Isotherm -vs- Waeco

Ruffles

Ruffles

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Joined
26 Feb 2004
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3,046
Location
Boat: Portsmouth, Us: Stewkley
www.soulbury.demon.co.uk
Looking to convert a coolbox to a fridge. Only 45 litres so only need the smallest unit.

Anyone got any views on which make? The Waeco VD-01+CU-54 has the best sized plate for the coolbox I have. But the Isotherm GE-80 is cheaper by seventy quid. Both use the same Danfoss compressor. Why's the Waeco so much more?

Also, is it worth buying at the boat show and haggling a bit?
 
I did exactly the same in our last boat, used thw Waeco kit and yes did a deal at BS. But as you say the Danfoss bit is the important part, quiet and all easy to fit.
 
Did you fit the plate horizontal? I was kind of hoping I might be able to make ice on it for G&Ts! Wishful thinking?

Considering the number of bags of ice I've fed that coolbox of the years I could of bought a fridge-freezer by now /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
I bought and fitted the isotherm last year and find it works just fine. Looked at the boat show last year but the deals were not as good as the internet.
 
Trouble is they don't do an 'L' shaped plate. Well, not one small enough anyway. They do an 'O' shaped plate, but that costs more than the Waeco one. I notice that the Waeco compressor has undervoltage batter protection. If the Isotherm one has this they don't mention it on the web site....
 
If you get one with an 'O' shaped plate you can mount that vertically and use ice cube bags, we did that on a small underbunk fridge in our W33 and we use the same bags now even with a horizontal 'O' plate. We take these ice bags from home too to save making them on board if it is just for a weekend.
 
I have bent the plate on an Isotherm unit that I fitted a few years ago. Even the smallest plate was too small for the coolbox. It worked very well and doesn't seem to use much current.
I have just got another boat and am in the process of fitting the same type of unit. They (Isotherm) mention that the plate should be mounted vertically and I will be experimenting to see if fitting a vertical baffle allows me to reduce the effective size of the cool box keeping a small section at freezing temperature.
If the material is thin enough, a certain amount of cooling effect will still get through to the main part of the coolbox.

Good Luck!

Neil
 
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Trouble is they don't do an 'L' shaped plate. Well, not one small enough anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]
As Skipperneil says, this is not a problem at all, you can bend the flat plate into an L shape. We did exacly this, I bent it across the edge of the (slightly rounded) cockpit seat with a layer of blanket beneath it to make sure. Probably overkill precautions - it bent easily, works a treat, and it means you can buy the cheapest Isotherm, which has a large flat plate and is very much cheaper than the Waeco.
 
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