Two 12vdc Cooler Questions

[michaelmrc]

Originally Posted by DennisM

I found this at $169:claims to only draw 5 amps.

The Engels are way outta my price range, and the Edgestars are simply too big (and a bit pricey, too, as was already noted).

coolatron piece of junk i had one for 2 days huge power hog regardless of what they say and didnt cool very well. not a true compressor style cooler just a thermoelectric. not a way to go on a boat. i would suggest you save you money until you can afford the waeco or engel both excellent units. i have the waeco myself.

[Dulcesuenos]

We have both a Coleman large powerchill and a Edgestar. The coleman is great if you are in a car running ac on lol. or hooked up to shore power. Other wise it really draws closer to 10 amps, and sucks down a group 31 deep cycle 225 amp hour battery in about 10 hours. We tried the 2 on 2 off deal and it still sucked it down. The edgestar we found is a serious piece of equipment and not much bigger but it is heavy duty. draws 5 amps in freeze mode and a little over 2 amps in reefer mode.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by DennisM

Thanks very much, skipmac and Jetexas! I plan to use ice, too. My hope is the cooler will simply keep things from spoiling. I hate to throw away food. Looks like I better keep at least three beers on the ice at all times.

One of these might help a little to extend the life of food but not much. Consider this, the best they do is cool 40 degrees below the outside temp. In practise 30-35 is more realistic. So if it is only 85 degrees the cooler will only cool to about 50 degrees. Not very cool at all.

[DennisM]

Michael, Dulce and Skip...THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Your advice is exactly what I was hoping for!! Michael, I hadn't heard of the Waecos. I'll check them out, too, and try to avoid experiencing palpitations when I see the prices...

[DennisM]

Michael, I just looked up the Waecos and found this: Waeco Coolfreeze CDF-18
I might be able to stretch my budget to afford that. At least it's not $800 - $1400, like some of the other good ones. On that page there is an option to purchase "insulation and cover." Do you think I'll need those extras to obtain maximum cooling efficiency?

[Pete7]

Dennis, brilliant little fridge

Ours has travelled well in the car, the dinghy on the beach repeatedly with sand etc left on the boat over winter et al and it still works 7 years on.

In England it will need a heat wave during the summer to get temperatures above 25.c. What we tend to do is give the fridge a hand by either cooling everything down at home and transferring frozen milk to the boat, then with the engine running really chill it down when first turned on. In general use it's 3AH. You have to pack them carefully because it's easy to run out of room so check it will be big enough for you first. We tend to keep just the milk, cheese, butter and meat in ours and since changing the boat cool box to a fridge, salad and drinks go in that.

If you are worried about the amps then yes do get the silver blanket to go over the top. It has a cut out to enable the fan to blow the heat away from the insides. For $37 it should really help the fridge stay cool.

Two warnings though. The first boat I wired it up on, it didn't work on the high setting and often stopped on the low setting. Found the fault, the size of wire I used was too small. Once replaced with over sized wire from the battery switches the fridge worked like a charm.

Secondly on the high setting I managed to freeze my sandwiches in about 40 minutes. Had to sit on the beach thawing out my cheese and tomato sandwiches

Pete

[michaelmrc]

Originally Posted by DennisM

Michael, I just looked up the Waecos and found this: Waeco Coolfreeze CDF-18
I might be able to stretch my budget to afford that. At least it's not $800 - $1400, like some of the other good ones. On that page there is an option to purchase "insulation and cover." Do you think I'll need those extras to obtain maximum cooling efficiency?

yup thats a good unit although a little small if you plan on living aboard. the model i have is the cf-50 but of course its price tag reflects the larger size.

[DennisM]

Thanks very much, Pete, for the additional info. My plan would be to hook it up through the standard cigarette-lighter DC connection. Is that possible?

[DennisM]

Thanks, Michael. It's about the right size for the space I have in mind, strapped on the starboard settee, alongside the chart table. Anything larger would protrude into the cabin a bit too far, I think. Though I'll be living aboard, I'll be going ashore almost every day, if only to get the dog the exercise he needs. About all I'd need to keep cold besides what the ice can chill in my small galley cooler would be a stick of butter, a few eggs, some cheese, a pint of half & half for coffee, a little luncheon meat, a small jar of mayo, and maybe some leftovers.

[Pete7]

Yes, indeed that's how the fridge will arrive with a cigarette plug on it. However, it's the brief start up load which can be quite high. So my suggestion would be to wire in a new dedicated plug with heavy wire (to avoid voltage drop) and a decent fuse. Choose a quality cigarette fitting rather than a cheap auto one.

Pete

[DennisM]

Thank you, Pete. I'm headed to the boat in a few. I'm going to measure the space for it again. I may go with the next size up, if it looks like it will fit.

[michaelmrc]

Originally Posted by DennisM

Thanks, Michael. It's about the right size for the space I have in mind, strapped on the starboard settee, alongside the chart table. Anything larger would protrude into the cabin a bit too far, I think. Though I'll be living aboard, I'll be going ashore almost every day, if only to get the dog the exercise he needs. About all I'd need to keep cold besides what the ice can chill in my small galley cooler would be a stick of butter, a few eggs, some cheese, a pint of half & half for coffee, a little luncheon meat, a small jar of mayo, and maybe some leftovers.

Just a tip I keep eggs out on a cool area under the Galley have done this for a couple of years now they last really well

[sea_goin_dude]

Hi folks. New member here from US.
Suggestion for any/all coolers-freezer-fridge etc. After loading what you want to cool/freeze, add either freez paks or bottled water to fill all available space. This will do two things for you, you will always have cool drinking water, and after all the water is down to your coolest or frozen temp, this additional volume will help maintain the temp even with the power off. This for boats or at home fridge. Very helpful with our storms here if the power is off. Of course keep the doors closed as much as possible along with the additional volume of cold, in this case, the water bottles or freez paks, and your temp will remain rather constant until you choose to power up or your commercial power comes back on.
PS....freez paks are great to have but I have found that they will leak around the plugs.....i contacted the manufactuer and they said they would send me some to replace the leakers.....well I figured that I'd have new leakers so opped to keep the ones I have and after sealing around the plugs with RTV stuff. No more leaks and they are great to have.
I keep about a dozen in my freezer to be used in coolers if I take a trip and they also help maintain the freezer temp, as I said before, if indeed we should have a power outage. By the way, FREEZ PAKS do freez at a lower temp than the water bottles so will hold somewhat lower temp when used.

[sea_goin_dude]

Here are the freez paks I spoke about they are tough plastic and are great to have at home or afloat.




A special for mother's on mothers day

[DennisM]

Michael, thank you for the egg tip. I have always wondered if they really needed to be kept at refrigerator temperatures. I will try it.

Sea_goin, thank you for the great info on FreezPaks and using water bottles. I have both, so I'll try them.

Pete, I measured the intended space again, and it looks like I'll have room for the 25, not just the 18. It's a hundred $ more, but at least it's still not up around $1K, and I know I'll be happy to have the extra room.

I just want to say how much I genuinely appreciate the advice I've gotten on this thread. This season will only be my third as a boat owner, and every time I've had a question or problem that I've brought to this forum, I have received INCREDIBLY valuable help. Thank you to all, with an extra tip of the hat to the admin folks for creating and maintaining such a valuable resource.