should i buy a fridge or stick with esky

[Kleyny]

In the future my camping time will be more frequent and longer.

I can get a waeco factory seconds fridge freezer at a reasonable price.
or should i just persist with my 2inch cold-room wall 80lt esky and buy a smaller long life type esky for drinks.

Is there any good alternatives to ice?


neil

[russ81]

Hows it going mate
I am running a waeco 110l fridge on a duel battery setup and absolutely love it I will never go back to an esky the convenience of knowing your stuff is going to stay fresh and not end up swimming is what finally sold me plus the fact that there is no need to worry about where im going to buy ice while im away

Russ

[Kleyny]

russ

when you say dual battery setup what type of battery is it? And how long do you get out of the fully charged battery. Is there any other trick you do to keep your fridge operating?

Thanks neil

[russ81]

Hows it going mate

I have three batteries set up one for the ignition and the two others for the fridge and other items The batteries are 100AH each and i normally get about 3 - 4 days usage out of them i always get the fridge down to the required temp before i go using the mains power and have it set to 3 degrees i also try and have everything cold or frozen before leaving so as not to draw extra power trying to cool them down.

Russ

[reelchippy]

Well said Russ i have a 50lt waeco which great but if i buy a new one i would get a CF-60 AC VERA model which can connect direct to 240v.
Also if you go the waeco way you realy need the duel battery system

[Kleyny]

Well said Russ i have a 50lt waeco which great but if i buy a new one i would get a CF-60 AC VERA model which can connect direct to 240v.
Also if you go the waeco way you realy need the duel battery system

What sort of battery have you got and how long do you get out of your set up.

If i buy a waeco i have a choice of either a CF50ac (12-24-240v)
Or a CF80 (12-24v) and I'll also get a 240v adaptor

thanks Neil

[russ81]

Mate if you get yourself a single 100AH deep cycle battery you should get at least 48 hrs before having to charge up

What type of vehicle are you looking at putting the setup in?

Russ

[Kleyny]

a 60 series TD It has a cage for the dual battery allready

[Brett1907]

Neil, go to this guy for the dual battery setup. He sells online, but if you are on the Gold Coast you can pick it up. It is all DIY and is quite easy. I'm still trying to find the time to install mine. A few guys on here also reccomend Val.

Oh yeh, get the fridge too.

http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/index.htm

Brett

[FNQCairns]

Will you need to freeze stuff while camping? and how long do you intend to camp.

IMO under 4 days and under a good esky will do everything a fridge will do in the real world, over 4 days then depending on how much longer either a motor driven fridge - engle etc.

Although they are a pain if trying to relax without being forced to drive the car to maintain batterys, the other way out with these to tool up with a gennie or solar etc = $$ + extra bother.

The other option is gas which is the best for the seasoned easy going camper but some knowledge is needed to get the best out of them, they are not as 'urban' in ease of use as the engles etc but they are the best for longer trips.

I have all 3 and for over 4 days the gas fridge comes, under 4 days it is a toss up between the engle or esky, if I need to freeze then the engle wins, if not the esky hands down, stuff buggerising around with maintaining the batterys etc there is enough work to do while camping anyway!.

The gas I dearly love they are set and forget for up to 2 weeks on a 9kg bottle.

cheers fnq

[Kleyny]

Neil, go to this guy for the dual battery setup. He sells online, but if you are on the Gold Coast you can pick it up. It is all DIY and is quite easy. I'm still trying to find the time to install mine. A few guys on here also reccomend Val.

Oh yeh, get the fridge too.

http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/index.htm

Brett

Thanks but I'm a mechanic by trade and have played with auto electrics as a side thing. (used to have to challenge my mind to keep it from getting bored)
Thank god I'm over that now

Got some power usage figures from waeco today.

The CF40-60 use around .8 amp hour. (on fridge @ ambient temp of 32)
While the 80 and 110 are around 3

.8 can go for a fare time on a decent deep cycle battery.
then go for a good esky or cut down my 80lt home made job.

thanks

neil

[candogu]

If you have the cash go the fridge,, Mine is in the car 24/7 and it is on all the time. love the thing.. I'm the other way... short trips (weekends) just the engle for drinks and food... longer trips i take the esky for the beer and the engle is the freezer and if you run out of ice you can swarp the food/ drinks( refeeze cooler blocks) between the esky and fridge to kept it all cool.. Yes the fridge will uses alot of power but i still get 24 hrs out of 2 standed 600 batt's and start the car no prob's..

Hope this helps

[Kleyny]

If you have the cash go the fridge,, Mine is in the car 24/7 and it is on all the time. love the thing.. I'm the other way... short trips (weekends) just the engle for drinks and food... longer trips i take the esky for the beer and the engle is the freezer and if you run out of ice you can swarp the food/ drinks( refeeze cooler blocks) between the esky and fridge to kept it all cool.. Yes the fridge will uses alot of power but i still get 24 hrs out of 2 standed 600 batt's and start the car no prob's..

Hope this helps

I'm really starting to sway this way.
How big is your engle and what size esky do you take on the larger trips?

neil

[candogu]

Neil, I have only got a 40l engle as it's in the car all the time, the 60l was little to big.. the 60l would of been a better size for camping.. when I take a esky it's a 40l or 70l depending if it's a family holiday or just me and little lady.. brand names are not all that important,, be it engle, waeco , whatever.. they are all work well

hope this helps

Noel

[Stumpthumpa]

The other option is gas which is the best for the seasoned easy going camper but some knowledge is needed to get the best out of them, they are not as 'urban' in ease of use as the engles etc but they are the best for longer trips.

Without hijacking this thread, what type of gas fridge/freezer do you have FNQ? I am leaning this way as when I set up camp, I do not tend to drive much and so no chance to charge batteries.