Iceless Cooler and Coffee Maker - 12V

Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by tderrick, Apr 20, 2015.

  1. tderrick

    tderrick Light Load Member

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    Jul 26, 2014
    Nashville, TN
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    I'm in the market for an iceless cooler and a small wattage coffee maker to save some $$$ clams on the road.

    Any recommendations ? ... or better yet, makers / models to avoid?


    thanks in advance for any help....


    ps ... I have a very small inverter, so I need to keep things at the 12V level for now...


    grazie
     
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  3. w.h.o

    w.h.o Road Train Member

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    tderrick Thanks this.
  4. AL_Dutch

    AL_Dutch Bobtail Member

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    I have the igloo cooler, it works great.
    Have not find a 12v coffee maker I liked.
    Tried a few, but all are way to slow.
    I have a 1000w inverter. 110 coffee maker and microwave.
     
    tderrick Thanks this.
  5. kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    I've used an Igloo coolor(40qt) for years and the only problem is that the plug can get so hot it melts. I hard wired it into the fusebox and no more problems. I mostly local now so I now only have a small one, 12qt I think, still Igloo and no plug problems. Take it home every night and plug it in a 12v power supply to keep my stuff cold. As for 12v coffee pots. I bought one years ago and by the time it got done filling that litlle pot I didn't want coffee anymore. Had to have taken at least 45 minutes. maybe they are better now.
     
    tderrick Thanks this.
  6. snowwy

    snowwy Road Train Member

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    12 volts is time consuming. Takes me half hour to heat up water for noodles.
     
  7. dieselfuelonly

    dieselfuelonly Road Train Member

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    Not cheap but the Dometic CoolFreeze 12v fridge/freezers are awesome. They can operate as a fridge or freezer if you want. When I was a company driver for SNI, I used it for a fridge, and since the KW I bought has a fridge built in, now I use it as a freezer to keep frozen meals in. Much more efficient than the thermoelectric coolers, and will keep stuff cold even in a hot cab where the cheaper coolers won't. They have a small compressor just like the real thing and use very little energy. SNI was pretty bad about their no-idling policy so idling to charge the batteries was pretty much out of the picture. This thing never gave me any issues, I could even leave it turned on when I was at home for 5 days and it wouldn't set off the low-voltage cutoff.

    I have this smaller model:

    http://www.adventurerv.net/dometic-coolfreeze-portable-refrigerator-freezer-cf25-cf025dc-p-1227.html

    As for a coffee maker, you may not be able to use a 120v model unless you have a larger inverter. When you say you have a "very small" inverter, how small are we talking?
     
  8. joesmoothdog

    joesmoothdog Heavy Load Member

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    Do yourself a favor and get a French press. Less than $15 at Wally. Figure out a way to make hot water. I used a camp stove before I got with an apu outfit. Be careful of the iceless cooler. It'll freeze stuff close to the cooling element.
     
    dannythetrucker Thanks this.
  9. tderrick

    tderrick Light Load Member

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    Jul 26, 2014
    Nashville, TN
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    That cooler sounds great... I'll check it out...

    as for the inverter, I just picked up a 150 watter to charge my PC to get started. I've only been driving
    for a couple of months, so I wanted to look around at what larger units to get.
     
  10. tderrick

    tderrick Light Load Member

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    Jul 26, 2014
    Nashville, TN
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    That French Press sounds awesome...... now, for the hot water....
     
  11. wsyrob

    wsyrob Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Winston Salem
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    I bought a Coleman cooler at Walmart with the 2 year insurance plan for $8.00. It worked well for a year and then the fan burned up. I hauled it back to Walmart for exchange and was told that was a 3rd party insurance company. They had me send in the receipt but due to shipping costs did not want the cooler back. I was issued a Walmart gift certificate for the cost of my cooler. I bought a new one and now have 2. The fans are easy to replace computer case fans and only cost $5-15. After I cash in my second insurance plan I will have 2 Coleman coolers for 16$. When one goes down I swap them out and fix the other one at home. Yeah I am a cheap SOB.
     
    RoadCall Thanks this.
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