Hi all! Was wondering if I could tap into the knowledge/experience pool that permeates this forum. I just bought on special a Waeco CDF 035 with external inverter and insulated cover from BCF for $599 which i hope was a good deal, so I want to use it mainly as a reliable freezer when the 3way caravan fridge is a bit suspect like when travelling or very hot times & also it takes ages to freeze meat sometimes so i could freeze it quickly in the Waeco then transfer it to the van fridge, and ofcause we can keep icecreams in it. What I am wondering is roughly how long on average the fridge is expected to run on the car battery or caravan battery before the battery reaches its minimum power the system will allow(I'm not sure what that would be). I did a quick test with an ice cube tray & it barely made 24hrs and the ice started to melt, though the power light was still on the fridge I guessed it was too week to work properly I'll just sit here chillin out & wait for an answer Thanks
dave06 said
11:46 AM Dec 18, 2009
on cool the unit will give close to 3 days in a coollish environment, on a warm day this will shrink
on freeze I would suspect that around a day would see the battery out without any external extra powering source
this is assuming a lot of things here, battery size, the ammount in the fridge and position of fridge, shade/shaelter/full sun
Smokeydk said
01:21 PM Dec 18, 2009
I agree with Davo
Power
Ave. Power Consumption: 0.85 amps/hr (@ 12V, 5°C interior, 32°C ambient temperature)
Temperature Range Up to 50°C below ambient
running it as a freezer will chew up power quick....
I get 4 days from a 120 amp hour battery.......thats running my Waeco CF40 at 0 degrees
I suggest you think about getting a 80watt solar panel...then you wont need to worry as much
Dave
Rolly said
01:48 PM Dec 18, 2009
Smokeydk wrote:......I suggest you think about getting a 80watt solar panel...then you wont need to worry as much.
Make that two and you won't have much to worry about at all.
DeBe said
02:10 PM Dec 18, 2009
Hi Hylda& jon. I have been trying to find info on theseCDF035. Waeco sent me a catalogue but it doesnt tell you what the current draw is on 12V which i would like to know? They use a Chinese compressor (2yr warranty) . the CF40 usesDanfoss compressor (5Yr warranty). I have a CF 40 which runs on a N70ZZ battery with 100W solar panell as a frige it more than keeps up, as a freezer doesnt quite keep up. Can you post a picture of the control panel as the Waeco catalogue doesnt show it? Very interested. Cheers Daryl
Hylda&Jon said
06:16 PM Dec 18, 2009
We have an 80watt solar panel on our van already so with luck that may charge the battery up a little though I don't know how much in a day
rosey said
07:02 PM Dec 18, 2009
I dont know the technical terms, but we have a waeco fridge in the tug which used to give us about 36 hours (on cool)without recharging the battery, now got an auxiliary battery and even on hot days it will last 3 days.
Am looking forward to having a caravan to put solar panels on!
Hylda&Jon said
08:21 PM Dec 18, 2009
DeBe wrote:
Hi Hylda& jon. I have been trying to find info on theseCDF035. Waeco sent me a catalogue but it doesnt tell you what the current draw is on 12V which i would like to know? They use a Chinese compressor (2yr warranty) . the CF40 usesDanfoss compressor (5Yr warranty). I have a CF 40 which runs on a N70ZZ battery with 100W solar panell as a frige it more than keeps up, as a freezer doesnt quite keep up. Can you post a picture of the control panel as the Waeco catalogue doesnt show it? Very interested. Cheers Daryl
Thanks Hylda&Jon for that info & photos pitty there catalogue wasnt more informative & I notice the spec sheet you posted they havent put the current draw, which is surprising since its hard to compare this model with a CF40 considering it uses a different compressor. The spec sheet for CF40 has every thing listed. Just wondering if there is a plate on the frige underneath with curren draw? cheers Daryl Ps sorry about the inquisition just i used to be afrige repairer & curious.
Hylda&Jon said
11:47 PM Dec 18, 2009
Hey Daryl No help from the plate on the underside of the fridge sorry but after a bit of googling I found a document about different fridges on an American recreational vehicle website - ' http://www.awardrv.com/ ' it said:
Waeco Coolfreeze CDF-35
Weight: 15KG,Capacity:31Litres W340 x H380 x L1.560mm, 1`2 or 24 Volts Average Power Consumption = 1,01 amps/hr. Holds 37 cans
What that means to my deep cycle battery is beyond my feeble knowledge and It wouldn't refer to it being on freeze mode as I intend to use it but it seems the common consensus is about what I thought-24hrs. I hope the figure is correct & helps you Jon
DeBe wrote:
Thanks Hylda&Jon for that info & photos pitty there catalogue wasnt more informative & I notice the spec sheet you posted they havent put the current draw, which is surprising since its hard to compare this model with a CF40 considering it uses a different compressor. The spec sheet for CF40 has every thing listed. Just wondering if there is a plate on the frige underneath with curren draw? cheers Daryl Ps sorry about the inquisition just i used to be afrige repairer & curious.
dave06 said
11:09 AM Dec 19, 2009
an 80 watt solar panel running in reasonable weather will easily run your fridge/freezer and a couple of lights forever on a 100 watt battery,
the most these fridge/freezers pull is roughly around the 3 amp mark per hour, on start up it will be a fraction more but wills ettle back to an actual lower amperage (and I know I will get into strife for this and provoke all sorts of hoo ha!) but a rough equasion is 3 amps x 12 volt equals 36 watt per hour draw
on a "normal" day of below say 28 degs with the insulating cover on and in the shade it will run very roughly a 1/4 of the time or 20 minutes out of the hour or 6 hours in 24, using a total of 18 amps or 216 watts in any given 24 hour period
an 80 watt solar panel sat in full sun will get roughly 6 hours of "reliable" sunlight in any given day, depending on where you are, time of year, weather, but 6 hours would be average, times say 60 watt = 360 watts,
a solar panel will very rarely if ever produce the nominated wattage claimed although mine does consistantly
you wont have any dramas! running the freezer off the panel
DeBe said
11:45 AM Dec 19, 2009
Hi Hylda&Jon Thanks for that i suspect that rating of 1.o1 amp/hr would be for runing as a fridge which you are right in 24hrs it would consume about 24 amp/hr. 80Watt pannel should put out 4.5Amp asuming you can get 6Hrs @ that rate you will get 27A/Hout of the pannel & into the battery. This should keep the frige going continuously. But using it as a freezer I dont think it will keep up, you may need extra charging hope that helps. I use 180W solar to keep up with a Waeco CF 40 using it as a Freezer. In my CF40 set at -12deg it takes about 12Hrs to freeze 2X 1.2Liter bottles of water. Cheers Daryl
-- Edited by DeBe on Saturday 19th of December 2009 10:54:19 AM
Hylda&Jon said
01:52 PM Dec 19, 2009
Thanks for the info dave, I hope it works out the way you say, I'll just have to keep the better half away from those computer games or there won't be power to make ice for my bourbons lol
dave06 wrote:
an 80 watt solar panel running in reasonable weather will easily run your fridge/freezer and a couple of lights forever on a 100 watt battery,
the most these fridge/freezers pull is roughly around the 3 amp mark per hour, on start up it will be a fraction more but wills ettle back to an actual lower amperage (and I know I will get into strife for this and provoke all sorts of hoo ha!) but a rough equasion is 3 amps x 12 volt equals 36 watt per hour draw
on a "normal" day of below say 28 degs with the insulating cover on and in the shade it will run very roughly a 1/4 of the time or 20 minutes out of the hour or 6 hours in 24, using a total of 18 amps or 216 watts in any given 24 hour period
an 80 watt solar panel sat in full sun will get roughly 6 hours of "reliable" sunlight in any given day, depending on where you are, time of year, weather, but 6 hours would be average, times say 60 watt = 360 watts,
a solar panel will very rarely if ever produce the nominated wattage claimed although mine does consistantly
you wont have any dramas! running the freezer off the panel
Rolly said
02:28 PM Dec 19, 2009
Worth mentioning is the fact that there are several other brands of portable fridge freezers that are thermally more efficient than both the Engel and the Waeco.
Bushman and EvaKool are two that come immediately to mind, both of which have tested and empirical evidence to indicate that, apart from the slightly greater weight and physical dimensions, they are better performers by a considerable margin.
By all accounts, they are greatly underestimated and certainly under promoted.
The other two seem to be the fridge equivalents of Ford and Holden, both very popular but not very well made nor very reliable.
DeBe said
03:13 PM Dec 19, 2009
Rolly I wont argue about efficiency Theyre definitly are better insulated. But reliability? The Evacool is powered by A danfos compressor same as Waeco. The Bushman is powered by a Cubijel GD30FDC spanish compressor I suspect a copy of Danfoss BD35 certainly looks like one. The only other difference is some use electronic thermostats & others use mechanical thermostats. I noticed on Ausfish.com site some not impressed owners of Evacool friges & warranty. Cheers Daryl
bill12 said
05:31 PM Dec 19, 2009
G,day. I have had a cdf 45 for years and while it has been a good fridge, it seems to draw a few amps . also the top controls got wet and fuses out , so I had a fridge mech put an engel rotary type control inside the fridge. With an 80 w folding panel and two n70z bateries in parallel it goes forever at 2c.Just cold enough for meat and beer which is most important.Would like to get a duel zone fridge -freezer next. I hope this helps you. Merry xmas , Bill
dave06 said
10:38 AM Dec 20, 2009
I agree rolly there are a lot of fridges on the market that claim to be more thermal efficient and claim lower running amps but I have yet to see them out in the field running reliably for over forty years as my first engel has done, I gave that one to my son as I had a promotional offer made to me by an engel rep to change up to the new one, the old one is still running just fine
it is the same one that malcolm douglas took on his venture in to the large tidal waters of the kimberleys
I would not go bush with a fridge full of tucker unless it had either engel (my first choice,) or waeco stamped well and truly on it
we have done and are still doing a hell of a lot of bloody rough miles in amongst some isolated spots, we cant go and get resuplied if or when the fridge conks out
we have been running for up to a week (powerwise) with nothing more than a 100 amp standard car battery and a 100 watt brief case solar panel to recharge it, this is in all temps including the humidity up north
we run a 40 litre engel and any lights that we need off that setup and have yet to have any problems,
the trouble comes in when we expect to "take everything" with us
if your needs are huge then you need a huge array, but keep your needs basic and your panel will easily keep up
I just bought on special a Waeco CDF 035 with external inverter and insulated cover from BCF for $599 which i hope was a good deal, so I want to use it mainly as a reliable freezer when the 3way caravan fridge is a bit suspect like when travelling or very hot times & also it takes ages to freeze meat sometimes so i could freeze it quickly in the Waeco then transfer it to the van fridge, and ofcause we can keep icecreams in it.
What I am wondering is roughly how long on average the fridge is expected to run on the car battery or caravan battery before the battery reaches its minimum power the system will allow(I'm not sure what that would be). I did a quick test with an ice cube tray & it barely made 24hrs and the ice started to melt, though the power light was still on the fridge I guessed it was too week to work properly
I'll just sit here chillin out & wait for an answer
Thanks
Make that two and you won't have much to worry about at all.
Am looking forward to having a caravan to put solar panels on!
-- Edited by DeBe on Saturday 19th of December 2009 10:54:19 AM
Bushman and EvaKool are two that come immediately to mind, both of which have tested and empirical evidence to indicate that, apart from the slightly greater weight and physical dimensions, they are better performers by a considerable margin.
By all accounts, they are greatly underestimated and certainly under promoted.
The other two seem to be the fridge equivalents of Ford and Holden, both very popular but not very well made nor very reliable.