The family (3 of us - 2 adults - 1 young girl) are off to visit various relatives throughout July - a round trip of 3.6k kms. Her ladyship insists on taking the FL2 as it will be her first road trip, and its. I'd normally select something sportier out of the garage and go on my own. Oh well.

So the subject I'd like some experienced feedback on is: a recommendation on the type of cool box. July in the regions Haut Provence, Catalunya and Valencia will be thirst slaking hot.
Q1: Do I get a 35ltr solid stand alone box cooled by gel bags/blocks, or, one that's plugged into the 12v power supply?
Q2: Do these gel bags/blocks really keep the box contents really cool all day long when driving in hot climes?
Q3: Are the powered boxes noisy and irritating in operation?

Constructive inputs, with if possible brand recommendations, are most appreciated.
Thanks

My experience of powered ones is that they are pretty good. My one has a powered fan that draws air though the heat exchanger and so you get cool air on the inside. Mine is a Waeco 35 ltr that we have had for 4 years. It works very well and has a easy access port so that you can get in an get a bottle of drink our without opening the main box. It can cool to 5 deg C (it goes lower than that as at night it will get ice on the fans on the inside!) it also can warm to 65 deg C! It has a battery monitor thing so if you are running it in the car and the power in the battery drops too low it will turn itself off.

All sounds pretty good so far, BUT, it can only drop 20deg below ambient, so if your car is left in the sun the inside temperature can get way above 35 / 40 deg. The cooler can only drop to about 20.

We tend to put a couple of ice blocks in as well. When the car is left, we unplug it and let the insulation and ice keep everything cool.

They are great if you are travelling and want to keep stuff nice and cool. Just be aware of the limitations on cooling from ambient. Hi Darling, I'll be home in 10 mins. If I'm not back, please read this message again...

xttatsbox
That's very informative and I've certainly taken note of the ambient temperature limitation as that probably applies to all of these cool boxes. Many Thanks.

Any chance of a website direction to the cool-box?

There are two different technologies used in portable fridges
1) piezo (thermoelectric) coolers - these have a cooling fan, are relatively cheap and make good coolboxes if the ambient temperature is not too high. They tend to cool up to 25/30 deg.C below ambient, great for Britain and northern Europe.
2) compressor fridges, these work on the same principle as domestic fridge freezers, still 12V but consume less than half the power of the piezo coolers. These cool down to a temperatue, irrespective of the ambient.
We took a Waeco compressor fridge on our trip through the Sahara and Gill was able to have ice in her drink at midday even when it was 45 deg. in the shade.

Try www.mps-waeco.co.uk or www.waeco.co.uk

Engle are a well known manufacturer of expensive excellent quality compressor fridges, just sit down before asking the price. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Engel (sp?) fridges get good ratings on Disco3

I've not looked into them in great detail myself but I think LR do a fridge in the accessory broucure Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Andy131
Those Waeco compressor cool boxes look like the right kit. Today i'll try and track down a supplier here in Switzerland. Many thanks for the web link -appreciatd

npinks
In the Swiss LR FL2 Accessories catalogue they list only an "Electric Cool Bag". They show no picture or state capacity of said bag. Price here is approximately (on today's SFr/UK£ exchange rate) £230. Product number VUP100140L

£230 look up the other one by Andy and don't pay LR prices I've seen one and there not huge Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

npinks wrote:

£230 look up the other one by Andy and don't pay LR prices I've seen one and there not huge

Just checked the bag out. Rubbish, only 14ltr capacity and that soft bag will struggle to keep things cool in southern Europe during the summer. Best UK price I've found is £138.60 inc VAT.No thank you.

Andy131 wrote:

1) piezo (thermoelectric) coolers

alex_pescaru wrote:

Andy131 wrote:

1) piezo (thermoelectric) coolers

Hope you won't mind a little correction: it's a semiconductor based device (Peltier effect element), not a piezo one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling

Andy131 wrote:

hope the post helped to make an informed decision.

one thing to look for is the compressor manufacaturer

When I bought mine 3 years ago, the most common manufacturer was Danfoss, so if you are paying more for the appliance you are paying for the case / electronics / support / name.

The peltier cool boxes have a place - if you are goig to the seaside and would like a cool drink with your picknick they are fine, as you would have the engine running for the majority of the time.

If you are camping for the weekend, only a few hours after the engine stops you will either have a flat battery or the better coolboxes will switch off.

From memory our peltier box used 60W, our compressor box uses 45W but with a duty cycle of 20%, giving an effective power use of 9W. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Andy131
Your latest comments are very much appreciated re power consumption and danger of a flat battery.

Alex - Andy - Anyone
Now this is what happened yesterday:
Whilst I was researching a Swiss supplier of a Waeco CoolFreeze CF35-31ltr her ladyship (FL2 Newport Owner) came back from shopping with not 1 but 2 MobiCool 19ltr thermoelectric "bags" inc 12v connectors. Why - because they match the colour of her Terracotta leather seats and one did not look big enough for our trip

So question re power consumption: can I safely run both of these bags at the same time (1 off the boot 12v socket, the other off the 12v socket by the hand brake) whilst the vehicle is in motion, and, when parked both unplugged relying on the frozen ice gel bags inside. Note:I cannot find in the MobiCool Bag instruction leaflet any reference to power consumption

Will the FL2's battery/alternator cope with 2 MobiCool's attached plus A/C-Driving Lights-etc all switched on at the same time whilst underway

if you put cold produce in them and a few freezer packs you will be fine as the fridges wont have much work to do.

when you would possiblly have issues would be driving with the fridges both working hard and headlights on full for extended periods.

Ac doesnt use much electric just the compressor clutch and the vent fan, cooling power is supplied via drive belt. At work
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