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Hey gang,
We built a double-thick polystyrene cooler a couple weeks ago based on a wild idea over a couple glasses of something or other. In fact, we used it in ~+30C weather for 3 nights, 4 days. A warm bottle of wine took a touch less than 15 minutes to cool down to *ice cold*.
Professional design attached
Our internal measurements are 18” high, 16” deep, 30” wide
*add 8 inches (4 inch walls on each side) for the external dimensions. YUP it's big, but it stays at a rural property.
STUFF YOU NEED:
a) 3 sheets of 4x8 Durofoam at ~$32 each (Home Depot). We used approximately 2.5 of them.
Note that these are actually 1-15/16" thick; verify dimensions of your product as you design/build.
b) Lots of aluminum tape for temporary/minor abrasions to the foam if you are not immediately building a cover
c) Recently sharpened non-serrated knife with a thin blade (at least 6 inches makes it a bit easier) – if you have a hot wire cutter or
similar, I’d suggest using that!!
d) 2 tubes of silicone (100%) and a caulking gun
A couple notes before you start your own design:
This does not take into account the prototype phase to ensure everything will fit inside (and that it will fit in your vehicle).
As polystyrene is not very strong on its own, ensure that you overlap the various joints to make it ‘stronger’ (see pic).
Measure your ‘cooling solution’. For us we thought it might work well with a frozen 5 gal/20L water container (e.g. Reliant or similar brand) – ours measures about 10.5” x 12” x 15.5” (spout in) 17” (spout out).
When you freeze it, keep in mind the following:
a. leave enough room for the water to expand; and,
b. The spout may be frozen in the ice for multiple days, even if it is super hot out.
That's it! Let's get started on the real stuff.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Liberally apply silicone between panels A,B,C,D and I only where the red and green squiggles are, remembering that you will have to press them together to bond them (i.e. don’t add tooooo much, but don’t be stingy either).
2. Once you are happy with the ‘shape’ of your initial box, use some sort of rope or ratchet strap to hold it together for about 20 minutes (depending on set time of the silicone)
-Remember that all side panels (A,B,C,D in this case) need to be flush at the top to allow the lid to sit on it to give a good ‘seal’.
3. Once it has set, release the strap, and add in E,F,G,H, and J. This time, not only will you put silicone on the edges, but also between the flat panels.
4. The inner portion of the lid will fit in the open portion of your new cooler. It is essential that it sits into the hole so that the outer portion of the lid fits flush with the sides (refer to step 2).
5. As this is polystyrene, it is flammable without protection. You will need to make an external cover for more permanent protection (wood, metal, etc).
More pics to come.
We built a double-thick polystyrene cooler a couple weeks ago based on a wild idea over a couple glasses of something or other. In fact, we used it in ~+30C weather for 3 nights, 4 days. A warm bottle of wine took a touch less than 15 minutes to cool down to *ice cold*.
Professional design attached
Our internal measurements are 18” high, 16” deep, 30” wide
*add 8 inches (4 inch walls on each side) for the external dimensions. YUP it's big, but it stays at a rural property.
STUFF YOU NEED:
a) 3 sheets of 4x8 Durofoam at ~$32 each (Home Depot). We used approximately 2.5 of them.
Note that these are actually 1-15/16" thick; verify dimensions of your product as you design/build.
b) Lots of aluminum tape for temporary/minor abrasions to the foam if you are not immediately building a cover
c) Recently sharpened non-serrated knife with a thin blade (at least 6 inches makes it a bit easier) – if you have a hot wire cutter or
similar, I’d suggest using that!!
d) 2 tubes of silicone (100%) and a caulking gun
A couple notes before you start your own design:
This does not take into account the prototype phase to ensure everything will fit inside (and that it will fit in your vehicle).
As polystyrene is not very strong on its own, ensure that you overlap the various joints to make it ‘stronger’ (see pic).
Measure your ‘cooling solution’. For us we thought it might work well with a frozen 5 gal/20L water container (e.g. Reliant or similar brand) – ours measures about 10.5” x 12” x 15.5” (spout in) 17” (spout out).
When you freeze it, keep in mind the following:
a. leave enough room for the water to expand; and,
b. The spout may be frozen in the ice for multiple days, even if it is super hot out.
That's it! Let's get started on the real stuff.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Liberally apply silicone between panels A,B,C,D and I only where the red and green squiggles are, remembering that you will have to press them together to bond them (i.e. don’t add tooooo much, but don’t be stingy either).
2. Once you are happy with the ‘shape’ of your initial box, use some sort of rope or ratchet strap to hold it together for about 20 minutes (depending on set time of the silicone)
-Remember that all side panels (A,B,C,D in this case) need to be flush at the top to allow the lid to sit on it to give a good ‘seal’.
3. Once it has set, release the strap, and add in E,F,G,H, and J. This time, not only will you put silicone on the edges, but also between the flat panels.
4. The inner portion of the lid will fit in the open portion of your new cooler. It is essential that it sits into the hole so that the outer portion of the lid fits flush with the sides (refer to step 2).
5. As this is polystyrene, it is flammable without protection. You will need to make an external cover for more permanent protection (wood, metal, etc).
More pics to come.