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Fridges


Danny and Sue

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I know this gets asked a bit on forums but what brand of fridge would we all get if we were getting a new off road van built??We have the vitro now & it works well..recommended one to a mate & it's a failure .he has had 2 & still not happy as they won't even keep bread frozen.

Regards Danny

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We had the Vitrofrigo in our last Kedron, and although we didn't have any problems without, we know many others who did.

With our new van, Kedron have fitted it with a Waeco, and we are more than happy with it. It is slightly smaller than the Vitrofrigo, but that does not bother us at all. The compressor for the Waeco is at the top, so this means it only needs one outside vent. This obviously reduces dust into the van as the vent is placed quite high.

If we had to choose between the two, we would pick the Waeco. (I think it is a 210 model).

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Hello,

The different experiences of diferent people is interesting isn't it? For some reson my new TE, three and a half years ago, came with a Waeco. It was a dud. Our shakedown trip was Brissy - Windorah - Adels Grove Lawn Hill - Normanton- Kurumba - and home in Cairns. The Waeco did not work for the whole trip! KEDRON tried to help as best they could via the phone. Their recommended service agent in Cairns couldn't fix it. At a convenient time I took the van back to Kedron and in a flash they ripped out the Waeco and installed a Vitrofrigo. It has not missed a beat in three years and I live in the tropics!

It might be belt and braces stuff but in my Landcruiser I have two 40L portable fridges. One is an Engel and the other is a Waeco. Both work like a treat! Maybe none of my fridges, except the first one, were built on a Friday or Monday.

Colin

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Hi

If any fridge is not doing the right thing, then its worth checking the capacity (?) of the wireing from the battery. Our fridge used to go into palpitations at 12.6v and not keep anything cold. We worked out that the wireing from the batteries (or any power source) was inadequate to the fridge. Seems to be normal for any caravan. We upgraded to a direct connection (with much greater grunt) (bigger wires ) from the batteries to the fridge. Now the fridge still works at 11.2v. Cheers

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  • 1 year later...

I don't have first-hand experience with the Waeco but understand from other owners that there have been a number of problems reported lately that have been traced to incorrect setup of the units for Australian conditions at the (Waeco) factory. I'm told Kedron is now on top of the issue. They should be able to advise whether this may be the cause of your problem and if so, how to rectify it

Suggest you give Tom or Ashley a call for the latest info. Again, I really don't know anything about the Waeco, just passing on what I've been told. We have the Vitro in our 3.5 year-old TE and have not had any problems. Like Colin's, ours has worked perfectly maintaining proper temperatures in all conditions.

Regards, Andrew

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Hi Danny

We had a vitrofrigo in our first Kedron ATV for two; the door fell off as a result of a broken hinge, then the compressor failed. The fridge was then replaced with another, this time the thermostat failed and then the compressor failed in the new one. Our latest Kedron has a Waeco, and we're very happy with its performance.

Cheers

Pete

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Another vote for Waeco. No doubt there are good and bad in all brands but from what I have read about the various fridges that are now in vans I don't think you could go past the current Waeco.

Cheers

Merv

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While we have had two Vitrifrigos in our vans, and are more than happy with them (although we too had a hinge fail, but Val welded that so successfully the little sucker is like kryptonite now) but we have been told that the brand is not what it used to be. Apparently the compressors are now made in china and not Germany as perviously. This may or may not be accurate but it is what I have read on other forums. There has to be a good reason for Kedron changing to Waeco.

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Hi Danny

We have a T/E and it is fitted with 2 engels one on top of each other , no outside vents, the van is 3 years old and to date no problems, we ofteN shut one down if not needed.

Another point is if one breaks down we still have a fridge.

Regards

Reece

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Danny,

I can report on recent problems with a new Waeco 215 litre compressor fridge - we are the owners that Andrew referred to in his reply.

We picked up our new XC3 in late March and immediately had problems with the fridge - it wasn't getting cold enough on the coldest setting, in mild weather. The freezer was fine, but the fridge wasn't cold enough - only getting down to about 6 degrees overnight.

We spoke to Tom at Kedron, who checked that it had been properly installed and wired. Tom then had the fridge replaced with a new one, but alas it was no better.

Both Tom and I then contacted Dometic individually. We took our van to the Dometic factory at the Gold Coast and they did some small modifications to improve its performance. This didn't help either. Dometic then changed the electronic control unit and the thermostat, and this didn't help either.

Similar problems were also reported by other Kedron owners who picked up new vans at about the same time.

After extensive testing by Dometic and Kedron, and consultation with the manufacturing branch of Dometic, it turned out that the fridge had an offset adjustment built into the electronic control system that no one in Australia knew about - and it was set at too high a temperature.

This adjustment allows the compressor cut in temperature to be adjusted, depending on whether the fridge was being used in a hot or cold climate. In our case, and possibly for the other fridges in the same batch, the setting was set too high ie for a colder climate.

Dometic sent an agent to our place and adjusted the setting just before Easter. We used the fridge over the Easter weekend and it was definitely working colder than before. However the ambient temperature was a lot cooler so it was not a comparable test.

We think they have fixed the problem but won't really know until we are in warmer weather which won't be for some months.

All up we spent about 2 weeks getting the fridge sorted out, including taking the van back to Kedron twice, once to Dometic, and with two visits from Dometic staff/agents to make adjustments.

Would I buy another Dometic fridge - I think I would since it does now appear to be working properly, Kedron believe that it is the best fridge for their vans, and both Kedron and Dometic have worked closely with us to fix the problem and have committed to making sure we have a fridge that works well.

Also Kedron have advised that they improved their quality control system to make sure that the fridges are extensively tested before new vans are released to customers.

Regards,

Bob and Janine

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Danny,

Rod Priestley made a very relevant comment above. I have never checked the cabling in my van because I would expect Kedron, being who they are to do it properly. The dramas I had were with the fridge in my Land Rover. I learnt the hard way that not only should you use heavy cable but the size of that cable needs to increase according to its length.The distance between my fridge and its battery is about 3 metres and I have used 8 gauge cable (rated at 60 amps). I dont know if this is overkill but now at long last the fridge works!

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