Hilux 4x4 Forum

I'm newbie camper and needing some advice - we went camping last summer but it was a bit of a disaster (for one reason or another!) but friends have tempted us to give it another go.

I'm thinking about getting one of those mini fridges like on the https://refrigeratorfaq.com so that I can keep a couple of bits cool ie milk, bit of bacon - not a huge amount, obviously.

this argos have a 4litre one for $20 and a 6 litre one for $30, but the reviews say they are quite noisy.

Do any of you experienced campers have any advice? Should I bother buying one? I know it's best to use tinned and packet food generally, so it would only be to keep a couple of things cool for breakfast.

Welcome Jeremy!

Avoid the cheapies .... no substitute for a decent quality camping fridge / freezer, but before you commit to that kind of expense, go on a few camping outings and see if it's really what you want to do.
In the meantime you can make do with the tinned and dry goods. You could take along a bit of fresh meat / bacon with a bit of help from your camping friends that have some space in their fridge / freezers.

If the camping bug bites, then do some research before buying .... brands available to you differ from those available to us but if you get Waeco or Snomaster over there, you cant go wrong. Apart from general build quality there are two important factors to consider, the thermal insulation of the cabinet and the compressor quality. Compressor must be robust to lastingly handle the bumps and shocks of overland trails and a cabinet with poor insulation properties will mean that the compressor has to work more often and longer.

The running time of a compressor obviously affects it's life span but also puts an unnecessary drain on your supply battery. Here you would ideally like to have a dual battery system, a separate battery to power your fridge that gets charged by either your vehicle alternator or solar panels. You would need a controller for both options but it would differ accordingly.

Some food for thought.

The cheapies you refer to are probably those heat exchanger coolers and not a fridge.
They are noisy and not very effective.

I camped for many many years with a cooler box and ice. A coolerbox like a coleman with some ice will keep everything cool for a weekend.
I take 500ml water or coldrink bottles, clean them with clean water and freeze them at home before the time. I then use those in the cooler box. If the ice melt you do not have lots of water in your cooler box and by the end of the weekend you have super cold drinking water.

I will rather spend my money on a good quality cooler box than a heat exchanger cooler.

pietpetoors wrote: ↑Sat May 23, 2020 9:50 pm The cheapies you refer to are probably those heat exchanger coolers and not a fridge.
They are noisy and not very effective.

I camped for many many years with a cooler box and ice. A coolerbox like a coleman with some ice will keep everything cool for a weekend.
I take 500ml water or coldrink bottles, clean them with clean water and freeze them at home before the time. I then use those in the cooler box. If the ice melt you do not have lots of water in your cooler box and by the end of the weekend you have super cold drinking water.

I will rather spend my money on a good quality cooler box than a heat exchanger cooler.

Agree with you Pieter

To Add my 2c...

Dry Ice is even better than ice, I bought a fridge simply because I could not stand my floating inventory after a day or so...LOL
Dry Ice and 2 coolers for a start; one for the meat stuff and the other for the milk and cold drinks...the idea is that the meat cooler is then not opened as often so the dry ice lasts longer.

If you then want to buy a fridge...anything with a Danfoss compressor should be fine, my Campmaster is running for 10 yrs now...my National Luna packed in after 10 trips an not even 5 yrs
Engel also good but very expensive. Snomaster as mentioned above more budget friendly and good bang for your buck.

I have an Engel and it works like a charm. Bought it secondhand for a good price. Goes to -18°C

Stef wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2020 8:26 pm To Add my 2c...

Dry Ice is even better than ice, I bought a fridge simply because I could not stand my floating inventory after a day or so...LOL
Dry Ice and 2 coolers for a start; one for the meat stuff and the other for the milk and cold drinks...the idea is that the meat cooler is then not opened as often so the dry ice lasts longer.

If you then want to buy a fridge...anything with a Danfoss compressor should be fine, my Campmaster is running for 10 yrs now...my National Luna packed in after 10 trips an not even 5 yrs
Engel also good but very expensive. Snomaster as mentioned above more budget friendly and good bang for your buck.

Stef, my 80 liter National Luna freezer runs now for 18 years and all i have to replace was the electric fan which i paid R85.00 labour included. National Luna are well known for their after market service. Could they not fix yours? I agree with you that Engel are very good but they are noisy.