Anyone here ever make your own cooler?

[Martinjmpr]

Just thought I'd ask. Seems like it shouldn't be that difficult. Since one of the hassles (at least for me) is fitting the cooler into the vehicle, I've been thinking about making my own.

From what I've seen in the (many!) cheap plastic coolers I've owned over the years, their biggest failing is that they insulating material is too thin, which means it doesn't stay cool for as long as it could otherwise.

I figure all you really need is a waterproof inner container, and then build a box around it with some insulating material in between. the advantage is that you could make it whatever size you wanted and could integrate it so it would fit perfectly into your vehicle without being too tall, too wide, etc. You could also increase the thickness of the insulation so that you'd have a cooler that kept things cooler longer without having to invest in a Yeti that costs as much as a fridge!

For the waterproof inside, you could use something like an Action Packer or even some of those plastic totes they sell at various stores, and then build the exterior box around it. Insulating material could be styrofoam or almost anything else - foam rubber, spray foam (Great Stuff! type material) etc. You could plumb in a drain pretty easily, put heavy duty hinges (vs those stupid plastic hinges that seem to break at the worst time) and so on.

If you were really fancy, you could incorporate it into a drawer so that it wouldn't take up space in your vehicle, just pull the drawer out and your cold stuff is in there!

So I figure somebody out there has probably done this already! Let's see 'em! :ylsmoke:

 

[jeep-N-montero]

This should be interesting.

 

[4x4x4doors]

Don't have pictures but my Dad ran a charter sportfisherman when I was a kid. The fish box at the stern end was built to fit the curves of the boat.
You're right on the fit and build though. Build a watertight box to fit the space and then glue styrofoam sheeting around it. He built those out of wood (tongue and groove) and the drain was you basic threaded fitting. Used block ice which would last several days even in Florida.

 

[chromisdesigns]

Lots of boaters have done their own boxes -- one tip, if you try it, get rigid closed-cell polyurethane foam insulation board, not styrofoam; make it twice as thick as you think it needs to be; and fill in any/all gaps with expanding foam. Don't forget a drain! Loop it in an vertical s-curve so it won't leak cold -- the trap will catch melt water and seal off the drain.

Top-opening boxes stay cold lots longer than front-openers. If you have a big box, you can make a two-way folding lid so you can reach both ends without pulling the whole top off, like the old soda-fountain ice cream boxes.

 

[madmax718]

the cheap plastic coolers come in two types- injected with foam, and not injected with foam. Either way, following someone's advice about using reflextex, I've nearly doubled the ice life in my coleman 3 day cooler (it fits behind my front seat. ). I took a non contact thermometer and figured out where the coldest area was- the bottom (where the ice line is):

84 degree ambient- 57 exterior below the ice line- 74 lid- 56 IN THE CUP HOLDER.

After 1 layer the next day, (only a loose flap covering the top), it was 75 on the exterior, except below the ice line, which was 70. The bottom was a chilly 60 still!

i then added in 1" of packing aero packs (which is just air), just to see the effects. It slowed the cooling loss to about 5 hours.. it would still become chilly to the touch, and the floor was also cold.

So if you do nothing, insulate the bottom a lot, the sides a lot, and don't make any cup holders in the top.

 

[Ozarker]

I'd say if you are somewhat skilled at building a box with a tight lid you can build a better icebox than you can buy from anywhere at any price.

You don't want a folding lid as the hinge and lids require a gap in the insulation, even the butted edges aren't as efficient as a solid lid. A lid needs to fit like a plug in a bottle and come out straight up, not hinged. Look at commercial boxes in an ice house! That has dry ice. Not talking about the bag ice folks as the inventory doesn't sit there for a week or more.

There are hinges like the old beer bottle tops that flipped open. Hinges, wire loops, hooks, lots of ways to connect a lid loosely so that the lid pulls straight up and then lay it over, it should only be open for seconds anyway.

We had custom built ice chests in the camping trailers we rented and sold in the 60s. 4'' of insulation, styrafoam then, bottom and sides, 2" on top lid. Galvanized interior and exterior boxes, rubber drain plug inside, screw plug outside.
Dry ice was used and went on a 2 week trip to AZ & NM in July and August, that box was still cold enough to keep milk, eggs, and meat, when we got back, icy water. Now this box was built inside the trailer too and you flipped up the bed to get to the box, sink and stove box. No A/C in that tent trailer.

If you want a really good box in a trailer or built in a vehicle, build it or have it built. If you want to carry cold beer to the campfire, use a cheap cooler, the beer won't be in there very long anyway.

I'll see if I can find a boating/yachting link for galley fridges step by step to fab a good box.

You can buy the fridge plates for a freezer/fridge, compressor and parts cheaper than buying these small slide out fridges that are so popular here. Gas or electric or both made for marine applications.

I rarely use a drain on an ice chest, tip it, it's faster. I also keep the cold water in there and use water proof containers. Consolidate stuff the best you can in containers to keep them full. Use water jugs to take up space inside, air is the enemy in an ice chest. Seems to me a drain is just a small hole in the box that you plug up, a pathway of an un-insulated space to cool.

 

[modernbeat]

Before the likes of YETI and Icey-Tek, the only way to get a "great" cooler was to buy a custom made cooler from the guys that hand made them for sportfishermen. You'd see half a dozen of them at the boat and fishing shows. Now I can't find any of them.

 

[gunnermoose]

I'll see if I can find a boating/yachting link for galley fridges step by step to fab a good box.

You can buy the fridge plates for a freezer/fridge, compressor and parts cheaper than buying these small slide out fridges that are so popular here. Gas or electric or both made for marine applications.

I'd be interested in these links. I'm getting ready to build my own trailer, so I would have the flexibility to design what I want and where.

 

[Ozarker]

Can't find the article....but, here are a ton of tips on galley fridge mods and ice boxes.

http://theboatgalley.com/search-res...qklA&bvm=bv.51495398,d.aWc&ss=6893j4725969j13

----------------------

Hope all that works, I'm not a techie type.

 

[Ozarker]

Sorry to bump, but found the build project, a fridge is a good ice box without the mechanical cooling.

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-inside-mods/page-1.html

 

[Ozarker]

In another thread about 12v freezers, made me recall something I thought might be too off topic for that thread, more applicable here.

Had a family guy who did artificial insemination for cattle, he had stainless containers that he used liquid nitrogen I believe to freeze semen. As I recall these containers remained in the bed of his truck, never moved out except to clean them.

I can imagine the danger, but, seems there should be some way to build a container that could function with this old technology.
Have no idea how it could work, maybe a tray insert. I believe what he had was a tube that was lowered inside with a wire rack around the sides that held test tubes.
Don't know the cost benefit, I'm sure it's more than buying ice, but maybe not as it lasted much longer. It freezes whatever.
If you figure the cost of batteries, solar and related expenses of upkeep as well as the cost of a freezer something like this could fair better as an alternative. I'd think you'd need a metal inside box, plastic is out of the question. Anyone know?

 

[Rattler]

We have one of those Igloo 12v. electric coolers that is starting to not work as well as it did (which is marginal to begin with). I saw someone had posted up they bought a fride/freezer off Ebay for @ $40 or so. It has a danfoss compressor. I was thinking to maybe pick one of those up and maybe adapt it over to the old Igloo. The Ebay one is smaller but maybe worth a try. Plus I think the Igloo could use a little insulation injection too.

 

[Ozarker]

Not sure I'd bet on the performance of a $40 freezer off ebay, but it's only 40 bucks to see.

Instead of trying to inject more foam into an existing cooler/fridge/freezer, I'd start from scratch. There could be unwanted interactions of mixing an unknown foam insulation with a different foam, I'd check on that. If the old stuff has broken down it will still be taking up space in there, not sure how much you'd pack it injecting new foam. One solution could be building a new box around the old one and insulate between the new and old boxes, putting a top on it over the new foam. Keep any air vents clear needed for the equipment.

When I looked at parts it looked like there were some better prices from suppliers on ebay.

 

[Rattler]

Not sure I'd bet on the performance of a $40 freezer off ebay, but it's only 40 bucks to see.

Instead of trying to inject more foam into an existing cooler/fridge/freezer, I'd start from scratch. There could be unwanted interactions of mixing an unknown foam insulation with a different foam, I'd check on that. If the old stuff has broken down it will still be taking up space in there, not sure how much you'd pack it injecting new foam. One solution could be building a new box around the old one and insulate between the new and old boxes, putting a top on it over the new foam. Keep any air vents clear needed for the equipment.

When I looked at parts it looked like there were some better prices from suppliers on ebay.

Now that I think about it, it is our ice cooler that needs the insulation. The electric one isn't too bad.

Or I could quit being a cheap bastard and $$ for the ARB or at least a Whynter fridge/freezer.

 

[Kaman]

Hi All,
I just joined this forum after seeing this thread regarding building a custom cooler. This would be so cool if I can learn from this thread how to build these. I am starting a business building high end Teardrop Trailers and have been searching too much trying to find the ideal cooler to include with my trailers. All the coolers like Yeti albeit good quality are very inefficient in their use of space. I would really like to come up with a rectangular shape that would have a wood exterior and waterproof liner inside, with ss hardware and made exactly to my specs. I don't have a problem building a high quality wood outer shell and installing nice stainless steel hardware. I am pretty sure I can find someone to inject the closed cell foam too. I am mostly unsure how to get the interior liner and lid covers. I might be able to have a local plastic shop fabricate those pieces after working out the details. I also need the gasket material that seems so common in the high end coolers.
Hopefully this gets back to you guys that started this topic a couple years ago.
I will be anxious to hear any feed back.

Kevin