12v cooler

You will not be disappointed. Mine has run non stop virtually for 7 years. Superb bit of kit.

 

I hear those are great & use much less power than the "electronic cooler" at truck stops.

 

You should expect a lot if you spend a thousand bucks.

 

You will love it! I loved mine, even though with shipping way back then it cost almost $1k, I really liked it due to the fact I could put milk and sliced ham and cheese and mayo in it and sit in the desert with 100+ temperatures and not have to run the truck with the a)c on for the cooler, and it would keep milk ice cold. In fact if it got turned down too far on the temp it would freeze water & milk! And then also for the fact that it has a power inverter built into it. So going into a hotel could just plug it into the 110v wall outlet to power it! Just need one of those old inkjet type printer power cord. I only had the cig lighter fuse go out one time, and they are special type of fuses and can only get them from engel, so you might go ahead and get one from them to carry. Wished I'd have known you was looking cause I still got mine but dont truck anymore and I wouldve sold it for a lot less than your new one.. . But you will like it, if all you've ever had was those Coleman type coolers (like myself) you'll love that engel. I've read that a lot of people in the outback of Australia use them and boat owners use them too.

 

Yes that's true. I've left mine plugged in for three days in the truck without it running while I was home and never had problems when I started the truck three days later. But now the truck I had was pretty new and had four new batteries in it.

 

Regarding a 12 volt portable cooler power draw, I haven't really been able to find a clear solution.

An Iceco VL60ProS is what I'm looking at, but I'm open to other options.


Given a high ambient temperature of about 90 degrees, I'm attempting to calculate the power draw I can anticipate.

In order to power the cooler during the trip (instead of depending on solar power), I intend to equip my truck with a second "house" battery.

 

You need a battery shunt style monitor if you want to accurately figure out what your power draw is. But I can tell you it averages about 3.5a per hour. They all do.

That’s assuming that we’re talking about a 12v compressor fridge versus a 12 V cooler, which is technically a totally different thing.

Iceco is a compressor fridge or at least all the ones I’ve seen are. No idea what the OP is talking about though since he said 12 V cooler. If it’s one of those POS contraptions from a truckstop then it’s probably not even an actual compressor fridge.

 

Thermoelectric coolers? Inefficient.

 

Yeah, those things are beyond junk. If we're talking about a fridge call it a fridge. "Compressor" fridge makes it even more clear.

Still have no idea which one the OP was talking about but it's an old thread and he's long gone anyway.