Thermoelectric coolers ?

[ija]

I just returned from a camping trip during which I used for the first time a
Coleman 40 quart thermoelectric cooler. I was disappointed in it's
performance. At around 80 to 85 degrees outside temperature the internal
cooer temperature hovered around 50 degrees. The manufacturer states that
this cooler will maintain an internal temperature that is 42 degrees below
the outside ambient temperature. My experience was that it only maintained
about 30 to 35 degrees below the outside ambient temperature. I returned it.
But I'm wondering, maybe the one I got was defective or perhaps other brands
work better. Anyone got any experience and/or suggestions for these types of
coolers ?

Ian

[Sirion]

What you experienced is about the performance from these type of units you
can expect.

--

"ija" <i...@110.net> wrote in message
news:tn3burd...@corp.supernews.com...

[BJW]

Thanks for the info, I almost bought one last night at Walmart (leaving for
Niagara Falls on Friday).
My shopping cart was already loaded though, so I figured, next trip I'll get
it. Now I don't think I will.
Thermocouple cooling is a real neat idea and has been around for a long
time.
When designed and used properly, it really can work well.
Maybe Coleman just didn't do a good job with this one.
It doesn't surprise me too much though, I've been disappointed with some of
their other products in the past.

Advice: get your money back and complain to Coleman.
--
Bern Wag
1995 Jayco 1206K, 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 (keeps on a-truckin')

[BitHead]

No, that's about right.
I've found, though that some frozen blue ice will last several days in
the thing. Helps no end.

[HpyKampers]

I use a dorm size fridge with a a dc to ac converter. Works great for me.

REMOVE SPAMFREE TO SEND EMAIL
Rich & Lloyd
'98 Flagstaff-824D
'01 S 10 4X4 ext cab
'01 XTerra
Best Sports City in America (St. Loius, MO 63111)
www.RainbowRV.com
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/rainbowrvrsmidwest

[Pam]

>Anyone got any experience and/or suggestions for these types of
>coolers ?

ian -

was suprised to hear of your experience & that is was confirmed by others. we
use one every time we camp - works very well, every thing stays cool & fresh.

we do pre-cool most items & are carefull to keep the temp in the camper down
low enough for it to function properly. had a dorm fridge - didn't want to
build it in & too big to handle. much prefer the electric cooler.

different strokes for different folks, i guess.

pam
mom to threebeachboys

[tat-2]

performance is about what you got..

More important is Power consumption, like 82-96Ah a day!!! Ouch! This WILL
KILL your battery.

Ed

"ija" <i...@110.net> wrote in message
news:tn3burd...@corp.supernews.com...

[Neener29]

Ian, We bought exactly the same unit you had, used it for the first time this
week and loved it! We kept it inside the camper in the air and it did great.
I didn't check the temp of it but can tell you it kept our drinks and food very
cold. We were very impressed with it. I did cool everything at home first,
maybe that made a difference. You might try again. I was a little concerned
about putting all that money into a "cooler" but I am so glad we did.

Tina
By the way, we drove about two hours to the campground in an un-air-conditioned
van in about 95 degree weather and didn't realise until we got there that the
plug we had it in wasn't working, everything stayed very well.

[ija]

What is the wattage rating of the DC to AC inverter that you use ?
Are you able to use this set up for extended trips without draining the
battery.
Are you able to leave it running or an hour or two without the engine
running and have no problems starting your vehicle ?

HpyKampers <hpyka...@aol.comSPAMFREE> wrote in message
news:20010808211338...@mb-mq.aol.com...

[Jguy57]

I've used my Coleman thermoelectric cooler for several years. I think it has
paid for itself by now because of all the money I have saved on ice.

I find it important to chill the thing down the night before the trip. Also,
the cooler is good at keeping things cold but poor at cooling things down. I
have found that it stays 40 degrees below ambient temp. keeping the above in
mind. It helps to keep the cooler in the shade.

By the way, I can run the cooler on my deep cycle battery for 18 hours.

I hope this helped.

Jguy

[Terri McFetridge]

We have the Igloo brand cooler. I plug it in at home the day before a trip and
then load it with prechilled items and also frozen items. we use ours basically
for transporting food to and from the campground, then transfer to the camper
fridge. However, over Memorial Day weekend we kept it in the camper and used it
because we brought too much stuff and the fridge was overflowing. have not had
a problem with it keeping things cold. We even forgot to plug it in one time
for the trip home and items were still cold when we got home. I always hated
having to put meat in ziploc bags to keep it from being waterlogged when we
used the ice coolers to transport. If we are going for just a weekend, whatever
i pack in the cooler seems to be just the right amount for the fridge to hold.

Happy Camping!
Terry, Terri and Adam McFetridge
New Whiteland Indiana
99 Damon Camplite 2408
89 Dodge Ram

[Oz 'n Us]

Our Coleman PowerChill works just fine ... wouldn't be without it, either in
the van or the camper ... sure beats going to the store time and again for
ice. However, the key is that ours is normally operating in an air
conditioned environment ... if you expect to sit it outside in 90F heat then
no doubt you'll be disappointed.

Bill in Ontario
2000 Santa Fe

"BJW" <bjohn...@spam.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Vjlc7.85268$EP6.20...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...

[BJW]

makes sense, perhaps I should reconsider. : )

"Oz 'n Us" <gum...@interlynx.net> wrote in message
news:9ku5mh$1kb$1...@news1.mountaincable.net...

[Oz 'n Us]

I don't bother unplugging our Coleman PowerChill from the van's 12v supply
unless we're going to be away for several hours ... if it's just a lunch or
gas stop, for up to a couple of hours, I just leave it plugged in ... no
problem at all. Last year, while in Gettysburg with the temps in the high
80s, I unplugged it while we walked around the battlefield ... when we
returned a couple hours later, the sandwiches and drinks were still nice and
cold. Next year, I plan on building a Reflectix cover for the cooler to
protect it from the sun coming into the van, so it should work even better.

Bill in Ontario
2000 Santa Fe

"ija" <i...@110.net> wrote in message
news:tn40tt2...@corp.supernews.com...

[BJW]

I think we are mixing conversations between power consumption for a dorm
type box (120 VAC, using inverter) and the power consumption for a
Thermoelectric cooler.
Bern

"Oz 'n Us" <gum...@interlynx.net> wrote in message

news:9ku63e$1qo$1...@news1.mountaincable.net...

[ija]

Indeed. HpyKmpers stated that use of a dorm fridge with an inverter worked
great for them. This sounds appealing to me. I believe it will cool better
tahn a thermoelectric cooler but I am concerned about the power consumption.
Anyone done any research on this to determine the power consumption of one
vs. the other ?
Ian

BJW <bjohn...@spam.hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:yaxc7.87365$EP6.21...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...

[BJW]

I'm looking at my son's dorm box (he goes back in 2 weeks!).
Anyway, it's uses a conventional reciprocating 1/25 hp compressor; the
Running watts = 80.
For a 120 VAC circuit this would be about .75 amps with a little thrown in
for efficiency losses.
The 12 VDC circuit would consume around 7 amps to produce the same wattage
(Watts = Volts X Amps).
Again, these numbers are rough estimates.
So one hour of running a dorm box would consume at least 7 Amp/hours from
your battery.
Throw in a bit more for power losses, say 8 or 9 amp/hours for every hour of
run time.
Naturally, once cooled a good box with good gaskets and a good policy of "no
browsing in the 'fridge' won't run constantly.
You can do the math on your own battery, but I'm guessing a single battery
won't make it through a whole day without recharging.

I don't have any specs on the thermocouple units, but I'm pretty sure they
would draw less. If I find out, I'll post.
Bern

"ija" <i...@110.net> wrote in message

news:tn58f3c...@corp.supernews.com...

[ija]

I have a "dorm fridge" that is rated for 1.2 amps. 120V x 1.2A = 144Watts.
So. I purchased a 400Watt (800 peak) inverter at Target. But, The thing
won't handle the load. The overload light flashes when I plug the fridge in.
Now, the fridge naturally has a compressor which is an inductive load. The
manual for the inverter states that inductive loads can draw 2 to 6 times
their rating on startup. That's as much as 144Watts x 6 = 864 watts worst
case. Yikes ! Guess I'll try the 700 Watt inverter. HpyKampers are you out
there ? What wattage inverter are you using ?

Ian

BJW <bjohn...@spam.hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:5Exc7.87550$EP6.21...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...

[BJW]

hehe, ya mean ya didn't get the kick start model?? LOL

"ija" <i...@110.net> wrote in message

news:tn5mno2...@corp.supernews.com...

[ija]

I got the 700 Watt inverter and it works fine. So, anyone out there
contemplating using this type of set up, remember to take into account the
startup current of anywhere from 2 to 6 times the rated current. Startup
current is typically not listed in the specs but my experience indicates
that a 700Watt inverter will probably be fine for most "dorm style" fridges.
Even though the steady state wattage of these boxes is only in the range of
80 to 150Watts, the 400 watt inverter won't cut it due to the startup
current requirements.

BJW <bjohn...@spam.hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:aZAc7.87902$EP6.21...@news1.rdc2.pa.home.com...

[BitHead]

On Thu, 9 Aug 2001 10:19:28 -0700, "Oz 'n Us" <gum...@interlynx.net>
wrote:

>I don't bother unplugging our Coleman PowerChill from the van's 12v supply
>unless we're going to be away for several hours ... if it's just a lunch or
>gas stop, for up to a couple of hours, I just leave it plugged in ... no
>problem at all. Last year, while in Gettysburg with the temps in the high
>80s, I unplugged it while we walked around the battlefield ... when we
>returned a couple hours later, the sandwiches and drinks were still nice and
>cold. Next year, I plan on building a Reflectix cover for the cooler to
>protect it from the sun coming into the van, so it should work even better.

We find our battery will last around 5 hours with the thing running.
Our cooler came with a 12v-110v converter. Also, I ahve the truck
wired for 110v. So, when we're at the site, I plug in.
Also, when we're at home, the night before leaving, I plug in, at
least 12 hours in advance of going to 12v.

Finally, I use blue ice to quick-chill the thing. My meats and such
are all frozen and generally will stay this way for days.

Finally, a tip: We take a few bottles that you buy sport drinks in, or
perhaps a bottled water with a squirt top... one for each family
member. We freeze these before leaving. Then, we pop them in the
cooler, when we leave, and put them next to the frozen stuff. When
they melt, you've got chilled water to drink. Usually this is a couple
days out, at least.

Usually, we have a half-dozen frozen water bottles in teh downstairs
freezer on hand, so we can pop them in the power cooler on short
notice... Short notice being how most of our weekend trips seem to be
arranged.

And of course this helps to keep the cooler, and the food cool.
A little planning with the power cooler, helps loads... and makes the
thing the best camping investment I've made since we bought our
little Viking. We figure we've saved at least the $90 it cost us in
ice and food alone.