Just wondering what the rest of you think about the Igloo KoolMate 40. It is a 40 quart cooler that you either plug into the 12 volt or use a 120-12 volt adaptor. We gave our old one away a few weeks ago and bought a new one. The new one works so well that it produces ice on some of the things inside and came with the adaptor which is about half the size of the old one. We have not bought a bag of ice in years using these things. Does anyone use one and what do you think of it?

I have been looking at those kind of coolers and wondered how well they worked. Think I may need one for next camping season.

Tim / Kathy:

I originally bought the larger KoolMate, which was something like 56 qt ... really huge, more like a small fridge. It worked really well but it was so large I couldn't get it through the camper door without tilting it on it's back, and it was a little difficult to manhandle when full. However, what really convinced me to return it was when I saw the Coleman PowerChill ... you can instantly reverse the door (lid) so it'll open in either direction. We've had our PowerChill for several seasons now and use it both in the back of the van while traveling and inside the camper while on site, so being able to orient the door to open in either direction is a really worthwhile feature for us. Our camper is equipped with a 3 way fridge but I can't get to it when the roof is down, so the PowerChill serves as our main cooler until we get on site. We also have a Coleman Xtreme which we use primarily for day trips to the beach ... although it WILL keep ice for several days, I still hate buying ice when it is needed, and since we always camp on electric sites, the PowerChill for us has proven to be an excellent solution.



Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
Oz & Us Campsite

Oz & US

Thank you for the great review of both units. I have been looking at both for the past year. I was unaware the door position could be changed on the coleman unit.

My concern is when traveling and the running the units off of the TV battery. When you stop somewhere do you unplug the units or do they automatically shut off when the battery reaches a certain voltage? How long do they tend to stay cold when not plugged in?



Bill
1978 Chevy Blazer
2000 Camplite 12SL
http://members.rogers.com/trail_blazer/

quote:

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Originally posted by Trail_blazer:
Oz & US

Thank you for the great review of both units. I have been looking at both for the past year. I was unaware the door position could be changed on the coleman unit.

My concern is when traveling and the running the units off of the TV battery. When you stop somewhere do you unplug the units or do they automatically shut off when the battery reaches a certain voltage? How long do they tend to stay cold when not plugged in?

http://irv2review.com/photopost/data/514/325license_20021121183724_71356-thumb.jpg

Bill
1978 Chevy Blazer
2000 Camplite 12SL
http://members.rogers.com/trail_blazer/

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Bill:

If we plan to be away from the van less than a half hour, I'll leave the cooler plugged in ... more than that and I TRY TO REMEMBER to unplug it! No, the cooler won't shut itself down ... it'll eventually run your TV battery down so low you might not be able to start it! I saw a "switch" at Canadian Tire the other day for about $30 that WILL shut off the current if the voltage drops below a certain amount. At the moment, I have a 12vdc drop in the back of the van into which I plug the cooler while traveling ... I think what I'm going to do in the spring is to instead feed it from the front of the van, where I'll also have a master switch that will not only shut of the feed to the cooler but also the small 9" TV/VCR that we carry ... that way I much less likely to forget to turn it off.

Two years ago we were in Gettysburg for the July 4 long weekend and it was HOT ... temps hitting the 90s. We had our lunch packed in the cooler and once we parked the van to go for a walking tour of the battlefield area, I shut the cooler off. We were away at least a couple of hours before returning to have our lunch and I was surprised the cooler interior temperature really hadn't changed all the much! Another time, we were in Charleston, SC to visit the carrier Yorktown ... temps were hitting the 100s that day but our drinks and snacks were fine in the cooler, even after we'd been away from the van for a couple of hours. Now, if you were to leave it for 6 - 8 hours, that'd be another story. One thing you can do to help the situation is to make a reflective blanket for the cooler out of Reflectix ... it will significantly help in reflecting heat waves away from the cooler and allow the cooler to easily maintain a cold interior temperature. I actually have a set of Reflectix panels I made for the rear window and rear quarter windows of our van that I put in place if we're parking for any length of time in the hot sun ... you'd be amazed at how much they cut down on heat buildup in the van!



Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
Oz & Us Campsite

Bill, Our local Camp Coleman has re-manufactured ones for $59. Would you hesitate at all in buying a previously purchased one?


Gary,
2000 Santa Fe
2002 Dodge Cummins Diesel packed and ready to go!
Our Website
Please support the fight against MS.

I have heard of the small circuit that monitors the battery voltage. I could not find one and figured that I could build one. It cant be too many parts to do that. Are they available on the market again? Maybe it would be a lot easier to buy it premade.

quote:

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Originally posted by MtnCamper:
Bill, Our local Camp Coleman has re-manufactured ones for $59. Would you hesitate at all in buying a previously purchased one?

http://irv2review.com/photopost/data/500/190licenseplate-thumb.jpg
Gary,
2000 Santa Fe
2002 Dodge Cummins Diesel packed and ready to go!
http://gmcamping.tripod.com
Please support the fight against MS.

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Gary:

I suppose if the re-manufactured one carried a one year warranty, I might. Does that $59 include the 120vac adapter? We bought our's here in Ontario where the price is outrageous ... 'bout $120 Cdn for the cooler, another $45 Cdn for the adapter, plus 15% tax! I remember at the time I could have bought one in the States at WalMart for about $90 US, WITH the adapter included, but I wanted to have one in my hands to test it out before our trip south. Had I known at that time how well the cooler would work, I wouldn't have hesitated to save myself some $$$$ by buying it in the States!



Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
Oz & Us Campsite

I must say we had to get a jump start from the ranger one morning as we left the cooler going int the truck for 4 hours. No need to do that, they are coolers after all and do not warm up that fast.

We are now better about unplugging it when we reach our destination and plug it into the pop up outside light (1/4 inch plug) on the trailer once everything is set up.

Fred Camper '62
DW '63
DS '95
DS '97
DDog '01

quote:

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Originally posted by Oz & Us:

Gary:

I suppose if the re-manufactured one carried a one year warranty, I might. Does that $59 include the 120vac adapter? We bought our's here in Ontario where the price is outrageous ... 'bout $120 Cdn for the cooler, another $45 Cdn for the adapter, plus 15% tax! I remember at the time I could have bought one in the States at WalMart for about $90 US, WITH the adapter included, but I wanted to have one in my hands to test it out before our trip south. Had I known at that time how well the cooler would work, I wouldn't have hesitated to save myself some $$$$ by buying it in the States!

http://irv2review.com/photopost/data/514/205licence_plate-thumb.jpg

Bill in Ontario
2000 Coleman Santa Fe
http://community.webshots.com/user/ozandus

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Warranty yes, adapter NO. ($39)? I think.


Gary,
2000 Santa Fe
2002 Dodge Cummins Diesel packed and ready to go!
Our Website
Please support the fight against MS.