What Fridge do you use Poll.

[manjumup]

 Hello EWWREACKER.....Yes..these WAECO fridges are FUSSY (i like your choice of words)..simply because they are top heavy with complex electronics (a maze of bloody circuit boards with a very high component count..that equals a high failure rate chance, "engineers" are not happy unless they are playing with these bloody components and pretty lights, just look at  phones etc  ,or the  new cars we have today)
     The good news is that, to over ride these problems with WAECO's shutting down and loosing you frozen meat etc, simply change to a capillary thermostat...this is very simple to do, and on most latter WAECOES's YOU DON'T NEED TO ALTER ANY PART OF THE FRIDGE IT'S SELF., it  is VERY  simple and most guys would be able to do it them selves
     NO. i'm not trying to sell anything, i'm just a retired LiC electrician out of the mining industry who has been P****d off with WAECO....  If anybody wants to chat about fridge problems,  you can call me on 044 8747  809 or,  winnebago10@bigpond.com ..i will send you a diagram if i have your email addy.  CHEERS   DENNIS  YATES.  JAN 30/2013.

[crashbang]

trips Dometic in Goldstream, Waco in Car.......over xmas or at local caravan parks add Bar fridge & Bar freezer.

[DaveR]

Must confess to not reading all 14 pages.
BUT
My Vote is Trailblazer.
I have had a fridge - freezer for 21 years, the only thing which has failed in it was a rectifyer which is used only when on 240 volt supply. Cost was $25 to fix.
It still works as good as the day I got it. Even gave it a polish last year.
It is an upright, 100 litre, with standard insulation.
Like to see a new "what ever" brand survive what this unit has.

Cheers
Dave

EDIT BIT.
I have now read all 14 pages, yep, not much doing tonight!
Also, thermostat died on the trailblaza, getting a new one fitted now.

[RobM]

I have a 40L Chestcold Fridge/Freezer that I've had to replace the 12v element once in the last 28 years,  and now the 240v element is cactus. Fired it up on gas a couple of weeks ago, first time in over 4 years it has had a run. It managed to get down to about -4C in a shed that was 40+ C  so I'm not complaining.
If I thought the Domestic 3 way was as good I probably would have bought one instead of the Evakool.
At least I don't have to remember to put the beer in the fridge for the next day before I go to bed with the compressor fridge.

RobM

[MIC78C]

I have a few fridges, a couple of them I have "acquired" from my old man 
I have an old mustard coloured 60L and 40L ENGEL, that dad bought in 1981. The 40L is a bit noisy, but both still work great.
I have a Grey 60L ENGEL that I bought in about 1995, works like a champ, and a 40L ENGEL that is a 2009 model. I use it as my freezer whenever we go camping.

I also have a 2011 Ironman 30L fridge that I use all the time, it lives on the back seat of the 80, between the boys car seats. I use it the most, as my boys are both young (4yo and 2.5yo) and it has a big plastic latch to keep it closed. the boys can open it easily, and just let the lid fall to close it up properly. All my Engel fridges have that poxy metal latch that the boys can never (remember to??) hook back up.

Oh yeah, there is a WAECO 8L cooler/warmer that lives between the front seats in the 80. Mainly there as it has cup holders 

[muzza01]

We take two fridges away with us.  We have a 95lt Evacool run on 12V and a Dometic 3 way fridge frezzer run on gas.

[SambOz]

 

An old 39l Engel since 1981, still works well, but a little noisy if you're sleeping to close to it.

Gets a run at Xmas as drinks fridge, never been near a service centre.

Uses plenty of power though.

[Matt13]

I am having good results with twin lid Primus. Been working great in house fridges for many years why not the camp fridge.

[chookduck]

I bought a Liemack DT50 back in 1999 - still going strong.  I think Liemack became Reefer and then all kaput.  Lucky the fridge keeps on going - touch wood.

Cheers

Chookduck

[_Gecko_]

Another who didnt read the last 14 pages....

I have a GEARUP 3 way fridge and have loved it. It took a bit of a beating around tassie but keeps things nice and cold, heck even froze my milk a couple of times.
i figured with no moving parts there was less to go wrong on our round australia trip.
Next thing to get is a freezer though!
Gecko

[myminirocks]

Waeco CF 40, bought it on gumtree including the bag and genuine waeco slide for $600, 2yr old, very happy with that!

So far it has been excellent, kicking myself that I didn't ditch the esky years ago to be honest!

[berlitza]

Did have a prehistoric  3 was chescold now a 3 way gasmate will be updating to a arb plastic beast before summer hits thats for sure..

[SteveandViv]

Whether i leave the fridge in the car or put it under the awning of my camper (out of the sun), the error light comes on and shuts down

Just thought I'd post this, it may help. It is from the technical specification document for the compressor (DANFOSS) The errors are  not a Waeco thing as they only make the body that houses the gust and the IC Circuit board that runs stuff.

Cab you get hold of a small fan and try running it with the fan blowing on the condenser fins. If it runs you may want to have a look at the dust and stuff in the condenser fins and check the fan is spinning.

[BadSeed]

We run 2 50l Waeco's. One is about 8 years old and the other about 4. They have a few slight differences, the older one has a manual switch for the battery protection whereas the newer one is digital.
We run one at about -19 and the other at about 3. Never had a problem with either. Touchwood...

[evolution]

can we add a change vote option?
can we also add TechniIce to the list?

Cheers
Evo

[GGV8Cruza]

can we add a change vote option?
can we also add TechniIce to the list?

Cheers
Evo

Try it now, should be good for a change

GG

[Philbo]

Well, I voted for my fridge and . . . nearly choked. Am I the only voter who has a Techni Ice? I was told they make a really good Esky and their fridges are pretty good to. also the price is spot on and they are Aussie made. Oh well. Robinson Philbo it is. 
philbo

[nbd73]

Well, I voted for my fridge and . . . nearly choked. Am I the only voter who has a Techni Ice? I was told they make a really good Esky and their fridges are pretty good to. also the price is spot on and they are Aussie made. Oh well. Robinson Philbo it is. 
philbo

Don't stress about being in a singles club: only 2000 members have voted so there's a good chance there are lots of others with them out there. But if you treat the 2000 as a typical sampling (a la election polls) then yes you are in a minority. Never mind, if you're happy with it who cares if noone else owns one.

[gibbo301]

Picked my 60lt Techni ice up from the post office on Friday $479.00 deliverd with a bag and a few other goodys works fine got to be happy for that price 

[Axl]

I've just brought an Engel MR 40F Eclipse got it on special at BCF for $699, havent used it as yet as I am at work till next week, cant wait to get home and see how many XXXX cans I can fit in it

[Mattsglxr]

40lt Engle (beer fridge) 150 lt dometic in the van for mum and kids .

[Kkperth]

1st post ever! We have a 2010 ARB 47 litre and it works great. We liked:
- the groovy latches that makes the lid easily removable in the back of the car
- the auto switch between 240v & 12v (and no need for an external transformer)
- the drain plug makes it easy to clean
- ability to set the temperature and have a temp display (although there is quite a variance between the reading on the fridge and the temp inside at the top of the fridge so this needs to be managed)
- the reversible basket (although to be honest we have never spun it around to fit a long fish in it like the original promo photos)
- the dairy section above the compressor

We got the canvas travel bag with the deal and I lined the inside with Aircel (silver bubble wrap type insulation) left over from the shed. No idea if this improves the performance of the bag but it can't hurt. I also made an Aircel cover for the top of the fridge lid to keep the sun off the dark blue cover that absorbs a lot of heat when sitting in the back of the wagon.

I have read on this forum about the thermo thingy that has failed on original units. I have the old yellow readout so I am not sure if mine is one of these but so far so good. Anyone know after which serial number ARB switched to the new system?

[dobbo]

I've had a 60ltr Waeco for a few years now, no problem other that me not noticing the little red switch was on emergency setting and promptly freezing the wifes champagne:(
Just picked up a 35ltr Waeco off Fleabay to use as a freezer for next years big trip.

[Brumbypt]

Waeco 15lt

Thats big enough for a weekender..

Sold the engel 40lt that we took around aust to help buyin to a business

Now just happy to have a small one..


Tapa talker

[Swaggie]

Used an Evakool RF 60l fridge/freezer for over 5 years now, can be to efficiant over summer and low on amperage

Cheers