3way or 12/240volt Fridge

[sooty66]

In a quandry. which is considered better for camping 3 way fridge or engel/waeco

Any ideas or feedback most welcome????

[rtranter]

Have a finch 3 way, worked like a charm when new, it's about twenty years old now, keeps things cool but not cold. I would guess that the new ones are far improved on my old one.
Recently borrowed a Waeco on a trip up to the Gulf, and travelling partner had the engel fridge, out of the two I would say the engels is the better value for money, even though dearer. The 40litre waeco isn't 40 litres of fridge space, where the 40 litre engels is, price difference around $200+. If you can see them side by side you will see what I mean about fridge space. The controls on the engel are better also, as the waeco has a cheap push button temp control. Hope this helps. I am also looking at getting a new fridge and deffinitely lean towards the engel, just a bit to stingey to part with the money at this stage.
Rob

[silver19]

Have a Chescold explorer 40lt 3way. run it at home on 240v all the time and on gas when camping with no noticable difference in performance. can be run as freezer or fridge. we find having the gas option means we don`t have to worry about having a power site which gives us more camping choices. there is two of us usually and find the 40lt big enough for a week for food and drinks.certainly beats ice.

cheers John

ps when travelling runs on the 12v

[NormC]

I think the biggest factor is the type of camping you will do. If you will stay in the one place a lot and don't wish to carry the fridge in your vehicle (ie unload it when camping or have in mounted in caravan or similar), 3 way is a good option. No need to charge batteries, just carry enough gas and they don't use a lot.

But when running on 12 Volts, they are VERY power hungry. OK for driving while batteries are charging, but leave it on 12V overnight (or even a long stop during the day) and you might have a flat battery to contend with.

If you move camp regularly after a couple of days or like to have the fridge mounted in the 4B, I'd be going for a good 12/240 V model. Get a good deep cycle battery (AGMs are ideal) and dual battery set up and you are in business. If you want to camp for more than a couple of days without driving, you will need a generator or solar set up to keep charge up to the batteries.

I've never owned a 3 way fridge, but know several people who do. Some of them are very happy with them, while others are not. Other than the issues mentioned above, it seems that some 3 way fridges cannot handle continued high ambient temps, Nth Qld in the summer for example.

Anyway, decide how you are likely to use it over it's life then do some more research based on that.

[sooty66]

Thanks for the advice and its given me some food for thought....