12 volt coleman coolers ?

[jwhite]

I am planning to buy one of these and wonder if anyone has used one?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/allReviews.do?product_id=4810828
Last year instead buying the 12 volt cooler I bought a nice ice chest that claims that ice would last for 5 days?
it works ok but I think that the 12 volt cooler would be better.
I am thinking that I may start my trips with the ice chest and after a few days and the ice is almost gone I would switch over to the 12 volt cooler instead of haveing to buy more ice>
I guess my main question is how long they will run off 1 - 12volt deep cycle battery?
I am thinking of buying a new deep cycle battery just for the cooler?
I also have the honda generator so I could switch from 12volt battery to electric when it's running.

[ParTaxer]

I bought one of these in a trip out west. Same reason; couldn't keep up with the ice. You cannot put ice in them. My remedy for this was frozen milk jugs filled with water. No thermostat: good for Fall, Winter & Spring seasons. Hot Summers can really push it to the limits. Hope this helps!

Mike W

[bdosborn]

According to the manual, a 140AH battery will last 18 hours. A 140AH battery is pretty big for a single battery so I suspect you'll be disappointed with the run time. Also, it only goes 40 degrees below ambient which means it will be 50 degrees in your cooler when its 90 outside. That's too warm to safely keep food. Do a forum search on thermoelectric coolers, they've been discussed a lot and no one says anything good about them.

Bruce

[Engineer Guy]

Bruce's Math above is impeccable, as always. I read only the Product Reviews; not the Forum opinions. I used a TEC w/a Deep Cycle Battery while building a House [Brand not recalled this second, but it wasn't a Coleman]. It worked fine for what they are. The cooling capacity depends on the size of the TEC Module and the outer wall Insulation. So long as you keep the TEC Vent clear, you could make an extra, outer Insulation 'box' of Poly Iso rigid Insulation, or something similar to improve performance.

If you go the Coleman TEC route, I'd propose a hybrid solution. I used to freeze things like Meat and put a few pieces in the Cooler, stored in double seal Zip Lok Bags. They'd thaw gradually while keeping the Cooler 'cooler' during the problematic Summer season, and I had only to do a lil Meal planning. Another standard tip is to put in only pre-cooled Pop and other items since the cooling capacity is not great enough to lower Food temps quickly and safely.

One of the Walmart Reviews mentioned making Ice in Bottles, and that's what I did. Or, to save space, you could make Ice in a Tupperware-style of sealed plastic 'Brownie' Box. This would lower internal Cooler temp as well while taking up the least space w/o water leakage. Ice lasts much longer in a TEC.

The Battery drawdown is what it is. You'd have to run a Genny, or a Solar Panel, to stretch Cooler operating time, depending on your Camping time.

I use several Radio Shack Indoor/Outdoor Temp Gauges for various applications. The outdoor Probe can go in the Cooler and provide hard data about Food temps, instead of guessing.

How TECs Work

[jwhite]

I had thought about building a insulated box around the ice chest I have now,I have some short pieces of paneling I used on the trailer that would make a nice matching finish and would also be used as a table with wheels on it.
My only thought was I would have to bail out most of the water before I could lift it out to drain? but that's not a big deal.
I wasn't sure if building a insulated box if would make that much of a difference in how long the ice would last?
How much insulation do you think would be enough 1 inch or 2 inches all around?
I think that on my next trip in a month from now I will buy another ice chest and keep the food in one with some frozen water bottles and only open it when I cook dinner or have lunch.
I would use the other one for drinks because I think that's what was causeing the ice to not last as long=because I was going in it alot for something cold to drink.
I guess the 12 volt cooler would only come in handy if it was pluged into the car and was running while you drive and then plugged in to ac power?

[pete42]

I have one of the older models that I bought at the coleman outlet in tenn.

It has worked for years I have used it alone in my truck to carry snacks and soft drinks, also used it in my pop-up, and lastly in my scamp.

it works very well I too start out with some frozen bottles of water and a gallon jug of water it helps the cooler

but I have used it without the frozen jugs and it did a great job.

I even took it out west from Ohio and it kept everything nice and cool

it does draw a lot of electricity and not wanting to run my truck battery down I always unplugged it when we stopped.

Reason I hated buying ice every other day.

[BC Dave]

I purchased a coleman 12V plus in a couple of seasons ago, with some scepticism; they work better with a frozed jug of ice in a container (I use a 2 L juce container) and freeze juice I take with also; then start with cool items such as beer; pop; frozen cheese and meats etc. When traveling I keep it plugged in; when stopped i plug it in for 1/2 hour at meal times to remove heat from the cooler; I do not keep it plugged in continuously ... it would drain a battery quickly; nor do I think there were designed to be working continously. They are better insulated that standard coolers;2L ice in the heat of the summer lasts 4 days ... not bad ... I also am contious of where I store the cooler; ie in the shady cool spots; not inside hot vehicles ... Im happy with it but it does use lots of 12V power so i plug in sparingly; and yes the 40 degree differential is about right; so in hot weather you need to suppliment with ice in a container.

oh and I keep it ice box style not upright where the cold air would drain out every time it was opened ...

my 2 cents of experiance ... from camping in the Cariboo

[Shadow Catcher]

I picked up a gently use Waeco refrigerator/freezer for 300$ on ebay 12VDC 120AC and it works great and uses very little power.
As an alternative for an insulation box consider an http://www.astrofoil.net jacket. the performance on this stuff is very impressive. I did a test using a thermocouple and heat source and two layers of the stuff cut heat loss by 50%. I will be making a jacket for our Waeco with this.