Fridge/Freezer recommendations?

[LR Max]

I think I want a fride/freezer for my rig. I think it would be better overall and worth the investment.

Just FYI, I am located in South Carolina, in the summer it gets hot as hell. I tried a fridge from Sharper Image a few years back, it couldn't keep my sammich cold in the middle of the day. Granted, it was a cheapo $80 unit but it still didn't work. It worked day-to-day in the buick but then again the buick was always in a parking garage or had the A/C on. I mainly go on weekend trips carrying food/drinks for two people. Sometimes a little more and obviously less for day trips (I am known for my day trips ).

What does everyone else have and how does it work? One big thing is that my 109 has NO climate control (duh) and it gets super hot in the summer. What size? Brand? Accessories? Recommended vendors?

Thanks.

[Roverholic]

The only real option is the Engle or ARB. I know they're $$ but it’s truly a case of "you get what you pay for". I can’t say enough about mine, it keeps cold even in the most demanding climates (100+) and draws so little on the battery it’ll blow your mind. I only have a single Red Top and the battery has never gone bad due to the Engle. I’ve parked the truck at 2pm before and not started it again until the next morning (w/ Engle set on 1 position) and the truck starts right up, all the while keeping the interior of the fridge at 40.
Good luck.
Page Ranking

[Disco Mike]

I have one of the large Engles with an insulating blanket, had it for nearly 4 years and it has always been worth the money.
Mike

[robbie]

if you can't afford, or don't want to spend the money on a new engle or arb, look for a used norcold on ebay. same motor and cooling unit as the engle and arb, but it seems a lot more were made and been around longer. i picked one off ebay for around $100. works great and is currently plugged in my garage. when i go off for the weekend, just switch plugs and throw into the truck. now unlike the newer models, you can't have the thing plugged in to both ac and dc at the same time. must pull one of the plugs each time. found that out the hard way. but otherwise, been awesome.

[LR Max]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Robbie, I looked on ebay, all of the ones I saw were going for almost the price of a new engel.

While I am on the topic, what size did ya'll get? I am thinking about the Engel 45 size. Its like, 30 bucks more than the 35 and probably worth the extra little room.

[Hank]

I got the Engel-35 just because the load space cover would cover it. 45 is nice, but a little too tall for me.

Get the ARB T-Bag, it's a lot sexier than the Engel bag.

[salty]

I just got back from 5 weeks in Australia living out of an Engel 45 to 50, i don't remember the exact model .
Fantastic product. The dual battery system was actually able to keep it running for at least 2.5 days with out running the engine. Average draw is about 2A.

In Australia they also have a product from Waeco, I believe they are german but made in Asia some place. I believe they also do the OEM cool boxes for Mercedes. They are really nice to and use exactly the same internal refridgeration compresser hardware as the Engel (literally its the same unit). The nice thing with the Waeco is that the cooling lines pressed into the inside part of the fridge are not on the food side of the fridge liner and hence are less exposed wearing through, the engel has these on the food side.
Given the choice I'd go with waeco, they are a bit cheaper and at least as good in my opinion. The exterior is plastic vs Engel metal but so what. In any case their slide mount mechanism is better than Engel.

Check out www.waecousa.com to see what you can get from there. Otherwise they seem a little tough to find in the US.
Either way you are probably looking at 600 to 1000 USD.

You can also get the Waeco in a version that is 12V only, ie it's missing the 120 V ac input, if you are not going to a powered camp site why lug this around any way, or buy a 2A 12V DC convertor when you need it.

In either case buy a remote thermometer you can mount on the dash to make sure everything is running ok, ie a fuse or wire didn't fail or come loose. A simpe internal external thermometer is all you need, you'll find these all over the place.

[p76rangie]

LR Max, the thing you have at the moment works off the air temp around it. That is, it can only cool the inside around 12 C lower than the external temperature. So they work fine in a Air-con car. You will find that that actually draw more power than a Waeco or Engel as they are running all the time. The engels and waecos shut off when down to the set temp.

I have one similar to the one you have and find it fine for a weekend trip and my Rangie does not have air-con. I just would not keep meat in it for too long. There good and bad brands in this type of cooler. I just could never justify the high cost and the room that an engel or waeco takes up as I tende not to do extended camping.

Ian

[salty]

Check out www.waeco.de, they have nice beer keg cooler.
Now I'm sure they are a German company.
Jim

[sevenrover]

Yep, if you haven't bougth one yet try Expedition Exchange, they know about everything there is to know about Freezer/Fridges.

[Hillbilly Raider]

i have a waeco coolfun 240v and cant fault it! i paid £186 for it and run it through an invertor .

[Searcaigh]

I have been using a 40L Engel for the past 4 years with no complaints. When it is not in the Landy I use it as my spare beer cooler (holds 60 330ml cans).

On my recent Namibia trip the fridges in the 110s rented from Britz are also Engels, well battered I may add at least showing that they are robust enough to withstand constant battering of washboard tracks continously