Fridge / Cooler 12 Volt Coolers Versus Tradional Ice Cooler

A lot of 'off roaders' buy the fixing kit. The fridge clips into it and it mounts to the floor of your rig.

 

Another nice thing about keeping fridge in your tow vehicle, When you get thirsty you don't have to pull over for a cold drink. Also, your cold drink wont be dripping wet with ice juice!

 

Well since we're not "off roaders" I guess I did good NOT to buy the other part.

We have quite a bit of stuff inside our van, trying to keep the Raindrop bed as free as possible, so we want to carry the fridge in the alotted spot in the trailer. We have a small one (canvas type) for drinks inside with ice. Since I like to cook, I'm sure the new one will be quite full of meat, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. It's going to be SO nice not to have to move ice around to find what I'm looking for, and trying to restash it once it's out - not to mention the cost of ice. Hopefully over the years we'll recoop the price of the fridge by all the ice we WON'T be buying...but it's the convenience more than the price of ice for me.

 

My cooler's been shipped already! Got the notification earlier today - ordered it last night and already have a tracking #!

 

No ice to worry about,thats a good thing.

 

Oh yeah! That's really exciting to me - no ice! What a hassle!

 

Never got a notification that it had shipped but the cooler showed up on my doorstep this afternoon. It came from southern California. I now have two pieces of camping equipment with many more to come.

I read about the airflow requirements for the compressor and I am wondering if there is enough airflow if I store the cooler in the C-I. Anyone have experience with carrying in the C-I vs. the tow vehicle?

 

Got mine today as well Joan! It sits in the back of the van in it's box - it evidently was heavy because Bill rolled it out on a dolley at the mail service office we use. So we'll have to haul it inside, open it up and read all about it.

From other posts I was under the impression that others carried theirs in the trailer even plugged in...am I wrong (anyone?)

 

We got ours today. It went from 73 deg. to 38 deg. in less than an hour. Probably close to 30 minutes. It is now headed to 8 deg.
It seems to be very good. I too was wondering about locating it in the cooler spot in the Drop while running. Probably not good. It makes heat. I installed my handles. I think I will begin traveling with it in the TV. Using it on the cooler stand when camp is set up. When the entire crew comes...Memorial Day, we will need the Coleman just for drinks.
Steve

 

Us too! We plugged it in and it cooled down very quickly. I put some water bottles in it to see if the temp is set right or if they freeze. We're moving back to Florida next Friday and hope to use it to take back the cold stuff we have left here.

We plan to put it in the raindrop when we travel. We'll just have to wait and see. The raindrop is already in Florida.

Meribeth

 

Ok, I guess we'll be taking ours out of the box today and checking it out. You've all inspired me! Yesterday was full of wedding prep stuff for me and there was no time for it. I'm thinking if it's heavy enough to use a dolley that we'll need to attach the handles to carry it when it's full, which eliminates putting it in the cooler slot on MiniMc...but I'd rather not carry it in the van, so I guess we'll have to see!

 

It is a little heavy, but you put the cooler on a towel and leave it on the towel all the time so you can slide it around the galley.It works great so when you lift it you only carry it a couple of feet to put it on a side table.Steve

 

Anna&Steve,
Yeah, I know that - we do it already with the stainless cooler. But if the new one can't be plugged in while traveling in the Camp Inn, and with the handles attached it won't fit in the slot, we'll have to carry it in the mini van.

 

The fridge runs fine in the galley of the Camp-Inn. There seems to be a small efficiency loss, as to be expected in a enclosed area. But, the extra current draw of the compressor running more often is offset by the car's alternator charging it while driving.

On a note, when the fridges are bought from us we include a custom made spacer that sets the fridge in the opening in a way that allows adequate airflow to the unit. You may want to look at making up some sort of spacer block for the back and curb side of the cooler opening when the fridge is in place. Ours simply looks like a small hockey stick made of 1/2" thick plywood.

Cary

 

Cary,
Ok, so the spacer goes behind the unit while plugged in. But what's the curb side? Would you sell us the spacers?

 

Cary is there a 120v angle plug for the fridge so it can be pluged into 120v with the galley hatch closed at night.Steve

 

Linda,

I would have to come up with a price for the spacer, never sold one separately before. The curb side would be your right side when looking at the cooler opening.

Steve,

The plug is a angle plug so it fits nicely along on the curb side.

Cary

 

Cary' I too would be interested. I am not at all 'handy' so if I could have one installed when my C-I is built, that would be great.

 

Cary we don't have an angle plug that plugs into the fridge for 120v so at night we switch to 12v so we can slide the fridge in and close the hatch. The only angle plug is for 12v. Steve

 

Steve,

Exactly, the angle plug is 12v, not the AC one.

Cary