Camping Fridge

Looking at getting a fridge for general purpose camping sick of dealing with ice - kids are in and out of it when camping.

Uses: 10 day camping trip with the family, a few long weekend camps and 3-7 days here or there where I can park the ute close to camp.

Will be powered sites with the family and a second battery for remote. It will live in the tent when camping with the family (on 240v).

Will be a dual zone, looking at the dometic Cfx3 95L.
Brother has a brass monkey and I’m not a fan. He’s a fridgey and doesn’t like it either (it was free).

Any real world recommendations/experiences around brands and models would be appreciated.

Yes I would like an Engel but they’re out of the price range and at 40kg empty (for the 80L) will be a mission to move when full.

Much appreciated

I have an old LPG/240 volt fridge of about 100 litre that still works well, the 240 volt side has hardly ever been used....when I say old I mean old, the original owner used to live on Clements Road in a bus, Albie was his name, claimed it would hold 5 (or was it 7) boned out Sika.

For abt 5 years I've had a 40L domestic.
100ah deep cycle battery.
200w solar blanket.

Works well. But just 1 or 2 people.
But next battery will be 120ah.

Big fridges get heavy.

I've got a brass monkey and another at work(in a 40-45c space on a deep sea fishing boat)and can't fault them.
What don't you like about them?

Why does the bro not like the Brass monkeys? cheap enough, reliable enough, and there is a parts supply available to repair them.
Engel has to be near the top of the list, Waeco is getting pretty cheap as is the likes of Adventure Kings, Gasmate etc.
I have an Engel, and two Brass Monkeys, Engel is great, but it doesn't like the bouncy 4wding, Brass monkey on a lithium and a solar blanket is the mutts nuts,

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I've got a brass monkey and another at work(in a 40-45c space on a deep sea fishing boat)and can't fault them.
What don't you like about them?

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Apart from the plastic feel, they’re noisey and it condensates - the insulation is negligible (bigget problem when on battery and power demand). Problems running of solar with their current draw.
He doesn’t like the compressor unit… I didn’t ask for details - he’s more familiar than I am (he has a HVAC business) so I’ll accept his opinion there


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Originally Posted by DavidGunn

I have an old LPG/240 volt fridge of about 100 litre that still works well, the 240 volt side has hardly ever been used....when I say old I mean old, the original owner used to live on Clements Road in a bus, Albie was his name, claimed it would hold 5 (or was it 7) boned out Sika.

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How do you find running it on LPG? That’d make it a bigger unit I’m guessing?
Haven’t really dived into that rabbit hole.. trying to reduce the amount of stuff we take (lpg bottles).. Hoping a fridge will mean I don’t need a 90L & 45L iceytek for the trip


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Originally Posted by ROKTOY

Why does the bro not like the Brass monkeys? cheap enough, reliable enough, and there is a parts supply available to repair them.
Engel has to be near the top of the list, Waeco is getting pretty cheap as is the likes of Adventure Kings, Gasmate etc.
I have an Engel, and two Brass Monkeys, Engel is great, but it doesn't like the bouncy 4wding, Brass monkey on a lithium and a solar blanket is the mutts nuts,

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Oh wow, nice collection going on there!
Yeah I think Dometic bought Waeco, a lot of their stuff is dual branded now.
Far out, that’s a surprise about the Engel - most of the reviews I’ve seen by Aussie overlanders swear by them… They must be soft Aussie sand dune 4x4ing [emoji6]


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We've got 2 brass monkey fridges, small 15/20L one (depending on the lid you use) that mostly lives in the van, uses around 25Ah per day in summer. Bigger 55L dual zone one bought for longer camping trips away, but it mostly gets used on mains for the beer fridge and fruit when we are preserving. I think the 55L one cost $350 on special, so really hard to justify spending more like $1k for a Dometic.

It may need more power to run, but we have a 200W panel on the van plus a portable 200W solar "blanket", and the van has 2kWhr of lithium battery storage, so running it has never been as issue. My DIY lithium battery pack cost less to build as a 12V 100ah lead acid battery to buy, about the same size, half the weight with 4 times the usable storage.

Yeh, mine is Waeco branded.

I used a Dometic CFX3 25L for a while and its a ripper of a fridge but damn they're pricey.

For the past 4 years, I have run a Brass Monkey 15L with 7.8AH battery and 100W solar blanket and its awesome.
Yup it condensates a bit, and on really hot days you can hear it really working away but it keeps my food and drink cold day after day.
I reckon mine is on 100+ days a year, lives in the truck and gets used onnthe odd boat trip.
All in for fridge, battery and solar with Boxing Day sales was less than half the cost of the Dometic 25L

The full portable compressor fridges are so bulky to get one with any capacity and also damn heavy. They take up almost all of the 'toy space' in the vehicle...

I have a much cheaper style one with an ali heat exchanger and a cooling fan - it doesn't 'chill' but will keep things that are already cold at temp. And the wifey can pick it up and move it by herself which is actually apparently important. So I'm told.

I think the brass monkey ones are a good trade off for bulk/weight, price, longevity and portability - but it does come at the cost of insulation and power consumption. No easy or free lunches here!

Take a 100 litre drum, cut a door in it and put shelves inside, make a water trough using guttering or some such and drape hessian over the drum with the ends in the trough....the hotter the day the colder it will be inside that drum....just make sure the guttering never dries out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jukes

Apart from the plastic feel, they’re noisey and it condensates - the insulation is negligible (bigget problem when on battery and power demand). Problems running of solar with their current draw.
He doesn’t like the compressor unit… I didn’t ask for details - he’s more familiar than I am (he has a HVAC business) so I’ll accept his opinion there


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Ok fair enough, I cant say I thought mine was that noisy but havent had others to compare.

They do have eco,max type settings that would no doubt affect current draw. I dont run solar on mine as yet but wouldnt you run it to a battery anyway?
I have a cheapo 100amphour lithium and run on cig lighter socket when driving and lithium when parked with no charging.
I dont have a shunt so cant comment on actual usage but have gone 5 days on the battery without it turning off...its a 60-70l dual zone or single zone one.

Go the Dometic CFX if you want less condensation, it's part of their design that makes this work. I've got the CFF45, it has a bit of condensation when it's shut down, but man it's awesome on battery consumption over long periods. Mine went for 8 days on a 100ah lithium at -2, opened 2-3 times a day & bottom stuff still frozen. Battery still read 13.2v at end of trip.
I pre chill on AC before heading away & put pre frozen in bottom with other chilled food on top to get that result.
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