Fridges

[Swampyhotdog]

Hi There,

Has anybody used one of those coolbox type fridges that plug into the ciggy lighter?

They are on ebay and also there are more expensive versions elsewhere on the net, I'm a bit dubious about the cheaper ones.

Anybody used one - cheap or dear. Or can you tell me where I'd get a decent one?

Cheers,

SD

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[[3889]]

got a £30 box a couple of years ago from Lidl, still going strong - not as good as a fridge but fine for cooling beer 20C below ambient temp in the summer. more expensive models can warm things as well as cool them.

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[Magic_Sailor]

I know people who've used them OK but be careful they draw a lot of current.

We decided against one and converted our cool box into a fridge. This still draws significant current whn on but being more efficient, should draw less over a period of time.

Magic

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[Guest]

Many of the cheaper cool boxes use a thermoeletric plate to cool. Unfortunately many of this type do not have a thermostat and pull power continuously - quickly depleting your batteries.

I had one of the Hella units (also sold by waeco under a different name) that was similar to the above and ran for less than a day between charging the batteries up (on a 100AH bank).

Interestingly, I also have a top-of-the-line Engel unit here on test for a power system we're building for a research project in Tanzania. The unit cools properly down to -15 degrees (can be used as fridge or freezer) and pulls just 2.5A when running (miliamps once the thermostat has cut the compressor off). In tests here, we have been able to get the unit to run from a (good quality) 70AH battery for around 36 hours - showing that not only is it power effecient but it's insulation is pretty good too!

It's the same with pretty much anything in life - you get what you pay for!

James

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[charles_reed]

Great if you have a powerboat or plenty of battery capacity but most are absorption type units they're terribly inefficient and use about x12 the power of a good compressor unit besides struggling in ambient temperatures over about 28C.

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[jamesjermain]

These diivide very sharply into two types: the absorbtion plate and the compressor.

The former is cleap to buy but expensive to run and usually only cools 20 degrees below ambient or +5 degrees, whichever it the higher.

The latter is heavier, is up to five or six times more expensive but uses half or a third the power and can cool to well below freezing.

I bought one of the former recently after a lot of heart searching and with SWMBO holding my credit card, and slightly against my better judgement. I have not had much chance to explore it fully yet but for what I need it and use it for it seems to be fine.

Basically we plug it into the house supply, fill it with stuff from the fridge and freezer, transfer it to the car 12V system and then to the boat. We only run it while the engine is on and in this way it will keep beers cool all weekend and even keep a joint frozen for a day.

We haven't tried it on a longer passage or holiday yet, but I suspect that, provided we don't ask too much of it it will do what's required - cool beer, tonic and gin, plus keep milk and other perishables fresher for longer.

If we had needed full on board refrigeration we would undoubtedly have opted for a compressor unit.

<hr width=100% size=1>JJ

 

[gtmoore]

When we bought our boat it had a small portable Waeco Coolmatic cool box. This kind uses a compressor and I have to say that if you're not careful with the controls you can end up with frozen milk and beer very quickly. Seems to work very well but not sure if ours is working as it should as it seems to come on for about 20 secs every couple of minutes - not like a normal fridge.

Haven't noticed much by way of battery drain but we use it with a 220V to 24V adaptor most of the time when hooked up to shorepower. Certainly wouldn't want to be without it now and will probably buy another one if this one expires.

<hr width=100% size=1>Gavin

 

[Aeolus_IV]

Bought one of the Waeco 25ltr "portable" compressor units earlier this year, not cheap. My only regret is not buying one earlier. Have tried one of the thermal plate units before, but they simply don't cool enough. With the Waeco I found that putting some of the blue freezer blocks inside increases the "cold" capacity of the unit while running the engine (or off shore power, if we had that), so that once turned off it maintained it internal temperature better. Common sense I guess.

Regards, Jeff.

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[trainer]

I use a Halfords unit, I think it cost about £50, heats and cools, don't know the power use as I only ever pluged it in to a Landcruiser with something like a power station under the bonnet. However it was good at keeping cool things cool and hot things hot - but not changing there temperature.
mark

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