Waeco fridge in tent whilst out touring

Hi Maggie

If you are camping in a tent - nothing wrong with that, why would you want to take the fridge out of your vehicle and take it into the tent. Leave it in the car and it will save a lot of time each day.

By all means if you have 240v power available, run the fridge from that via a long extension cord.

Have a Great Trip.



Cheers


Stephen

Yep tents arent the most burglar proof things we used to padlock ours to a ring on the chassis of the van with a heavy chain.

However if they really wanted it a good bash with a hammer would smash the handles.

We presume you mean from an electrical point of view, yes. Safe from theft, your call..! LOL

I think the noise would drive you crazy in the middle of the nught

Hi Maggie, I concur with some of the replies in part. What size fridge are you talking about firstly? I would be very apprehensive about leaving moveable costly items such as a Waeco in an area where it could 'disappear' such as a tent. Unless you have some trustworthy park neighbours who can keep an eye out on your gear, then I wouldn't recommend you leave it alone. (most fellow campers are trustworthy, however there are opportunists around looking for a 'bargain', if you get my drift.) The question about the 240v AC power is a good one. Under normal operating conditions, you should not have a problem leaving the power connected to the fridge unsupervised, and it should be okay, but leave plenty of space near the vents on the corners to allow for air circulation so that the compressor does not overheat. I have a 3way fridge in my poptop and also a Waeco CF60 in the back of my patrol wagon. The Waeco stays there and is plugged into 240v AC power whilst it is available and into 12vDC at all other times. A tip to keep it cool, any space left inside should be filled up straight away with water bottles or ........bbbeeerrr cccaaannss or food if you have it, so that the compressor does not keep overloading and shutting down. Cheers Lyndon,

Keep it in the car. If you leave it in the tent you won't have any cold drinks/lunches etc while sightseeing.. Mine lives permanently in the car.

Maggie, IMHO your fridge has a high chance of dissapearing from a tent once you go down the coast from Broome.

I would either leave it with the caravan park owner in a shed or out the back somewhere or preferably invest in a proper 2nd battery set up.

As mentioned lifting the fridge in and out all the time will be a pain in the back!

Do you know that you can't fit another battery under the bonnet, or think that? What vehicle is it? I am sure someone here has a similar vehicle. You will be amaized where batteries will fit.

Unfortunately buying the fridge is only part of the solution. However it is possible to get an inexpensive battery and have a manual switch for the cost of the battery plus about $80 for some wire, a tray and switch, or have a fully automatic one for $200 ish. Derek from Sidewinder who lurks has good value solutions.

He has a few options here if you feel coinfident to do it yourself?

If you could use 240V overnight, and think the max time you will be away from the vehicle for trips etc where there is no power was say 8 hours, then you could get away with a small second battery of about 40 AH which would be similar to a thumper. If you get a sealed one ( SLA etc) then it could fit anywhere in the vehicle without any danger.

Fridges can be a bit of a nightmare if they are not set up right. They are heavy when full, and if not managed correctly power-wise can lead to spoiled food, and food poisoning or no food isn't a fun thing when camping.

Thanks again, The car is a 2004 Nissan Pathfinder and the fridge is a 49 litre fridge or freezer. Cheers

Hi Maggie,

Moving a fully laden fridge that size will quickly become a pain. For a trip such as you are planning you would do well to consider a little bit of extra investment in vehicle electrics so that you fridge can stay in your vehicle all the time. Have a look here for some info to give you some ideas. Running a fridge off a single battery can be a bit problematic and when you're a long way from home and hoping to have a great time fridge troubles are about the last thing you want.

Cheers,

Val