Which fridge???

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Originally Posted by mervwho

I have just got back after three magnificent days on the Murray at Burkes Beach No 3 out of Yarrawonga and after suffering through mid 40's and a few cold slabs of .... We had three fridges alongside each other for the duration so is this a great test. Engel, ARB and my Bushman. Day two both the Engel and ARB gave up the ghost, Bushman just kept on going with the contents of most of the other two fridges in it. I appreciate there are good and bad with all makes but this was a good test for the three fridges. The Engel and ARB both came back on when the temperature cooled to below 30 and these fridges are under 12 months old.

Cheers

Merv

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That's interesting. At first I thought it was an issue with running out of power, and was going to question that. But it appears they had issues with the ambient temperature. Was that the problem?

I have a 40L Engel that survived running upside down for over 2 hours after a roll over in 2002 and has never missed a beat or needed repairs. It looks dented aand bashed around out of the soft case and I did have to replace the a handle and the lid catch after the roll over. It will still freeze to -18C if I need it to.

I also have a 4 year old 74L eutectic Autofridge with a dead Danfos compressor that just up and died on me suddenly. I was never happy with the Autofridge and I'm going to replace it with a 74L dual door National Luna fridge/freezer.

Never had any issues with the hinges myself, the one thing I don't like is the fact that the catches need to be adjusted for the different lid combos....

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Originally Posted by AnD3rew

The only thing I don't like about the Bushman are the fiddly hinges on the lid, most times particularly when it is in the back of the car, when you open the lid it slides back and off the hinges and then it is a bit of a fiddle to put it back on, it also doesn't look that strong so I am worried it might get bent eventually.

But part from that minor quibble it is awesome.

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Originally Posted by AnD3rew

The only thing I don't like about the Bushman are the fiddly hinges on the lid, most times particularly when it is in the back of the car, when you open the lid it slides back and off the hinges and then it is a bit of a fiddle to put it back on, it also doesn't look that strong so I am worried it might get bent eventually.

But part from that minor quibble it is awesome.

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yes can only second that hinges are flimsy and need a lot of attention to close properly

After contacting ARB there was an ambient temperature cut off at approx 50 degrees which I am pretty sure it wasn't that hot, regardless both these fridges failed. This Bushman that I have now I would consider it on an equal par with my very old mustard coloured Engel that I had back in the 80's that finally died a couple of years ago. "They just don't make them like they used to." This was an off the cuff comment made to me by one of the Engel sales people at the Melbourne Caravan Show last year..interesting. They are all great as long as they work.

That Evacool of mine of which I spoke of previously in this thread , has had five trips across the Nullabor ,one of which trips the inside temp of the car was 53C until I turned the air-con on.The gauge I was using was an Engel so it must has been accurate.The Evacool never switched itself off once.What amazes me is that when one goes to a camping shop selling fridges they are always trying to flog off Engel or Waeco,not the other brands like Evacool or Bushman and another thing, why is the ARB fridge cheaper in the US by half in price than they sell it in Australia?
John.

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Originally Posted by Disco44

another thing, why is the ARB fridge cheaper in the US by half in price than they sell it in Australia?
John.

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Why can you buy a D4 HSE for $50k in the US?

Same reason.

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Originally Posted by Disco44

That Evacool of mine of which I spoke of previously in this thread , has had five trips across the Nullabor ,one of which trips the inside temp of the car was 53C until I turned the air-con on.The gauge I was using was an Engel so it must has been accurate.The Evacool never switched itself off once.What amazes me is that when one goes to a camping shop selling fridges they are always trying to flog off Engel or Waeco,not the other brands like Evacool or Bushman and another thing, why is the ARB fridge cheaper in the US by half in price than they sell it in Australia?
John.

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Retail store management 101

1.Sell the client what ever they want
2. If they don't know what they want, sell them them the product with the biggest margin, and or the best volume incentive...

Cannot really answer the one on why Australians pay some times 150% of the value of the same product found else where...some excuses have a smell of legitimacy, however it its overpowered by the smell of ......

The volume thing just does not stick, especially when you take into account the Toyota sales figures...and prices.

LR could do better with with an extended service back up network, help sales and cut out some criticism of no service/parts....come to think of it, there a couple of local manufactures with decent sales and service newtworks that might be looking for a life line...

Rant finished

Back on topic.

Had my bushman in the office shed at well over 50 degrees this summer (and in the past). No issue - beer/drinks ice cold and never missed a beat....except when power went out. Just plugged in to Thumper and all good for a few days.

Just bit the bullet over the weekend and bought a primus45L from annaconda. The jury is still out to how it will last but the quality looked good and qaurter of the price of a Waco. Would of got another engle as mine had done well getting a hammering over the last 7 years and I bought it 2 nd had so who knows what it had done defor me.

I have a 60 lt primus now for 2 years and all is well.
I find power useage is a little high at times and I tend to clobber the 12 volt power plug on the unit as it sticks out a bit, but is other wise OK.