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Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:45 pm
by Bryn •

| 1.027 Posts

We are going to the UK and thinking of taking the 40ltr mains/12 volt cool box to fill up with pie and sausages to bring back, how do I work out how long it is safe to leave it switched on before draining the car battery????

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:53 pm
by Randa france •

| 13.258 Posts

Well, we use a 3 way fridge and also a table top freezer on our travels.

We find with the fridge, that as long as it's as cold as possible when boarding the ferry then it's safe to switch it off for the duration of the passage ie. about 6 hours. A little longer if you use freezers packs.

The freezer lasts at least 6 hours unplugged. Maybe more but we've not tried it for a longer period.

Randa

1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match

Last edited Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:56 pm | Scroll up

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 1:20 pm
by Bryn •

| 1.027 Posts

So, if for example we parked for 2 hours and left the cool box plugged into the car socket is it likely to drain the car battery ???

Last edited Sun Jan 29, 2017 1:41 pm | Scroll up

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:04 pm
by Pepé Le Pew •

| 2.752 Posts

Firstly you need to work out how many amps the coolbox is drawing while in operation.

Supposing that the coolbox is rated at 48 watts, for example, you divide that wattage by the operating voltage (12v, since you're running it off the car) to give you the current draw in amps, i.e. 4 amps.

Amps = watts divided by volts.

Assume for the sake of argument that your car battery is rated at 80ah (amp/hours), to get an idea of how long the battery will last, divide that figure by the current draw of the coolbox.

Dividing 80 by 4 gives you 20 hours (in theory) before the battery is drained and the car won't start. Actually, it's much sooner than that because the current draw of the car's starter motor is pretty hefty, and in practice you wouldn't get anywhere near 20 hours before all you'd get from turning the key is that horrid dull click and then silence.

If it was me, I wouldn't run it off the car battery at all.

I'd use those gel cool bag freezer pack things that Roger suggests instead.

.

yy-R56kh

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Last edited Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:12 pm | Scroll up

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:46 pm
by Deeps (deleted)

I think you also need to look at the specification of the particular coolbox that you've got in mind. The one below for example is rated as staying cool for 5 days in the sales blurb.

Coolbox.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Ban pre-shredded Cheese and make Britain grate again.

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 4:01 pm
by eribaMotters •

| 5.588 Posts

Bryn,
I must admit to taking a fir bit of staple goods, dried and tinned with me as I do like to cook. This means I can splash out on the fresh stuff.
In 2014 we managed 30 days in France, so I went one step further and took a lot of meat with us, most from a very good local butcher, as the one thing I have found expensive is fresh meat,and some of the cuts you prefer differ abroad.
I froze everything down in a small table top LEC freezer, and at 2.30 am unplugged this and put it the back of the car. At 5.30 pm when I powerd it up again it was reading -10c. ie still frozen solid.
We also run a similar fridge when in France for the summer as I like my beer and Rose cold.
You should be able to make the fridge and freezer out in the photo.

ColinFortex - front down-800.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

eribaless at present, 4th eriba, a 2017 430 on order.

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 4:32 pm
by ChrisCM (deleted)

There are three main types of 12/230v cool boxes available, ones that rely on Peltier Cooling (they can also warm) compressor and absorption. The Peltier and absorption types will almost certainly run your car battery down over 6 hours to such an extent that it won't start. I don't think they have a battery protection circuit,
I've had a couple of the Peltier type over the years and neither had, maybe someone knows of one or whether the absorption type do?

The compressor type are much more efficient as they are not running constantly and normally have the battery protection circuit that you can set to a minimum battery level when they will switch off, leaving your battery enough charge to start the car. They also tend to cost more!

I've used my compressor cool box on a ferry trip to Spain from Plymouth, 24 hours, with no problem at 3 degrees.

If you've got the Peltier or absorption type then I'd go with Rogers suggestion and pack any unused space with freezer packs or even frozen empty plastic milk/water bottles filled with water, switch off/unplug when you park and then plug it in and switch on again when you start up and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Chris

Puck L230GT following a Land Rover Defender 110 Station Wagon or 90 Soft Top

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 5:10 pm
by Pauli (deleted)

We use the large 120lts coolbox similar to the one Deeps is suggesting to go to a festival every year, we fill it with food and drink and top it up with the freezer packs and if necessary loose ice and the food is still extremely chilled at days 4 + 5. We are even looking at a smaller one. They are brill!!

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:59 pm
by eribanaut •

| 1.228 Posts

Are you sure it will work with the engine switched off, a lot of modern cars don't leave the socket live to protect the battery.
Dave

Citroen C4 auto 1.6 Hdi Troll 552 - 2005

#10

RE: Cool Box Technical Question

in Anything that's not Eriba-related. Mon Jan 30, 2017 11:49 pm
by Taffy (deleted)

If you are concerned and are going to want to chill or hold frozen goods you could try one of these, they were very impressive at the show last year. I have found them online much less expensive than they were offering on the stand at the show
https://www.dometic.com/en/se/products/f...n-powered-boxes

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