Aust 4x4 Mag throws a grenade into the fridge debate

[morgue]

Checking out the lastest edition of Aust 4x4 and they did a 12v portable fridge comparo.
The fridges that they chose were basically the most common in the market place, they were:
ARB, Evakool,Engel, Waeco,Primus, National Luna and Bushman. The comparo was for the size of 50 Ltrs...the fridges were put through their paces both in the field and in the lab.

The result...for overall winner was.... 1st.. ARB, 2nd... National Luna, Tied for 3rd... Evakool/Bushman.

Best value for money .....Bushman.


Those who are toying with the idea of getting a 12volt fridge...this article will fill in a lot of research.

Let the debate...RAGE ON !!!!!

(note: I do not work for the 4x4 mag, nor work for any of the 12v fridge companies...but I do have a Bushman, for the money you pay and what you get, they are bloody good value.)

[D4D]

I wonder who pays the most in advertising, obviously not Waeco or Engel.

[darren]

Hmmmmmmmm...


What about a how are they in 10 years test...

[Gunna Do]

I wonder who pays the most in advertising, obviously not Waeco or Engel.

There will always be the conspiracy theorists.

ARB 47 ltr, what a great fridge.

[darren]

There will always be the conspiracy theorists.

ARB 47 ltr, what a great fridge.

Written and spoken by G Doo on behalf of ARB corporation....

[sablesoft]

There will always be the conspiracy theorists.

ARB 47 ltr, what a great fridge.

X2

[bullfrog]

I tend to think that these comparo tests are like Politicians. Most are full of $hit, pi$$ & wind. Occasionally, one comes along that is worth listening to.

[Aaron Schubert]

It was an interesting read, but it only tells half of the story. How the fridges stand up to years of abuse is a totally different ball game

Aaron

[jeeps]

ARB's, Waecos, Evakools... blah...

Just chuck a heavy duty axle on one of these and some decent tyres and you're set

[JCOJ]

What I want to know is how they came to their conclusion??

The Bushman kept's it's temperature the best throughout all the tests and shouldn't that be what it is about??

Tha ARB went from 4 degrees up to 8.5 degrees and 8.1 degrees on both the tests, whereas the Bushman only went to 4.7 and 6.6!!

[Mav]

Our Downunder 51 litre has been going strong for a few years now and for at least a year it was used as a home fridge. It lives in the back of the Prado and is on whenever the car is on. I would have no problem buying one of these again in the future.

[craigtempo]

In 2009 they did a fridge comparison and the results where as follows .

1st ARB ..47ltr

2nd waeco ct50ltr

bushman 35 - 42ltr ... best value for money ... highly recomended

engel mt45 ... most rugged ...recomended

evakool rfe 47 .. most power efficient ... aussie made

explorer dc56 ..user friendly design .. highly recomended

national luna 50 twin ... excelent build quality ... highly recomended .

my question is has national luna and evakool/bushman changed there design ? why was waeco deemed 2nd and now its down the list .

i dont have a fridge and so have no opinion as to the fridge debate but im just curious .[ a mate is going to give me his old waeco ]

craig

[morgue]

Ahhh...nothin like a good chat over a couple of beers talkin about 12v fridges...

[Burnsy]

Last place I would look if I was doing research to buy something is Aust 4x4, quote from issue 162 in relation to solar power "an 80 watt panel gives about 4.5 amps times about 12 hours of sun per day, which equals 54 amps of charge into your battery" - these guys are clowns.

[darren]

This is what i use



In summer i hang some wet hessian over it ...

[baldheadedgit]

I think there all good as long as you use 6mm   

[speewa158]

Yeaaar But I got my Engles , they make cold , end of story 

[markymark]

What I want to know is how they came to their conclusion??

The Bushman kept's it's temperature the best throughout all the tests and shouldn't that be what it is about??

Tha ARB went from 4 degrees up to 8.5 degrees and 8.1 degrees on both the tests, whereas the Bushman only went to 4.7 and 6.6!!

I agree! They did this last time too, it appeared the Bushman was ticking all the right boxes and then they gave it to the then new ARB fridge with no explanation as to how it got over the line ahead of the Bushman. Immediate thoughts were that Bushman weren't doing enough advertising with them!

I subscribed for years to this mag and finally gave it away when I got sick of Roothy raving about whatever product was throwing money at the magazine. In one story on his truck 'Milo', I counted the word 'Narva' 12 times, Narva this, Narva that, and I'd finally had enough. He made it all to obvious it was the money talking and not the product on its own merit.

Mark.

[Symon]

Last place I would look if I was doing research to buy something is Aust 4x4, quote from issue 162 in relation to solar power "an 80 watt panel gives about 4.5 amps times about 12 hours of sun per day, which equals 54 amps of charge into your battery" - these guys are clowns.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that notices stupid stuff like that.

[speewa158]

the 12v section is full of it dont you know 

[Symon]

In the mag, or on this forum?

[UIZ733]

I have not and will not read the article. My bushman however is an outstanding piece of equipment. I can only describe it (after 9 yrs) as an outstanding piece of gear.

[TroyE]

  ford/holden, nissan/toyota, waeco/engel the debate will rage on & on & on..................

Me nissan troll and leaning toward the engel mt45 (don't have one yet)
I wouldn't give you a nob of goat poop for either of the later offering from ford (Found On Rubbish Dump) or holden (Heap Of Loose Dirty Engine Nuts)

[LC]

We have a waeco, its been running for over three years non-stop without any problems, if and when we have to replace it the fridge that we get will have to fit onboard the drop down fridge slide we have so we will probably be restricted to another waeco, an engel or the ARB fridge - all of which I would be happy with!

[AussieBob]

I've got an Engel 39 ltr, had it for 22yrs, its gone nearly everwhere..CapeY, Gulf, Kimberley's, etc never missed a beat. The only modification added is a 12v computer fan to help air circulation.

It likes.. dirt roads and fresh air...none of this city life for it...