Repco Three way fridge

[Pickle]

peterdeg
Topic: Repco 3-way fridge
Posted: 27/April/2006 at 2:44pm

Bought one of the 35L 3-way fridges from Repco before Easter.
$369, included gas hose and regulator.
This is an upgrade on the one they sold last year that came with a cylinder and torch. It's supposed to have a larger cooling system than the previous model, and it comes with a built-in spirit level. The claim is for 30 days running on a 9Kg cylinder.

Tip: These things sell fast! The local store only had one in stock for the sale.

What I've found in using it.
Spirit level:
Useless (see the controls photo below). Took a string level with me.
240V:
Did not get below 5.5 degrees (by the thermometer I used) when indoors (20C +-)
12V:
Ran quite happily at 2.2 degrees in the back of the car whilst driving to the camp ground.
It did flatten the 2nd battery overnight (so no low-voltage cutout)
Gas:
A right pain in the to light. Have to kneel down behind it to see the flame. Click-Click-Click-Click-Click followed by several minutes of Click-Click-Click-Click-Click and off it goes.
Did not go out when the breeze came up (surprised me)
Had to turn it off overnight as it started to freeze (the one night we left it running it dropped to around -4, admittedly it was -2.5 that night)
Tie downs:
Didn't use them, but they're attached by 3 screws (rather than rivets) so look sturdy enough.

Overall, we're happy with it (read that as "my wife liked cold wine" )

More here http://www.campertrailers.org/repco_fridge.htm

[peterdeg]

Dug out the photos I used on the old forum

[Pickle]

This fridge still performing for you Peter. Any glitches, how often does it get used etc?
Dave

[peterdeg]

It probably gets used 2 - 4 times a year.
It's still a p.i.t.a. to light and you do have to remember to turn it off at night if it's cold out as it starts to freeze things.

Still happy with it.

[Muzza]

Hi guys I saw it an ALDI specials Dog a log for this week $299 ( 33 litre)
Muzza

[ziggy]

I purchased the Aldi one last week, quite happy with it so far.

Some info

It is actually 45l capacity
The plate says it is Climate class T for tropical, which allegedly means usable to 42Deg C
The instruction book says will cool to 25deg C below ambient.



Tested over the weekend, on the hottest day we have had so far this year
Only on 240 V though, cooling set to max.

Unit in shade in garage , ambient approx 40 degC , maybe one or two less, cup of water in the bottom of unit 5-6degC, thermometer on "freezer tray" at top, approx -2. This was with old 120mm computer fan blowing on heat exchanger , will continue using this fan powered by small 12v battery and a cheap battery charging solar panel.

Quite happy with this performance, will have to wait for Easter for gas tests.

Hope this is informative

Bruce

[AdrianLR]

I purchased the Aldi one last week, quite happy with it so far.

Some info

cut..........

This was with old 120mm computer fan blowing on heat exchanger , will continue using this fan powered by small 12v battery and a cheap battery charging solar panel.

cut..........
Bruce

Bruce,

Try with the fan sucking air out of the top of the vent so that the air flows from the bottom of the fridge to the top. As it's an adsorption type of fridge, the path the coolant takes (and where is recondenses) is very important. If the fan is cooling the whole of the back then it's not ideal. Also, if the fan is too strong then you can end up cooling the heating element. For the same reason, the fridge needs to be level so that the flows are right. Try a few different locations for the fan.

Adrian

[nickw86au]

peterdeg
Topic: Repco 3-way fridge
Posted: 27/April/2006 at 2:44pm

Bought one of the 35L 3-way fridges from Repco before Easter.
$369, included gas hose and regulator.
This is an upgrade on the one they sold last year that came with a cylinder and torch. It's supposed to have a larger cooling system than the previous model, and it comes with a built-in spirit level. The claim is for 30 days running on a 9Kg cylinder.

Tip: These things sell fast! The local store only had one in stock for the sale.

What I've found in using it.
Spirit level:
Useless (see the controls photo below). Took a string level with me.
240V:
Did not get below 5.5 degrees (by the thermometer I used) when indoors (20C +-)
12V:
Ran quite happily at 2.2 degrees in the back of the car whilst driving to the camp ground.
It did flatten the 2nd battery overnight (so no low-voltage cutout)
Gas:
A right pain in the to light. Have to kneel down behind it to see the flame. Click-Click-Click-Click-Click followed by several minutes of Click-Click-Click-Click-Click and off it goes.
Did not go out when the breeze came up (surprised me)
Had to turn it off overnight as it started to freeze (the one night we left it running it dropped to around -4, admittedly it was -2.5 that night)
Tie downs:
Didn't use them, but they're attached by 3 screws (rather than rivets) so look sturdy enough.

Overall, we're happy with it (read that as "my wife liked cold wine" )

More here http://www.campertrailers.org/repco_fridge.htm

Hi,

An oldish thread I know - I noticed on your writeup here that the fridge has an inbuilt fan - would it be possible to run only the fan on 12v whilst running the fridge on gas for increased performance do you think - maybe the fan could be unplugged from the rest of the 12v supply or switched so that you can choose to only run the fan off 12v.

My thought here is that the designers would have put the fan in the best possible place for efficiency (surely...) so it would be better than trying to put in a computer fan???

Just a thought anyways - it is certainly cheaper than the compressor type fridges and if it operate at 4-5* on a 40* day it would be more useful to people than only cooling to 25* below ambient (which would make it useless on anything above a 30* day...)

Cheers


Nick.

[Pete & Mon's NS]

This fridge is on sale again at Repco - $329! ($117 of RRP) and it includes the AC cords, gas hose and Regulator. See page 2 of theor current catalogue

Sounds like Dave has got a good run out of it, so probably not a bad piece of kit.

Peter

[nickw86au]

Hi,

would it be possible to run only the fan on 12v whilst running the fridge on gas for increased performance do you think - maybe the fan could be unplugged from the rest of the 12v supply or switched so that you can choose to only run the fan off 12v.



Cheers


Nick.

Has anyone tried this?

Nick.