Engel 43 or 34 QT ?

[Green Ganesha]

I have the Engel, but I wish I had the ARB for several reasons. 1. The Engel, you have to unzip it all the way to open it up, and it can be a bit awkward to get your hand on the latch, depending on where its mounted. with the ARB the latch is outside of the cover and all you do is unlatch to open, no unzipping needed. Minor but an issue....

I have an Engel 45 frig. I've switched from the Engel transit bag to an ARB for some of these same reasons.

1. The zipper is a pain.
2. The Engel bag blocks the latch, forcing you to reach behind/below the zipper every time you open the frig.
3. With its completely separate lid-cover, the ARB bag is much better set up to accomodate the TwoZone extension.

 

[teotwaki]

I have an Engel 45 frig. I've switched from the Engel transit bag to an ARB for some of these same reasons.

1. The zipper is a pain.
2. The Engel bag blocks the latch, forcing you to reach behind/below the zipper every time you open the frig.
3. With its completely separate lid-cover, the ARB bag is much better set up to accomodate the TwoZone extension.

I can live with the zipper as it provides a better thermal barrier than the big gap that the ARB has. When I get around to it I am going to provide a cutout for the latch and have some material stiched in for reinforcement.

If someone has had both brands of covers side by side I have a question: is the ARB built with thicker insulation? That may help to compensate for the loss at the gap.

With the Engel you can remove the particle board stiffener in the lid and then just roll up the cover out of the way.

 

[xcmountain80]

Update, slides and mounts are done waiting for tray material and supports.

Aaron

 

[mountainpete]

Looking great Aaron. Did you decide to use a butcher block for the base or something else?

 

[xcmountain80]

I might have a line on 1/2" marine grade cutting board and that would be better than the butcher block "free". And as for the size I might have to pay for the custom size butcher block.

Aaron

 

[xcmountain80]

Well the marine board is out my connection fell through, so I will have to get the butcher block and cut it in half then mount it. I should have it done tomorrow ish.

Aaron

 

[Green Ganesha]

If someone has had both brands of covers side by side I have a question: is the ARB built with thicker insulation? That may help to compensate for the loss at the gap.

It doesn't seem that ARB's insulation is any thicker than Engel's. In fact, to me, the Engel feels a bit thicker. (And that's comparing a two-year-old Engel transit bag, that's lived most of its life stored outside, to an almost-brand-new ARB.)

Here are the two lids stacked for comparison:


And the two bags side-by-side:

 

[teotwaki]

It doesn't seem that ARB's insulation is any thicker than Engel's. In fact, to me, the Engel feels a bit thicker. (And that's comparing a two-year-old Engel transit bag, that's lived most of its life stored outside, to an almost-brand-new ARB.)

Here are the two lids stacked for comparison:
View attachment 8271

And the two bags side-by-side:
View attachment 8272

Wow! Thanks for your efforts taking the pix and posting them!

 

[xcmountain80]

Update

Ok so I got the fridge slide done and will install it tomorrow. Everything went pretty smooth except when I had the butcher block installed I realized it was making contact with the sliders. Im not that great with a rotozip but I got the job done and made it work flawlessly.

Aaron

 

[xcmountain80]

Aaron

 

[tdesanto]

I went with the ARB fridge, because I did want the thermometer and the place where I bought it had both the Engel and the ARB at very similar prices. I don't seem to need to monitor the temp that closely. I check it every so often just to make sure, but it seems to keep the same temp (+/- 1-2 degrees) regardless of ambient temp. That probably has something to do with the transit bag too. I find that keeping the thermostat between 1 and 1.5 is about right for me. Beer very, very cold but not frozen.:sombrero: If I had to do it over again, I probably would opt for the remote/wireless monitoring just for the convenience.

I went with the Egel transit bag mostly due to the lighter color. I figured when the sun hits the bag, the lighter color would help it remain cooler.

I hear you on the bag blocking the lock a little...I definitely didn't understand that design; however, if I'm at camp I don't feel the need to keep locking it. The lid seems to seal quite well without locking it, so I leave it unlocked when stationary.

Also, I don't find the zippers to be that big a deal. You can leave them unzipped if you want it like the ARB bag. Plus, i get the impression that it provides better insulation than the open ARB style bag.

Wil--I'm interested in these new dividers you'll be getting soon. I think that may be the answer to keeping the fridge organized.

 

[xcmountain80]

Update DONE

Everything went smooth until I neede a slightly longer bolt, after 1/2 hour of digging through my parts bin I found a 5/16"X2 1/2" 18thrd, Saved the day! I sprayed the underside with bed liner to seal it up. Since the cargo area isn't flat it causes the slide to bind a little but a little bind proves to be a good thing, because you don't want it rolling out fast when its full it couldn't knock you over. I had to elongate the retainer pin that acts as a slide arrestor, obviously because of the slight difference in the floor thats caused a bit of change. I ran out of camera battery but I wanted to show I used a 1" hole saw to cut the carpet, and the husky liner in a clean fashion. I had to trim the hell out of the husky on the side by the wheel well, as well as the rear where the drawer slides out. Other than that this thing is solid. I'm glad I went with the way I did upon planning and execution. I wouldn't change a thing. It all cost just above $100. vs. the mid $200 priced Engel slide. Though this isn't the same thing but since I like to make things I went that route.

Aaron

 

[marc olivares]

man, that's not half bad, but lose those tie downs, they're terrible
you definately need a transit slide lock

photo from Expedition exchange

 

[xcmountain80]

I'll stick with the tie downs for now. The transit slide wont fit what I made, and it would just muddy up my design. If what Im doing now doesnt work I will modify the wood platform so that I can attach the fridge to the wood using the supplied holes in the bottom of the fridge.

Aaron

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I'll sick with the tie downs for now. The transit slide wont fit what I made, and it would just muddy up my design. If what Im doing now doesnt work I will modify the wood platform so that I can attach the fridge to the wood using the supplied holes in the bottom of the fridge.

Aaron

Turnbuckles...