Upright Evakool fridges

Discussions about fridges & freezers.
Col49
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Upright Evakool fridges

Post by Col49 »

My 3 way fridge in the caravan has died, my choice is a direct replacement manual selection RM2553 or the AES RM2555 fridge,
Which have a sus tropical rating or a Tetford 3 way not tropical rated although priced at $1600 odd or a EvaKool 146 litre compressor fridge which will fit directly into the space occupied by the dead fridge.
I will not hack into the cupboards to fit some other type of fridge, the opening is 600 wide and 1100 high
The EvaKool unit uses around 2 to 3 amps/hrs and has a Chinese compressor equivalent to a bd35
As our van is only a 18 ft unit I don't have a lot of roof space, currently have 220 watts solar with 200 amp Lithium system built as per T1 Terry lithium forum, I could squeeze another 200 watts onto the roof but that is about it.
If I went this route the costs would be in the order of $2400 and a direct replacement 3 way fridge in the order of $2100 plus ongoing lpg expenses
On this trip I had to purchase a 40 litre Engel fridge along with my 41 litre Autofridge (Eutectic principle) which has been a trial trying to keep 2 electric fridges going in my Land Cruiser although I have dual battery system dcdc Redarc 40 amp unit. Have been plugging both fridges into the van batteries at night when not on mains power, I know that it is better to have one large fridge than 2 smaller ones but when on the opposite of Australia in Kununurra choices are severely limited with waiting times of 2 weeks quoted for delivery.
After tyres and batteries, fridges seem to be the biggest problem when travelling.
In any responses remember we are not in a motor home and we take our van to some places that motor homes do not go.
Col
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Shirley
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by Shirley »

Glen on the Toyota Coaster forum has a EvaKool upright fridge, swears by it, been living & travelling for 12 months with it, powers draw is good & it has never missed a beat, he is always recommending them.
Compressor fridges better than 3 way IMO.
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T1 Terry
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by T1 Terry »

Hi Col, we have a good second hand 3 way Dometic RMD8551 here, if you were back in Sydney we could even deliver it next trip over, but Kununurra is a tad out of the way :lol: This unit is 1245mm high so maybe not suitable anyway, Gordon & Wendy (Bugman 47) only changed it for a 240vac inverter fridge as they were headed up through the middle, still worked like a 3 way fridge works but no good for a trip where there was not going to be a gas refill spot when needed.
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Col49
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by Col49 »

I am now in Kalbarri when we call in on Dot then I intended contacting you to drop by Mannum
Col
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Dot
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by Dot »

Hey Col, we won't be here after tomorrow. :( Are you meeting up with Peter on the 21st???
Queen of the Banal & OT chatter and proud of it. If it offends you then tough titty titty bang bang.
Peter and Sandra
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by Peter and Sandra »

No Dot Col & Jenny will still be in WA, even when we come back out of the Great Victoria Desert in mid September.
As you lot have gone north we'll just have to annoy the Mannum mob.
We might even be still around SA into October but I think you will still be away?
Oka 4WD camper/motorhome, 1100w solar, 400ah lithium, diesel heating, HWS and cooking
robol
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by robol »

Hi Col,
not quite on topic, but I made up an extension to my roof rack which extends to a point in line with the bull bar and then the uprights bolt to the bar. The bonnet can still be lifted. This carries two 80w panels and I can also mount another panel to the roof rack, leaving plenty of rack space. It also acts as a great sun shade for the driver. I also had two batteries under the bonnet as well as two ex telecom 80ah gel batteries one under each front seat, the camper trailer had 110ah as well. This ran a 110 lt Waeco easily as well as tv,cd player etc.
Cheers Rob.
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by T1 Terry »

Welcome to the forum Rob. Do you find the long roof rack effects the vehicle handling and fuel consumption? I ask because we fitted 2 x 80w panels across the front roof area of the Kombi just clearing the pop-top and slightly forward of the windscreen so acted as a sun shade and actually helped in heavy rain. They were fitted to power the 60ltr Waeco fridge and fan and lights and inverter for the electric blanket.
We considered it had little effect to the fuel consumption or handling unless behind a truck, then we were buffeted around quite a bit but didn't connect the cause to the solar panels. Eventually one smashed so we removed the whole affair, it was like another 2 cyl had been added yet the fuel consumption was like 2 had been removed. Somewhere between fitting the panels and removing them a new motor had been fitted and the Kombi converted to gas, I guess it always was a slug with the old motor so the bit of improvement with the new motor was all that was expected. We now have the thin light weight panels on the pop-top, again, it doesn't seem to have effected the new found performance or economy but hard to tell unless we took them off I guess :lol:

T1 Terry
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Dot
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by Dot »

Hi Rob and welcome :)
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Re: Upright Evakool fridges

Post by SteveW »

You got out of town just in time, Dot. It has turned miserable this afternoon.
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