Fridge/Freezers

[blupaddler]

Dave,
Congrats!!! How much nicer would your Utah trip have been with the 60?
BTW nice write-up in Toyota Trails. Really good, and made me yearn for another trip.

 

[dmc]

Dave,
Congrats!!! How much nicer would your Utah trip have been with the 60?
BTW nice write-up in Toyota Trails. Really good, and made me yearn for another trip.

Honestly that trip convinced me that ice and coolers were antiquated relics and would never cut it on longer trips. I guess I'll have to redo the trip to confirm it. :ylsmoke:
dmc

 

[Scott Brady]

David,

Sounds like a good idea to me

 

[jeffryscott]

fridges ...

so, does the trusty kool-o-matic suffice for occasional use? Or is a coleman with ice just as good for a few days?

I'm very interested in one of the ARB/Engel/Waeco, but right now $79 is much more palateable than $600, unless I find a great deal somewhere. Also, given the size of the Suzuki I need to be aware of space/size considerations.

Thinking of which, has anybody had any experience with the Waeco 30-quart drawer, (picture attached) I could probably build it in and make it part of an integrated storage area in back.

 

[jeffryscott]

one more thing ...

I've found a few KooLex portables on Ebay Canada, but can't find any info about them. The prices seem a bit more reasonable.

Does anybody know anything about them?


Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Suty]

No Jeff , but like you I saw some on Ebay...It will supposedly cool down 40 degrees below the outside temp, meaning 100 outside ,60 in the Koolex I guess? The one I saw was like 54 qt for 109.00. But like most stuff I guess you get what ya pay for..... I would be intereseted in knowing how good they are. Tu Compadres, Suty

 

[BajaTaco]

so, does the trusty kool-o-matic suffice for occasional use? Or is a coleman with ice just as good for a few days?

I'm very interested in one of the ARB/Engel/Waeco, but right now $79 is much more palateable than $600...

Jeff, I think the one you are talking about is a "Peltier effect" cooler (uses semi-conductor thermo-electricity to cool), and they are generally regarded as fairly inefficient when you consider the power consumed vs. the cooling achieved. The advantage to them is that they are fairly affordable, and can be nice for use inside an air conditioned vehicle for trips where you are driving a lot and not parked very much. This is magnified for someone living in AZ. when you park your vehicle and it gets to be 110 - 120 degrees or more inside. I definitely wouldn't rely on one for storing meats or anything that can make you ill if it is not properly cooled. A good Coleman cooler with block ice or dry ice can last a very long time, but you are still left with the hassle of ice and the melt water, and the fixed temp.

 

[jeffryscott]

ice vs. cheap "fridge"

Thanks Chris, that is kindof what my gut was saying, the cheapo electric cooler wouldn't be much better than ice and a good coleman.

Although, thinking of Colemans, Costco has this:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11092204&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=293&hierPath=293*

I cannot find any info about it as far as off-road-ability. It lists for nearly $700 on Colemans site and looks like a good option compared to Engel/Waeco/ARB, but I'm ignorant about this stuff ...

Jeff

 

[BajaTaco]

Interesting find. I haven't seen this one before. I did find a manual for it. It appears to be the same thing - thermo-electric. But I'm surprised at the temperature capabilities of it which are pretty impressive. It says it draws 4 amps, which is not bad at all. But I wonder if that is constant draw or not. You would definitely want to find this out. 4 amps when you are running the alternator isn't a big deal, but a constant 4 amp draw when you are camping would be an issue. It also says not to exceed a 12 degree tilt, which is not so good for trail use where exceeding 12 degrees is pretty common. It uses air circulation inside the chest for proper cooling, and with it only being a 25 liter capacity, I would be a little concerned that it would limit how much food/drinks you could pack in there before you started affecting the circulation. It's definitely a nice looking fridge appearance-wise.

 

[jeffryscott]

aaaaah ...

Ok, 12-degree tilt won't work. This is looking more and more like the choices are the aforementioned name brands. I contacted the Koolex guy who is selling coolers on ebay Canada and the Koolex is his namebrand, made in China. I'll have to email him back about the tilt and draw.

Meanwhile, I'll keep searching for a ganga deal on one of the good ones.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[blupaddler]

I know Vince got a "reconditioned" Fridge/Freezer from Waeco. I believe he has the 52 or something really close. He loves his, and hasn't had any troubles. You can get them at half price. The warranty is only valid for 30 days though. I recently saw an 80 for around $350. Not, bad...

Check out www.waecousa.com Look under products, and reconditioned or refurbished. Good luck.

:jumping:

 

[jeffryscott]

Thanks, I did see mention of waeco refurbs earlier and have been checking it. I think that or ebay will be the answer. Waeco posts the deals once a month, I will need to check it often and jump when they have what I want. I just need to take some measurements and figure out how big I can go in my limited space.

 

[jeffryscott]

more info on KooLex

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7564301692&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1&rd=1

Item: NEW KOOLEX PORTABLE 12V FREEZER/REFRIGERATOR-33 QUARTS (7564301692)
This message was sent while the listing was active.
wanbaofridge is the seller.

the average power consumption is about 45watts.
normally cooling compressor runs for long period, the angle shall be not more than 30 degree. We have tested our product at 35 degree, it worked well.The working principle is like a home freezer, the only thing is each component and circuit is compact and optimized.Thks


This is from the seller on ebay. Performance wise it seems similar to the other units, but I think I'd be nervous about quality issues.

 

[Scott Brady]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7564301692&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1&rd=1

Item: NEW KOOLEX PORTABLE 12V FREEZER/REFRIGERATOR-33 QUARTS (7564301692)
This message was sent while the listing was active.
wanbaofridge is the seller.

the average power consumption is about 45watts.
normally cooling compressor runs for long period, the angle shall be not more than 30 degree. We have tested our product at 35 degree, it worked well.The working principle is like a home freezer, the only thing is each component and circuit is compact and optimized.Thks


This is from the seller on ebay. Performance wise it seems similar to the other units, but I think I'd be nervous about quality issues.

Jeff, that looks like a pretty good deal... I have never seen one though, or heard any feedback on its performance.

Have you checked out the Engel 25? It is a very compact unit with a great price: http://www.pangaea-expeditions.com/engel/index.html

 

[BajaTaco]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7564301692&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1&rd=1

Item: NEW KOOLEX PORTABLE 12V FREEZER/REFRIGERATOR-33 QUARTS (7564301692)
This message was sent while the listing was active.
wanbaofridge is the seller.

the average power consumption is about 45watts.
normally cooling compressor runs for long period, the angle shall be not more than 30 degree. We have tested our product at 35 degree, it worked well.The working principle is like a home freezer, the only thing is each component and circuit is compact and optimized.Thks


This is from the seller on ebay. Performance wise it seems similar to the other units, but I think I'd be nervous about quality issues.

It's probably using a danfoss compressor, so that's good. I believe all of the high-performance portable fridges are using either the danfoss compressor (Waeco, etc) or the sawafuji swing motor (engel, ARB, Norcold). You could always be a guinea pig and test it out. If it's not to your liking, I'm sure you could re-sell it with either no or little loss. If you plan to keep it "portable" in other words, easily removeable from your suzuki, you could always split the cost with another forum member that lives close by, and share it. If it's good, then you guys could just buy another.