Portable Fridge / Freezer

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Looking at buying a fridge / freezer unit. One of the mates has a Trailblazer brand 60lt. Like it alot, heavy but tough piece of kit. Can anyone supply manufacturers details or who is a reseller.

Feedback also appreciated on other brands.

It will be run from a dual battery set up while travelling and hooked to 240v where posiible.

[adrian]

hi jack
i
have an old engel 38ltr frigde /freezer
that i use in a simialr set up the only thing you have to watch is the amount of current drawn by all types as sometimes it can drian a battery easily in summer just as you drive as temps can get high even at a lunch stop the temp in the car can still reach as high as 60deg or higher and no freezer unit i know of can take those temps and still keep things frozen . as for brands just make sure that servicablity around australia is good . don't want it to break in wpeia just as you get there to find the service center is in sydney

hope it helps
anzac

[smerl]

Hi Jack,

I have a Chescold 60 litre 3 way fridge. It's one of the older full steel case types. I have carted it around all over australia in the back of my old Landcruiser ute and never had any trouble with it. It's quite heay and is very deep which can sometimes make it painful to get to the bottom. The best feature for me is that it freezes on the bottom and keeps stuff cool on top. For this reason I usually get a couple of blocks (or bags) and put them in the bottom and then put all the food on top of these in a wire basket. That way I can get better access to the food and have fresh ice on hand for putting in the water bottle (or more usually putting over the top of the beer in the esky).
The fridge works best on gas or 240 and really only keeps ticking over on 12V when you are travelling.
I think the new Chescolds are better on 12V and are a lot lighter though.
Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Simon

[Jack_Lives_Here]

The Chescold was one of the brands I am steering away from. My old man just had to have his repaired - $700 later and only just out of warranty. From what I can see they only offer a 1 year warranty.

I think my best bet is to wait for the 4wd / Camping show and scout for a deal.

[lucky]

i have a trailblazer and have had it for about 10yrs.cant kill the dam thing.only problem we have had is it blew a fuse out in the rain.they run dafoss comp and are servicable just about any where. full marine grade aly box and you can get them made to any size.ther made in caloundra by north coast refrigeration i think from memory.get the 240 addaptor aswell as12 volt.i leave mine on all the time

[billy7]

i bought a 110 litre evakool when it eventually turned up it was cracked inside the store owner sent it back 6 weeks later its turns up again and all the corners were cracked sent it back and got my money back $1799.

[Manson]

I have got an old 60lt Engel that has seen more work than a you could imagine. Even though it is roughly 15yrs old it has never let me down in any way, more than 10 or so trips to cape york and numerous trips out west (all in high tempreture ranges too) hunting. Will buy another if this old girl dies (I won't hold my breath till it does though). Two of the mates have Trailblazers and the only bad thing I have heard them say about them is they are a bigger unit than the Engels. I think if you bought either an Engel or Trailblazer (Tried and proven in the Aussie bush time and time again) you would be extremly happy and get many years of use out of them. Hope that helps.

[Derek Bullock]

Hi all

I have been using a Chescold 3 way fridge for about 20 years now and it has never given me any trouble.

The reason I like the 3 way is that I can plug it into the power at home and cool everything down before leaving. Throw it into the Pajero and it then plugs into the 12 volt system to keep everything cool during the trip. Get to the campsite and power it up with gas and you never have to worry about car batteries running down. A 9 kilo gas bottle will last at least three weeks.

My plug in the car only operates when the ignition is on so don't have to worry about the battery running down if I stop for a break during the trip.

Cheers


Derek

[DeeGee]

I've been following this post with interest, because I hope to be doing some extended camping trips in the not too distant future, and I want to get away from the esky/ice and get a two or three-way fridge-freezer.

Everything I read above seems to indicate that older is better, and that brands which have been reliable in the past may be using their reputations to sell new models that are not as good as they used to be.

Does anyone know if any of the brands out there are still reliable, or should I save some money and shop around for an old second-hand unit ??

Cheers, DeeGee.

[neptune]

I own a new 48 litre chescold and a 60l trailblazer. I have had no trouble with either. If I am going camping for more than a few days I take the chescold and run it on gas. I also replaced the standard twelve volt wiring system on the chescold with a lot heavier one. It freezes no worrys now on 12 volt. I took the trailblazer around Australia and it performed flawlessly even in 40+ heat. In one caravan park we even had people taking a couple of beers out of their well known brand fridge to put in ours to keep them cold. I hope this helps

[caveman]

hi jack i know the fellow who makes the trail blazers i will see if i can get his info for you ok

gary

[porl]

God this q has been investigated to death - goto exploreoz.com.au and to the forum and search.

For fridge/freezer you cannot go past the new Danfoss 35 motor. For Qld conditions you need the insulation from one of three fridge manufacurers, Evakool (yes they still make eskies, Snapper fridge/freezers (made in Brissy i think) and Explorerer fridge/freezers made in Maryborough - all of which use the danfoss compressor.

The main criticism of the chescold type fridges is they have a mammoth current draw off 12v and need to be dead level. If you can wear that, and they don't handle 40degree temperatures very well, investigate further - lots of cheap second hand ones being sold in the trading post and weekend shopper in the courier-mail as their owners switch to low current drawing 12v fridges, maybe that's saying something. Though if i was camping in winger in one spot for a week or more it would be a good option on gas.

Good luck

[caveman]

ps. the trail blazers must be fairly good as the us army buy them

[Jack_Lives_Here]

Aussie Military using the Trailblaser - that's were I first saw them.

I'll wait for the next 4wd / Camping show. Get a good look at what is on offer.

[hoga]

if you have got the room you can not go past the 60 liter trailblazer if you get this one you will not be disapointed garented
hoga

[SwampDog]

have been watching these posts and all I can add is that I have 1 x 50 ltr and 1x90ltr Evakool fridge freezers and I could not live without them now. :) I have just come back from 12 months on the road and the tings never missed a beat. I was very happy with them and believe me I am pretty hard on my gear when away for that long. Have tried three way fridges and such in the past without joy :'( Only thing I would recomend is that you add 1 inch plastic angle on the bottom and corner pieces on the top as these area's cop the most punishment ... well from me anhow :-/
And a little hint when traveling ... a couple off chinese take-away containers (water filled) frozen and placed in the bottom saves tucker... if for some reason ( ruff roads) your 12volt conection comes umpluged.
SwampDog