you can depend on a 12/240v fridge working in tropical areas, three way units can struggle especially with frozen food. some three way units are rated for tropical use but not worth taking a punt in them.
We thought portable fridges in tugs were exclusively ''man territory'' where they keep their grog cold, sneaking out occasionally for another one. We couldn't image not having a ''proper fridge'' in our caravan for food. If you're the kind of bloke that walks around most of the day with a can/stubby in your hand like a baby holding a dummy, buy a fridge for your tug as well.
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Cheers Desert Dweller.
Our land abounds in Natures gifts. Of beauty rich and rare.
A small sized portable in your vehicle can be very useful. It can be used as a fridge or a freezer. You can use it for bulk storage of frozen goods while using the van fridge for normal refrigeration, or use it as your travelling fridge if you are doing larger distances and keep drinks and snacks cool.
Most have good insulation, and you don't drop out all the cold air when you open the fridge like upright models. I have a 35L Engel that stays in the Troopy 24/7. It isn't always turned on for everyday use, but we use it a lot when travelling. Even for shopping, so you don't have frozen goods and cool goods sitting in the car in the heat for a couple of hours, while you complete your shopping trip.
When I was working in my last job, I travelled an hour each way to work, and had it on 24/7 for a large water bottle, soft drinks and lunch etc. It would even stay cold over the weekend (running off an 80AH aux battery) without driving if, I put a couple of freezer blocks in it, so it didn't work so hard.
And as Desert Dwellers suggested, it is a great way to keep a few beers and softies cold, without cluttering up the van fridge.
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Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
I got an old franklin and was thinking a portable fridge would do to start with that way when we are not on the road l could get use out of it in the tug or at home
Hi all;
There are many sizes in 12/240 volt fridges ( compresser type ) as well as many makes and models. Cheap ones start at about $500.00 and the dearest will make a mess of $2000.00. You will get what you pay for in quality. The most common size is 40 Ltrs. When running of 12 Volts, it also pays to have a good sized aux battery , isolator, very heavy wireing from the aux battery to the 12 Volt socket were your fridge would live. Solar panels to help keep your aux battery charged while you are not driving is another way of spending money. Maybe a fridge slide so as you can get at your fridge, and again more money spent. What is a good brand ????? Well that is a $6000.00 question and if i recommended one brand , some one else would say that is rubbish and that/this brand is better. So the question also is how much money do you want to spend, i would start with the two way fridge first and the work on some sort of battery back up.
DD - isn't that an insulting thing to say about babies ???? LOL
We have a 185 lt 3 way fridge/freezer in our 'van which also has a separate cooling fan we can use. We have stayed in inland areas of WA for several months where the average temps have been in the late 30's and mid 40s and never had an issue with frozen stuff defrosting. It is important though to defrost your freezer regularly as many don't have an auto defrost facility like one for the house and ice builds up quickly. We usually keep our freezer pretty full, so that helps keep it at the right temp.
Like Troopy, we also have a 12/240v portable fridge. Its a 50 lt Waeco that we got with a decent stand (if you want to have it outside and off the ground, and a robust soft insulated cover to help keep the temps down. We also got a Waeco fitting for the tow vehicle. It has 2 cigarette type slots - one for the fridge/freezer and also has 2 switching modes. You can push the button and a red LED indicates it will run off the tugs battery 24/7 or push the same button and a green LED indicates the fridge will only draw power when the motor is started (to avoid a flat battery). We got it as a package from Annaconda about 2 years ago and saved about $800 off buying all the items at the regular price.
We keep it in the tug all the time and if we're not travelling, like Troopy, we put our chilled and frozen goods in it to take home when shopping. They cool down very quickly - you can make most of them a fridge or a freezer or both (depending on make and size) and temps can be set to minus 30c on our one
-- Edited by Bruce and Bev on Thursday 21st of January 2016 11:23:45 PM
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
DD - isn't that an insulting thing to say about babies ???? LOL
Not really, just an observation of people suffering from ''empty hand syndrome''. They tend to walk around all morning with a coffee in their hand & all afternoon/night with a can or stubby in their hand. We think it must be a security type of thing like a child toddling around with a dummy in their hand. We often wonder what they've got hold of all night while they're asleep!
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Cheers Desert Dweller.
Our land abounds in Natures gifts. Of beauty rich and rare.
DD - that's a horrible thought - looking at some of our nomad men (and women) you see in CPs, servos and free camps, the thought of what they might hold at night turns the stomach LOL.
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
The only reason I hang on to my beer is so that tight b*stards don't knock it off... has this gone too far off topic yet..... (insert eyes roll emoticon here)
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Yes I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
DD - that's a horrible thought - looking at some of our nomad men (and women) you see in CPs, servos and free camps, the thought of what they might hold at night turns the stomach LOL.
Anything cylindrical will do.
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Cheers Desert Dweller.
Our land abounds in Natures gifts. Of beauty rich and rare.
I was going to replace my 3 way ..
Till I got some BAD news ...
The fridge doesn't fit through the door ! Meaning the window need to be removed at extra cost ..
Being a hands on guy the extra cost on top of fridge ( over $2500) ) my thought was to purchase another fan
In the ducts .. So I have ordered another fan with its own shroud and solar fan to fit on roof cover ..
I have a 12v /240v 60 litre fridge / freezer .. We have had issues in the past with low volts ..
Since upgrading solar. Plus increasing wire size I hope I've over come the problem?
It seems it all starts when batteries get low then everything fails due to low volts ..
Even TV reception as the booster doesn't work properly .. Notice battery volts are never under 12.7 now ..
A few extra solar panels does wanders ! Especially when free camping over months at a time ..
Ty kiwi, lm going to invest my hard earn on a 2 way car fridge to start with. Now the size lm thinking is around 50 ltr , as it shouldnt be to heavy to carry from tug to van, as needed. Not sure on make yet , the old story engel vs waeco , any clues . The engel by a nose at this stage
