Cool boxes!!!

[Mark M]

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I am thinking of buying a the WAECO TropiCool TC-35FL, coolbox which cost around 200.00

I have a twin engined cruiser on the thames with 2 engiune batteries, which are only for the engine use, once the engines are started the charger switches over to the two 110AH house batteries after 5-10 minutes, all my lighting is led so i dont use much of the house batteries,

I am not sure what my alternators output are i will have to check them (The boat is a Birchwood 33 with what looks like the origional alternators)

I was just wondering if 2 batteries would be enough for running the fridge over a weekend, we dont have 240volt shore power so the only charging the batteries get are through the alternators, we use the boat every weekend but as we have a newborn baby we might only have the engines running for an hour, until we moor up somewhere nice for the weekend, i was just wondering if anyone had any views on the Waeco, do they hold the temp well until the morning when switched of at night to conserve the power, i didnthink about a gas fridge but the BSS regs are quite complex with them, and if possible i would like to keep gas appliances within the cabin to a minimum of the cooker only

Or can anyone recommend a diiferent coolbox/arternative

Cheers

 

[mlthomas]

It will draw about 4 amps when cooling but this will cycle so it will not be constant. I know people who only run the cool box refrigeration when the engine is running and they manage fine, we have 320A capacity in our batteries and never switch the fridge off and all seems ok when on anchor over weekend.

 

[omega2]

Have you considered one of these?
http://www.gofishing.co.uk/Sea-Angl...esbags/Cool-Ice-Box-Sherpa-75-litre-cool-box/
put three inches of ice chips in the bottom, most prepacked foodstuffs will be ok in there, anything special wrap in cling film, have had ice in there for five days no problem, or you could use freezer blocks.

 

[AndieMac]

Any good quality cool-box/eski, fully insulated with 3" or 75mm proper foam will keep fridge temperate gear at the appropiate temp. for up to 5 days with something like 4 x 2 litre frozen plastic milk containers.
You can keep the whole thing quite simple and inexpensive by putting things in cold from the fridge at home and minimise the amount of times you open the box up, especially in a climate such as the UK, generally.

 

[omega2]

Any good quality cool-box/eski, fully insulated with 3" or 75mm proper foam will keep fridge temperate gear at the appropiate temp. for up to 5 days with something like 4 x 2 litre frozen plastic milk containers.
You can keep the whole thing quite simple and inexpensive by putting things in cold from the fridge at home and minimise the amount of times you open the box up, especially in a climate such as the UK, generally.

There speaks a man who "knows"

 

[Ripster]

Any good quality cool-box/eski, fully insulated with 3" or 75mm proper foam will keep fridge temperate gear at the appropiate temp. for up to 5 days with something like 4 x 2 litre frozen plastic milk containers.
You can keep the whole thing quite simple and inexpensive by putting things in cold from the fridge at home and minimise the amount of times you open the box up, especially in a climate such as the UK, generally.

Similar - we have a coleman 5 day one and just cover the top layer in ice packs before leaving and this does do the 5 days well. Just avoid keep opening it. We do have a freezer compartment on the boat, so keep spare ice packs in there too in case.

 

[Scubadoo]

I purchased last year Campingaz 36L Power box : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-Powerbox-36-Classic-Cooler/dp/B000K0M59Y

The easter holidays was the first time I had used it for 5days continuosly (normally only weekends) and pleased with it's performance. Basically I add several freezer ice blocks and plugged into the 12v system, but switched it off at night and when not on the boat (don't like things running when I'm not there). I fitted a simple temp gauge and found it to keep the temp around 4 to 6c. Much better than my previous electric coobox, this one doesn't lose the cool air through the cooler "fan" system when off, my old electric coolbox did.

I got mine off eBay for £50 instead of the normal £100 retail price.

I was concerned how much power it would take from my 100amp battery, but turned out not to be a real issue. The power consumption is 4.5 amps. I have also been replacing all my lights to LED which has made a great saving on my battery.