Most gear like this gets drawn in one country, tooled in another and shipped in a container to whoever puts their sticker on it. The Tinnie Tamer doesn't. It gets made about as close to home as we can get it, by a fabrication shop we can drive to.
Here's how it actually gets built, and who builds it.
The problem came first
Loose cans in a 12V fridge are a nuisance and a mess. They roll on the corrugations, shake themselves up, and fall out at your feet when you open the door. In an esky they end up sitting in melt water with the day's catch.
We wanted a tray that locked every can in its own spot, stacked when you needed more, and didn't insulate the drinks it was holding. Nothing on the shelf did all three. So we built one.
Who builds it: BTA Industries, Hull Heads
BTA Industries are metal fabricators based at Hull Heads, between Tully and Cardwell in Far North Queensland. Their day job runs across marine work, trailers, 4WD fitouts, structural steel and safety platforms, servicing Tully, Cardwell, Innisfail, Cairns and Townsville.
That mix matters. A shop that builds boat fitouts and trailer frames for a living already knows what salt, heat and a corrugated road do to aluminium. They cut, fold and weld every Tinnie Tamer tray. The Tinnie Tamer is a joint build between us and BTA, start to finish, and both names are on it.
Why 3mm aluminium and not plastic
Plastic would be cheaper and easier. It would also be worse at the one job the tray has to do.
Aluminium conducts heat. Plastic insulates. A plastic tray wraps every can in a jacket that slows cooling down; an aluminium tray pulls heat out of the cans and hands it to the cold air around them. The tray also spaces the cans apart so air moves between, over and under each one instead of stalling in a solid block of tinnies.
Faster, more even cooling means less time with the door open and less work for the compressor to catch up. On a battery setup, that's runtime you keep. If you want to see what that's worth in hours, run your setup through our fridge runtime calculator.
3mm is the gauge that survives being stood on, dropped and loaded without deforming. Thinner would flex. Thicker would be dead weight.
Why a water-based powder coat
Bare aluminium marks, and a solvent-based finish is harsher to apply and to be around. The trays get a durable water-based powder coat: tougher than paint, better for the people spraying it, and it holds up to wet hands, ice and the inside of an esky.
The numbers
- Capacity: 15 standard 375ml cans per tray, 30 with two trays stacked
- Tray size: 345mm (L) x 220mm (W) x 55mm (H)
- Material: 3mm aluminium
- Finish: water-based powder coat
- Made: Far North Queensland, by BTA Industries and ZED Supplies
Why we name our partners
Plenty of brands say "Australian made" and leave it there, because a vague claim is harder to check than a specific one. We'd rather name the shop. BTA fabricate the trays. CoolDrive supply the genuine Anderson plugs and Omron relays that go into our adapters. You can see the full list on our About Us page.
If a claim can't survive being specific, it probably shouldn't be made. No shortcuts. No "near enough".
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Tinnie Tamer made?
Far North Queensland. The trays are cut, folded and welded by BTA Industries at Hull Heads, between Tully and Cardwell, and the product was designed jointly by BTA Industries and ZED Supplies.
What is the Tinnie Tamer made of?
3mm aluminium with a durable water-based powder coat. Aluminium is used deliberately because it conducts heat away from the cans, where plastic would insulate them.
How many cans does one tray hold?
15 standard 375ml cans per tray, or 30 when you stack two trays. The cans interlock between layers so a double stack won't shift on rough tracks.
Will it fit my fridge or esky?
Each tray is 345mm x 220mm x 55mm. It's optimised for Engel fridges and fits most upright fridges, chest fridges, fridge drawers and eskies. Measure your internal dimensions before ordering to be sure.
Does a can tray really help my fridge run longer?
It helps in two ways: the cans cool faster and more evenly because air can move around each one, and you spend less time with the door open hunting for a drink. Both reduce how hard the compressor has to work.
Who are BTA Industries?
A metal fabrication business at Hull Heads in Far North Queensland, working across marine, trailers, automotive and 4WD, structural steel and safety platforms. They fabricate every Tinnie Tamer tray.