Coolers ... ?

[thebaldeagle655]

My first Coleman 12v cooler lasted about 3 months. I took it back and got a new one at Walmart. Another driver told me to blow the fan out with air about once a month. I have done this and the one I have now has lasted about 18 months, still cools just as good as it did when new. When I blow it out I get a LOT of dust and dirt. I always take it out of the truck to do so.

[Bug]

I have a coleman and the fan went out after a few months, Radioshack sells the fans 15-30 dollars and only took about 20 minutes to install.

[thbogle]

I used to buy the coleman coolers until the plug on mine got so hot it melted. The fuse in it didnt blow until it was melted into the plastic. I threw the cooler outta the truck and said the heck with it. the next time I was home I got a small fridge and microwave at sears and a invertor and the wiring and such and installed it all for around 500 bucks. It made everything a lot simpler.

[Pack_Rat]

I have had a coleman I bought at walmart now since 1998. And the only thing to go wrong with it was the plug had to replace it.

[thbogle]

I probably could have replaced the cord and saved some money but, was tired of drinking hot water in the summer and frozen water in the winter. Also I carried meat and cheese in my fridge so I could cook on my grill which I also carried. The meat went bad fast without a freezer.

[carterbeauford]

I have a double ball bearing fan with red LEDs waiting to ve installed at home, Imma have the baddest coleman cooler ever.

I am going to contact the mfg regarding using a $0.97 fan in an $80 cooler, they have to realize something is not right when half their coolers are being returned.

[thbogle]

I contacted Coleman after my cooler had the wire melt down. I got the old "well we have them running in our offices 24 hours a day 7 days a week and we have never had any problems out of them here" . a very snobish answer if I do say so myself. They have them plugged into a wall through the converters that come with them. Its a little bit different from having them run in a truck.

[possum]

Man thats one thing I miss, I had a factory fridge in my classic and loved that thing. I will have another one soon its the only way to go.

[semicomputing]

I use a koolatron 18 qt thermoelectric cooler, for my refrigeration needs. Important to blow the dust out once a month with a can f compressed air, replace fan as needed.
I use a coleman 12v freezer/refrigerater for my freezer. It was about $400 but cooling down to -10 degrees keeps my chicken breast and steaks frozen untill needed.
Having added a Wavebox microwave as of late I keep a few goodies from the frozen section in the freezer to, like microwave pizza, lasagne, etc. Wavebox is painstaikingly slow when run on cig outlet but that is what company policy demands. Planning ahead and thawing out the food then nuking allows a 20 minute cook time. From frozen requires 40-60 minutes.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

I have a double ball bearing fan with red LEDs waiting to ve installed at home, Imma have the baddest coleman cooler ever.

I am going to contact the mfg regarding using a $0.97 fan in an $80 cooler, they have to realize something is not right when half their coolers are being returned.

During winter months what do you need a cooler for with TMC and no cab heat ? lol

[VPIDarkAngel]

I must be the only one here who doesn't use a Coleman. I have a Black and Decker cooler that I got at Target last year. It's still working quite well (although I did have to replace the 12VDC plug because the one it came with wouldn't make good contact in a socket) and doesn't take up the space that the Coleman unit does...

However, I don't have the space for a truck fridge because of my APU's inverter... being placed under the desk in my Century where the fridge would go. But hopefully I'll be getting a T600 soon.

[dollarshort]

What are you guys using for a cooler to keep your food in ?

I have a Coleman with the little 12v heat exchanger in it....it was perfect for

about 45 days and now its useless...it hardly even cools now.

What to do ?... really like carrying my own food while OTR

That's about average for the amount of time they last. They are junk!!!! Never kept food could enough either. Lunch meat would start getting slimy after about 2 days.

[Uturn2001]

As I think I have posted before I have had both Igloo and Coleman 12 v coolers.

My Igloo lasted about 9 months before I had to replace the fan. I got about another year out of it before I sold it thinking I was done with OTR truck driving.

My Coleman is still working after about 2 1/2-3 years of use. Only thing I have ever done with it is to regularly clean the fan as well as the cooling fins.

I have kept lunch meats and hot dogs in them for 2 weeks with no problems as well as cheese and milk. Fresh, unfrozen meats have lasted about 5 days and frozen meats for 2 weeks +. Of course I always kept my cooler in the sleeper and away from heater ducts and direct sunlight and since I like it cool anyway the temp in the sleeper rarely got above 65 degrees.

One thing that does seem to shorten the life of those 12v coolers is placing warm/room temp items in them and letting the cooler chill it. The other big killer seems to be leaving them in sunlight and/or letting the warm air vents blow on them.