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Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:52 pm

Go Westy is having a special on Whynter Electric Refrigerators. Does anyone have any knowledge of them, and how do they stack up compared to an Engle. My old Dometic portable gas fridge died this weekend and I'm in the market for a new one. Rich

http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=23329&category_id=334&category_parent_id=

Tue Jun 01, 2010 10:34 pm

Found this comparison online from a vendor that sells some major brands- Quote: ARB: Best bang for your buck, with a Danfoss compressor, and some added features lacking in the Engel's for off road use: drain plug, light, control inteface, etc.

Engel: Tried and true design on all model other than the MR040. We tested an MR040 and did not like it due to the design we found it to be louder and pull more power than the MT-45.

National Luna: This is the caddy of fridges. Another tried and true design, although on the pricey side.

Whynter: I call this the weekend warrior fridge around the shop. Its running the Panasonic compressor that needs a cooling fan... because of this the power consumption is higher. On the flip side this is the budget friendly fridge
Compactappliance.com sells the Whynter fridge under their house brand of edgestar. If you find reviews of that unit, they are the same.
The Whynter unit uses 2.5A while the Engle for example uses 0.7 - 2.5 Amps. This might be something to consider if you will have it plugged in without starting the car for some time.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:06 am

Thanks syncrodoka, that's all I needed to know. I was wondering if I needed to act now while they are on sale. The power consumption is a big issue.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:04 pm

I just bought an Edgstar/Whynter FP430 "open box" for $349. I think the power consumption issue is moot, given the price difference from an Engel. I'll spend the balance on a solar panel to run it.

Per Compact Appliance, "The FP430 may be powered via AC (0.75A) or DC (4A/2.5A) power and comes with cables for both applications. You may plug the unit into both power sources at once and the unit will switch between the two automatically with the AC power being the dominant source. (DC voltage will power the unit if the AC power source is discontinued or drops below a particular threshold)"

I think the digital temp settings make more sense as well.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:22 pm

Quote: DC (4A/2.5A)
That's even more amp pull than I had read on the GoWesty site. :shock:
The edgestar(same unit rebadged) get some pretty good reviews on compactappliance.com.
I can and have run my ARB unit on a 10 day trip from my starter battery (The truck was driven at some point daily though) I don't know if the Whynter unit could do the same?
If you put money in the budget for a PV system with array, controller, wiring and aux. battery, you can be off the grid but you probably have spent more $.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:26 pm

I borrowed my friends Engel MT-35 and am running a test with it now. It is full of pop/beer cans and running on an 85 a/h deep cycle battery. The temp is set to hold it at under 40 degrees. I'm going to see how long it takes to take the battery down 25% which is where I would normally draw the battery down to before recharging.

I notice it does heat up the inside of the van a little and there is some fan noise. I cooled it down to 30 degrees using my van battery before switching it to the deep cycle so I could see how much power it uses to maintain it below 40 degrees. I unhook it for a few minutes before checking the battery voltage to let it stabilize. The last I checked, the battery was at 12.61 volts after about 5 hours of use. I'll check it again in the morning.

Rich

Wed Jun 02, 2010 9:38 pm

I like that you are putting in some leg work before making a investment. 8) These things aren't cheap and buyer's remorse would really suck!
I'm still happy that I spent the money and would never go back, but I don't have a camper so cooler and ice were my only option.

Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:15 am

I have the Edgestar version of that cooler and am very happy with it. The only other unit I have exp with is the VF fridge and they are completely different units. I have a weekender so fridge replacement wasn't an option.

The Edgestar is very well built with the exception of the 12v cord that came with it, it is flimsy and I stepped on it the first day. It has been replaced with a hard wired 10' long 12g wire so I can put it outside. It does make some fan noise, very similar to any CPU fan but I just put it outside.

I power it with the 4xUB12220 setup and it is working out well, the unit is well insulated and being a top loader is inherently more efficient. It cools down approx 4x faster than my VF did and the fan runs significantly less. I have never used an Engel and the price will keep it that way. One minus might be that it doesn't have a separate freezer compartment like the VF.

We grow and sell beef and use it to deliver orders, the flash freeze option really works, it hasn't let us down. While on deliveries it runs off the starter battery in my car, it hasn't sat for more than probably 16 hours but hasn't ever drained the battery.

If you have a camper you're going to have it taking up floor space, might want to find a box the same size to make sure it'll work out.

Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:16 am

I saw the ad. I was amazed that the difference in price from the smallest to the largest (almost double size) was so reasonable. I think less than $200. which is amazing. If I were to buy I'd definitely get the 85 capacity.

Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:47 pm

My test with the Engel fridge was that it took approximately 24 hours to lower my 85 amp/hour battery to 12.45 volts which is approximately the 25% discharge I was testing for. That is pretty impressive since the original Dometic portable fridge that came with it would draw the second battery down to dead in about 7 hours.

Now I have to make some decisions. I don't think I would want any electric fridge that uses more power than the Engel. I have solar in my trailer so I'm aware of it's capabilities and what it will take to run a fridge.

Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:02 pm

syncrodoka wrote:
The Whynter unit uses 2.5A while the Engle for example uses 0.7 - 2.5 Amps. This might be something to consider if you will have it plugged in without starting the car for some time.

I was reading up on the edgestar/whynter a little while back and the manufacturers website has the amp requirement listed as 5.4 amps :shock:

From here, http://www.edgestar.com/products/fridgefreeze/fp430.asp

Makes the engle pretty attractive.

Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:51 pm

What was average ambient temp during your test?

Love My Westy wrote: My test with the Engel fridge was that it took approximately 24 hours to lower my 85 amp/hour battery to 12.45 volts which is approximately the 25% discharge I was testing for. That is pretty impressive since the original Dometic portable fridge that came with it would draw the second battery down to dead in about 7 hours.

Now I have to make some decisions. I don't think I would want any electric fridge that uses more power than the Engel. I have solar in my trailer so I'm aware of it's capabilities and what it will take to run a fridge.

Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:02 am

Quote: 5.4 amps
OMG!
I pulled the info off the GW website, but the manufacturer really makes it sound like a power hog. :shock:

Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:18 am

syncrodoka wrote: Quote: 5.4 amps
OMG!
I pulled the info off the GW website, but the manufacturer really makes it sound like a power hog. :shock:

Thats what makes me nervous about the whynter/edgestar fridge, I have read a few different power consumption figures for them. It seems that they typically draw 2.5 amps where the engel typically draws .7, but in "boost mode" or really hot weather, an extra fan kicks on and the engel draws 2.5 and the edgestar draws 4 (but it may be 5.4?).

I actually recently paid for an engel, it will be here on the 7th, super low power draw was a big plus for me, and my wife is a pretty light sleeper so the near silent operation of the engel was a big plus as well, my wallet is a lot lighter though...

Fri Jun 04, 2010 7:07 pm

wow the engel price has gone up, i bought my mt45 from van-cafe for about $650 last year. peter gave me a good deal.

I had a 65 amp hour battery with 80 watt solar panel and i left the fridge on 24/7 i set the temp around where the beverage would be nice and cold.

Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:02 pm

The temperature during my test was about 34 degrees. I had it set at about 1.5 and it went down to 30 degrees so I turned it to about 1.2 and it was centered on my thermometer between 30 and 40. It really does a nice job of keeping things cold, and really uses very little power. I was impressed.

Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:22 pm

Love My Westy wrote: The temperature during my test was about 34 degrees. I had it set at about 1.5 and it went down to 30 degrees so I turned it to about 1.2 and it was centered on my thermometer between 30 and 40. It really does a nice job of keeping things cold, and really uses very little power. I was impressed.
What was the outside temperature? Only ask as the temperature differential determines how much the fridge runs and therefore how many amphours are needed. :wink:

Mon Jun 07, 2010 1:07 pm

fairweather wrote: The Edgestar is very well built with the exception of the 12v cord that came with it, it is flimsy and I stepped on it the first day. It has been replaced with a hard wired 10' long 12g wire so I can put it outside. It does make some fan noise, very similar to any CPU fan but I just put it outside.

I power it with the 4xUB12220 setup and it is working out well, the unit is well insulated and being a top loader is inherently more efficient. It cools down approx 4x faster than my VF did and the fan runs significantly less. I have never used an Engel and the price will keep it that way. One minus might be that it doesn't have a separate freezer compartment like the VF.

Can you explain/show how you do this? I have the Edgestar that I've been using in my Land Rover but want to hard wire it into the VW. I just happen to be intellectually challenged when it comes to electrickery so I'm looking to see how others are doing this.

BTW, I got the Edgestar really cheap from Compact Appliance and it's been great. Several people on Expedition Portal have them and there has been positive reviews - except for the 12v cords being cheap. I'm sure the plastic handles will break at some point too.

Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:53 am

Pretty straight forward, I removed the side panel and the small panel that holds the 12V connector. Replace the 12V plug with a grommet and feed the new wire through the hole, tie knot to prevent pull out and crimp to existing wires making sure you keep the polarity correct. On the other end I reused the 12V plug.

Tue Jun 08, 2010 8:17 am

Thanks