waeco v/s engel

[swampy 6863]

hi guys, i'm looking at finally buying a portable fridge/freezer for camping and fishing. i'm leaning towards the engel 75lt chest fridge/freezer combi or just the 60lt fridge unit. my bro in law has a waeco which he's happy with , although he did have to up grade the wireing from the aux. battery to the back of the 'cruiser to handle the current drain from the waeco. any input and experience on either would be helpfull. cheers, swampy

[frozenpod]

We have one of each both good, both running without issue after 8 and 10 years.

Waeco a little nicer with the plastic finish but not as tough as the Engle.

They used to both use the same compressors not sure if this is still the case if they do current draw would be similar.

If you are going to knock them around I would say the engle would be the better option.

If you are going to take care of it, then either will be fine.

[MickSA]

We have had our waeco CF50 for 5 years now. We have been everywhere with it and it has never let us down. The reason i chose the waeco over the engel was mainly due to weight but price was also a factor. The waeco has been running 24 hours a day since we bought it as it is a second fridge at home and is an excellent product.

[swampy 6863]

hi,
thanks for the reply guys, it's all food for thought. i'll have to delve a bit deeper into the pro's and con's of each a little more.
swampy.

[fin101]

Autofridge and bushman would be the best two fridges for mine but they cost a lot, I have an evercool 60 fridge/freezer which has been great, out of the engel and waeco it would be the engel for me.

[Bill Allen]

Have had 3 Engel's in the 20+ years I've been 4wding (including working in the 4wd industry). All 3 have been absolutely brilliant units & the only reason for change over was to upgrade each time. My current Engel lives in my 80 series LC & gets worked about every 2nd week end.

Also worked for several years in a Dealership that used to sell both Engel & Waeco. I was involved in both fitting & warranty administration & both a very good units. As far as warranty issues are concerned - both as good as each other - buggar all goes wrong with them (although nothing's perfect - I think I saw only about 4-5 warranty issues in 5+ years).

I would not hesitate to recommend either unit, but based on my own 20+ years of use, I'll have an Engel every time. Like Mortein - when you're on a good thing....................

Bill A.

[Duck69]

I always thought "nup don't need a fridge" the missus bought me a 40lt engel last year and I'd fight to the death now if you tried to take it off me. She was tossing up between a weaco or engel and a mate said "ya don't see to many 20 year old weacos" so she got an engel, but that was the only reason. not bagging the weaco at all time, will tell.
cheers duck

[pale ale]

I have both. I beleive the Waeco uses a bit more power than the engel. The Waeco has a turbo function to chill things super fast - this is great and works well, but you need a good power supply for it to work

[cschintler]

I would compare the autofridge and engle and not even consider the waeco.

The autofridge although uses the same danfos as the waeco is more efficient than the waeco and even the engle over 24hr period and has been around for a long time. The autofridge is too pricy for me and I have the engle but money not option those are the two I would consider.

[Mixinit]

I bought a Engel 60 lt and went across Australia for 2 months. It was the best thing i ever bought for the trip. I ran it on a deep cylcle when we weren't driving and the battery was trickle charged with a flexable solar panel on my canopy. The battery ran every night for 2 weeks until i had to charge it. Duel battery system would be even better!
Great freezer too! Mine is now my beer fridge in the garage and has not missed a beat for 2 1/2 Years!