I wonder what sort of portable freezers are the best that do keep your food frozen
Geoff n Jen said
04:12 PM Nov 11, 2011
We have an engel it's an older one and still works a treat
pricey43 said
05:38 PM Nov 11, 2011
We use our Engel as a freezer which is great as long as we have electricity or a generator to give it a boost. Not any good for free camping.
Boroma577 said
05:41 PM Nov 11, 2011
cannylass wrote:
I wonder what sort of portable freezers are the best that do keep your food frozen
I use a 40 litre Engel as a freezer 12/240 volt and I would not consider any other. It is housed in the car permanently and has its own dedicated battery.
pauline said
05:51 PM Nov 11, 2011
Same as Baroma...............
pricey43 said
05:55 PM Nov 11, 2011
Yes but if you are free camping and not travelling for a few days, e.g at Greens Lake last week, your dedicated battery will soon loose power. Especially if it is hot
Boroma577 said
06:03 PM Nov 11, 2011
pricey43 wrote:
Yes but if you are free camping and not travelling for a few days, e.g at Greens Lake last week, your dedicated battery will soon loose power. Especially if it is hot
A few days is fine, I never have any troubles with mine. Have a 120ah battery but if I am staying longer I keep it attached to the van via an Anderson plug and it charges with the solar panels or gennie.
So yes you do need a back up power supply for the longer term BUT most people do not need a freezer for a couple of days stay....it is usually more for the longer term traveller/camper.
jimricho said
06:57 PM Nov 11, 2011
I have owned a Bushman for many years and have found it quite satisfactory for my needs. I have noticed some comments going back a little on the techies forum relating to some problems with Waeco but I'm not in a position to pass judgement on that.
I have occasionally used the Bushman as a freezer and I would "guesstimate" that it consumes about twice as much power compared to normal fridge mode (maybe a bit more). If planning to supplement your battery capacity with solar panels you would need to take his into account.
My usual "modus operandi" is to vacuum pack meat etc and to run the Bushman as cold as possible without solid freezing the contents of the packs. The colder they are the longer they last.
My Bushman is installed in the tug and not the van and I have an aux battery installed to run it.
PS: One thouht is to consider a 3 way such as a Chescold or similar. Whilst they are nowhere near as efficient on battery power they do offer the option of operating on gas when camped off-power for significant periods.
They don't work as well while travelling but if kept closed or opened infrequently I don't think this should be a problem. Others may have experience with these units and can offer more information.
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 11th of November 2011 07:05:07 PM
JRH said
07:03 PM Nov 11, 2011
I run my 52 litre Bushman off a 1500 amp Jump pack and I can also plug it into the van to charge up on the solar, plus I carry an 80 watt portable solar panel for emergencies. Have never used the Bushman as a freezer, fridge only and I couldn't be happier with the performance, I can tell you it keeps the beer very cold.LOL
jimricho said
07:13 PM Nov 11, 2011
I too use a 1900 amp jumpack for a backup. ("1900amp", what a piece of fiction! but that's another story) it has about 30 amphours of useful capacity when used in this mode (I've measured it) I have given it a quick recharge by hooking it up to engine's battery (as one does when "jump" starting) and idling the engine for about an hour.
JRH said
07:30 PM Nov 11, 2011
jimricho wrote:
I too use a 1900 amp jumpack for a backup. ("1900amp", what a piece of fiction! but that's another story) it has about 30 amphours of useful capacity when used in this mode (I've measured it) I have given it a quick recharge by hooking it up to engine's battery (as one does when "jump" starting) and idling the engine for about an hour.
I have a 12 volt outlet in the back of my station wagon that I plug the jump pack into whilst travelling so far it seems to work fine as jump pack runs the fridge and is still fully charged 13.4 volts, when we stop for the night.
jimricho said
08:00 PM Nov 11, 2011
That's my normal arrangement too, the charging mode I mentioned above was when I camped off power for a couple of weeks without solar and was "caught out".
bill12 said
08:06 PM Nov 11, 2011
I have a 55 ltr Waeco and have frozen 10 kgs of barra , and kept it frozen from Borraloola, to Townsville. But I still think Engels are the best. They seem to be tougher andhave less problems, but are more expensive. I have had problems with the electronics playing up on Waecos. I suppose it all comes down to how much you want to spend. Bill
landy said
10:25 PM Nov 11, 2011
My Waeco is about 7 years old and never had a problem. I'm verry pleased with it but have not had anything else to compare with.
Landy
justcruisin01 said
09:42 AM Nov 12, 2011
We run trailblaza in the car, had it for 22yrs with no problem. Many trips to the NT inextreme heat & freezes fish with no trouble.
Been here at greens lake for three weeks & solar has kept it going all except for a few hours when it rained. Also run the same in our off road camper trailer.
We had two mths in the NT earlier this year & again the solar worked great, never used the genny.
cannylass said
01:10 PM Nov 12, 2011
The reason I asked the question we had a Waeco with a special battery and always had a problem keeping the food frozen.We then bought a Primus 60 lte three way gas model and the same thing problem, it worked fine on gas but when it went on to power in a caravan park it was hopeless we now we don't have any, I want to keep things frozen as the caravan fridge it not big enough to keep my stuff frozen
beiffe said
02:28 PM Nov 12, 2011
I carried and Engel with my old bus and found that it kept everything frozen but would not freeze new stuff. If I froze it in the bus fridge and then transferred then no worries.
Now I have 212 ltr fridge 240v and no problems anymore poor old engel is now a storage box. When I get up north may fill it with goat and roo meat but till then it is turned off.
I would expect that any fridge would need a good battery and the biggest problem is holding the voltage as that is the killer. You need either a short cable length or large cables 4 or 6mm (I thinks that's what they state it as but they are at least jumper lead thickness).
Regards Brian
cannylass said
08:47 PM Nov 15, 2011
I dont think I have heard , or have seen, of a trailblaza are they still around
Boroma577 said
09:06 PM Nov 15, 2011
cannylass wrote:
I dont think I have heard , or have seen, of a trailblaza are they still around
I have one, a 60 litre upright and yes they are still available.
I wonder what sort of portable freezers are the best that do keep your food frozen
We have an engel it's an older one and still works a treat
I use a 40 litre Engel as a freezer 12/240 volt and I would not consider any other. It is housed in the car permanently and has its own dedicated battery.
A few days is fine, I never have any troubles with mine. Have a 120ah battery but if I am staying longer I keep it attached to the van via an Anderson plug and it charges with the solar panels or gennie.
So yes you do need a back up power supply for the longer term BUT most people do not need a freezer for a couple of days stay....it is usually more for the longer term traveller/camper.
I have owned a Bushman for many years and have found it quite satisfactory for my needs. I have noticed some comments going back a little on the techies forum relating to some problems with Waeco but I'm not in a position to pass judgement on that.
I have occasionally used the Bushman as a freezer and I would "guesstimate" that it consumes about twice as much power compared to normal fridge mode (maybe a bit more). If planning to supplement your battery capacity with solar panels you would need to take his into account.
My usual "modus operandi" is to vacuum pack meat etc and to run the Bushman as cold as possible without solid freezing the contents of the packs. The colder they are the longer they last.
My Bushman is installed in the tug and not the van and I have an aux battery installed to run it.
PS: One thouht is to consider a 3 way such as a Chescold or similar. Whilst they are nowhere near as efficient on battery power they do offer the option of operating on gas when camped off-power for significant periods.
They don't work as well while travelling but if kept closed or opened infrequently I don't think this should be a problem. Others may have experience with these units and can offer more information.
-- Edited by jimricho on Friday 11th of November 2011 07:05:07 PM
I run my 52 litre Bushman off a 1500 amp Jump pack and I can also plug it into the van to charge up on the solar, plus I carry an 80 watt portable solar panel for emergencies. Have never used the Bushman as a freezer, fridge only and I couldn't be happier with the performance, I can tell you it keeps the beer very cold.LOL
I have a 12 volt outlet in the back of my station wagon that I plug the jump pack into whilst travelling so far it seems to work fine as jump pack runs the fridge and is still fully charged 13.4 volts, when we stop for the night.
My Waeco is about 7 years old and never had a problem. I'm verry pleased with it but have not had anything else to compare with.
Landy
We run trailblaza in the car, had it for 22yrs with no problem. Many trips to the NT inextreme heat & freezes fish with no trouble.
Been here at greens lake for three weeks & solar has kept it going all except for a few hours when it rained. Also run the same in our off road camper trailer.
We had two mths in the NT earlier this year & again the solar worked great, never used the genny.
The reason I asked the question we had a Waeco with a special battery and always had a problem keeping the food frozen.We then bought a Primus 60 lte three way gas model and the same thing problem, it worked fine on gas but when it went on to power in a caravan park it was hopeless we now we don't have any, I want to keep things frozen as the caravan fridge it not big enough to keep my stuff frozen
Now I have 212 ltr fridge 240v and no problems anymore poor old engel is now a storage box. When I get up north may fill it with goat and roo meat but till then it is turned off.
I would expect that any fridge would need a good battery and the biggest problem is holding the voltage as that is the killer. You need either a short cable length or large cables 4 or 6mm (I thinks that's what they state it as but they are at least jumper lead thickness).
Regards
Brian
I dont think I have heard , or have seen, of a trailblaza are they still around
I have one, a 60 litre upright and yes they are still available.
Here they are
www.norcoast.com.au/