Message Forums

Hi

We have the small 18lt model which was big enough for just the two of us. It's one of the best pieces of equipment we have bought. They are fairly expensive, but we use it for more than just camping trips. shoppping, picnics & extra freezing/cooling at Christmas.

When we first used it on a camping trip I was constantly checking it was working as it was so quiet.

We bought ours of an E bay seller based in Nuneaton. They were the cheapest & gave excellent service. I can't think of their name at the moment.

pieface

Hi we have the Waeco CF 40 compressor fridge/freezer. It is not silent, there has to be a bit of noise from the compressor and a slight click as it switches, but it never bothered us and we keep it in the main tent of our Monty/Awning setup.  I guess if it was bother we would have been chasing it out into the awning on a two week camp.

I think they are great, only quandry is do you run it as a freezer and make blocks for a cool bag plus keep your frozen stuff hard even in very hot tents........ you cant keep milk and frozen stuff in it . If they were to make the perfect unit I would want a 50L box with 30L around the cooler panel, and then a lid or partition to give me 20L of nice cold space above the cooler band for milk, cheese etc.

Whatever, I would not want to go camping without it .

We use a Waeco CF25, probably the best £150 that I have ever spent. added the Thermal jacket and 12/25v Waeco mains adapter, so about another £30.

Used it for the last couple of years down in the South of France during July, when temps have been +40DegC!.

It's more than paid for itself now, having saved us hiring a fridge from the campsite.

Also it's great for the 1000 mile two day journey to the campsite, as the Waeco takes up little room in the boot of the VW Golf.

We don't use it as a freezer, altough I have had it down to -20DegC, which is slightly better than the claimed -18DegC.

For our use we have it set to +3DegC, as you would with a normal fridge, what I like about the Waeco, is that it sticks exactly to what ever temp you dial in, no matter what the Ambient temp is at.

As for noise level, well that is virtualy none existant, just like your fridge/freezer at home, the compressor only kicks in to keep the temp in check, of course if being used as a freezer, then the compressor will be active far more often, but the motor is well tiny, and gives of little noise.

We also use the Waeco Cf25 coolfreeze and there is so little noise you wouldnt know it was running. Only in the dead of the night if it's very very  quiet and if your awake can you hear it kick in. I think we paid £350 for ours years ago.

From Mini coolers HERE i'd say one of the cheapest places to buy one..

Sadly our Waeco 3-way died after only 2 years, it was one of the chunky square metal box type ment to keep things upto 30*C below ambient tempreture, which ment in hot weather your frozen goods could start to defrost.

We paid around £170 for it, and because all the mechanism is sealed inside the metal box, a repair was not possible, and it ended up as a tool box in my Dads shed. We now run a tabletop freezer bought from out of last years Curry's sale for a fraction of the cost, its quiet, very efficient, and at the price we paid for it, less than £50, we are not too bothered if it fails on us in a few years time.

They also do a matching fridge if you have the space to transport it. 

Julia

I was Lucky with my table top freezer, bought it in the Curry's sale in Jan 2012 for £40 on half price offer, they also had the matching fridge at the same price, and i have also spotted similar in the Argos Summer sale 2012 for a similar price.

With our freezer, we run it for a couple of days before empty, then pack it with frozen food to take with us, make sure the door is closed firmly with a heavy box or similar infront to stop any accidental opening in transit, and its still frozen solid without any power until we get on EHU upto 8 hours later.

Unless you are really in need of a 12v system, and after suffering such a premature and expensive failure of our Waeco, I would go for the cheap and cheerful tabletop fridge/freezers every time.

Julia