Thread: 12v fridges, You get what you pay for.

Agreed. One of my brothers sold them as part of a 4wd business for over 20 years. He was a fan of Evercool, Waeco and Ironman for reliability and power use. My 40l Ironman is now about 4 years old and has been excellent. Very low power draw - about 1 amp per hr at 2c in the shade provided it's not treated as the drinks fridge. Cheers

Agreed. I have 2 Engels - a 38 litre portable unit which is about 15 years old now - draws around 3.8 amps and has never missed a beat. Having no proper thermostat it is quite good at freezing salads, etc which SWMBO isn't thrilled about but it keeps the beer icy cold.👍 Bought a 90 litre upright Engel for van early this year - it's been running every since in the van off 12 volts and the solar panels - draws 2.5 amps when running, very effeicient and I love it.

Hope you find an alternative to the POS, I know they are expensive but I wouldn't have anythjng but Engel.

Out of all of my fridges I would personally rate the Primus unit as the best of the bunch.
It has a stainless steel case a good solid lid and catch, easy controlls and it came with a free case and bluetooth gauge.
It has performed perfectly even at +50c and has been knocked around a fair bit on rough tracks and at sea.
I would have bought another Primus fridge for my new boat in a heartbeat But they are 3cm too wide to fit where i want it so I bought the Engle instead.
I also bought a 120w Primus solar mat that I lay over the boat canopy to power the fridge for about $800 and just like any of the other Primus gear I have this also works flawlessly as it easilly runs the fridge AND keeps the dual batteries on the boat topped up when the engine isn't running as well

Originally Posted by Homestar

Agreed. I have 2 Engels - a 38 litre portable unit which is about 15 years old now - draws around 3.8 amps and has never missed a beat. Having no proper thermostat it is quite good at freezing salads, etc which SWMBO isn't thrilled about but it keeps the beer icy cold.👍 Bought a 90 litre upright Engel for van early this year - it's been running every since in the van off 12 volts and the solar panels - draws 2.5 amps when running, very effeicient and I love it.

Hope you find an alternative to the POS, I know they are expensive but I wouldn't have anythjng but Engel.

We have Dometic 150l 3way upright in the Jayco and this runs really well on 240v and gas but is pretty "Meh" on 12v But it does still keep the fridge cool at a pinch.
Primus or Engle will definitely be my choice as a replacement for the failing Pro power unit and I am leaning towards the Primus as I am not that fussed with not having the temp controls on the Engle fridges and the Primus units are no where as noisy when they are running as well.

I have a grey 38l Engel bought about 18 yrs ago 2nd hand. It needed a repair not long after buying it but repair done by Engle agent for free under warranty. It uses more power compared to modern units, but keeps going.

Originally Posted by rar110

I have a grey 38l Engel bought about 18 yrs ago 2nd hand. It needed a repair not long after buying it but repair done by Engle agent for free under warranty. It uses more power compared to modern units, but keeps going.

My new Engle only draws 3.8a when running so despite being a bit noisy it is pretty good on power.
18 years out of a second hand fridge is bloody amazing and this is a pretty common comment from people that own these fridges and is the reason why i chose to buy one.

I am not certain but I understood the Engels still use the Japanese swing compressor and Primus dont (ie same as Waeco, Ironman etc). Swing great for long life but not as quiet nor quite as efficient on the juice I understand. Then again if power and noise as less of a concern they are awesome. I have a second brother that swears by him. He has one that is 25 years old plus and has been smashed around, looks like rubbish but still works a treat. Cheers

I finally took the plunge (at wifey's 'encouragment') and bought a fridge for our recent trip through the center. I'm becoming more single-minded on buying Australian-made and investing in quality over quantity so EvaKool were the front-runners, but I did have a good look around at the others. Ended up with a EvaKool 47ltr fibreglass fridge-freezer. The Australian-made type with the compressor hanging off the end like a tumor. Suited both the D1 and the RRS for dimensions quite well, and our intended use. Decided I'd save a few coins and get a factory second direct (same long 5yr warranty, solid service and support, etc.). I can't even find the alleged flaw. Perhaps a slight discoloration in the gelcoat in one spot... maybe? But it now has a few character marks anyway. Not a cheap unit (~$1.4k with freight and a few extras) but it's built very well indeed. Industrial quality - function over form. Military connections, heavy-gauge wiring, bullet-proof latches, etc. Hammered it on the last trip. I broke a rear shock clean off, the GME CB stopped working, rear sway bar tried to fall off, fatigued a rear brake line clean off (three-wheel brakes coming home), etc. But the fridge was faultless and didn't use much juice either. The insulation on it is really impressive and the temperature control seemed spot-on. 10/10, would absolutely buy again Would I pay half as much for a Thai-built one? No, I would not personally. I look forward to handing this one down to the kids when I'm too feeble and they have wanderlust.

Slightly OT, but related. My 26yo GME CB that started playing up around Lambert's went back to GME and they went over it. Tweaked a few things, and sent it back... for free. GME as an Australian manufacturer will take back and assess any of their units at no cost, no obligation. Just send it back to them with a description of the issue. Their after sales support can't be faulted. In my case they suspect the VOC is where the issue is and that's not economically repairable on such an old unit, but they checked everything was as it should be and sent it back. They found a shield on the VOC had rattled loose so they suspect that's the issue. But it could be the VOC itself. Might be fixed, might not, so no charge. When I thanked the tech he sounded surprised and just said "that's what we do, no need to thank us". I paid a dozen dollars to ship it to them and got it back in under ten days. Worked fine on smooth roads but broke up badly on rough roads so OK for static use. I'll reinstall and see if it's good for another quarter-century or not. If it's no good I'll be buying another.
My FIL returned his GME a while ago and they fixed it and sent it back for free because "it was only about a year out of warranty and looked like it hadn't done much work". He was well impressed.

So... you get what you pay for? I think so, yes.