Engel Fridge Mods

[5Runner]

I have done some things to make my Engel fridge better. I thought I would share them, for those searching for solutions. It's nothing that fancy, but puts some info in one spot.

First. I bought mine on the spot at McGuckin Hardware in Boulder Colorado. After searching the web, I decided the M45 was the one for me. Every place on the web I found it it was $799. I wanted to take a look at it before buying and I was suprised to find that McGuckin Hardware had one in stock!

http://www.mcguckin.com/

I went straight there and they were selling it for $699!!! Yippee!! I took it home. So...here's what I have done.

The lid always slipped off and I was complaining about that in another thread. "hoser" clued me in to a cheap little product Engel makes to fix the problem. It works great!

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3

Here it is installed.

I also wanted a way to keep soda and beer cans stacked up separately from the food area. I had some left over plastic-covered shelving and cut at peice to fit. I used the little rubber end caps and they put enough friction to hold the shelf in place.

Then I bought baskets for the top area. The divider below is right in line with the spot between the two shelf, so it works perfect for removing only one basket, depending on what you want. I can't find the link to buy them right now, but I will edit this with that info soon. sorry...

Next I am going to get a small thermometer to put inside.

 

[Corey]

Looks good with the shelf you made.
If you want your lid to open the other way too, check out my post on it.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=276899&postcount=9

Also for a temp gauge, I got the Engel one from Wil.
It works great.
Engel Wireless Thermometer
http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=34

 

[07 Elephant]

I like the beverage divider.

 

[flyingwil]

Then I bought baskets for the top area. The divider below is right in line with the spot between the two shelf, so it works perfect for removing only one basket, depending on what you want. I can't find the link to buy them right now, but I will edit this with that info soon. sorry...

The Baskets look to be the TwoZone basket set, and they are no longer imported due to the price increase.

 

[Corey]

The Baskets look to be the TwoZone basket set, and they are no longer imported due to the price increase.

I am glad I bought mine from you and Wendy last year then.

 

[07 Elephant]

compact appliance dot com has them.

26$

What was the price when y'all were selling them? I didn't like spending 26$ but I wanted the baskets.

 

[5Runner]

The Baskets look to be the TwoZone basket set, and they are no longer imported due to the price increase.

Yes! That is what they are, the "TwoZone" set. Thanks. Also thanks to Elephant for posting a link. It was crazy expensive for what it is, but for how well they fit and how they changed the dynamics of packing and using my fridge, it was worth every penny. I would buy them again if I had to!!

It's neat that you are on this site, flyingwil. I take it you are the owner of SierraExpeditions.com. What a great site you have. I have purchased a number of small items from there this year. The quickfists are great, as was the small folding camp table I got from you! Someday I'll get some more bucks for something bigger, but the fridge was my big one for this year...and a belly pan skid plate in the next month.

Anyway...great job on the online store, flyingwil!!

Hey guys, please feel free to post up any mods you have done to expeditions fridges. I like what you did Corey...I saw that before. Thanks for posting the link here!

 

[Honu]

cool idea for the bevg divider
makes me have a idea for my larger 60 in the trailer

 

[bluejeep]

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10027934&N=&Ntt=polytherm

I found some nice baskets at The Container Store

they hook nicely onto the top edge of the basket. I have the Engel 35 and several fit nicely

 

[WoldD90]

Thanks for posting this...

 

[Fergie]

Good thread.

One thing I added for my fridge, more out of concern for the contents, and to keep from having to tape the end in all the time, was wire in a Posi-Fit from Wil.

Here are the pics of the connections. The male end has a threaded collar that locks the plug in to the vehicle side, thus no lost connection!

 

[bluejeep]

Got some pics of the wire baskets I purchased from the Container Store
These first few are of a unit that can hang in 2 different configurations - might be kind of versatile. Needs some padding on the ends where they may touch the refrigerant pathways.

horizontal

vertical

This one would be good for those all important Hershey's bars (Smores - gotta have 'em!). Although I have to bend the hooks a bit to level it some

And I think these 2 will be my most used - time will tell

 

[07 Elephant]

It would be nice if you could dip or paint those in the white paint that the engel and others have.

 

[5Runner]

Thanks for posting your pics, Fergie. You should edit your post with more elaboration and details. It looks like a good idea, but I am not totally following it.

Thanks for posting your pics, bluejeep! I bet those were way, way cheaper than the Engel ones.

I like posting threads like this to share my ideas with others, but it's even more awesome when other folks post up their similar thoughts.

As long as it's a mod related to expedition fridges, please feel free to pirate this thread and post up your pics and writeups! This could be a good thread to get it all in one spot!!

 

[Fergie]

Thanks for posting your pics, Fergie. You should edit your post with more elaboration and details. It looks like a good idea, but I am not totally following it.

Thanks for posting your pics, bluejeep! I bet those were way, way cheaper than the Engel ones.

I like posting threads like this to share my ideas with others, but it's even more awesome when other folks post up their similar thoughts.

As long as it's a mod related to expedition fridges, please feel free to pirate this thread and post up your pics and writeups! This could be a good thread to get it all in one spot!!

Well, I had a normal old West Marine 12V socket that I wired in the back of my 80. Problem was, the 12v plug on the Engel was too loose inside the West Marine socket, and I had to tape the plug to the socket to keep it in!

So, I bought the Posi-Fit from Wil, and modified the bracket to mount it flush. I disconnected the old socket, and wired the new one in.

The Engels have a 120V looking plug if you screw off the 12V portion. This male side on the plug goes into the female socket, with an indexing notch so you do not reverse polarity on accident. Then, the portion of the plug that used to be thread to the 12v adapter, now thread down on the female side, creating a very secure connection.