Brad Mendenhall
Basic Member
Posts:149
 | | 11 Feb 2008 09:32 AM |
| Anyone have any experience with either of these travel fridges? ARB well known name. Engel has been around for 30+ years. The only difference I could see is the ARB has a built in temp reading and is $125 more for the same size model. | | |
|
|
Tony Sims
Veteran Member
Posts:1238
| | 11 Feb 2008 09:51 AM |
| I'm pretty sure they originate in the same factory, and other than the temp gauge, are identical in parts and spec.
| | | |
|
Mike Rupp
Veteran Member
Posts:1355
| | 11 Feb 2008 01:28 PM |
| I've got an ARB and my brother has an Engel. They are the same thing except for the temp gauge.
The nice thing about ARB is that they are local, so just buy from your favorite ARB vendor and pick it up at the Renton warehouse and avoid shipping costs. | | | |
|
Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 11 Feb 2008 01:31 PM |
| Scott Williams is an ARB vendor by the way. Send him a PM if you are looking to buy something and get a quote.
| | | |
|
Peter Carey
Veteran Member
Posts:2829
| | 11 Feb 2008 01:58 PM |
| Yes, they are the same inside. The temperature gauge is only in celcius, as a note. | | | |
|
Brad Mendenhall
Basic Member
Posts:149
| | 11 Feb 2008 02:19 PM |
| Thanks for the feedback. I guess I could not go wrong either way then. | | | |
|
Mike Falconer
Basic Member
Posts:215
| | 11 Feb 2008 06:51 PM |
| Does the use of either of these refrigerators require any special wiring or a second battery? | | | |
|
Tony Sims
Veteran Member
Posts:1238
| | 11 Feb 2008 07:42 PM |
| The short answer is no, but if you want to be sure you don't need a jump start every morning when you camp, a back-up battery would be a good idea. That or one of those emergency jump packs. The 'fridges don't draw a ton of power, but I imagine they could drain a battery that's not in peak condition.
The hot ticket around here is the Hellroaring battery isolator/combiner. Of course I may just think that because I have one...
| | | |
|
Andy Berglund
Tacoma, WA
Veteran Member
Posts:3453
| | 11 Feb 2008 11:04 PM |
| the hottest ticket would be to charge a deep cycle off the 12v hot wire in the back of rover vehicles and then run the fridge off that battery. i think that "scott" fellow people have mentioned is running this setup...
a | | | |
|
Peter Carey
Veteran Member
Posts:2829
| | 11 Feb 2008 11:13 PM |
| Non-scientific test have shown the Engle to leave a battery in a state where it can still be started (Ohio) after 3 days of use in 80F weather. I've never tested it by itself, but I did do some other kinda test located here
There is about a 30W draw on the AC side. I should test the DC side some time.
I should have a LOT more time in a week to do more testing. I have some Odyssey batteries on the shelf I can test with. | | | |
|
Brad Mendenhall
Basic Member
Posts:149
| | 12 Feb 2008 08:54 AM |
| Where can the Hellroaring setup be purchased? | | | |
|
Peter Carey
Veteran Member
Posts:2829
| |
Scott Williams
Advanced Member
Posts:881
| | 12 Feb 2008 12:23 PM |
| Free in the back of your range rovers wiring harness.  Scott | | | |
|
Nevak Risew
Veteran Member
Posts:1200
| | 12 Feb 2008 03:18 PM |
| Brad, Just FYI, You might want to buy two of them, as I'd like to keep at least a case of beer in one of them during the Steens trip. | | | |
|
Brad Mendenhall
Basic Member
Posts:149
| | 12 Feb 2008 03:28 PM |
| Well, since I may be bringing the trailer... heck for you Kevan I'll bring along a walk in powered by a generator. Then we'll bring a couple kegs! Ya baby! Now the wheels are turning! You know I still owe you beers for burning that Willowas CD for me. | | | |
|
Brad Mendenhall
Basic Member
Posts:149
| | 12 Feb 2008 03:34 PM |
| Scott, thank you Obi Wan... you are wise. I take it my RR's harness is set up for this or do I need to be an electrician? Since electric things tend to shock me and then I throw them. I'm like Frankenstein, although electricity gave him life, he was very cranky and anti social. The results are usually very bad when I tinker with the electrical system. | | | |
|
Morris Yarnell
Advanced Member
Posts:771
| | 12 Feb 2008 04:12 PM |
| I have an aux battery for the ARB to run it off 12v, It will run the ARB for three solid days at 40 deg. Usual beer temp. The aux battery is a new AGM and isolated, not connected to anything else. In order to run the ARB for an extended trip I have to connect the aux battery through a solar panel recharger. Great in the desert but not so good on a cloudy run of days. YMMV. Morris | | | |
|
Nevak Risew
Veteran Member
Posts:1200
| | 12 Feb 2008 04:47 PM |
| Craig should take up donations so NWOS can build a refrigerated Mog or Pinz for use on these longer desert trips. | | | |
|
Mike Falconer
Basic Member
Posts:215
| | 12 Feb 2008 06:23 PM |
| Posted By Andy Berglund on 02/11/2008 11:04 PM
the hottest ticket would be to charge a deep cycle off the 12v hot wire in the back of rover vehicles and then run the fridge off that battery. i think that "scott" fellow people have mentioned is running this setup...
a
Andy,
Could you elaborate on that setup a bit.? I'm an electrical idiot, but it sounds like you're talking about placing another batterry somewhere in the rear of the vehicle and then running a hotwire to it from the 12 volt plug? | | | |
|
Craig Miller
Posts:11803
| | 12 Feb 2008 07:06 PM |
| Mike,
Are you driving an RRC?
C
| | | |
|