Thread: 2nd 12v volt fridge choice ... ??

I'm looking for a second fridge ... will put the ARB 47L that's in the KK back into the D2 on its DS40 drop slide. The ARB has been good, but was replaced under warranty with the thermistor issue 2 weeks before the warranty ran out. No quibbles, excellent service, new fridge + cover, been 2yrs since and its running like a swiss watch ... powered on all the time (on 240v) as a drink fridge in the KK when we're not touring ... and it's really good on power consumption. Very happy with the ARB.

I was leaning towards a 60L ARB as the second fridge to put into the KK. Helps that it's an end opening fridge (like the 47L) so it only needs to be slid out a bit to lift the lid and get into it ... or remove the lid making access very easy ... side opening fridges have the lid strike the underside of the gull wing box requiring the fridge be slid out 100% before being able to be opened ... and then the fridge is alongside the stove slide on the left, and the slide out kitchen bench on the right, making access difficult. The 60L ARB ticks all the boxes and is virtually the same stated power consumption as the 47L. (0.89A/Hr vs 0.87A/Hr average).

Curve ball ... son works for Drifta ... they do Evakool fridges (and Engel - not interested). The Evakool RF60 (white fibreglass model) they can do me in an end opening custom order for around $180 less than I can get the ARB (with cover and tie down kit). The RF60 doesn't need a cover but has an external 240-12v power supply (the ARB has 12v/240v always connected and auto-switches as required - The RF needs to be unplugged from 12v and plugged into the 240v power supply). The RF60 can run in a combi config' (22L feezer/38L fridge) or as a 60L fridge but if we have a 60L fridge the 47L could be run as a freezer if needed ... but to date we've never wanted for or needed a freezer (vacum seal all our meat and other stuff) ... and freezers hit the power useage up to maybe double what the fridge would be.

This is to support two people the majority of the time.

The RF60 seems to get good reports from all the research I've done, but maybe bad customer service reports where service or warranty is concerned. It's power useage as a fridge is comparable to the ARB and it appears to be a quality unit.

Any reason I should seriously pass-over the ARB 60L and consider the RF60 Evakool instead ?? The end open is no longer an issue with the custom build so the only other is the external 240v-12v power supply which is a bit of a put off ...

Any RF60 Evakool / 60L ARB users around with an opinion/real word experience ?? I know Evakool make excellent ice boxes. The RF60 weighs about 4kg less than the ARB.

I'm leaning towards the 60L ARB due to my own experience with the 47L unit but I'm asking in case I'm maybe selling the RF60 Evakool short. Have no experience with Evakool at all.

btw ... a National Luna 52L weekender was on the short list, and can be reconfigured to end open, but the bloody compressor is at the wrong end (the front end of the fridge slid) meaning a bit of a reach to the back of the fridge ... but it has excellent low power useage .... for nearly $500 more than the ARB offering, (It would fit the DS40 drop slide though meaning it can be used in the D2 or the KK).

Shopping for fridges is a bloody minefield !!

Thanks !

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

We have a 35 litre Evakool mounted in the Defender which has been faultless in the two years since we bought it. Their reputation is good.

Thanks Mick ... but that's not one of the white RF fibreglass models is it ??