Coleman thermoelectric cooler?
- Thread starter upcruiser
- Start date
tjbliley
Observer
what he said. I used one in my pop-up camper, a while ago and it did fine. you have to understand that I ran the air conditioning in the pop-up so the thing only had to go from 70-75 down to 40 or so to keep the milk good. I also ran it off the shore power at campgrounds or off the tow vehicle through the 7way plug so I never had to deal with battery life. It will cool down to 30-35 below ambient, but that is all and it takes a good bit of power to do it.
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Ha ha, I only had to read the first reply to make my decision. Thanks guys! Yeah, I may live in Michigan, but even here it gets warm enough in the summer for that setup not to work. That said though, I've been without a fridge to this point and I get along just fine. My "fare" is more backpacking type foods in order to keep things simple. Honestly though after being on this forum for a couple of years and seeing some of the feasts you guys are making out on the trail, I'm starting to go soft and want a fridge and maybe some of those other fancy ammenities.
Maybe its a sign of getting old. haha
Maybe its a sign of getting old. haha
TheRoadie
Explorer
I was very pleased with the 58 qt. Ultimate xtreme I had before the Engel. It melted very little ice except when we put in room temp soda, beer and wine. But for two people, we needed an ice resupply on day 4. Even if the cooler doesn't leak much heat in through the walls, every cooler reacts the same way to adding more warm heavy items. Want to buy a Coleman?
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
HMR said:
x2!
mountainpete
Spamicus Eliminatus
Not the exact unit, but I have a similar unit from Koolatron.
Not only did it not cool evenly or low enough, it sucked extremely high amounts of power. As a test one day, I hooked it up to a deep cycle battery that is usually used to power a small 35lb thrust Minnkota trolling motor. With that battery, we could troll small boat all day (12 - 14 hours) - solid battery. With the Koolatron attached, it went less then 24 hours on a full charge.
It's to the point where if you leave it running overnight while attached to a standard car starting battery, you are at risk of not being able to start the vehicle the next morning.
Since I bought an ARB/Engel, it hasn't left the basement.
Pete
Not only did it not cool evenly or low enough, it sucked extremely high amounts of power. As a test one day, I hooked it up to a deep cycle battery that is usually used to power a small 35lb thrust Minnkota trolling motor. With that battery, we could troll small boat all day (12 - 14 hours) - solid battery. With the Koolatron attached, it went less then 24 hours on a full charge.
It's to the point where if you leave it running overnight while attached to a standard car starting battery, you are at risk of not being able to start the vehicle the next morning.
Since I bought an ARB/Engel, it hasn't left the basement.
Pete
mountainpete
Spamicus Eliminatus
Speaker said:
Excellent coolers. I have one that I use when I go Salmon fishing. I can confidently place fresh fish in there with good ice chips and know that it will need little attention for the first 24 hours and then additional ice every 18 hours or so to keep it all fresh.
But like any ice cooler, it's a good idea to drain it regularly and keep it out of direct sunlight.
Pete
FurthurOnTheFly
Glamping Society
Post resurrection!
We purchased the coleman and took it for it's maiden voyage this weekend with the AZFJ crew. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with it and don't miss having to deal with an ice mess at all. It was tested this time however in overnight temps of 30 degrees, so keeping things cold wasn't much of an issue. Our main question now is being able to keep stuff cool in 100+ degree Phoenix summers....with that kind of power draw we would have to do a second battery install (it's on the list anyways) just to keep it from killing the battery.
Does anyone have any experience with this in such climates, or should we just take it back and *gulp* invest in an ARB/Engle/whatever? I got this because I just cannot bring myself to pay $600+ for a fridge for our car.
We purchased the coleman and took it for it's maiden voyage this weekend with the AZFJ crew. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with it and don't miss having to deal with an ice mess at all. It was tested this time however in overnight temps of 30 degrees, so keeping things cold wasn't much of an issue. Our main question now is being able to keep stuff cool in 100+ degree Phoenix summers....with that kind of power draw we would have to do a second battery install (it's on the list anyways) just to keep it from killing the battery.
Does anyone have any experience with this in such climates, or should we just take it back and *gulp* invest in an ARB/Engle/whatever? I got this because I just cannot bring myself to pay $600+ for a fridge for our car.
4RunAmok
Explorer
My coleman almost sucked dry my Odyssey PC1700 deep cycle battery that was newly installed. It was only about 8 hours. I've seen an engle have no effect on the same battery after 24 hours.
The problem with these coolers is they have to remain full-steam, constant power all the time. It doesn't shut off when it's efficiently staying cool. Further, the peltier cooling method is not an efficient way of cooling.
We've had ours for years. It's worked well on road trips, but it isn't holding up for trails/camping. That in mind, I also now have a jump pack.
April will be when I get an Engle.
The problem with these coolers is they have to remain full-steam, constant power all the time. It doesn't shut off when it's efficiently staying cool. Further, the peltier cooling method is not an efficient way of cooling.
We've had ours for years. It's worked well on road trips, but it isn't holding up for trails/camping. That in mind, I also now have a jump pack.
April will be when I get an Engle.