New Fridge needed - ARB or Engel???

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Guys n' Gals,
Im in the market for a new fridge.

Ive always had (and sold in the UK) Engel's before. I know they are very good and indeed still have a 17L Engel.

Im now looking at replacing the 45L Engel I had with a 60L Engel or ARB.

Is there much difference in quality / reliability / power usage?

One thing I like about the 60L Engel is its landscape lid opening, the ARB lid opens along the narrow side, which I suspect will prove problematic behind the front seats of the Defender, the 40L Engel door was only just OK.

Thoughts and opinions please.

J

[Ranga]

It might sound trivial, but the 2 things I love about my Dad's ARB are the light inside the lid, and most of all the removable bung - wish all fridge manufacturers had this. It makes cleaning them out so much easier.

[richard4u2]

i would go for the engel with the new motor

[Watpub]

Hi Yorkshire Jon,

For what it's worth I had to replace my Engel 40lt two years ago - the compressor failed and it was going to cost me about $800 in repairs. I was on a trip at the time and the dealer/service agent I went to didn't have the Engel I wanted in stock. As I was desperate and couldn't be without a fridge I had no alternative but to purchase a 60lt Waeco - and I've never been happier.

The Waeco has a landscape fridge but it you can hinge it from either side you prefer. This means I can put it on the left or right side at the rear of the vehicle and still have the temperature read-out and controls at the rear so that I can see them through the rear door (of a Discovery).

I was a died-in-the-wool Engel fan, now I'm a died-in-the-wool Waeco fan!

Regards,

Ron

[weeds]

interesting topic, i have two engels a 32L and 40L and hoping never have to purchase another

what price is the ARB?

i reckon both you have mentioned along with waeco are all quality units these days........tough call

i have never owned a danfos fridge therefore never been able to measure current draw but i reckon it maybe better than engel's swing motor.

i cannot recall seeing my engels draw less than 2amp when running, keep in mind its normally cycles about 50% of the time

i would suspect the figures below does not take into account the lid being opened, ambient temp items being placed in etc etc. and they dont mention cycle on cycle off times

i might wack the amp meter onto my engels to refresh my memory on current draw

[PhilipA]

One interesting thing that I recently learned is that the Engel swing motor has a "soft" start so doesn't spike the voltage down on startup, whereas the Waeco and others with Danfoss do have a load spike on start up.

I reckon this is the source of a lot of the Waeco problems when the wiring is insufficient, and should allow an Engel to operate with a lower battery level than the Waeco etc.
I have a low battery cutout on my Engel at 11.5 and all things being equal it should go longer than a Waeco with the same cutout, because of the initial start up draw on the Waeco.
I enjoyed this first hand yesterday when we had a power outage and I connected my home fridge to my 1KVA peak 800W Yamaha. I had a couple of stalls when adding the load , but it ran easily once going and the fridge motor is only rated at 1.5 amps or 360watts.
Regards Philip A

[numpty]

It might sound trivial, but the 2 things I love about my Dad's ARB are the light inside the lid, and most of all the removable bung - wish all fridge manufacturers had this. It makes cleaning them out so much easier.

The newer Engels have a light as well.

[Disco44]

[

i have never owned a danfos fridge therefore never been able to measure current draw but i reckon it maybe better than engel's swing motor.

I have a Evacool 60 Litre.I have tested the draw and on cycling mode it is 2.9 amps dropping back to 2.5 amps.That was on 5 on the thermostat. I tested it for 24 hours and the draw remained the same keeping the freezer section at -18c and the fridge section under 5c which is recommended as optimal for fridges.

[Loubrey]

Bit of the "cat among the pigeons"...

I have a 60 liter National Luna. Bit up price wise on the comparable Engels, ARB's and Waeco's, but they are still the choice of the United Nations and in particular UNHCR for transporting medical supplies and the like around deepest darkest Africa.

Used them on a few humanitarian runs around Central Africa and in my opinion they are a bit of a pricey investment, but you get what you pay for...

[CraigE]

Hi Yorkshire Jon,

For what it's worth I had to replace my Engel 40lt two years ago - the compressor failed and it was going to cost me about $800 in repairs. I was on a trip at the time and the dealer/service agent I went to didn't have the Engel I wanted in stock. As I was desperate and couldn't be without a fridge I had no alternative but to purchase a 60lt Waeco - and I've never been happier.

The Waeco has a landscape fridge but it you can hinge it from either side you prefer. This means I can put it on the left or right side at the rear of the vehicle and still have the temperature read-out and controls at the rear so that I can see them through the rear door (of a Discovery).

I was a died-in-the-wool Engel fan, now I'm a died-in-the-wool Waeco fan!

Regards,

Ron

$800 for a 40 litre compressor, I think someone was rorting you. I just had my 60litre replaced $550 and that is the more expensive compressor in the range. Now just had the power supply go to so another $420 odd for the unit alone, still cheaper than the $1700-$1800 replacement cost for the 60litre.

[klappers]

arb is lighter... engel is a nice fridge though.. especially the 60L

[Samo]

I've had my ARB for a bit over a year now and i'm very happy with it, as Ranga said cleaning being able to just rinse it out and take out the plug is very convinent

My favorite feature though is the led temp adjustment/screen it's nice to know exactly what the temp is inside the fridge.

Iwouldn't bother with the Arb fridge cover though, it's held on with glue, which doesn't work, your better off getting an auto trimmer to whip one up.

Sam

[KarlB]

I'm with Loubrey. I bought a National Luna TwinWeekender (40 litre fridge and 10 litre freezer, or all freezer). Expensive but brillaint piece of gear.

Cheers
KarlB
:)

[scottygc]

the old holden v ford question

I have two engle fridges i purchased my first 40 liter model about 27 years ago and its still going strong
this one stays in the back of my car
mind you its not looking as pretty a it used to

i bought a new 40lt in september last year it has a light in it and a temp gauge
i used it at fraser last year and work fantastic

i have never owned or used a waeco so cant comment on them or the ARB models

scotty

[DiscoMick]

Can only say we've had our 40 litre Engel for a decade and its never failed, except that we had to replace the thermo switch. Looks a bit battered, but works fine.

[marko66]

Hi All

I have used waeco fridges out near Gove and they worked well and I have nothing but praise for them too> I own a small old engel which works great on 240 and I have a primus 40 lt which is currently having a few problems but primus have offered me a new fridge so although it has let me down the warranty has been superb

Regards Mark

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Thanks for all the replies and points of view guys.

Seems to be very much personal choice as no one product appears to be head and shoulders above the other.

For that reason only, subject to a few final dimension checks with the 110 i'll be staying with the Engel. Ive used them for many years now with no complaints at all.

R
Jon

[Ranga]

The newer Engels have a light as well.

Shame they didn't put a bung in!

[alittlebitconcerned]

Bit of the "cat among the pigeons"...

I have a 60 liter National Luna. Bit up price wise on the comparable Engels, ARB's and Waeco's, but they are still the choice of the United Nations and in particular UNHCR for transporting medical supplies and the like around deepest darkest Africa.

Used them on a few humanitarian runs around Central Africa and in my opinion they are a bit of a pricey investment, but you get what you pay for...


I would second this recommendation. Initially they are considerably dearer but it would likely be the last one you would ever buy, therefore saving you money in the long run. A big plus for this fridge over nearly any other fridge on the market is the ability for the fridge to cool all interior surfaces evenly ie no "warm" part of the fridge. They are also more efficient.

[Hoges]

FWIW....Bought neither...ended up with a Bushman. It has a collar and two separate lids so the volume can be changed from 35L all the way through to 50+L. During the floods we lost power for a few days...ran the bushman at -15degC for 48+ hrs from 2 well charged Supercharge All Rounder 105AH batteries in parallel and through an inverter. After 48hrs the batteries were still reading 12.17V...at which time I was able to borrow an 800w gennie to charge them up... til the lights came back...
took the bushman to Cape York last year...excellent

[cookiesa]

Just as a side note for others who may be looking, the ARB cover has been changed and is MUCH better, great cover now the old one was an issue.

The Engel will run a battery lower but also consumes more power for a given size, so with the voltage cut out being equal yes the engel may kick in when the danfoss versions won't, but they won't have consumes as much power in the time frame (all things being equal) so will still be running anyway. There's every chance byt he time the danfoss compressor gets the battery voltage down to the cut out the engel will have stopped as well.

[Owl]

Brought my 40L Engel in 1991. It's been permently mounted in the back of the car(s) and used regularly - still going strong.
It's not as efficient as the newer fridges, but I need an excuse to replace it. The damn thing won't break.
I'd have to replace it with another Engel
Ian