Just got back form a weekend away celebrating my 40th where my darling wife surprised me with a Chescold Demetic 3 way fridge. I am completely new to 3 way fridges and want to know if they are any good and the best way to operate them. It is the rc111something model, has a divider that can be removed. She accidently left the price tag on it and i am hoping that it is up near the top end range
JN
In my opinion they are a top fridge. Did have a problem with the first one I had, but turned out to be a transport damage issue & not an inherrant problem. Fridge has been operated sitting on the back of the ute, full sun , middle of summer & still kept food frozen. Only thing I would like to see changed is the latches.
Cheers Andrew
Had the same one for many years and travelled around oz for 6 months with it going 24/7. Mainly on gas but sometimes electricity. Worked well for our purpose. Not so good now on gas but apparently they get a soot type build up after a while and need a service. Will look ate getting this done. Best if you can chill them down for a day before going away and avoid putting warm items into them to get cold. Not as good as a compressor fridge IMO but do suit a specific purpose.
Thanks boys,
It will mainly be used on gas and the wife told the salesman this so he said that the chescold is the one but to make absolutley sure it is level while in operation. The look of the lid clips does worry me a little.......Can anyone explain to me why the lid comes on and off.......Is this so there is no hinges to break ????
JN
No idea why they come off. Maybe for cleaning??? Yeah those clips can do damage. Have scratched my leg up a few times when the kids don't clip them back down and you walk into them. Happy birthday by the way.
A mate suggested to use it as my own ice machine. Take a decent esky for beer, un frozen food and continue to make more block ice. He said that if you keep opening the 3 way, wont perform to well but using it as an ice maker, will keep frozen food frozen and will comfortably make ice.....Thoughts on that....
JN
Mine made beercicles accidentally. If not opened unnecessarily they do a fine job.
(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')
One little tip I got from the grey nomad grandparents when I inherited my chescold (green) 3 way was to install a bullseye level on the top of the fridge. Really important for the efficiency.
Like others have said. Use 240v the night before to bring it down to temperature. 12v in the car will maintain temp but is really thirsty on batteries, so only use on a AUX battery.
Otherwise a great fridge. Mine is 25yr old and still works well.
Damo's dodgy boat repairs.
1993 bermuda by Haines 530f - completed resto.
1976 cruisecraft rogue 14 - estuary weapon.
1984 vickers easyrider 156 - future project.
Yep, a great fridge.
If you do want to run it on 12 volt make sure to run seperate oversize wiring. Even then i still managed to melt the plug on a long trip earlier this year.
Brett
I have the spirit level on the top of mine to keep it level - also got a digital temperature gauge with with a probe from Jaycar a bit of double sided tape to stick it to the front of the fridge, this way I can keep an eye on the temp and don't freeze things that I don't want frozen. As others have said chill it down the day before on 240v. Multiple openings does not seem to worry mine? However it is currently at the repair shop (again) to try and sort an issue where the pilot light keeps going out for no reason? Other than that its been a great fridge.
Cheers
"Mystique" Haines Signature 580BR with 175 of Mr Suzuki's finest ponies
Don't like the sound of that ......I wanna run mine on gas....Let us know what was wrong if you don't mind mate. could solve a lot of trouble shooting if I have the same issue.
JN
They are best suited to running on gas, that's when they are most effecient. Mine is an intermittent problem (the worst type) The repair place has had it running all week and it has been faultless. The last weekend I used it, it ran perfectly on the Saturday but come Sunday the damn thing played up like a two bob watch?
I bought the fridge based on comments from friends who have the same fridge and they have had them for years without incident. Even the repair guys (Dometic dealers) are amazed - they reckon they mainly only see issues with the thermostats but thats on older units that have seen plenty of use. Mine is not even two years old so hopefully they get it sorted while its still under warranty.
Will keep you informed.
Cheers
"Mystique" Haines Signature 580BR with 175 of Mr Suzuki's finest ponies
I've had one for a few years now and it's been wonderful. I get 2 weeks worth of running in freezer mode on a 4.5KG gas bottle. And with no moving parts, they are very reliable.
Well i fired her up last night on gas and nearly died with all the fumes coming out of it but it soon dispersed, i put it down to being new. The missus had just been shopping so i put a couple of kilos of snags and .5 kilo of mince in it to see if it would freeze over night. I checked it before going to work at 6am this morning and was pleasantly suprised to see it had all frozen rock solid!!!!
Will try some block ice tonight and see how she goes....Love experimenting with a new toy!!!!!!!!!
JN
Righto so i got it back from the repair shop - seems the thermocouple had a tiny crack that was causing the issue! Took a while to diagnose because the fault was intermittent. So after replacing the safety valve the fridge failed again! So that led them to go looking a bit harder - eventually found the crack in the thermocouple/probe with the aid of magnifying glass! Frustrating excercise all round really but I have to thank the guys at Capalaba Caravan repairs for putting up with the bloke whose fridge only seemed to fail when he went camping!!
Cheers (and now really cold beers lol)
"Mystique" Haines Signature 580BR with 175 of Mr Suzuki's finest ponies
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