Dual zone waeco

[playhard]

Hi all
I am looking at a waeco 50lt is the dual zone worth it or would you just stay with the standard 50lt. Any info would be great.
Thanks
Paul

[cruisindub]

Hi Mate,

Cant believe nobody else  has replied.

Have been watching this thread with interest.

I too am looking at either the CF50DZ or the CF50:

I kind of had my mind made up though on a straight 50, since my reasons were this.

-The freezer compartment only has the cooling coil on the DZ, not all the way round on the straight fridge freezer.
-The baskets did not remove ideally and to have the middle (the divider) taken out, to use this space you would have to do without one of the baskets, otherwise waste of space.
-I figured on full freezer, the normal would be better. (only my opinion)
-Gives option to have a second unit as a full straight fridge or freezer.
-We are only 2 people at the moment,, but with kids on the way, a bigger fridge is better.
- the DZ would be good to have a small fridge/freezer, as I like ice with my cocktails, but I also like cold beer, so a bigger fridge won over there also.
-The single if run as a freezer also has the dairy compartment to keep butter cold if running as a fridge. We figured we would take out the daily food to a ice box/esky if running as freezer till the frozen pre prepared food/cryovaced food ran out then run it soley as a fridge.

Was hoping some other guys might have also replied, as I was hoping to see some more comments from others who already have one and have experience using it. We are without at teh moment, and these assumptions are only based on the opinion I made whilst looking at both together in the shop.

Cheers Paul

[Muso]

Just tried out our Waeco 50 DZ the weekend gone and still getting the hang of it. The manual says the temp in the middle compartment is the temp on the display and it probably is when it's down to temp, but I'm sure if you lower the temp by a few degrees, the display shows what temp it is trying to bring it down to your selection. That is, we had 3 pieces of thin steak left over and the wife wanted it refrozen, so I turned it down to -5c but it showed -7c for quite a while. Personally, we think the 3 zones are a hoot. one zone for frozen, another for cold and the other for cool. We got ours for $1149.00.

Another thing I like is that it can be used as a fridge only, freezer only or combination.

[peteandkyles]

I have the dual zone Waeco. Not overly impressed with it. The freezer part is fine. Works like a dream. The problem I have is the fridge part. There is no temperature control. If you put milk on the freezer size of the fridge compartment it will most likely freeze overnight. It's fine on the dairy side, but you can't put it in the dairy compartment because everytime we put cheese in it it has gone off in 24h. I suspect that the temperature there is greater than 10C.

What I do love about it is the fact that the girls can have an icy pole on a hot day when we break up the drive. Very refreshing. The compressor works realy well and has no problem freezing anything, but it will use a bit of power when you do that.

[SteveandViv]

I also have one and have found it to be OK.. I do agree with the comments about the temp setting in the fridge but you learn to work around it. I run ours at -14 and find that works well for all areas. Yes you have to manage your food but I have to do that in the 60 as well when I use that as the fridge. In fact the fact there is no evaporator in the fridge area works in you favor as there is no direct contact with the cooler. I have seen people have replace the dividers with  liquid filled ones rather the the air space ones that come with the fridge. Also as the end of the trip approached you can removed the dividers and then run it as a cols fridge which we do a lot.
e also use it to freeze icypols but like the idea that as the batteries get flatter then you move int a more fridge mode

[martialllaw]

SteveandViv,
I've done a quick search for "liquid filled Divider" for a DF50DZ with no luck. Do you know where these can be obtained from?

cheers

[chester ver2.0]

Have the 80 litre waeco after touring OZ we have now written in texta the following on the side which may help

Full freezer (both divinders in) -15 freezer = 4 degrees in fridge 6 degrees in dairy

Half freezer ( 1 divider) -10 in freezer section will freeze meat in the bottom and keep the rest of the fidge area at about 5 degrees

Just fridge ( no dividers) 1 degree setting and this will keep the fridge section at about 4 degrees ( we just leave stuff in the fezzer bit that it does not matter if it gets a bit frozen


Now if i had my time again or some money there is no way i will go this spill over style again it is to much farting around and not very scientific

My next fridge will be something like below or 2 seperate 35 litre fridges


National Luna 74 litre Double-Door
Overview
 
The Double-Door is the ultimate in versatility whilst maintaining low-power consumption and superior cooling performance. The 74-litre has the unique ability to set different temperatures in the two independent bins, allowing a true fridge-freezer combination. The user has the choice to set specific temperatures using the dual digital thermostat controls.
 


Features
 
Stainless steel or aluminium models available.
High-strength carry handles
Dual lids with lockable latches.
Dual interior lights
Dual independent digital thermostats
3-level selectable low battery protection
12Vdc, 24Vdc , 100 - 240Vac operation
Stainless steel baskets with carry / stacking handles.
 
 
 

 

[Bec M]

I have one and think its great. We usually have it as a full freezer when we leave and use our techni ice esky for everything else.  After a few days I repack and turn it into fridge/freezer again. I keep what really needs to be frozen on the bottom and what we having for the next day move it to the top. It's the best thing by the end of the trip we don't use the esky and don't have to buy ice. 

[sup8pdct]

We have a 80l waeco that we bought 2nd hand.
The temp sensor gave out and then the backup one gave out, so now running one that i fitted from jaycar and wires running inside the fridge through the light. no idea where original temp sensors are tho so had to stick it somewhere.
Still messing around with temp setting but have found -20 to be about right. I have spaced the dividers up 5 mm to see what happens.

James

[Dazbrook]

-15 and -20!!!! Wow.

I've always run mine cool before it goes in the car , and then it's on about -2 for the duration of our trip.

Both dividers in and never had a problem..

Everything has stayed frozen , and fridge is fine .

It's an 80l waeco DZ.

BUT I'm going to try CHESTER s way next time..

Happy camping..

[SteveandViv]

SteveandViv,
I've done a quick search for "liquid filled Divider" for a DF50DZ with no luck. Do you know where these can be obtained from?

cheers

Not sure where to get them. I meet a guy up our way and he had made some thing or found some of those ice blocks that fitted. He had the 80. I was thinking to try drilling a hole in one and seeing if I could fill it with the liquid from one of those freezer bricks

[sup8pdct]

I had to stick the temp sensor somewhere. It is now high up and real close to divider. Maybe the original place is further down and in the middle of the evaporator. I cannot tell as evaporator is at opposite end of fridge to motor, heaps of insulation to drill through etc, which is why waeco put in two. Pity both are stuffed.

James

-15 and -20!!!! Wow.

I've always run mine cool before it goes in the car , and then it's on about -2 for the duration of our trip.

Both dividers in and never had a problem..

Everything has stayed frozen , and fridge is fine .

It's an 80l waeco DZ.

BUT I'm going to try CHESTER s way next time..

Happy camping..

[Eski]

I have had a DZ since just before christmas and it had done a few trips already.

I love it as it works great and frozen stuff stays frozen, Cold stuff stays cold and the diary is good for the little things.

Note on the liquid filled ice dividers, it's just salt water.   

[martialllaw]

I recently went on a trip to north western QLD and was using my waco 50DZ as a fridge set to -5 to -1. The dairy compartment did not get to below 5degC but the rest of the fridge remained cold enough and the 100Ah battery lasted aprox 48h.

Over the weekend I used the fridge as a fridge/freezer using temperature setting of -10  (with a water filed divider)  the performance of the fridge was great in all compartments however I only got little more than 24hr out of the battery (with no other load).

what is the duty cycle of the fridge at these lower temps?
What is the average current draw?
and how much time are people getting out of their batteries?

Cheers

[chester ver2.0]

I will say with the 80L waeco due to its spill over design it does take a bit for the temperature to stabilise and i do mean a bit like a couple of days. If you are going away for the weekend and do not turn the thing on till friday it will not perform well you need to give it a couple of days running even with just a few cans of beer or something in it to sort itself out

[Bird]

Few years ago I looked at the DZ when my Engel died. I thought that the freezer section was very small.
How do people find it?

[Pipeliner]

Few years ago I looked at the DZ when my Engel died. I thought that the freezer section was very small.
How do people find it?

Usually by opening the lid.

Seriously though, I don't know about the Waeco but I have a 60L Evakool which has a divider to separate the freezer from the fridge sections.  Ideally you should have about 20^OC difference between the two (-18^OC to +2^OC) but the Evakool has difficulty maintaining 10-12^OC difference.  Is the Waeco any better?

[Black Diamond]

Few years ago I looked at the DZ when my Engel died. I thought that the freezer section was very small.
How do people find it?

I have  got the CF80 and find it has plenty of space but I would imagine the smaller DZ's would be a tight. Depends on how many mouths to feed I suppose.

Have the 80 litre waeco after touring OZ we have now written in texta the following on the side which may help

Full freezer (both divinders in) -15 freezer = 4 degrees in fridge 6 degrees in dairy

Half freezer ( 1 divider) -10 in freezer section will freeze meat in the bottom and keep the rest of the fidge area at about 5 degrees

Just fridge ( no dividers) 1 degree setting and this will keep the fridge section at about 4 degrees ( we just leave stuff in the fezzer bit that it does not matter if it gets a bit frozen

i reckon this is spot on and pretty much what I find with mine.

BD

[Moopla]

I also bought the dual zone cf-80. If i had my time again i would go with two 35ltr fridge/freezers. The cf-80 feels like its trying to do to many jobs at once. Freezer/fridge/dairy? Some drinks in the fridge compartment are freezing if they are on that side while the dairy compartment is running too hot. But we are camping so any fridge is better than none..

[JBJ21]

We nearly bought the cf 80 but then we decided to get two a 50 liter as a fridge and a 40 liter to use as a freezer both waeco very happy with the set up. It all depends how much room you have in the car or trailer.

[HEM19X]

I also bought the dual zone cf-80. If i had my time again i would go with two 35ltr fridge/freezers. The cf-80 feels like its trying to do to many jobs at once. Freezer/fridge/dairy? Some drinks in the fridge compartment are freezing if they are on that side while the dairy compartment is running too hot. But we are camping so any fridge is better than none..

We have 2 35's...apart from the size thing, I think the freezer [and fridge for that matter] maintains it's temp better when it is not opened...The freezer is only opened rarely, giving it a better chance to keep cool thus reducing cycling.

[jeb1900]

New slightly smaller dual zone Waeco out now, the CFX-65DZ.  Good design by the looks of it. 

http://www.tentworld.com.au/products/fridge/item/Waeco-CFX-65DZ-Fridge-Freezer.aspx

[SteveandViv]

Few years ago I looked at the DZ when my Engel died. I thought that the freezer section was very small.
How do people find it?

We only use the Freezer for bread and can get three loafs in it. Was great for that on our two Months from here to the Cape. Any fridge runs hard once you try to freeze stuff but at -8 it was OK, two days from a 120ampH.

Also love the no Evaporator in the normal ridge section as you can keep the veggies and friuit n there and no frizzing. We use the 60 in the car fo the drinks and stuff that can take contact with the side of the fridge and the 50DZ for the Roth stuff. As for the Dairy Compartment, yep about 5c but that is good for a lettece for about a week. Not bad in our neck of the woods