12 V cooler

[Tyler0215]

I have a 12V cooler I carry in the cab while traveling to keep drinks and snacks cold. The owners manual says it draw 6 amps. Also when sightseeing we take the cooler with lunch. My question is, when stopped for an extended time, maybe a museum stop, how long will I be able to leave the cooler plugged in and how much will the battery drain, before the truck won't start? I'm a dummy when it comes to electricity.

[Gjac]

Bumpyroad wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


Personally, dump the 12V cooler and use a decent well insulated ice chest, fill the ice chest with homemade ice blocks (we use quart size food containers to freeze blocks). The bigger blocks will last much longer than a bunch of small ice cubes.

or just put that same block of ice in his 12 volter and unplug it when in the museum etc.
bumpy

I have the Coleman 12v cooler, I put a bag of ice in it and freeze several water bottles. I unplug it at night and there is still ice in it in the morning. I would not use it for any length of time without ice especially in a hot car in the summer time. I have not tried it in the fall or winter.

[Gdetrailer]

Bumpyroad wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:


Personally, dump the 12V cooler and use a decent well insulated ice chest, fill the ice chest with homemade ice blocks (we use quart size food containers to freeze blocks). The bigger blocks will last much longer than a bunch of small ice cubes.

or just put that same block of ice in his 12 volter and unplug it when in the museum etc.
bumpy

You can do that, however those 12V coolers are physically bigger and hold much less than a ice chest of similar physical size, have less insulation than a ice chest and unlike a ice chest not waterproof and will leak depending on how high the interior "heatsink fins" is placed.

We USED to carry a ice chest in vehicle but that was when we drank a lot of soft drinks. Got smart, dumped the softdrinks while driving instead opting for using real Thermos bottles with water and ice cubes. Good Thermos bottles can easily keep your water ice cold for 8hrs with only 4 ice cubes.

We refill the Thermos bottles whenever we stop for fuel, restroom breaks or site seeing from a 3.5 gallon water jug we keep in our RV fridge.

We use a 18oz Thermos bottle like this one..



No more ice chest in the vehicle, priceless!

Generally we do not keep refrigerated food in the vehicle, we prefer to pull over at rest stops, parking lots and picnic areas and eat.

However IF we wanted to, we could put a couple of premade cold sandwiches in a small insulated "lunch box" and use a couple of reusable "ice packs".

You HAVE a RV with a refrigerator, might as well use it!

Our life got much easier once we eliminated pesky things like refrigerated items in vehicle.

I would not wish to bet my life on those 12V "coolers", the fact that they cannot cool any more than 40F below the AMBIENT air temp would give me pause for concern.. Your vehicle interior air temp can easily exceed 120F in less than 15 minutes on a nice hot sunny day which means your food will easily reach 80F putting you at risk..

[Bumpyroad]

Gdetrailer wrote:


Personally, dump the 12V cooler and use a decent well insulated ice chest, fill the ice chest with homemade ice blocks (we use quart size food containers to freeze blocks). The bigger blocks will last much longer than a bunch of small ice cubes.

or just put that same block of ice in his 12 volter and unplug it when in the museum etc.
bumpy

[Gdetrailer]

midnightsadie wrote:
I have one , I put a marine battery in the trunk ran a line with cig plug to the back seat ,never had a problem. its only drawing power when the compressor runs which ain,t often.

OP is talking about a 12V COOLER not a 12V FRIDGE.

Big difference between the two items.

12V COOLERS do not have a compressor, instead they use a solid state device called a "Peltier chip". Basically a bunch of semiconductors junctions which when a voltage is applied one surface gets cold and the opposite surface gets hot. They are terribly inefficient and use considerably more power than a compressor unit of the same size.

They typically will draw full power 24/7 and they cannot cool more than 40F BELOW the ambient air temp.

See HERE for Peltier effect details.

Personally, dump the 12V cooler and use a decent well insulated ice chest, fill the ice chest with homemade ice blocks (we use quart size food containers to freeze blocks). The bigger blocks will last much longer than a bunch of small ice cubes.

[John_Burke]

One way to be sure. When at home, where you have a battery charger if needed, plug in the cooler and wait for 2, 4, and 6 hours. At the end of each time segment check the battery voltage or start the vehicle. If you start it shut it down right away so you do not put any charge into the battery. Starting the engine would be best. You would be discharging the battery a little more than if it was just running the cooler, giving yourself a little buffer zone for the test.

[red31]

my ole norcold trek ii, 66 qrt, is rated ~6A (linear resonant compressor).
Once cooled to 37F used from 12 watt hr/hr over night to 25 watt hr/hr (~95F). 400 watt hr in 24 hrs (shaded yard lo 75F hi 95F). Ave 1.5 ah/h.
In a hot vehicle I guess 2ah/h so a long time.

[wa8yxm]

Let's see. 6 amps
Battery is likely about 70 AH
20% is 14 AH
2 hours. Or less. one to be safe.

[hornet28]

I don't know what mine draws, bad memory. I have forgotten it and not unplugged at night and the truck has started fine in the morning. I do have two batteries. I've been to events and had it hooked up all day and then forgotten to unplug at night, next morning it wouldn't start

[Bumpyroad]

midnightsadie wrote:
I have one , I put a marine battery in the trunk ran a line with cig plug to the back seat ,never had a problem. its only drawing power when the compressor runs which ain,t often.

seems like the easiest. just carry a spare battery or battery jumper jobby.
bumpy

[theoldwizard1]

agwill wrote:
You should be fine for about 4 hours of run time and still start your vehicle. Take a chance and live life on the edge.

Maybe you like living on the edge, but I would not go longer than 3 hours. 2 if you are super cautious type.

[midnightsadie]

I have one , I put a marine battery in the trunk ran a line with cig plug to the back seat ,never had a problem. its only drawing power when the compressor runs which ain,t often.

[CFerguson]

2oldman wrote:
Carry jumper cables.

Yep. Especially since you arent Certain.

[2oldman]

Carry jumper cables.

[RoyB]

All of my camping trips are based on PLAN Bs....

If I was to use my Truck Start Battery like having a 12V COOLER connected and run down the battery I would then start up my 2KW Honda EU2000i generator that is sitting secured and covered in the tailgate corner of my truck bed. Then I would hook up my portable BATTERY CHARGER and charge up up my truck start battery to start my truck.

My battery situation however is geared for camping off grid and consist of two groups of two 6VDC Batteries in series and has a great long term use when camping off-grid... What you are describing would never be a problem for us camping off grid...


This was my original BATTERY BANK setup using three each 12VDC Batteries in parallel... This has recently been replaced with a new 12V battery bank that consists of two groups of two 6VDC Batteries in series.


The new battery bank is installed in this battery box that has a slide off top lid. This is sitting on the trailer tongue area replacing the three 12V Batteries originally used... This battery box extends out on both sides of the tongue area and fits perfect inside the the two welded on mounting rails. I also have a second 10WATT Solar panel so that each 12V groups will have a trickle charge using the two 10 WATT small solar panels when sitting in the high sun..

This is my 2KW Generator sitting inside my covered truck bed.. This is pulled out onto the dropped tailgate when being used... ALways having the generator mounted in my truck has been used many many times getting someone else truck's started. Also being secured in my covered and locked truck bed my generator goes where I go..


Its all about PLAN Bs hehe...

Roy Ken