later. Thanks for the comments gents.
My suggestion would be to get all the food you expect to carry in a pile and see how much space you really need.
I have a Waeco CFX 65 DZ and its great! got it for a good price too $1300 with a heaps of extras
I still can't make up my mind, my boss has the 40lt engel and he swears by it. My regular auto shop guy swears by waeco, says he had his last one ten years, sold it on when he upgraded, and still going strong for the bloke who bought it from him. Impossible to get a conclusive answer, which makes it hard when I haven't owned one before. I'm really thinking I may have to go for the eclipse 38 lt plastic body model from engel. I just can't do the steel body price at this stage...
Anyone have any bad experiences with these? Mechanic who re gassed my air con the other day has one and swears by it, he even told me he was standing on it on the tray of his ute, and fell which dropped the fridge off the ute too, no damage that I could see. Anyone have any thoughts on the plastic body engel?
Thanks as always
Plastic Engel vs Waeco is a no brainer... Waeco all the way
Personally after owning an engel I wouldn't even think about a waeco. My mate has gone though 3 waecos and only had issues. My engel is close to 5 years old been in the back of my ute, out on boats in the ocean and still gets to -20 in the shed on hot days. Runs perfect in the back of the patrol.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winnie
If the plastics Engels use the same motor I would definitely go engel over the waeco.
My brother has recently bought an ARB fridge though and thinks its the bee nees, but he is Toyota so I take anything he claims with a grain of salt. ;)
I've got a Waeco CFX50 and love it, Only got this one because they were doing much better deals than Engel and ARB. Never owned anything else so can't do a comparison.
It's like anything in life, there's always someone who going to bag out another brand. All I can suggest is just take the plunge and just buy one.
This will go forever.
"My brother has recently bought an ARB fridge though and thinks its the bee nees, but he is Toyota so I take anything he claims with a grain of salt"
That's a great comment sooty_10
Oh yea, iv'e got an engel. I used them for 10 years when I was working Karratha / Port Hedland in the 80-90's. Same as other posts, these went everywhere, fell of the back of the truck, even got involved in a roll over and just kept on working. Give me knobs and buttons over electronics anytime.
What about compressor styles? They say Engel has the better compressor.
Engel branded fridges use a Sawafuji Compressor and are the only fridge to do so.Quote:
Originally Posted by P4trol
The reason is simple, Sawafuji own Engel lock stock and barrel and have done for many, many years and won't sell or licence their compressor technology to anyone else.
The Sawafuji compressor technology they bought off a German Inventor in the 50's is simple, robust and efficient,
They chew about 25% to 33% less power consumption and work on lower voltages so you don't get those annoying voltage drop issues that plague Waeco's etc.
It is a tad noisier than the danfoss style tho.
The only Engel I have seen fail was a work one that is over 20 years old.
I also haven't had a Waeco fail as such but the low voltage cut outs on them can be a right PIA at times.
Waeco prefer to use an external 240 power supply and Engel prefer an onboard 240V solution so Engels tend to be a tad heavier and a tad less capacity for a given external size but no real biggee.
We would have about 10 Engel "plastics' at work and I have one of my own. They work fine.
I also have a couple of Evacools and they work fine as did the Waeco I had previously, low voltage issues aside
If your taking about the new cfx range v Engel. Then it's a no brainer.
The cfx40 is nearly as big as the Engel 60!!!
It's stupid.
But waeco have reinstated the old cf range. Now your talking.
My brother runs the 40 Engel and I run the 50 waeco cf..
They both have a similar base size but the weaco is taller.
My bro does wish he had a dairy section. It's good for keeping those more venerable items.
The Engel has a turbo cool option. Great if you need things cold fast but yea. Mo biggie..
Both are solid units and will last a lifetime, both now have the 12 and 240 onboard so it's a matter of carrying 2 cords.
I personally like the lids of the weacos and the ability to swap sides easily is great. The Engel is open from the end only on the 40ltr.
These are just some points we talked about.
Without going into brands, id like to bring up a few things I found important when looking at fridges......
Make sure you look at your potential fridge choices in the flesh, imagine getting things in and out of it, working/opening the catch (and bag if you want one), is it a pain to open and close with one hand ?
I suggest looking at where you intend to mount the fridge in your vehicle, then consider what other gear you need to fit in the same area, take note of where the fridge vents will be, because you cant just stack your other gear over the vents as they need ventilation to work effectively, also, can you get to the fridge controls easy from the intended position in the vehicle ?
Compare the dry weight of the fridges, think if you will ever need to lift your fridge into/out of the back of the car, how much weight can you lift, extend and twist with ?, if you are not built like Arnie (or have suspension lift), this may be quite important, especially if you add the weight of a carton of beer inside the fridge ,starting your trip with a injured back is not preferable.
Personally id never buy a car fridge that does not have a drain plug, believe it or not, some do not have one, in this case the weight of the fridge is even more important as you may have to remove the whole fridge from the car and turn it over to rinse, this can also mean leaving the fridge off for a period before turning back on, meanwhile your stuff is getting warm.
I think at the end of the day, it comes down to buy what suits you best and is the best value for money. As 04off said, look at how you will use it.
I have a cfx40 and it's awesome. I've used it a bunch on 12v and 240 and its great. Uses very little power. My old man has used it a couple times and he has a sedan, fits well in there too.
The waeco have had onboard 240 for a while now maybe 2-3 yrs but I'm not sure the 80 & 110 ltr are yet as there design hasn't changedQuote:
Originally Posted by the evil twin
I bought our 80L Waeco dual zone in 2011 and it had 240vac/12vdc within the unit.
Well I've taken the plunge now and have gone with an engel 40 lt steel body model. Got a decent price at BCF, I spent ages comparing with the waeco models. I did find that there were some features about the waeco that I liked more than the engel, but with things like plastic catches on the waeco, vs steel catches on the engel, integrated temp display, steel body vs plastic and the things I've been told about engel reliability, I had to go with the engel. Interestingly, the quoted power consumption on the waeco was lower than the engel.
If I had the budget I'd get a cfx50 as well and compare them side by side, but can't do it, I need the coin for a suspension lift...
You have made the best right decision. But I am an Engel owner of 33 years now LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Patrol'n
I have a '92 model 39lt Engel I think It has rarely been turned off its on all the time and still going strong.
Best mod recently was fitting the digital temp controller and fitting an extra computer fan inside the cabinet to cool thing down a bit.
I was going to fit a "Two-Zone" to it but never did but the guys from Two-Zone gave me a set of hinges so I could hinge the lid
the other way to STD, only downside is I needed to cut the travel bag lid, no big deal.
Mine is situated behind the driver on a wooden platform [seat removed] with a transit base screwed to that,
no need for tie downs and only one hand needed to remove it, power is from 50 amp anderson connectons
no....... he's made a choice and he chose EngelQuote:
Originally Posted by macca