ARB vs Evakool fridge

[mrs quilty]

We are upgrading, and would like your views on the ARB 60 litre fridge versus the Evakool 65 litre fridge in regards to function, issues and service. All opinions valued. Many thanks.

[thewelshgang]

G'day,
We have one of each. The ARB is a far better fridge IMHO, it cools better and more evenly, the lid seal is better, the basket is more secure, the hinge and lock mechanism is far superior. We purchased the ARB years ago when they first came out, we have only had the EvaKool for 6mths or so,  it is a second fridge. I wish we just got another ARB but the EvaKool was given to us so I can't complain, it is new.

The Evakool does have a separate freezer compartment, however you need to have the temp. set so low to get the freezer to freeze and as a result is really sucks the Amps out of the battery!! We tend to Cryovac our food on the road and just refrigerate rather than freeze.

Cheers Nige

[Shaker]

I would also have to say that I am disappointed with EvaKool. We constantly get condensation forming on the freezer end, which is a sure sign of poor insulation.

[robstevens]

All depends which model of Evakool you are all talking about!  (The white ones are made in Oz, the others are cheaper and from China)
I have a "white box" 80litre model and it works perfectly. Owned it for two years now and no problems at all.

Insulation? Tons of it.
Lid seal - perfect.
Temperature control: it shows exactly what the temperature is doing near the sensor, but note that this is not the temperature in the entire fridge. So when you see it fluctuate from 1 degree up to 4 degrees, it does not mean that is what your food is doing...
I don't know about the freezing ability as I vacuum seal my meat and just keep the temperature at 3 degrees.

For me it is a great fridge. 

2c

[mrs quilty]

Nige and Shaker are you talking about the 65 litre fibreglass fridge?

[tastrax]

1 - https://www.evakool.com/65-litre-evakoolfibreglass-fridge-freezer

or

2 - https://www.caravanrvcamping.com.au/65-litre-evakool-tmx-travelmate-fridge-freezer?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8_fbzszd4AIVEg4rCh14wwTqEAYYASABEgLi_PD_BwE

[Shaker]

I am talking about the 82 litre white fibreglass fridge/freezer with the dividing panel between the two sections, as fitted as standard equipment to our Australian Off-road Quantum. Unfortunately they are tailor made to fit & I have been unable to source a different brand as a replacement. It annoys me so much trying to set temperatures that I prefer to take the Tvan, but on longer trips my wife prefers the Quantum.

[Wetjala]

I have two ARB fridges: A nine year-old 47l fridge that I keep in the car and a two year-old 60l that is in the front box (kitchen side) of my MkIV Murranji.
With the 47l fridge, I had around seven years of faultless operation however it has now been repaired twice in the past two years. Both problems were electrical/electronic which resulted in the replacement of 1) all circuit boards and 2) the thermistor (measures the internal temperature). None of these repairs cost me anything other than time & inconvenience (done by ARB HQ in Kilsyth). This fridge was only used intermittently, probably no more than a dozen times each year with the longest continuous use being around two weeks.

As for the 60l fridge I have not had any issues requiring maintenance or repair to date.

Both fridges have been used in mild (above freezing) to hot (+40degC) environments although in the latter case both struggle to keep the contents at the set-point temperature (3degC). By "struggle" I mean the duty-cycle increases significantly in hotter environments so that if the internal temperature goes above the set-point, it can take a couple of hours of continuous running before the internal temperature once again drops back below the set-point. This is probably the case for all fridges when the ambient temperature is high as the condenser cooling is only efficient if the ambient is significantly cooler then the compressed refrigerant. I have never used either as a freezer as the power consumption would kill the batteries in no time at all (which is what a mate of mine found out not too long ago with his Evakool Glacier 75l fridge/freezer. 50% Depth-of-Discharge from 200Ahr batteries in less than two days).

The ARB fridges are power hungry beasts – the manual details a nominal 7A current draw at 12V and in my experience this is accurate. After a recent trip where we had a few problems I decided to investigate this so as to better understand how to manage the fridges and more importantly the batteries. On the day I ran the test, the ambient temperature was in the low 20's and the empty fridge showing an initial temperature of 18degC. When the compressor started it initially drew around 5A before stepping up to just over 7A where it stayed until the fridge temperature reached set-point (3degC). Thereafter the current draw was around 5A each time the compressor ran with the duty-cycle (how often the compressor runs) less than 50%. (The 47l ARB starts at around 3A and steps up to 5.5A.)

By contrast I checked my mates fridges (one has a 60l Techni Ice fridge/freezer in the car with a 75l Evakool Glacier in the camper (Kamper-Skamper Dingo Ultimate) while the other has a 60l Waeco Fridge/Freezer in the camper (Cub)) and none of these fridges drew anything like what both of my ARB fridges consume. All of these other fridges drew around 4.5A max when operating as a fridge (not freezer).

As a slight aside to this I also noted a 0.8V voltage drop between the batteries and the fridge which could cause the fridge to prematurely trip on the low voltage sensed as the batteries discharge and explain the higher than expected current draw I observed. (I have experienced a few of these low voltage trips which initially confused me as the Victron was showing healthy voltage levels on the batteries however after finding this voltage drop I can see why the fridge cuts out on occasion.) I haven't investigated this any further as yet however I suspect the cable installed that powers the fridge from the Merrit socket in the front box may be under-rated or have a bad wiring connection or both. (I wonder: "Did Track change the gauge of cable when the model was upgraded from the small-box, smaller fridge MkIII to the bigger-box, hence bigger fridge capability of the MkIV?"  Watch this space!) I mentioned this as it may also be an issue for you.

So aside from making you aware of the high power demands of ARB fridges there are a few other tips you may like to consider, and in some cases may equally apply to other fridges:

•   I have raised the rear of the 60l ARB fridge so it slopes forward in the drawer to help the air flow through the fridge vents as the walls of the drawer cover almost half of these if the fridge sits flat in the drawer. Even with this, there's not much space around the fridge for air flow; ARB recommend a minimum of 50mm free space from these vents and while that's achievable at the rear it certainly isn't at the sides. Any large fridge is going to suffer ventilation issues in the T-Van front box because the air exchange across those car filters (in the door and attached to the rear of the box) is negligible. While the T-Van is moving some heat exchange will occur as air passes across the body but if stopped for any length of time it's a good idea to get the door open.

•   The ARB fridge ventilation is at the rear, unlike the Evakool, Techni Ice and Waeco fridge meaning the "hot spot" in the fridge box will be around the central wall between the front boxes rather than facing the fridge box door. While I doubt that there will be any useful air-flow possible through the door filter with the door closed, having the fridge ventilation at the rear of the fridge means in hot environments you will need to extend the fridge drawer out to help with the air-flow ventilation rather than just opening the door.

•   The front fridge box has an internal shelf fitted (on my T-Van) which reduces or, probably more correctly restricts the volume of air circulating around the fridge as well as obstructing about 50% of the rear-facing ventilation filter so I'm considering removing this shelf (once I work out how to get to the rivets so as to drill them out!)

•   When the ARB fridge is opened the front of the lid opens upwards, being hinged at the rear, and the front edge tends to jam under the canvas annex which can be a problem for canvas, especially wet canvas. I usually shove my head under the lid (or the missus jams my head there for me since that's about as much use I can be in the kitchen – apart from eating the food) to hold it open without touching the annex while we are rummaging around inside.

•   As noted above there is only one lid to uncover the contents of the entire fridge which means a bigger area for heat transfer to occur. All of the other fridges mentioned above have two distinct compartments with a side lid for each so the heat transferred when a lid is opened is much less than with the ARB fridge. And because they are side opening lids means they won't touch the underside of the annex canvas.

Would I buy another ARB fridge for the T-Van? No. I would look for a two-compartment fridge (meaning two hinged lids) with plenty of forward facing ventilation. The lids would need to be side opening rather than front opening. I would also pay particular attention to the maximum current draw used by the fridge as this impacts the battery charge drain and what supplemental power sources you may need to keep the batteries charged. I would also remove the upper shelf in the fridge box as it would allow a slightly taller fridge to be installed and remove the air-flow impediment that the shelf produces. And it may be worth replacing the sliding fridge drawer with a sliding tray to avoid the air flow restriction from the standard front box drawer.

So here endeth the sermon! If you got this far without a stiff drink then you're a champion. I hope some of it helps you decide what fridge to get, or indeed not to get!

Good luck!

[Gumb]

I have a 47L EvaKool in the Tvan and a Waeco 40L in the car which I run as a freezer on long trips. The EvaKool is the white fibreglass model with the external motor and digital controller. My assessment...it's brilliant. It's been FNQ and in hot conditions and doesn't draw excessively on the 2 105AH batteries in the Tvan. I rarely use more than 5-8% overnight and top it up with a 150W set of panels when camping in the one spot for more than a day. I like the external motor for better ventilation which I think is important in the confines of the front box. It has the moveable divider and we have run it as a fridge /freezer once but generally I sit it on 1 degree and have the divider up the far end so it's all fridge.  Would i buy another one ? Definitely, in fact I'm thinking of selling the Waeco, which is their CF40, so it's not the high end model and getting another EvaKool. Why the others don't have a white body on them is a mystery to me, it reflects heat so much better, which has to help the fridge overall. 

[wolfgirlkitty]

We have the older model (bright yellow) 70 litre Evakool fridge/freezer ... has separate compartment / baskets for fridge and freezer, although can be used as fridge only by removing the divider and freezer lid thingy !  Have used it in both modes frequently, and it doesn't skip a beat.  Have been in extreme heat, and pretty cold, and nothing changes ... always works perfectly  The freezer section happily keeps things frozen, including icecream and icy poles, whilst the fridge section perfectly cools everything else.  Doesn't drain the battery ... we have solar on the Tvan, as well as a portable panel should we need extra power for whatever.  Never had a problem with the seal, either. Would happily buy another Evakool.  Love it, love it, love it !

[johnpaine137]

I am told by an agent for Waeco that the ARB fridge is all Waeco parts so quality is good. He recomends

[Pete and Lez]

I am told by an agent for Waeco that the ARB fridge is all Waeco parts so quality is good. He recomends

I hope not, we have had two 110lt Waeco fridges. One was a very early one that worked very well but the cooling element was only along 1 panel and it drew an awful lot of current. Sold that one after about 5 years and upgraded to a newer 110lt that had the cooling element go right around the cabinet, ok for about a year and then nothing but trouble, thermistor failure twice, now sitting in the shed.

Replaced that with the 60lt and 78lt ARB, 78lt runs fulltime in the Cruiser and the 60lt runs fulltime in the shed as a freezer, goes in the Tvan when we go away, 5years down the track and they are still running faultlessly, I think running them all the time makes a difference.

[Faraway]

Agree with the comment about running a fridge continually.  I'm no refrigerator mechanic but we have had a camping fridge for over 30 years that hasn't had any problems and still works as well as when we purchased it.  I can't recall the make.

[LesK1200s]

I have the ARB removable lid 60lt in the rear box of my dual cab and a new 60lt white fibreglass evakool in the van. Evakool works a treat in the van. Insulation great. Exernal compressor cool. Power consumption less than ARB. ARB also great but EvaKool has ability to run as fridge and freezer at same time - ARB either fridge or freezer. WE combine to get the best mix depending on trip. Canning coming up so will have one full freezer for sure.

[tvan_travels]

May be a bit late for you now but I would confirm Wetjala's thoughts.

I have the ARB 60ltr and there is definitely a few issues to be aware of. Not fatal but important to know.

As Wetjala says, there is very little space around the fridge to allow cooling, which makes it run more often than it probably should need to. I have the slide out pantry and there is very little space between it and the fridge which probably doesn't help.

My reading of the ARB specs was that they were claiming 1.89Ah on this fridge. Mine seems to run at 4Ah at moderate (15-25) temperatures and seems to be running 50% of the time. So that's pretty close. In really warm weather it runs far more often and I have had to pull it out fully to get airflow. But then, you can sometimes feel radiant heat coming through the quick awning, so not sure how much that helps. On really sunny days, I have taken to wedging a towel between the arms of the awning over the fridge, just to give it a bit of shade and therefore help.

I only have 100Ah and was getting 48 hours use until the battery was at 50%. Upgrading to 200Ah and smarter setting up campsite for better utilisation of the solar panel should solve these issues.

The opening is also a bit of an issue. There's not a lot of room for two people with the quick awning and kitchen out and one hand is needed to hold the lid open.

Overall, I am happy with the ARB and the problems above are pretty "first world". I like having the storage to stay off grid as long as possible. If you don't have the lid open unnecessarily and can get a feel for how your electricity usage works on your setup it is great.

But this is true of any fridge really.........