MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: TroyE on July 20, 2011, 07:18:52 PM
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has anyone had or got one and what's it like how tough is it, how much power does it use, what's the insulation like, how much did you pay for it? etc............
http://www.torq4x4.com.au/bushman-fridge-freezer-12v-24-240v-35-52-l
thanks any info good or bad is welcomed
troy
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Troy,
A few years ago I went to one of the outdoors shows and spent half a day going over everything with a critical eye, to figure out what I would get in a fridge. It was the best opportunity to compare the big two plus everything else on the market. Long story cut short, I talked myself out of the 80-100 litre things that I could easily fit in, in favour of two Bushman fridges. For various reasons, internally and externally, the Bushman had advantages over Waecos and Engels, and I already knew they fared very well in comparison tests (magazines). So for the next two or three years, I ran one as a fridge and the other as a freezer most times, and was happy with that.
Last year I was having a camper trailer built, and once again had plenty of room to work with; so the two Bushmans went into the trailer, and I bought a third Bushman for the vehicle. Those three fridges have had plenty of use, been in and out of vehicles and the trailer plenty over time, and I would buy them all again.
The only thing I have done different and would recommend, is chopped off the cig plugs and fitted Arrid plugs. Obviously cig plugs carry normal duty current OK, but on occasions I was running them as freezers at max cold, i.e. running full current 24 hours a day, and along the way the cig lighter plugs got hot enough to soften and subsequently sieze up the spring pin on the tips of the plugs. Arrid plugs are easily capable of carrying two or three times the current, so they don't get hot in this application.
I think they're about $1100 now. One thing I especially like is the domed high lid. With the extension collar on the fridge is at just the right height to use as a seat, and the plastic domed high lid will easily cope with a boombah sitting on it, no deforming like a metal lid might. They also open in the right direction (long side) to suit my applications.
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I have a mate with a Bushman fridge, and whilst he is happy with it, he has had a few problems with the power supply plugs and wiring a few times, and I think he had the electrical control unit replaced also. Whilst he has had these few issues, he has always been more than happy with the after sales service which he has received.
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Best elec plugs I find is the screw in type used by Engel. I don't have Engels anymore but always buy their plugs male/female and adapt to new newest purchase (fridge wise). Can also rest easy it won't come out/off or burn out.
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Hi Troy,
I bought the Bushman from the Sydney show last year. Can't remember the exact price but was about $100 less than RRP as hard to find these discounted. I did quite a bit of research before buying it & at the time I think it came tops or very close to that in one of the magazine reviews. It can go from room temp (Summer) to -2 deg in less than 30 mins when getting it ready to go camping & can change sizes very quickly depending upon what lid you want to use & whether you put the collar on or not. For what it comes with as standard (3 baskets, 2 lids, collar, insulated bag), I think it is quite good value for money.
If turning it off, found loss of temp was only a few degs after a couple of hours in the sun & draw when on is supposedly 16 amp hrs per day average
Particularly like it as can be used as a feezer in the lower section & a fridge in the upper section.
Hope this helps
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I bought one at the brissy caravan camping show, $999. happy with that. We're going camping this weekend so it will get it's first real world test for us. So far the only thing I dont like is the 240v power supply is a bit noisy...its just a cooling fan but it annoys me that it runs constantly while the fridge only cycles every so often. I guess thats one of the advantages of the Engel or others with built in 240v power supplies. Non issue when camping or in use in a CT I suppose but it is something else to find a home for when packing in case you need to run 240v. We're off to Somerset for a long weekend so hope to fill it with Redclaw tails.
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Mine hasn't missed a beat in over 12 months. At home it is quite often on 24/7 as a beer fridge. At the moment, whilst we await departure for our big lap, it is our main fridge in our temporary residence!
I've used it twice for 4 days on a 120ah deep cycle, and it never got below 12V.
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thanks for the info fella's, I'm keeping an open mind (but do favour engal) with my fridge research, I don't like to make uninformed decisions. so keep it coming, thanks again. :cheers:
troy
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I bought one today at the Camping show on the Gold Coast paid $1099 it looks great I really like the different sizes and the internal space just seems better for our needs with the baskets etc. I was planning on buying one of the chinese imported ones as a first fridge until I saw this at the show today.
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We bought one a year and a half ago at the southcoast show for around $1100, a mate had one and that was what persuaded me to go with it. So far no problems and it seems to go good on the power draw, although i couldn't tell you how many amps an hour? I got 4 nights on a 120 a/h battery with it, i wouldn't have wanted to discharge my battery any further and the important beverages were in a separate esky. I have never used anything but the largest capacity. To me it is a good fridge and does the job that i want. I suppose it's like cars everyone has there preferences
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I've had mine for almost 2 years. It's awesome. The flexibility of the lids is good. If it's me away for a boys weekend I use the small lid, or the large lid and collar if it's with the family. The fact that it freezes the bottom and uses the top baskets as a fridge is great. We used it camped last Christmas for 10 days. Our power consumption averaged 20 amps per day. We had a 100 watt solar panel and the battery was at almost full capacity the whole time. The battery was powering only the fridge and lighting. I never had an issue with the lead or plug, but I did replace the ciggy plug with an Anderson plug.
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I've had one for about 3 years, it has never missed a beat, its used when not camping in 52Ltr mode for a carage fridge, 3 wine bottles and a 1 X 2 ltr coke bottle can be stored upright plus a slab of stubbies no problem, still with a bit of room for a snack.
When taking everything into consideration the Bushman is the best value 12v portable fridge on the market, its' that simple.
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thanks for the feed back ;D has any one had there's up in the tropics for any length of time (1week +) and how did it go?
:cheers:
troy
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Just back from our weekend away with the bushman. All went well once I got it running...had a slight fuse issue(dodgy fuse in my relay) but once under way it didn't miss a beat. I had it in the Cruiser in the travel bag(52L configuration) and I set the thermostat to -4 during the day and 0 for overnight. Drink cans were icy cool in the middle basket while the snags and lambshanks were frozen in the bottom. veg and butter in the top. The only problem was the 2L milk...I forgot to up the temp to 0 one night and I froze the milk :(. I don't have an battery isolator so it ran off the 2 batteries in the Cruiser(2x 720cca century HD) and pulled the volts down from 12.7 to 12.3 in every 24 hours. I ran the engine at idle for 10 minutes each day to pop a few amps back in and we were all happy campers.
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Do you guys that own one of these find they work well as a dual role fridge/freezer and do keep the goodies at the bottom of the unit well frozen??
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Do you guys that own one of these find they work well as a dual role fridge/freezer and do keep the goodies at the bottom of the unit well frozen??
Yes, mine certainly works well as dual role fridge/freezer. If you don't want to be eating frozen steak, better move it up the top at least a day before you want to cook it as otherwise down the bottom it will stay frozen although that is all based on what temp you run the Bushman at
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Yes, mine certainly works well as dual role fridge/freezer. If you don't want to be eating frozen steak, better move it up the top at least a day before you want to cook it as otherwise down the bottom it will stay frozen although that is all based on what temp you run the Bushman at
X2. We also use ours as a fridge/freezer without problems.
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Interesting, I'll keep on eye on this post as not many people would think of a Bushman Fridge when looking to by.
Cheers
Wartim
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Interesting, I'll keep on eye on this post as not many people would think of a Bushman Fridge when looking to by.
We seriously consisted the bushman, if it wasn't for a 'cheap' deal of a friend of a friend for the vitrifrigo which was too good to ignore, we would have bought the bushman. And still would do should we buy another fridge
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Had a few problems with ours over the last few months touring. Finally found the issue.
1. Power lead as supplied loses 0.5v over the 2.5m length.
2. From lead input the current has to run through the electronic thermostat on tiny printed circuit board tracks then out to the compressor result is another 0.5v drop.
So from my power socket @ 12.7v we yield 12.2v going into the fridge electronics and a measly 11.7v coming back out to the compressor. Some of this was due to some corrosion building up on the PCB tracks. Compressor was tripping under speed cutout then low voltage cut outs randomly even though I was showing a healthy voltage at the battery. It would run fine with engine on or on 240v as the transformer outputs 14v DC.
Baron outdoors in Bundaberg has effected some non warranty repairs as replacing the PCB would only yield the same result eventually. They cleaned the little bit of corrosion and laid some extra solder over the tracks to help carry the current (I'm a bit dubious over how effective this really is, would prefer a bit of fat cable) and we cut the thin original power lead off just past the plug and soldered on a 2.5m lead of 6mm twin cable. Voltage drop reduced to 0.02v over the length of the lead. The compressor runs noticeably faster and the battery lasts noticeably longer between recharges. Next step is to intercept the wires going to the compressor and have them switch a relay powered directly from the lead. This will mean current no longer travels through the PCB and it is only a switching device.....like it should have been in the first place. Seems silly to run 3-4 amps through seemingly delicate electronics.
Other than that, it is still the most convenient fridge for our needs.
Cheers.
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You just motivated me to go and check mine! I have been having a similar problem. I have the same approximate 1 volt drop from the socket to the outlet if the board. Most of mine comes from the Anderson plug that I put in to replace the cig plug. I will solder that up. I like the idea of the relay, so I will do this as well. I was thinking I might just run new wires from the relay through the outer case (with a grommet and knot) straight to the Anderson plug. This will take out another potential voltage drop.
I started to pull the circuit board out, but it is held in by the switch. I didn't want to wreck anything so I stopped. Do you know if the two black wires to the board simply piggyback each other?
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Not sure, The repair agent just unplugged the whole top from the harness and took it away to work on. He did take a photo of the plugs before disconnecting so he could put them back correctly.
I'd just upgrade your existing lead to heavier gauge wire and see what result that gives then you can power the relay from there.
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They cleaned the little bit of corrosion and laid some extra solder over the tracks to help carry the current (I'm a bit dubious over how effective this really is, would prefer a bit of fat cable) and we cut the thin original power lead off just past the plug and soldered on a 2.5m lead of 6mm twin cable. Voltage drop reduced to 0.02v over the length of the lead. The compressor runs noticeably faster and the battery lasts noticeably longer between recharges.
I did the same thing with my old Evakool about a year ago when I was chasing voltage drop. I was surprised about how much voltage drop there was between the car socket and the compressor (ie in the lead) - I replaced the main power lead with 6mm twin cable in one continuous length from the Merrit plug to the compressor (except for a circuit breaker which is soldered into the +'ve wire).
Made a big different to the voltage drop! and the fridge is much 'happier'.
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Recently got the 50L IceCube for $775 with a bag and free delivery.
Has only had limited use ( still waiting on the C/T) but no complaints to date,I like the digital temp. setting instead of a dial.
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Recently got the 50L IceCube for $775 with a bag and free delivery.
Has only had limited use ( still waiting on the C/T) but no complaints to date,I like the digital temp. setting instead of a dial.
Which branding does yours have?
Ironman, Dobinsons, Primus?
I'm waiting for mine to be delivered at the moment... Couldn't go past it for value for money and warranty
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
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Ironman
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I have been looking for a fridge for a while now and I have decided on a bushman.
After reading these few posts I'm not 100% anymore. Is the voltage drop the only issue or have people had other problems.
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I've just bought one so I will keep you informed.
Bushman have gone to a much thicker cord than they used to have (thicker than any others I have seen). This may have been to deal with voltage drop.
I went and had a chat to the guys at the Research factory, they were very helpful
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Thanks. That woupd be great if you can give an update after a while.
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Bought a Bushman at the Sydney 4x4 show back in 2011 and it has been a ripper bit o gear. Easy to operate and has handled the ride in the back of the Snowmobile without missing a beat. :cup:
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I bought my first Bushman in 2003, 3 cars later I still have it and not a problem with it, I just bought another one second hand one that I will be using as a freezer only a few weeks ago it run fine on 240v but played up on 12v, it had a problem with the power board spoke to the boys at Research and the problem was fixed over the phone, great service, great fridge, means cold beer. bring on the next trip.
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I have been looking for a fridge for a while now and I have decided on a bushman.
After reading these few posts I'm not 100% anymore. Is the voltage drop the only issue or have people had other problems.
Don't let it stop you buying one, I wouldn't swap ours even though we had the problem with the voltage drop. It's running like a dream now and had done for the previous 2.5 years. The tech that fixed it said he's seen the same issue in all brands.
I love the basket system, it makes life so much easier. We've been on the road fulltime for nearly 12 months, running the bottom as a freezer, the next basket for cold meat, cheese and stuff you need to keep really cold (aka beer) and the top basket is butter and fruit and veg. I like that when you need to get to the freezer you simply lift the two baskets out, you don't unload each item out individually. You can also fit a 3lt milk and 1.25lt bottle down the side, you do need to keep the milk off the bottom so it doesn't freeze. I use juice poppers or what ever is in the freezer as building blocks to keep it out of the frozen zone.
Hope this helps!
Mrs Roo :-)
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I have bushman and my brother has an Fibreglass Evakol, both seem to use about the same each day. We both have the same batteries and solar panels so is not a bad comparison.
I have had it for 3 years and am very happy.
John
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Just back from the first trip with the Bushman. everything worked fine :cup:
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Fantastic.
Thanks for the replies.
It's settled I'm buying a bushman.
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I love the basket system, it makes life so much easier. We've been on the road fulltime for nearly 12 months, running the bottom as a freezer, the next basket for cold meat, cheese and stuff you need to keep really cold (aka beer) and the top basket is butter and fruit and veg. I like that when you need to get to the freezer you simply lift the two baskets out, you don't unload each item out individually. You can also fit a 3lt milk and 1.25lt bottle down the side, you do need to keep the milk off the bottom so it doesn't freeze. I use juice poppers or what ever is in the freezer as building blocks to keep it out of the frozen zone.
Hope this helps!
Mrs Roo :-)
We have had a Bushman for 11 Yrs and it has been magnificent. We have mostly used it as a fridge and set it around 2 Degrees depending on ambient temperatures. We have never tried to use the 'bottom' as a freezer. What temperature is a good compromise if one wants to use the bottom to keep things frozen. By frozen, I do NOT mean a long term freezer.
Regards
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I found -3 or-4 keeps the bottom stuff frozen.
Its OK for a short time but a long way short of the -15 they recommend for food products.
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Depends on ambient temps for your fridge location. We use -4 to -6 generally while in balmy QLD summer temps of 24-35°. That should keep everything frozen on the bottom layer and the beers chilled on the middle basket. If putting unfrozen meat in the freezer we turn it down to -8 or -10° for a day.
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Bought mine at leasurefest in Vic, 1195 with some free goodies, have had waeco and engel in the past, this fridge surpasses them bot. Biggest positive is the small power draw...saving for a second unit. Very impressed.