I have an Easy Cool 80 litre fridge freezer too.
I bought it for a Cape York trip two years ago. We decided as we would be away for a month, we better get a bigger fridge than the 50 litre we had, and our 50 litre is a 3 way, thus not as economical as a compressor fridge. And if I got a dedicated fridge for the Truck, I could leave the 3 way in the CT permanently as we normally only use the Camper for longer stays and it will become a dedicated gas fridge.
I was a bit concerned cause I knew it was an E-Bay cheapie - although Dreamrider had a very professional add, looked like a big seller and had a reasonably long warranty , So I figured I would be pretty safe. Even if the fridge only lasted 5 or 6 years- still cheaper to buy 3 of these than an Engel or Waeco...
To be sure - I purchased it a few months prior to the Cape trip so I could take it on a few weekend trips with my 4wd club to make sure it is all good. After all, the last thing you want is to find out its faulty mid way into a month long trip away.....
The sales process with Dreamrider was exceptional. They sent numerous emails, confirming payment, confirming shipping, expected delivery date. I thought to myself this is a professional organisation.
Did a few weekend trips with the new Fridge, Worked a treat, so well in fact that some other members of the 4wd club I was in considered buying one.
All went well until the 3rd week of our trip. The fridge started heating up - getting up to 17 degrees and the freezer plus 2. We checked our batteries, checked the trucks wiring (all this has been upgraded from factory) - no fault..We took all the food out, pulled the panels off, checked as much as we could for faults, checked the cord etc.. Even tried plugging it into 240 as we were at Loyalty Beach at the time. One of the people in our group was a Sparkie - so the check was reasonably thorough.. It was decided the fridge was Kaput. We put our food/beer in our friends fridges and began the search for a new fridge to continue or trip.
Our choices seems to be: Ship on from Cooktown a few days to get there - a local mechanic offered to sell me his 60lt two year old Engel for $2k. The Hardware store on Thursday Island had a 50lt Waeco brand new for (from memory) only a few hundred more than what I would pay in Brisbane. ( I think it was $1599?) I bought it.. I paid for it over the phone. They ran out to the Ferry and got them to wait so they could load it on that trip. I picked my new fridge from Seisia Jetty within hours of paying for it. Exceptional Service.
When we finally got home - I put the Easy Cool in at a fridge mechanic and sent an email to Easy Cool. the Fridge Mechanic diagnosed a fault in female electrical socket hardwired in the fridge that the cord goes into, making power intermittent, thus causing the fridge to heat up.
Easy Cool replied pretty quickly.. saying their warranty does not include electrical... I pointed out it is the fridge socket itself, not the cord.. I told them the above story.. A few emails went backward and forward. the said sorry but no cigar... they pointed out I has used the fridge while 4wding.. and therefore voided my warranty.. I couldn't see this in any paperwork I Had, but the truth is, I thought stuff them, cant be bothered arguing, the repair is only $100, I will just pay for the repair myself, get a working fridge back. (they hardwired the 12v cord into the fridge)
Thinking at the time - I still really wanted the 80 litre capacity, so get the bigger fridge repaired, sell the brand new Waeco that's too small for our needs.
Sold the Waeco for a fraction of what I paid for it.. I think from memory about $900
The guys in the 4wd club I was in, that were considering an Easy Cool suddenly decided they didn't want to buy one of these anymore....
Used the Easy Cool a few more times, on about the third weekend trip.. it got a Gas leak. Leaked at a kink in the copper pipe.
Again I contacted Easy Cool. (sent a couple of emails) No reply this time. Booked it into the fridge mechanic.. welded up the pipe/re gassed etc for around $200..
I think to myself that's gotta be all right?
About three months later it got another gas leak while away on a trip, just above the last one. I didn't even bother contacted Easy Rider this time I just went and bought the new dual Zone 65 litre Waeco that had just come out ( wanted the 80 litre - but it didn't fit in my rear drawers) And put the Easy Cool down in shed and pretended I didn't own it....
On a camping trip I was telling this story to a few blokes round a camp fire, one of, a guy who lectures at TAFE on fridge mechanics said, he knew a great fridge mechanic on my side of town that would look at it for a carton and tell me if it was worth doing anything with, or whether I should let it continue to gather dust, or toss it...
I figured, in for a penny in for a pound.. cant hurt to get an opinion
He was excellent, pointed out a design flaw with how the had the copper pipe secured, it would vibrate due to the angles of the copper and minimal amount of points securing the copper piping onto the frame of the fridge. He repaired the leak, re structured the copper piping so it wouldn't vibrate, added several securing points and re gassed the fridge for a few hundred bucks and a carton of beer. He did state the components are of reasonable quality, that he doubts I will ever have a problem again.
The fridge right now, is sitting in the same place it was prior to the last repair.. In my shed... I have lent it to a few friends for weekend/week long trips (they all know this story) and it hasn't missed a beat. SWMBO however has lost all confidence in it. She will never.. I mean NEVER.. let me load it into the truck to use.
I figure, it may be good for a beer fridge when we have people over etc...
So long story short not been short- sorry about that) I have a fridge I originally paid approx. $600ish for, spent that again on repairs, then lost the money on the Waeco I bought in Seisia. This is now one of the most expensive dust gatherers I have in my shed.
PS.. The New Dual Zone 65 litre Waeco has been great!
