Companion Fridge Freezer

Don’t buy a companion fridge – Just simple. Don’t buy a companion fridge. I purchased a 3 year old 72 ltr fridge. Turned out the control panel / screen is broken and no spare parts. 3 years old. What a joke Show details

Tempature only freezes – I bought a 40 litre Champion fridge about 3 years ago as a second fridge . I had an issue when I first used it it frooze everything ,ruined quite s few bottles . I thought it was my issue not understanding the settings .I used it about 6 months later had the same issue .I then put it back in the the shed ...to much drama ,for about 12 months .… Read more

I eventually dragged it out .after re reading the instructions .Yep you guessed it still freeze everything .I will try and get some response from the supplier.

Xero60 fridge – I went to BCF to buy a 50l Waeco but they had none. Needing a fridge quickly I got a Companion Xero60 for the same price!. Then after reading some of the reviews I was worried about power consumption of these fridges. I grabbed a supercheap 7plate $69 battery set the fridge to +5 and ran it! After 28 hrs the battery at rest still read 12.4 and no… Read more ·  2

alarms at startup!. So their not heavey on a battery at all. As for lasting well we will see. Im on full solar and it will run 24/7 ive had a 35l waeco running as a freezer for 2.5 yrs now with no problems.

But if you have a caymen island account then an engel is for you!. When i looked at the price of them it would be cheaper to buy a 240v fridge freezer and silent gen set because a 120 l hisense fridge cranked up lasted 24 hrs on the same $69 battery before the low voltage alarm sounded on startup but still ran fine.

So for a big cheap fridge the worst thing i could say so far is get a good temp probe because I dont think the cabinet temp is totally accurate!

2 - 4 - 1 – Studied a lot of reviews about these fridges, just bought my second one and very happy. Lots of comments about temperature control, temperature difference, comparison to Engel and voltage drop, plenty of ignorance with many of the comments. 1. Voltage Drop - it’s called Ohms Law, if the fridge is drawing 4 amps or so, you will get a small… Read more

voltage drop corresponding to the current times the resistance (E=IxR), ie 4amps x 0.25ohms = 1volt, voltage drop. Nothing to be alarmed about there. Perhaps a slightly better gauge of wire may improve, but no big deal.

2. Compare to Engel - The price of a transit cover for the Engel is one third the price of the Companion, compare the crappy little catches on the Engel and the Seals, against the Companion. The Companion uses domestic fridge quality seals, and heavy duty catches; there is a reason that many retailers carry spare Engel catches.. PS also try cleaning behind the Engel cooling element after a spill, Rest my case!

3.Temperature - Temperature regulation is on par with most home fridges, if you routinely open and close any fridge the air will get warm. The temperature reported is very close to shell temperature, air is a bit warmer, which is to be expected. Leave it shut and temperatures will reach, if you want a bit cooler, turn temperature down as you would with your fridge at home.

4.Value for money - No comparison, Engel is a nice unit but grossly overpriced for what it is. The Companion has 2 years warranty, if something goes wrong it gets fixed or replaced.

In summary, I use one for food, one for drink, both are fit for purpose. Yes build quality could be a bit better, but I think that it is a bit overstate by some people in their reviews.

My share

4 years in and still going strong – Bought from Rays Outdoors for $400 in March 2017. Have used as a camping fridge bi-weekly since and still going strong. Freezes easy, holds temps well. Amp draw high as expected from cheap compressor.  Show details

Perfect kept my iced coffee cold for 5+ years – Has been great for me for the past 5 years of everyday use in my work truck and the poor thing has had a hard hard life. GREAT ALL WEATHER 24/7 Never found bad milk not one day.  Show details

Best Bar fridge/ camping fridge – We bought this Years ago was then turned into a bar fridge then back to a camping fridge. Never had any running issues always super cold only 1 thing i could fault would be the cig sockets connection isnt 100% we have since changed to a Anderson plug and it runs like a dream best purchase over the thousands we could have spent on a bigger named brand no complaints here. Show details

Warranty void if you sell – bought this fridge off someone who had it only 4 months and they paid extra for 5 yr warranty which I thought this is great. I went to claim a warranty issue just after I bought it, LCD screen not working, and after contacting the "Product Service Warranty Co-ordinator" he emailed me stating that their warranty statement says "the warranty is NOT… Read more

transferable to a subsequent customer if the product is sold by the original customer during the warranty period". That stinks! Who does that? Cars, computers air conditioners etc, etc all have their warranty period honoured no matter who owns it and is checked by serial numbers(or VIN number) or purchase docket to see whether still in warranty period. Primus is a dodgy company.

Not working on 12v – Camping in bush no power running solar ,After running on 12v for 4 days of a 6 day trip the temperature went to +21° indactor light said compressor was working, however it was not. Lost all foods and cold drinks. Brought home runs fine on 24v tried to switch back to 12v thinking the hot weather may of played a part on our trip. Same thing happened… Read more

again. Not a reliable product to run unless you have 24v available. Very disappointed. Less than 24 months old. Do not recommend.

Fixed cut out times – Bought this fridge some 18 months back at Rays Outdoors in Bendigo Vic. On special $399. Worked well in the petrol Prado.( had a 12 volt socket in the rear ) Picked up a diesel Patrol with no socket at back. Purchased a 12 volt socket extension online and ran from front to rear of vehicle. Will say car has new heavy duty battery. This was the… Read more

start of the fridge cutting out about every 15 mins at 1 deg. Pull plug out and push back in, it would kick in again for around 15-20 mins.

Ok ill take car to auto elec, they ran a new wire and socket to the rear, that will fix it,or so i thought.

Still cutting out.

Read through this forum and come across someone mentioned Bluetooth. Down loaded app from google, touched the 'model' ( mine ) toggled/ wound down amps to 10.

That was 5 o'clock yesterday. Checked this morning and Finally !! Its still 1 deg.

Primus polar 60lt – Bought this fridge in 2012/13 and it was good, really good, until 2016. Repaired under warranty no problems. Now, about 18 months later, it just stopped. Out if warranty, no worries, I'll pay to have it repaired.... Except there are no parts available to fix the damn thing! Its now unusable and unrepairable.....I e mailed Companion and asked for… Read more

some help, but they say there is nothing they can do.....sorry, go away please is how I felt they helped.....I wouldn't buy another one if their products, as they change so often and don't keep a back log of parts.

Not happy.

Does what it is supposed to – Only just bought fridge/freezer but is working on 240 & 12 v as advertised. Regarding setting 12v input to 10.9 it trips almost straightaway. Using the blue tooth app you can lower it to 10 and runs perfectly. Very pleased so far. Fingers crossed, only time will tell if my $599 was value for money.  Show details

Worked well during warranty period – Purchased at bcf . 60 litre companion xero. Had been used a handful of times and worked very well for 2.5 years. Typical chinese garbage that lasts the warranty period and has leaked gas and have been told its not worth fixing by the manafacurer who says they are widely sold under many names . Companion being what is sold by BCF. BCF should be ashamed to sell this rubbish in their stores. Dont waste your money.  Show details

Some people should not do reviews – At 11volts the battery is chemically flat. The electronics only have to just touch the switch off voltage it will trip,then the voltage will rise once the battery load is removed. A 100 amp battery is really only good for a 2 day usage even though the fridge will continue to operate. ignorance is an awful thing.  Show details

Crappiest fridge on the market – Absolutely useless, my first big adventure and all I do is worry about my food keeping cold. The dame thing has no idea what it's doing. At 11volts it switches of starts beeping and the alarm setting is 10 volts apparently you set alarm to zero but I can't find any info on how to do it. TAKE MY ADVICE DO NOT BUT ONE, unless u want $700 of ur hard earned cash by your dumpster on the road side. This is the first time I used it !!!!  Show details

Chrisp Freash and ready to go – Such a quality fridge here, you know they had spent some time researching the dynamics of the modern fridge. Can not fault this machine. Ever thing is crisp and stays so freash in the fridge. And when getting home from a long day, that cold beer is super chilled and sparking.  Show details

Don't purchase a Companion fridge – Purchased this companion fridge and used it 6 times over a 2 year period. Stoped getting cold so I took it for repair to find out it has a leak and can't be repaired. Told to throw it out. Even the company that does the warranty work for this fridge told me the quality is very poor and not to buy another one. Apparently that fridge has many brand names so BEWARE. DONT BUY COMPANION......  Show details

Great value for money – Bought it over a year ago when it was on sale at BCF and I'm very happy with it. I have been using it non-stop. Either 12v in the car or 240v at home and it hasn't let me down this whole time. The actual build quality isn't fantastic but you pay for what you get. The build quality of an Engel or Waeco would be far superior but they do cost 2 to 3… Read more

times as much. The only real down side is that it seems to be very power hungry when set to 4 degrees or lower.

Has been a solid an dependable fridge – I bought this fridge on sale from bcf ($600) two years ago to use on my yacht. After multiple four to six day trips it's performed really well. It keeps our food and beers cold for the entire trip and cools down to temp in less than 20 minutes. No rust issues, has taken a few tumbles inside for cabin when heeling on the yacht but still goes like a champion! No complaints here, very happy.  Show details

4/4/2017 – First 7 days ran fine. Put it away and went to use it again every thing worked including the compressor light but didnt get cold noticed rust on every thing that was shiny. Now have to take it back. Should of spent more money but thought i wouldnt be using it much as i have 2 bigger fridges different brands. If you want reliability dont buy 1 of these.  Show details

CHEAP PRICEPOINT FRIDGE – I do not have a Companion fridge but I do have a Primus fridge and given that Companion and Primus are the same company you would be forgiven for thinking that the fridge is the same unit. No so. The companion is a price point fridge with a Danstar compressor (this name is clearly a knockoff of the well respected Danfoss name, now owned by the… Read more

Secop company) I am led to believe that Danstar is a Chinese compressor, while the Secop is definitely of German extraction. The box looks the same but the compressor is the heart of the matter and what you are paying your big dollars for. The other significant point of difference is the warranty two years on Companion and three on the Primus. Annoyingly Companion's own website does even list these fridges so I was only able to get specs by calling their office.

Absolute Junk – 1st Fridge DOA, Replacement fridge lasted 11 months, sent away for repair which took 5 weeks, got it back and lasted for 3 hours. Companion Brands service and warranty horrible to deal with. The fridge when it worked was power hungry in comparison to other brands. Build quality not great either, inner bottom lining sealed with silicone, first… Read more

load of drinks in the fridge had this silicone seal separate leaving a gap into the outer casing.

Now replaced with an Engel and never looked back. Yes the Companion is cheap and for those of you that have been issue free I hope it continues that way.

Great for the Price – Have used fridge in car and 240 volt and works fine, I thought an app to run your fridge was useless but I use it when fridge is in car, you can see the temp of fridge on your phone and adjust the temp setting so actually quite useful, we got ours on special at BCF and worked out half the price of a similar well known brands, so far can't fault it  Show details

Awesome fridge – Surprised to see a lot of negative feedback on these I bought a 75l fridge freezer model from BCF. It bounced around the back of my ute for 13000km through the Kimberley and NT.. It hasn't missed a beat and when not travelling I use it as a beer fridge on my deck. Hold temperature better than my Waeco. Top unit.  Show details

dont buy this junk – brand new fridge didnt last one trip. 1st the 12v cord stopped working and had to have it repaired. frige stopped working lost all food after 1000km. bcf and companion were no help and expected me to return it to darwin 1600km . terrible customer service. buy engel or waeco dont buy this rubbish a esky is better than this fridge  Show details

Works great and great after sales service – I use it as a camping fridge and when at home as a drinks fridge at zero degrees I picked this up new on special $600 does not freeze as cold as my Engel 45 but at half the price I am very happy I damaged the control panel on a trip and was able to get new panel for under$50 from the Australian agent in less than a week, great backup  Show details

Disappointing – Bought this due to the price point and the expectation that BCF would want to be promoting reasonable quality products. Returned the first on opening due to shell damage, presumably in shipping as the carton also had some signs of penetration by sharp objects. The second had a misfitting clasp with a stripped screw thread so it couldn't be fitted… Read more

correctly but otherwise functioned OK although showed the same 4° difference that everyone else has commented on. Also, the temperature fluctuated over a 5-6° range while operating under cover in a shaded area which makes it hard to keep the temperature between 0° and 4° which was my target without freezing perishables.

On day 9 of owning it we had a brief power failure and while the fridge switched back on, the temperature was not regulated and the compressor did not operate and so overnight it rose to 14° despite the setting of 0°. The lights and the bluetooth app indicated that the compressor was running but it wasn't. After 10 minutes of changing settings, turning on/off for periods, it started running again as before.

Returned to BCF who wanted me to take it to a repairer but after a bit of discussion about the difference between 7 days (DOA policy) vs 9 for a malfunctioning fridge they agreed to refund my money.

I will be looking at stretching the budget and won't be buying another of these no matter what the price.

worked to expetation – have used it quit a few times, when on fridge/freeze water condensation between the top seals leaked into the light switch shorting it out under the switch, was wondering why batteries were draining power so quickly. had that fixed and sealed properly, now working fine. Fridge temp setting.at.2 to get .4 degrees/and running freezer on… Read more

-12.operating from 210amp deep cycle battery's and 220watt solar panel worked well a month trip with a week of very cloudy weather, never had to use the generator,

Don't buy cheap fridges – Same problems with mine. Screws are rusting everywhere and you can't use it on 12V. We had to put the fridge in the back of the boat with the generator running the fridge from Exmouth. Very stressful when a new fridge doesn't work properly when it's full of fish. I recommend paying the extra money for Waeco or Engel. Don't buy cheap products because they are made from cheap materials and parts. BCF has told me it only has a one year warranty  Show details

Worked ok for a few months, then burnt out – Seems to work well for a few months, in reality have only used it on 10 separate occasions. Now it has burnt out and its on its way back to the store for warranty fix/replacement. The motor is not quite rather noticeable. The remote temp gauge works OK too. I got it for a drastically reduced price but for $600 i still have no fridge/freezer.  Show details

Worked to expectation – Four night trip to Fraser. Ran continuously on an 87 amp hour Deep Cycle battery and 120 watt solar. Fan noise is audible and an initial concern but performed well. Fridge temp does go 1-2 degrees higher than set temp so recommend 1 rather than 4 degrees. Froze 15kgs of fish fillets on 6 hour return trip when set at minus 16.  Show details

Poor Quality Control – I purchased one of these just before Easter. problems intermittent not running/maintaining temp. Exchanged. Next one ok for a while then wouldn't cool on 12v, only on 240v. Exchanged again. This one ok but 12v power cord not soldered correctly and broke. When I pulled it apart it was obviously poor assembly workmanship. $10 repair while out… Read more

camping. Had it running at a set temp of -8c but even so it didn't keep the food right on top frozen despite the temp monitor saying it was at -10 inside. At the displayed temp it kept my beer nice and cold on top and the meat frozen on the bottom. I changed the set temp to -5c and left the fridge unopened for 24 hours. At the end of 24 hours only one packet of chicken thighs was still frozen and the cooler bricks at the very bottom, everything else had thawed.

If it dies again, I'll ask for a refund and buy either a Waeco or Engel.