12V Cooler

[dlkcub]

I've seen several references to using a 12V cooler to supplement the refrigerator, to keep drinks cool, etc. I would like to find out if there is a particular one that anyone would recommend. I'm looking to get one to give us more cooling apace

Thanks
Dave

 

[PopBeavers]

I bought my Coleman at Walmart. When comparing prices, make sure you include the ac power adapter so you can also plug it in to 120v.

We load it and plug it in the night before a trip with lettuce, milk, etc. Then when it is time to leave I put it in the back seat of the truck and plug it in to 12 volts. We transfer the contents upon arrival.

Be aware that in really hot weather it won't get as cold as a household fridge, but it will cool things down.

I use it as a supplement when we have hookups. If dry camping I stow it under the TM and use ice in a cooler for cold beverages of my choice.

 

[AstroBruce]

Dave,

We use a Waeco Cool Freeze 50 for all our extra cooling needs. You can set the temp. down to zero degrees if you need a freezer. Works on 120ac or 12 volts DC. It was a little pricey, but we have found uses for it even when not camping. Check out the specs. on these units. They draw very little power. Hope this helps.

Bruce

 

[grill-n-go]

We are very happy with the Coleman Model No. 5640B814G at Walmart. It's worked well here (south Florida).

 

[PopBeavers]

Dave,

We use a Waeco Cool Freeze 50 for all our extra cooling needs. You can set the temp. down to zero degrees if you need a freezer. Works on 120ac or 12 volts DC. It was a little pricey, but we have found uses for it even when not camping. Check out the specs. on these units. They draw very little power. Hope this helps.

Bruce

Nice unit, but at around 600 bucks it is almost as much as I paid for the refrigerator/freezer with ice maker through the door that i have in my house.

The Coleman was less than 100 dollars.

I suppose it would be very helpful if I made long trips or had a large family. But for just the two of us for weekends that is a little pricey.

 

[Freedom]

We have an old (read 25 years) Koolatron we bought when our kids were little. It has served us well for all those years. It's similar to this one: http://www.compactappliance.com/xq/...62/iProductID.849/qx/shopping/product/P75.htm We never got the A/C adapter but just ran it off a battery charger since it had two little knobs for hooking it up to a battery. The bad thing is if you hook it up backwards it heats instead of cooling. Have to really watch the plug-in and color coding on the little knobs. My daughter borrowed it once to keep things frozen and ended up thawing it all. They've probably made that better by now. What we liked about it was that it's all electronic except for the fan - no refrigerant, it uses technology developed for the space program. I don't know what the others use - i.e. Coleman, etc. We always packed the frozen stuff up by the cooling fins and it would stay frozen for a week or more. The other stuff we didn't want frozen we'd put toward the other end and it wouldn't freeze unless we turned the dial all the way down. We have run it on the TV battery over night and didn't run the battery down - unlike the refrigerator in the TM! Good luck in your search!

 

[Bill & Lisa]

we also have the Coleman which we got from Dicks sporting goods.

Good Points:
- It is relatively inexpensive (~$100)
- It can heat as well as cool

Bad Points
- No temp control, we still managed to freeze lettuce in it.
- The AC adapter was another $60.

Bill

 

[dlkcub]

Thanks for all the help. I went to Wal Mart last Thursday and purchased a Coleman. It was on sale for $80 and came with the AC adapter. I bought the last one they had. Used it over an extended Memorial day weekend and it was great. Gave us just enough extra room for all those little thing that couldn't be crowded in the refrigerator.

Dave

 

[Pat Stafford]

12V cooler

We also supplement our fridg with a Coleman cooler and it works fine. It takes three hours or so to cool things down initially. This is reduced if you put cold items in it. They advise you not to put ice in it to supplement the cooling because of water issues when it melts. But, we have found that one or two frozen blue ice containers will work wonders with this unit. You can freeze them again in your TM fridg when they thaw out. Ours stay frozen for about two days in the Coleman when it is plugged in.

 

[EMPTYNESTERS]

We also supplement our fridge with a Coleman AC/DC fridge. We freeze water in a plastic bottle with screw type lid just to maintain the cold if we stop for any length of time while traveling or use the blue ice. We've been using these for a long time...we're on our third one.