Stand by your fridge!

suneye

Full Member
Posts
514
Likes
653
My son is looking for a small fridge. I said that they are nothing but trouble! However I looked on here to see what others recommended but all I could find was people asking for help with fridges not working which confirmed my view. Will anyone stand by their fridge and cross their heart and say that they love their fridge and would recommend it and that it is worth the energy and space it takes up.
 
And tell the world you love him/her? My fridge Dometic rm4200 is 25 years old and works perfectly cant speak for the these later ones though.
 
The Waeco compressor type coolbox we have has been running none stop in our transit conversion for the last 3 years without missing a beat.
I've no doubt the Waeco compressor fridge ill be replacing our 3 way with in the motorhome will be just as reliable.
 
My Dometic 3 way is 8 years old now and never had a moments trouble with it.
 
Only fridge problems we have had have been minor. 3 way fridges should be looked after as they are gas appliances & most likely problem is needing clean/new jet.
You do get told that a tilt of more than 6 degrees can affect their function but we have never had a problem.
3 way fridges are most efficient on gas but you are best to have one on hook-up for the day before you go off on a trip to get it nice & cold, without using precious gas supplies.
I wouldn't be without mine.
 
Love 'em or hate 'em, I wouldn't want to venture camping again without a fridge... did that with a cold box and ice packs back in the 70s and 80s and still shudder at the memory of the sniff test on the mornings the sausages and bacon definitely became a health hazard :rolleyes2: Obviously there's going to be a bit of maintenance now and then but - touch wood - that's most likely just cleaning the burner and flue once in a blue moon.

My little motorhome fridge is a 13-year-old, standard 3-way Dometic that's always choc full and it does its job with gusto, so yes - I love it to bits :heart:
 
Minisorella said:
Love 'em or hate 'em, I wouldn't want to venture camping again without a fridge... did that with a cold box and ice packs back in the 70s and 80s and still shudder at the memory of the sniff test on the mornings the sausages and bacon definitely became a health hazard :rolleyes2: Obviously there's going to be a bit of maintenance now and then but - touch wood - that's most likely just cleaning the burner and flue once in a blue moon.

My little motorhome fridge is a 13-year-old, standard 3-way Dometic that's always choc full and it does its job with gusto, so yes - I love it to bits :heart:
Click to expand...
I went to a VW Festival in my current van shortly after I bought it and before I added any amenities.... Relied on a coolbox that drained the old car battery I had handy in around 30 minutes. One old solar panel loose on the roof to get a bit of power back in for lights.
It was kind of back to camping and TBH while kinda fun not something I would like to repeat on a regular basis.
 
I've got a webasto compressor fridge and a 35 year old Electrolux 3 way, I have to say that 35 years has moved technology on quite a few light years. Not that the Electrolux has not been good, I'm not oversure the Webasto will be still be running in 35 years though.
The webasto cools and freezes and has performed well in close to 40C just recently in the Australian Summer. The Electrolux does struggle in high temps and you cant open and close the door a dozen times and expect it to remain cold.
The webasto runs off a solar panel and a couple of 100aH house batteries and has never run the batteries flat. Its been running for the last 2.5 years apart from a couple of defrosts. Solar panels are a must if you want to park up for a week, whereas the 3 way can run off gas and will only draw a small amount of current to the thermostat.
As with all things refrigerator the installation is critical, especially airflow and venting. Read the appropriate fitting instructions for whatever fridge you buy and make sure that the cabinet wall thickness is correct - 1/4" ply will not do the job no matter what a salesperson tells you. 1" minimum and better still if its made from 25mm cool room panel.
Try and get a "tropical rating" which has better inbuilt insulation.
 
Waeco cr 50 never let me down, but the batteries I had, did! With a compressor fridge you do need good batteries, and a good charging system. My new batteries are arriving Wed, and in preparation I have renewed all the battery connectors. I should add that I very rarely use electric hook up. Good luck with your search.
 
I think it depends on what type of camping you do, for how long and where.

Compressor fridges are easy to fit, don't need flue and vent holes cutting in the side of the van and run great providing you have the solar/battery power to support them, or drive every day to recharge the batteries, or spend a lot of time in sunny climes, or only go away for a few days at a time.

On the other hand, I prefer a 3 way fridge for extended periods wild camping. Even in dull weather my fridge can run 24/7 for for weeks on end using just a few KG of gas. I do have lots of solar, but that's for running my gadgets and laptop, phone charging, lighting etc.
 
We fitted a vitrifrigo 3 years ago it’s not missed a beat plus we can’t even hear it running. Expensive yes though so much easy than fitting a 3 way
 
13 year old Engel chest fridge/freezer still working fine. Although did replace it with later version one last year.
I'm suitably convinced that the chest style compressor fridges usually sold by 4x4 overland type suppliers are better made than normal front load fridges. Use a lot less power too as the cold doesn't fall out everytime you open the door. :)
 
Roger said:
I've got a webasto compressor fridge and a 35 year old Electrolux 3 way, I have to say that 35 years has moved technology on quite a few light years. Not that the Electrolux has not been good, I'm not oversure the Webasto will be still be running in 35 years though.
The webasto cools and freezes and has performed well in close to 40C just recently in the Australian Summer. The Electrolux does struggle in high temps and you cant open and close the door a dozen times and expect it to remain cold.
The webasto runs off a solar panel and a couple of 100aH house batteries and has never run the batteries flat. Its been running for the last 2.5 years apart from a couple of defrosts. Solar panels are a must if you want to park up for a week, whereas the 3 way can run off gas and will only draw a small amount of current to the thermostat.
As with all things refrigerator the installation is critical, especially airflow and venting. Read the appropriate fitting instructions for whatever fridge you buy and make sure that the cabinet wall thickness is correct - 1/4" ply will not do the job no matter what a salesperson tells you. 1" minimum and better still if its made from 25mm cool room panel.
Try and get a "tropical rating" which has better inbuilt insulation.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, what model is your Webasto?
 
Waeco and dometic are two names that are being recommended. I understand that they are the same company, is there any difference in the two brands apart from the name?
 
hairydog said:
My Dometic (or was it Electrolux?) three-way AES fridge is wonderful.

It did have a fault originally, which was subject to a "service bulletin" (that's the same as a recall, but the customer is expected to pay - not good) in 1999.

I eventually replaced that bit around 2016. It cost about £40, I think.

The only thing that I have changed is to add a vent fan to improve performance in very hot conditions. Three computer fans cable ties to the vent, cost under a tenner. I only switch it on in hot weather.

The freezer easily manages -19 in ambient temperatures of 35 degrees C.

There is one maintenance task, though.

I've found it worthwhile cleaning the jet every few months. The easy way it to take it out and rinse it out with a squirt of lighter gas refill. If I had to take it somewhere and pay for that, I'd find it a real pain.
Doing the job takes less than five minutes, not including the ten minutes waiting for the burner to cool down first.
Unclip the bottom vent. One screw to remove the burner cover, unscrew the jet with a small spanner. Clean and reassemble. Job done!

In hot weather it uses almost 300g of gas in 24 hours (less when the weather is cool) and almost no 12v power.

I suspect that some three-way fridges are much less good. In particular, some have mild steel burners, not stainless steel. That's downright stupid.

Thetford fridges need to be within 3 degrees of level to work: that's quite difficult when wild camping.

Dometics are fine with up to 6 degrees of tilt - at which your coffee mug will slide off the table, and/or you'll wake up in the morning with backache. So you won't park at that angle too often!.
Click to expand...
Is it just on gas that they don't cope with the tilt?
 
I have the Electrolux 3 way, 19 years old. The only problem I have had was lack of cooling on gas last summer., and once when it needed the flue cleaning, An absolute must have in summer. If/when it fails I would probably go electric if I could find the power to support it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top