Nevyn
Member
Why not have a look at the ARB and Bushman fridges before you decide. A mate of mine has been talking up Bushman for years, the ARB would probably be my pick.
Brad
Brad
Waeco or Engel?
- Thread starter SOLID D22
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Deejay
Member
Hi Guys,
I have a Waeco CF-60 which has been amazing. It ran non stop for nearly two years in my work trailer hooked up to a deep cycle battery and a solar panel. We sold drinks from it to customers. It bounced around the trailer for all that time and was blown full of sand and lived in a salt water environment the entire time. I have a kitesurfing school where my trailer is parked on the beach and the Waeco has been abused badly by my staff and it still kicks arse. It's now 5 years old.
The Waeco uses less electricity, and is flawless in it's performance. I take it away with us every year for 6-7 weeks camping and use it as a deep freezer to freeze the fish I catch spearfishing. It will freeze 30 kilos of Spanish Mackeral fillets in less than 48 hours although it chews through the juice if you are freezing stuff in that sort of bulk, once it is frozen it sips at the juice. To run a CF60 on freeze you will need about 130watts of solar panel and a couple of large deep cycle battery's.
If you are only doing short trips away, for up to 5 days, then just buy a fibreglass Evakool esky. I use the 80 litre Evakool esky as a fridge and it will keep ice and drinks and food cold for 5 days, then you need more ice. It's less than half the price of an Engel or Waeco.
All three are great products but some are better value than others and it depends on your requirements as to what will work best for you.
Cheers,
DJ
I have a Waeco CF-60 which has been amazing. It ran non stop for nearly two years in my work trailer hooked up to a deep cycle battery and a solar panel. We sold drinks from it to customers. It bounced around the trailer for all that time and was blown full of sand and lived in a salt water environment the entire time. I have a kitesurfing school where my trailer is parked on the beach and the Waeco has been abused badly by my staff and it still kicks arse. It's now 5 years old.
The Waeco uses less electricity, and is flawless in it's performance. I take it away with us every year for 6-7 weeks camping and use it as a deep freezer to freeze the fish I catch spearfishing. It will freeze 30 kilos of Spanish Mackeral fillets in less than 48 hours although it chews through the juice if you are freezing stuff in that sort of bulk, once it is frozen it sips at the juice. To run a CF60 on freeze you will need about 130watts of solar panel and a couple of large deep cycle battery's.
If you are only doing short trips away, for up to 5 days, then just buy a fibreglass Evakool esky. I use the 80 litre Evakool esky as a fridge and it will keep ice and drinks and food cold for 5 days, then you need more ice. It's less than half the price of an Engel or Waeco.
All three are great products but some are better value than others and it depends on your requirements as to what will work best for you.
Cheers,
DJ
shaggy
Member
Hi Guys
I have a ALDI 3way fridge gas/24v/12v 45ltr.Cost $299.No problems so far.I have running on 240v all the time so that its ready to go when i need it
Shane
I have a ALDI 3way fridge gas/24v/12v 45ltr.Cost $299.No problems so far.I have running on 240v all the time so that its ready to go when i need it
Shane
spender
Member
Hi Guys,
If your after waeco fridges try there website as the sell ex demo ones, we got our 80ltr for $1300 delivered to our door. WAECO mobile solutions
If your after waeco fridges try there website as the sell ex demo ones, we got our 80ltr for $1300 delivered to our door. WAECO mobile solutions
Be wary running this on 12V. 3-way fridges work by heating an ammonia/water mix and the heating element draws about 10 amps or so on 12V. A car battery won't last long at that rate. On gas they're economical and we have one of these fridges in our caravan - but it's 12V side is hooked up through an auxiliary line that I had Nissan install that is only active while the engine is running. While we're camped without mains power we run on gas, but if we've got the generator going or we're at a powered site, we use the 240 element. Generally the gas and 240V options are the only ones that are thermostatically controlled, the 12V is a straight "pump in the juice and who cares".
Try it yourself: get an ammeter that can measure 20 Amps DC and put it in series with the fridge and turn it on. You'll head straight out to buy a gas bottle once you do!
K
Krankin
Guest
K
KraftyPg
Guest
Just to add my 2 cents worth to this convo.
I've been using a Liemack 50lt fridge which the old man brought about 10 years ago to replace an evakool 42 lt.
Liemack closed a few years back so these fridges aren't available as new any more which is a pity cause this is by far the best fridge we've had on any fishing trip with the boys.
We get it cold on 240V 24 hours before we leave then whack it on 12 volt and let the thing switch on at about 3 degrees and switch off at -2 degrees. It holds 2 slabs of beer plus a bottle of milk for the morning coffee. It also has a 240V outlet in the front of the fridge for emergency power to non 12V items (obviously it needs to be connected to 12 volt atleast for this to work).
We tested it a few weeks back in the shed so we knew how it would preform in the Nav and on 12 volt deep cycle it showed an average drag of 2 - 2.5 amp per hour fully loaded. Obviously it's a bit higher from start when neither the fridge or contents are cool but on my deep cycle I could nearly run the thing till Christmas with that drain.
This thing has traveled around Aust 3 times in 2 different vehicles, crossed the Nullabor 4 times and gone down any fishing track in East Gippsland and Southern NSW that we've asked it to and never once missed a beat.
As stated Liemack closed down but if one of these things come up on ebay or something they are well worth buying for their robustness and efficiency and at the time of purchase it was about two thirds the price of an Engel.
I've been using a Liemack 50lt fridge which the old man brought about 10 years ago to replace an evakool 42 lt.
Liemack closed a few years back so these fridges aren't available as new any more which is a pity cause this is by far the best fridge we've had on any fishing trip with the boys.
We get it cold on 240V 24 hours before we leave then whack it on 12 volt and let the thing switch on at about 3 degrees and switch off at -2 degrees. It holds 2 slabs of beer plus a bottle of milk for the morning coffee. It also has a 240V outlet in the front of the fridge for emergency power to non 12V items (obviously it needs to be connected to 12 volt atleast for this to work).
We tested it a few weeks back in the shed so we knew how it would preform in the Nav and on 12 volt deep cycle it showed an average drag of 2 - 2.5 amp per hour fully loaded. Obviously it's a bit higher from start when neither the fridge or contents are cool but on my deep cycle I could nearly run the thing till Christmas with that drain.
This thing has traveled around Aust 3 times in 2 different vehicles, crossed the Nullabor 4 times and gone down any fishing track in East Gippsland and Southern NSW that we've asked it to and never once missed a beat.
As stated Liemack closed down but if one of these things come up on ebay or something they are well worth buying for their robustness and efficiency and at the time of purchase it was about two thirds the price of an Engel.
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SOLID D22
Member
I got a big esky made up of coolroom material it fits right in between the wheel arches in the tub and about 500mm out by 600mm high. Its good and does the job but im sick of water in the esky, sick of ice, sick of soggy or squashed meat/fruit. At the end of the day i dont want ice anymore!
Also i just found out today i had a quick squiz at rays outdoors, the waeco 80l has almost the same fridge space as an engel 60l, obviously the waeco has the dairy compartment which probably can fit one dozen eggs in a box and the chest area is only about 2cm wider.
Although i still am shopping, thanks for putting in all your thoughts.
Also i just found out today i had a quick squiz at rays outdoors, the waeco 80l has almost the same fridge space as an engel 60l, obviously the waeco has the dairy compartment which probably can fit one dozen eggs in a box and the chest area is only about 2cm wider.
Although i still am shopping, thanks for putting in all your thoughts.
SOLID D22
Member
K
KraftyPg
Guest
I know they need some sort of gauge to measure these things on but measuring by liters is annoying surely they could measure it by slabs or cans or something easily comparable.
I can't remember the last time I compared our fridge to someone elses by saying "I can use the contents of 133 cans of beer to make a huge 50 litre beer ice block." It's usually along the lines of "mine holds 48 cans" to which they reply with "mine holds xx cans."
Yup. Our 60 litre Engel chest fridge holds more than our 110 litre upright. The upright fridge is more convenient, you don't have to rip everything out to get to stuff, but still, the litre-age is somewhat misleading.
Maybe a proposal should be put to the international body that governs measurements to accept "slabs of beer" as a new unit of volume measure. I'm absolutely confident you'd get some votes in favour of that!
i have a 40L engle and it wicked, my old man has a 40l engle as well but his is 30 year's old and it still works a treat.
and it survived the dust of a cape trip.
i heard that 1 in 5 engle's break down and 1 in 3 weaco's breakdown.
and it survived the dust of a cape trip.
i heard that 1 in 5 engle's break down and 1 in 3 weaco's breakdown.
SOLID D22
Member
Well i got it, 80l engel, cost a packet but so did my ice on the last trip and i also got the transit bag too.
My misses reckons i cant stop staring at it.
My misses reckons i cant stop staring at it.
Gday Guys,
I have a girlfriend who works at Anaconda and they sell both Waeco and Engel fridges. After speaking to reps who have worked across both companies the situation is this: Apparently the two fridges are made for different conditions. Waeco fridges are better suited to consistent hot weather and also deal with Humidity better. In short they are designed for everywhere north of Sydney and other hot areas. (N.T., WA, etc.) Victoria has a more temperate climate with a high-low range far greater than other states. This climate is suited to Engel fridges. I can't remember the exact reason for this. I think it has something to do with the walls of the fridge and their ability to maintain temperature. Having said this, i would therefore imagine Engel fridge use more power?? any thoughts??
I have a girlfriend who works at Anaconda and they sell both Waeco and Engel fridges. After speaking to reps who have worked across both companies the situation is this: Apparently the two fridges are made for different conditions. Waeco fridges are better suited to consistent hot weather and also deal with Humidity better. In short they are designed for everywhere north of Sydney and other hot areas. (N.T., WA, etc.) Victoria has a more temperate climate with a high-low range far greater than other states. This climate is suited to Engel fridges. I can't remember the exact reason for this. I think it has something to do with the walls of the fridge and their ability to maintain temperature. Having said this, i would therefore imagine Engel fridge use more power?? any thoughts??
The Sawafuji "Swing" compressor in the Engel is suppose to use slightly more power, and make slightly more noise, than the Danfos compressor in the Waeco.
We will be replacing our 3-way caravan fridge with a Dometic (Danfos compressor) very soon, but we'll still have our trusty Engel.
I can't beat the reliability of the Engel - mine's been superb, I've had it for about 8 years or so and it has never once missed a beat. If the price of that reliability is an extra 0.2 amps per hour, I'm going to be very happy.
We will be replacing our 3-way caravan fridge with a Dometic (Danfos compressor) very soon, but we'll still have our trusty Engel.
I can't beat the reliability of the Engel - mine's been superb, I've had it for about 8 years or so and it has never once missed a beat. If the price of that reliability is an extra 0.2 amps per hour, I'm going to be very happy.
One thing to check with the Dometic's is if the door seal is replaceable, I have had to deal with them a bit and the door seal of the fridge in particular was not replaceable meaning if it split or crack (which they all eventually do) they had to be thrown out. Eventually 210 of them.
SOLID D22
Member
I remember reading a comparo on all sorts of fridges and the waeco used less power, just, over the engel, but they were comparing smaller fridges than the bigger ones.
Also engel will never go over 4.2amps and average amps is around 2amps, thats the same as waeco but waeco cant say what there highest amp draw is.........something fishy there.
Also engel will never go over 4.2amps and average amps is around 2amps, thats the same as waeco but waeco cant say what there highest amp draw is.........something fishy there.
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