12v frige behind Ute seat?

[bupalooga]

Has anyone come across a decent little 12v fride that'll fit behind the passengers seat in an FG ute? Id like to get a big one in the tray bit im too scared of it being stolen or beaten by gear flying around in the back. Just for like snack food, cans of drinks, smoko & stuff. Iv already got an isolating dual battery system set up.

[cheap]

Here are a few to look at:

Waeco Coolpro 14L Fridge, they are cheap but quality isn't the greatest i.e. they are known to break down

Engel MD14F (14L), they are expensive but good quality

Primus Transit 18L, never used one

[chrisandsharon]

Cape York trip we did had 7 vehicles......the vehicles got smashed that year - every battery in every vehicle died......every shock absorber on every vehicle failed.......out of all the fridges on the trip there were 2 Engels that failed ..... The rest were Waecos - no problem......the Engel camps were ****ed off Of course we rubbed it in from the Waeco camp I then did the Canning Stock Route after with again no problems. My vehicle - a short wheel base 40 running an 80L.

On a serious note any of the fridges can break down including Weacos. I'd buy either but personally I think the Engels are way overpriced. In Europe the Waeco brand is huge.....massive.

I'd go the small Waeco for your application, it's a good price and comes with a warranty - done

[Tonz]

I have a 50 litre Waeco, sits on the 'shelf' behind the passengers seat, hard wired to a switch on dash board (along with 7 other switches), the wiring runs up inside the console.

If you need to get in it the seat has to move forward.

Been there about 3 years

[Franco Cozzo]

I ordered one of these, its pretty cheap vs Engel/Waeco so I'm keen to see how it goes.

https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/komodo-...e-and-freezer/

Gonna keep it in the Focus, keep some drinks in there, always got some cold drinks on hand that way.

[mik]

i used to have an engel 3 way in my scrubber , never had a problem with it , it was a fairly costly unit though.
but recently i thought about getting a small cooler for behind the front seat for trips, one of the peltier type ones, just for keeping small stuff a few cans and maybe the sangers from getting hot on a trip, i think they can do the warm function too, not as flash as the refrigerated units, but keep the tucker down to 20 below ambient apparently, dont know how good they are..
but there we go
http://www.dicksmith.com.au/navigati...mer-dsau-m4501

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by mik

i used to have an engel 3 way in my scrubber , never had a problem with it , it was a fairly costly unit though.
but recently i thought about getting a small cooler for behind the front seat for trips, one of the peltier type ones, just for keeping small stuff a few cans and maybe the sangers from getting hot on a trip, i think they can do the warm function too, not as flash as the refrigerated units, but keep the tucker down to 20 below ambient apparently, dont know how good they are..
but there we go
http://www.dicksmith.com.au/navigati...mer-dsau-m4501

We used to use small peltier fridges in the ambulances we used to build, they were so useless paramedics mainly used them to hold stuff inside

They are alright at keeping something thats already cold, cool but not good for putting anything warm inside and expecting it to cool it down.

It took an hour or so to get them down to under 10 degrees and they'd only get to around 7 or 8 and we had upgraded the fans on the heatsinks etc.

[mik]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

We used to use small peltier fridges in the ambulances we used to build, they were so useless paramedics mainly used them to hold stuff inside

They are alright at keeping something thats already cold, cool but not good for putting anything warm inside and expecting it to cool it down.

It took an hour or so to get them down to under 10 degrees and they'd only get to around 7 or 8 and we had upgraded the fans on the heatsinks etc.

Ah .... ok then, thanks Big Damo , i will give that notion the kyber pass , saved me 39 buks , shout you a beer when i see you mate .

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by mik

Ah .... ok then, thanks Big Damo , i will give that notion the kyber pass , saved me 39 buks , shout you a beer when i see you mate .

I saved one of my ex workmates $250 getting him out of a fine and the bastard wouldn't even buy me a can of coke, beer is good value out of $39

[bupalooga]

Originally Posted by Tonz

I have a 50 litre Waeco, sits on the 'shelf' behind the passengers seat

What model is it & how does having it back there affect the passengers seating position? Because i have to regularly haul people too.

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I ordered one of these, its pretty cheap vs Engel/Waeco so I'm keen to see how it goes.

Its a but load cheaper which is why I too am interested how well it goes, keep us posted!

Originally Posted by mik

recently i thought about getting a small cooler for behind the front seat for trips, one of the peltier type ones
http://www.dicksmith.com.au/navigati...mer-dsau-m4501

I played with making my own using peltier units but they're just too power hungry with lackluster performance for something i plan to have running constantly.


Im thinking something around the 35L mark would be good as I pack my smoko daily and sometimes struggle to fit it in my 10L lunch box. This way i can keep a weeks worth of musli bars, apples & drinks in there & just pop my sandwiches in the top.

[pcman]

ive got a waeco cdf35 that these days lives in the back of my landcruiser would be atleast 10 years old and going awesome, 31l will hold plenty of supplies for a week

i used to use it when i drove trucks, monday morning first stop was supermarket, some soft drinks, fruit boxes, muesli bars ect ect, i turned it of overnight but it only took a hour to cool the drinks around the edge off each morning,

these are pretty compact as well 550x350x350 give or take abit

[bupalooga]

The newer versions of the cdf35 no longer uses a danfoss compressor but instead a Chinese model which according to reviews is far less reliable

[pcman]

thats a bummer its a awesome sized fridge, got a mate that's looking at buying one on my suggestion i better let him know that it may not be a good idea

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by bupalooga

The newer versions of the cdf35 no longer uses a danfoss compressor but instead a Chinese model which according to reviews is far less reliable

I have a CDF35 with the Chinese compressor and its been fine

Waobao or something the brand of the compressor is

Had it for about 5 years, one of the best bits of gear I've ever bought.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by bupalooga

What model is it & how does having it back there affect the passengers seating position? Because i have to regularly haul people too.



Its a but load cheaper which is why I too am interested how well it goes, keep us posted!



I played with making my own using peltier units but they're just too power hungry with lackluster performance for something i plan to have running constantly.


Im thinking something around the 35L mark would be good as I pack my smoko daily and sometimes struggle to fit it in my 10L lunch box. This way i can keep a weeks worth of musli bars, apples & drinks in there & just pop my sandwiches in the top.

Its certainly much cheaper, its like well I'll spend the $400 or so to test it out and see how it goes as my mates all have Engels of the same size which are like 2x the price.

Waiting for it to ship, see how it goes.

[Franco Cozzo]

Fridge arrived:











Poor build quality but I expected as much from a $400 odd 42L fridge.

Set up my battery box in the boot of the Focus:







Chucked a 120AH Century Deep Cycle AGM in there:



Chucked some drinks in the fridge, had no beer so this would have to do:



Turned it on:



It pulls about 4A getting down to temperature on max power:



Fits in boot of Focus quite well:



Unfortunately we're approaching winter so its not going to be a good test of how well the fridge works until we start getting warmer weather again.

I'm going to chuck a redarc smart start solenoid under the bonnet and run a power wire up to the boot with an anderson plug so I can keep the second battery charged while driving.

Would a 42L fridge fit behind the seats on a Falcon ute? Might be the way to go as its pretty cheap.

[Tonz]

Opps lost sight of this.

its a 15 year old 50 litre Waeco far to big now but having it in a truck spending all day in the blistering sun on a farm had its bonuses, giving a farmer a cold at end of 12-15 hour day paid big dividends and got friends.

re passengers... put it this way a long legged floosie or a big boy will have their knees tight under their armpits....
well its OK around town but after a 800k trip it starts to get frustrating..........

[Viking89]

Has anyone actually put one in a falcon ute? What size and does it affect passenger seat position much?

[Tonz]

my Waeco would fit on the 'parcel' ledge behind the cab seats, as I mentioned the relevant seat could not be all the way back and to try getting a can out was back breaking, but if you want cold drinks or food , them the hardships you live with.

[Viking89]

Originally Posted by Tonz

my Waeco would fit on the 'parcel' ledge behind the cab seats, as I mentioned the relevant seat could not be all the way back and to try getting a can out was back breaking, but if you want cold drinks or food , them the hardships you live with.

How big was that? I'm looking at 9-15l and the passengers aren't that big unless it's me in the pass seat haha

[Tonz]

hell your OK I had a 60 Litre.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Viking89

Has anyone actually put one in a falcon ute? What size and does it affect passenger seat position much?

Why don't you check one of these out, cheap and small and they do a good job for what they are.
I use mine for day trips.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/9l-brass-m...eezer/p/GH1627

[commodorenutt]

I bought that exact Jaycar fridge at the start of COVID. It's my 3rd car fridge (the others are 42L and 25L).

The 42L one is around 7 years old now, and apart from temperature drift, meaning you need to set the thermostat on 15 for it to run at 3, it's otherwise perfect. I bought that size as it fits in the boot of the LPi FG - the larger fridges are taller, and don't fit the flat floor boot.

The 25L one was an ebay special, and I got 2 years out of it before it failed, and then melted some of the electrics to the point where they let out their magic smoke, before popping the fuse. Did probably 20 short road trips with it.

But for behind the seats, a few of my mates with trucks have bought the narrow models from Jaycar, and love them. I did a hardwired install on one that was built like a console. Lift the armrest and pull out a coldie.
This is a newer version of that one: https://www.jaycar.com.au/8l-brass-m...arger/p/GH1611

A couple from their current range might be ideal for the narrow space behind the ute seat.

The 18L one looks the goods: https://www.jaycar.com.au/18l-brass-...-grey/p/GH2047

The 8L one might be a little small. I get 8 cans comfortably in the 9l flat one, so depending on the internal dimensions, this may get anywhere from 6-8 possibly:
https://www.jaycar.com.au/8l-brass-m...eezer/p/GH2026

If you hold out for a sale, you can usually get them $20-50 cheaper.

[roKWiz]

Fit a Maybach rear seat, comfy big bench and a nice frig in the middle.
There always the truck 12-24V type drawer frigs if no one has already mentioned them.

[Interceptor]

I've managed a 27L plastic case engel behind the passenger seat in my AU ute.... bit tight for passengers, but it keeps my drinks cold!