WAECO CoolFreeze CDF-18 9105100002 Portable Cool Box

Bought five years ago for use on road trips. Fridge is still going strong despite infrequent use. It’s quiet and keeps its cool.Only remarks 1) the fridge requires switching to “low voltage” mode on the mains since most 12v chargers don’t give out enough voltage. 2) we once had issue that fridge not getting cold. We were able to “restore” by keeping plugged in for 24 hours we suspect the coolant.Overall it’s been a great investment, we don’t use as much as could eg for weekly shops, because the fridge is necessarily bulky.The fridge maintains down to -16c which is great advantage over cool boxes and cool bags, why we bought it really. We also bought a mains adaptor and leads to connect directly to a spare car battery. Overall an investment but made car trips and picnics so much more pleasant.

I ordered this as an alternative to the 3-way fridge fitted into my campervan which normally runs on butane or propane while camping (I don't use sites or EHU). However, the 3.9kg bottles are very uneconomic to run and this size of bottle can be harder to source in some areas.This CDF 16 compressor coolbox is vastly superior. It uses 8-12Ah per 24 hours in real world use maintaining an internal temperature of 1-2°C in an ambient daytime temperature of 18°C. At night when the temperature falls to about 12°C it only kicks in once or twice to run quietly for 7-10 minutes. Standing it on a rubber mat, or even sheets of kitchen roll, reduce any vibration from the already-low running noise and keep it low enough to sleep through even in a car-conversion micro-campervan.It cools rapidly and during the 2018 heatwave dropped from an internal temperature of 28°C to -4°C in 30 minutes/12 miles which the 3-way fridge could never hope to match and would normally take an overnight on EHU to reach freezing point. Performance simply cannot be beaten and it will run for 3 days old a 5-year old 125Ah battery which is long past its best. On a new battery it may last longer. Although I use it mostly as a fridge, it will also function as a freezer and reach -18°C. However, in warmer temperatures, the compressor runs frequently and is in greater danger of depleting a leisure battery so either two batteries would be needed for more than 24 hours use, or supplement with a solar panel. Via a transformer (not supplied) it will also operate from a mains 240V power supply.Two 1-litre bottles can be stood upright with sufficient capacity to carry cold meats, chocolate and other camping essentials for a week and the smaller compartment is ideal for carrying punnets of strawberries.My only niggles are that the LED temperature readout isn't fully accurate so I use a Salter fridge/freezer thermometer inside. The shape is also awkward to secure in a car or van: in the absence of any loops or mouldings and with its curved top which is raised in the centre, it is difficult to strap it into place. I used two ratchet straps across the top held together via a Velcro strap to ensure they don't slip down the ends. However, these niggles are minor and cannot detract from its very worthy 5-star rating. Excellent.

This is a wonderful device which actually works as a fridge/freezer, unlike the much cheaper Peltier cool-boxes.Its small enough to fit under the table of the motorhome when on the road and fits between the seats in the Fiat Ducato Cab when parked up. Appears to be very efficient on power even when set to very low temperatures.As to longevity, we'll have to see, but for the moment, highly recommended. Certainbly worth the extra money.

This is a wonderful fridge, way better than a camping cooler box. Admittedly, it took some convincing that this is worth the ridiculous cost. It's a game changer when camping in France for example. It means that you can safely keep food at fridge temperatures even on the hottest days. It worked well even during a heatwave when temperatures reached 45C. In comparison, the Peltier cooler box failed dismally: not surprisingly as it only maintains a temperature at about 15C below ambient. So this fridge means no more daily trips to the supermarket and no problems when they're shut on Sundays and holidays.The 21 litre capacity looks small but we managed with a family of 4. Plenty of room for the all important wine and beers! It draws about 4.5A at 12V but once it reaches temperature it draws virtually nothing. Left alone it then switches on for about 1/3 or 1/2 the time. It's important to remember that there's only 50W of cooling so it needs to be treated with consideration and given undisturbed time to do its thing.It cools well but I've had to set it to 0C (and it really does freeze at the bottom). I don't know where its thermometer is but it reads 0C when the main body is at 5C or more. That's to be expected I suppose as the cooling is at the bottom and there's no forced circulation. The top shelf is typically at 12C.It works very well from the car electrics. The 3 level battery protection is excellent. I set it to high, so that it's only runs when the engine's running. I had problems running it off the mains via a 12V converter. It kept switching off in France even though it worked OK in the uk. Just switched off and sulks. Tried a different PSU with the same effect. Reconnecting got some life but then would switch off again. Maybe the French camp mains is a bit low? Decided to return to Amazon, it's too much to pay for the risk of the fault getting worse.After further research I think I know what the problem is. Both my mains adaptors are rated at 6A, easily enough to supply the 4.5A required by this fridge one would think. But these are un-stabalised supplies and its voltage fall from 13.8V no-load to 12V at the fridge current. This must have triggered the battery protection system when the local mains supply voltage is a bit low in the campsite. So if you're powering of a mains PSU, I recommend getting a more powerful one (possibly the 10A one in Amazon but I haven't tested this). A stabilised PSU is not a solution either for me, unless it supples 13.5V to match the car voltage.The only other irritation is that the lid hinges away from the front, making it awkward in the boot. The solution is to turn it the wrong way round but the controls are then out of reach. Also the lid comes off and is difficult to reconnect in the tight boot. It's quiet enough when running, acceptable in the tent for example.I'm going to replace the one I returned but I'm waiting for Amazon to stock the newer version CF26 model, which has its own mains converter.