Club 80-90 Forums

The whole idea of them is to leave them running when parked up. On average they use about 2amps per hour.
They are great.

B.J wrote:Does it go up to 11?

no but this one does
http://marshallfridge.com/?kid=75JW

Palomino wrote:My old Electrolux has a relay switch wired into the van electrics so the 12v can't be used when the van is stationary to save battery. Is this necessary with a compressor fridge which alegedly pulls less current?

Phil

A compressor fridge does pull much less current, it is hard to explain how good they are really but I will give it a go.

Basically if your mostly only camping for a weekend at a time at VW shows or when you go on holiday you stay in the UK where the weather is usually hit and miss and get hook up on a campsite the whole time for ten days then dont bother with a compressor fridge. For weekend trips stick your beers in the freezer at home before you go to a VW show and transfer them into your gas fridge before you leave and this will help keep your food cold and your drinks will be fine too. Same with UK holidays, the weather hardly ever goes above 32*c and thats only for a couple of hours a day.

If you go further south than half way down France in the summer holidays and the temperature outside the van can hit 50*c and inside a bit more and you want to put hot beer in a -18*c fridge and have them ice cold in ten minuets, the kids can have ice lollies. We like to stock up on fresh food and only on rare occasions will we eat a can of tinned filth from the uk and for us a compressor fridge is as essential as a Fiamma awening or an Ebber when camping at -9 IMHO.

I remember talking to a fella in Croatia a couple of years back with a Westy and he kept his clothes in the standard fridge because it was useless at keeping stuff cool above 32*c

There are also ways of making a compressor fridge run more efficient while on the road by following a few basic rules too.

Hope this helps,

Jed

Absorption (2 or 3 way) fridges and compressor fridges are totally different animals. Granted you can't run an absorption fridge off 12v without the engine running but then that's what the gas is for - and it uses next to nothing gas wise.
If your existing fridge is knackered or you're converting a van to a camper yourself then a compressor fridge is certainly a viable alternative to an absorption one, but I don't see much point in removing a working absorption one to replace it with a compressor version.
A hotter climate will require any fridge to work harder, but (a properly working) absorption fridge is no less efficient at keeping things cool/cold than it's compressor counterpart. The only disadvantage I can see in hotter climes is if the fridge vents it's heat internally in the van rather than outside, but even compressor fridges have a heat exchanger at the back.
Horses for courses I suppose, and if my existing absorption fridge went t!ts up I'd certainly look at a compressor fridge as a possible replacement, but I wouldn't swap it just for the sake of it.

in rfeally hot times (i wish) an absorbtion fridge can only lower the temperature by a certain ammount i forget the differential now wherteas the comp ones have no such restriction, that said all the point above have their merits and a well maintained abs' one works well in this climate,
mm

I've never heard of an absorption fridge not coping in hotter weather, but if the concensus is exactly that then I've obviously not been paying attention .
I have to say though, mine has frozen stuff in the fridge part (rather than the freezer compartment) when I've left it turned up too much in the summer (when we had hot 'summers').

1664 wrote: mine has frozen stuff in the fridge part (rather than the freezer compartment) when I've left it turned up too much in the summer (when we had hot 'summers').

The first trip we had out in our van I left the fridge turned up while overnight on a campsite hookup and the milk froze. No corn flakes or tea that morning.

Anyway, here's the thing. My old 3-way electrolux is pretty much knackered. It works OK but the interior is falling to peices so I was thinking of getting a straightforward swap for the Dometic RM4210 which is the modern version of the Electrolux 3-way. The Weaco comp sounds appealing but is nearly £100 more and I'd still have all the vents in the side of the van sitting there doing nought. As I'll never go anywhere hot, as Jed says, I'd probably be best to stick with the Dometic which should be as a straight slot in.

Thanks for the discussion.

Phil

The compressor fridges are (relatively) new technology so hopefully the prices will come down in the not too distant future. My van doesn't have a fridge so I'm usually on a 240/12v coolbox...not a problem for short trips or when i've got hook up but a small to medium sized compressor fridge built in certainly looks appealing...

The campervans I hired in New Zealand had compressor fridges in, took a couple of nights getting used to them clicking on in the middle of the night but they were very quiet when running - it was the 'click' that woke me up not the compressor running.

by turned up. do you mean on 240v? in which case different to gas IMHO
mm

Once happened on gas and once even happened on 12v after driving for about 4 hours. To be fair though, I always have a full fridge so there's not a lot of 'air' in there.