Fridge or Ice Recommendations - Gibb River Trip

[trueblue10]

In july I am heading on a 4 week trip from Perth with my wife to explore the Gibb River, Cape Leveque etc. We will be with friends and we all have camper trailers. We will be on the move often-not many days of being at one site.

I have a Prado with dual batteries and the redarc charging system plus and a deep cycle on the camper trailer - connected via an Anderson plug. I already have a Engel 40 Litre fridge freezer which is about 2 to 3 years old plus appropriate permanent powered wiring to the back of the car.

For readers who have done this trip need some advice re fridge setup. My plan is to pack my 40L Engel with frozen Cryo packed meat, food etc and then set it on a normal fridge temp letting it slowly defrost whilst using the contents. (This avoid freezing so I minimise draw on my second battery).

My dilemma is keeping the drinks cold - I believe I have 3 options for keeping drinks cold:
1. Use a good 60L esky/ice box and keep drinks (Beer- Milk etc) cold with ice. (Ice to be brought with along the route & via stations).
2. Alternatively hire another 40L Engel for 4 weeks (about $250 total ) to keep drinks etc cold. (Again will run it on fridge mode/temps only. No freezing).
3. Buy and perhaps sell (after the trip) a reasonably priced 40 L fridge. With this I again would look at running it on fridge mode only. No freezing.

Would appreciate all your experiences and recommendations on keeping my tucka and drinks cold on a Gibb River Trip. Not sure if keeping the drinks (beer!!) on ice brought along the way is achievable/realistic having not done this trip before.


 

[griz066]

Never done the trip but I run 2 engel eclipse fridges for the exact same reason you want. 1 freezer 1 fridge. Works a treat and you can get them for about $699

[cruiser 91]

What amp hour is the second battery in the vehicle and camper?
How long will you be on the road, 1 week, 3 weeks etc?

Even though you're not staying in one place for any longer than a day, I would be asking how long will you be travelling between stops, anywhere from 30kms up to 300kms? It's the shorter legs that may cause a problem. Maybe a portable solar panel could be on the cards.

Quality ice boxes are great, keeps ice up to 6-7 days, but keep in mind if you are using it for drinks (beer, water, milk etc) you will be opening the ice box more than a few times a day which will lose the effectiveness it will keep ice by half. Maybe go the other way, drinks in the engel and frozen in the ice box, that way you only open ice box once or twice a day. But again, trying to find ice when you need it could be a pita.
if you get another fridge my guess is you will need another battery in the vehicle unless you can utilise the battery in the camper if its big enough and house the second fridge in the camper.

And with more batteries added, the alternator may struggle with out a battery management system

 

A cheaper alternative would be to invest in a shot gun and fishing rod and fresh every day 

[two up]

As above 2 x fridges and solar panels. Renting is dead money, buy a 2nd fridge look after it and you'll be able to get most of your money back if you choose to sell it down the track.

[scott13april]

How much ice can you buy for the price of a new fridge? Assuming you already have an esky buying a couple bags of ice every 2 days for 3 weeks is going to be cheaper option. Beers on ice are superior drinking to those out of fridge anyway.


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 Nn

[griz066]

How much ice can you buy for the price of a new fridge? Assuming you already have an esky buying a couple bags of ice every 2 days for 3 weeks is going to be cheaper option. Beers on ice are superior drinking to those out of fridge anyway.


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 Nn

Nope I just can't do the ice and esky thing. Try buying 2 bags a day @ $5 a bag for 3 weeks. Do that 3 times in your life and you have just tipped an engel out on the ground in the form of melted ice.

[scott13april]

Rum and coke with no ice?


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 Nn

[shakey55]

I'm with 'two up'.  I would be getting a second engel new or second hand, although the second hand ones that come up cost nearly as much as a new one.

I run two Engels when travelling.  One as a fridge and the other as a freezer


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[trueblue10]

Yep all these things I have thought about. I will get some stats on my batteries in the car and the camper. I do not intend to freeze the food so was hoping to minimise the impact in amperage if I go with 2 engels.

Yeh not sure what Ice will cost me up there but I imagine at least $5 a bag. A bag a day plus 26 days = $130.

Anybody tried using two fridges on for this period (without using solar power to top up)??

[MDS69]

I ran a ARB 47L and a Waeco 60L on 2 x 120Ah batteries in the back of the Prado on a 4 week trip. 5 days of that trip we were at Yulara on a powered site so had the fridges on 240 overnight as we were out and about everyday. No issues on the other 3 and a bit weeks but these were mostly overnight stops

[Paulpp]

My dilemma is keeping the drinks cold - I believe I have 3 options for keeping drinks cold:
1. Use a good 60L esky/ice box and keep drinks (Beer- Milk etc) cold with ice. (Ice to be brought with along the route & via stations).
2. Alternatively hire another 40L Engel for 4 weeks (about $250 total ) to keep drinks etc cold. (Again will run it on fridge mode/temps only. No freezing).
3. Buy and perhaps sell (after the trip) a reasonably priced 40 L fridge. With this I again would look at running it on fridge mode only. No freezing.

G'Day

Having done the trip with a group as well. Used a 40 litre engel ( 2 x adults)

Note that the cryovacked  foods (meat) does not need to be freezed (does not increase allowable keep times). We carried cryovacked meat for 3 weeks and it was fine. Be guided by what then butcher says.  If you wish, put it in frozen but set the fridge on cold. This will reduce the fridge load for a few days.
Ran the Engel around 2 - cold but not freezing - beer cold - replaced what was drank at the end of each evening. Watch as the fridge contents get down that freezing of contents does not occur. (Frozen beer is NOT good!)  Carry your beer in glass or wrap each can separately. Corrugations KILL cans if they rub).

Fruit and veg. Explore what the sailors do to keep it as long as possible (check out the sailing forums).

Our Engel is over 10 year old and still going strong. A good 12 volt fridge is a worthwhile ($$$$$$) investment.

My thoughts

Enjoy it's a great place to explorer.

[BurnsOil]

Did thee trip 2 years ago.  We used a 60l ARB to feed 5 of us.  90AH battery in the car and 100AH battery in the trailer.

[trueblue10]

Looked at my batteries in the car. My dual battery is a 95D 31R/N70ZZ 90Amp, CCA750 RC 175 (Main is the same). Deep cycle in camper is 120amp/h.

Thanks to all for your input.

[nab]

If you bought an Engel eclipse for $699, you would easily sell it for $500 when you got back if you didn't want to keep it. That's the way I would go, provided you had the spare $700......

[Alan Loy]

Maybe go the other way, drinks in the engel and frozen in the ice box, that way you only open ice box once or twice a day. But again, trying to find ice when you need it could be a pita.

If you can get some dry ice and then wrap your esky to super insulate it you will get longer before you need to buy ice.  Getting the meat out during the first few days could be difficult 

[JCAT]

We used a 60 litre Engel and cyrovaced the meat which we didn't bother to freeze. We spent 4 weeks on the Gibb using our 2 x 100 A/H batteries in the camper to charge as well as charge supplied while driving. There are 4 of us.

[tikety]

Spent 8 weeks travelling through top wa used 2 x 40lt Engels 1 as freezer other as fridge ,solar panel as top up when stopped for few days, wouldn't go back to esky. Access to ice and cost dead money

[shadmorgon]

There is a 4th option.
Management, as others have pointed to somewhat?

Milk - UHT in 250ml bricks
Meat - cryovac fresh,  'n cliplock bags for leftovers
Veg - cliplock bags in a koolbag with cycling chillybricks
WetBar - maybe 2L per day into the Engel at air temp*

Run the Engel empty for at least 24hrs before you pack it with your prechilled goodies.

Get a 40L - or what size fits - esky, quality not critical, and
use that to pack your dry goods, kitchen stuff etc.
When parkin up for a bit, fill that with your ice and drinks.
Note - as another said, make certain no chaffing can happen
in the packing if dry goods, tears will flow on opening the lid, one day, fer sure.

Cycle your 4 cans a day and 1/2 bot Cardonhey plus 1 chillybrick
through the Engel each driving day. That battery setup will handle
the Engel even with a few openings per day, no panic no drama.
If the milk is for a toddler you can cycle them through as needed, no worries.

You might want to look at this concept... long forgotten/overlooked
by the full auto all wheel drive terrista crowd.
Build yourself a variation on the Coolgardie Safe and waterbag principle and hang that off the front of the trailer or bullbar, stoneguard provided. In the Alice - if yer going through there - you might also want to be able to lock it down  :-D
Get yer cans in there and a "coldie@Kunna" is yours.

Enjoy the run.
The road these days - as I hear - is a breeze. No need to carry yer own oxy welding gear ;-)

Shad - wash down before crossing borders

-- ridin de desert ship wif no saddle

[trueblue10]

Firstly I would like to thank all you People- I really appreciate all the input from everyone.

I finally decided on buying an 38L Engel Eclipse for $699 from rays outdoors. Got the Rays Reward 10% promo ($69.90) for the purchase on my Rays Rewards Card. Went back the next day and got the $139 Eclipse Engel Cover for $69.10 after I used the credit on my Reward card. So whole 38L Engel and Cover cost me $768.10 - New -3 year warranty. Having 2 fridges will also be handy for us when when going fishing to Exmouth etc with my boat. (One to store fish fillets the other to store drinks).

Anyway the 2nd fridge will fix my drinks issue re my camper. 'Who needs ice'. In my main 40L engel I will Cryovac my meat etc, freeze it at home, pack it into the engel and keep it maintained on fridge mode for the trip.  We will not generally be freezing as we travel and given both Engels are pretty new they will not be to bad on power consumption.

I read somewhere on this forum there is a good way of keeping some fruit and vegies fresh outside of the fridges whilst you travel. I believe they were some kind of special container etc.. Any advice on this also appreciated.

Regards
trueblue10   

[shadmorgon]

Good one.
Now you will be requiring a 110W monocrystaline PV panel and shunt regulator - http://www.rpc.com.au/solar-systems/off-grid-solar-power/diy-solar.html

Have fun :-D

[out]

Shad - wash down when crossing borders


-- ridin de desert ship wif no saddle