Old Engel fridge, rescue and running (MRFT 515-4A)

Stephen
Any fridge which keeps going is reliable. My 39 litre Engel works ok, cools slowly though and the insulation is poor. Alice Springs in June in rear of cruiser as a freezer after I bought it, ran all the time and -1C min temp achieved. Just couldn't keep up. Had it checked in Alice service dealer and tested OK. Uncle had one like above, only ever used as second fridge at home and it developed a gas leak after a relatively short time, no more go. Son In Law, MT45 just out of warranty had the secondary board which runs the solenoid, fail. Hardly worth it to buy the parts. Also, Dud capacitor on the temp board had a hole in it. So two boards out of three in the fridge faulty. Plenty of the MT45 electrics fail.
If another brand cools quicker, insulated more, will use no more average current than an Engel. That actual current draw is fairly meaningless as it is cycle on time and frequency which determines battery depletion, after all that is what people have to consider.

Rangiephil
I found that with my slightly smaller Waeco running as a freezer, it ran less than the 39L engel does at 4C, both side by side.

You will find that the rubber bushes that the compressor is mounted to have long perished and it is now metal to metal.

The new bushed are still available as a spare part and when replaces will make a very noticeable difference in the noise running.

Also in full support of Engel fridges, you will not find an original Waeko lasting over 40 years, they had so many problems.

Thanks Stephen. There’s a long established Engel sales and service centre in Perth’s nothern suburbs. I might check that out.

To be a fair scientific test we need a Waeco that sat in the shed for 25 years as did the Engel.

Ha ha Warrie

We all know that’s totally impossible, but to be even fairer, the Engel as over 40 years and not 25 years,.

How impossible? Maybe there's someone out there with an old Waeco the same age as the Engel and it too has sat unused.
Some years back I went to the repairer and he had just as many Engels as Waecos under repair - like two dozen of each.

Impossible because the early Waeko’s well so unreliable and you will not find one still working.

Plus the Engel in question is around 40 years old and Waeko were not even in production then, so again Engel wins hands down

Stephen L (Clare) SA

My old 40 litre Engel has a serial number RNT 0580 and it was manufactured in June 1985.

Still works fine, recently running on 11 ( 2) had the cabinet temperature back to -.2 c in the garage where the room temperature was 18.8 c

Still have all cords basket and green base lining.

With the serial number Engel can tell you when it was manufactured


A J

Are you in denial? If Engels are so good then why does my repairer have equal numbers of either brand? And the whole point of my first comment was to do a fair test on both brands.
Let's now ignore old fridges and compare W vs E from say 15 years ago - along with all the other brands. Have Choice mag or someone done a comparison? I will continue to nurse my 13 yo Waeco along - it is not yet terminal LOL

Warrie

Not in denial at at, speaking from first hand experience of selling Engel fridges for over 16 years.

Engel have been around well before other brands hit the Australian market and have built up a reputation.

Go bush where station people live and work 24/7 for 365 days a year in and out.

See what fridge is on the back of station vehicles, covered in dust, diesel and blood……….it will not be a Waeko, but the trusted Engel.

It will always come down to personal preference, just like the Holden v Ford or Toyota v Nissan debate.

You like your Waeko and I love my Engel.

Warrie,

I agree with you. I've had a Waeco CF40 since '05. Just has the line of green dots as to temperature, no digital display. Has never given me an ounce of trouble in that time. 100% reliability at half the price - why would I bother with the Engel tax :))))

Regards

I dont know anything about Waeco or any fridge made after 1972, which is when I bit the bullet and bought my 1 and a 1/2 cubic ft Engel for at the time a stupid price of $995. However after forking out $300+ for each of Sheens, Finch, Electrolux fridges that did not work on angles or in heat I had had enough. This fridge still goes. It still flattens the biggest AGM overnight, no problems. It has been in rollovers x3, (really the cars just got tired and fell on their sides). It has been abused, neglected, mistreated. But it still works and it still cools and freezes. And nothing has ever been done to it. No repairs nothing. I have often thought, given its age, that I should buy an Aldi one when they are available as a back up (or is that to retire the Engel and get with the times). I just cannot, and will not. Rubbish Engel all you like, but I think still going and nearly 50 is testamount to Engel reliability. It did have little use for about 10 years when I chose other pursuits other than remote travel, but it was always used as the Xmas beer fridge. Rubbish Engel all you like but if anybody can top 50 years and no repairs with another brand I will dip me lid to them!