How long would a 12v coolbox take to drain a battery?

[Superhoop]

okie592 said:

Superhoop said:

Can you not get one with a cigar lighter adapter and a mains lead and then when you get to work just plug it in there?

im a mobile engineer so dont have a office to keep it plugged in at, thats the whole reason i have the coolbox, it tends to go a bit sweaty in the heat.

will try it at a weeknend and see

I actually did think that there might be no place to plug about 30 seconds after I'd posted (apologies, but I had a rather late and drunken night last night)

I'd go with the suggestions of others and use some freezer block thingymawhatsacallits.... They'll keep you lunch cool for hours even with the coolbox switched off

[KingNothing]

I have an auto-cutoff adapter for mine, which cuts off supply to the cool box when the voltage drops to a certain level.

Did a quick search, and this is the exact one I have:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-WAECO-Coolbox-Fridge...

[Jonny_]

Speaking from experience... A cheap 12v mini fridge can drain the battery of a 2006 1.6 Focus to the point where it can't crank the engine in under 7 hours.

Luckily it had enough left in it to power the ignition, and once they'd finished taking the piss I recruited a few colleagues for a bump start

[j4ckos mate]

Freezer gel packs

[YankeePorker]

Tried this at Le Mans a few years ago, it completely drained the battery of my porker overnight, needed a buddy with jump leads. I'd also vote for the freezer blocks in a good coolbox as the better option.

[Zad]

You might also get into the position where it doesn't drain the battery, but then you don't drive it long enough to fully recharge the battery. 2 or 3 days use resulting in a non cranking engine.

[ukcobra]

My Wife left the coolbox connected to the car while we were holidaying in Jersey a few years back. It drained enough to cause us to need to jump start the battery in about 7 hours.
The battery was pretty large, as it had to turn over a 2.9TD lump.

[Chicane-UK]

Think you'll be better off with some of those ice freezer packs in the cool box - buy a load so you've got a buffer if you forget them some days, and just keep em on rotation.

[HaloGen8]

Interesting thread....no really!!.... I think that the ice packs/gel packs are the way to go and run the fridge whilst in the move then it keeps in the fridge cool so the packs won't defrost so quick then when you do stop the ice packs keep everything chilled plus a sealed fridge should help keep the ice packs happy too.

Just my take on it but happy to corrected

[troc]

HaloGen8 said:

Interesting thread....no really!!.... I think that the ice packs/gel packs are the way to go and run the fridge whilst in the move then it keeps in the fridge cool so the packs won't defrost so quick then when you do stop the ice packs keep everything chilled plus a sealed fridge should help keep the ice packs happy too.

Just my take on it but happy to corrected

Having ferried plenty of cooled food (bacon, sausages, pie -> NL, Cheese, Breast milk -> UK ) for decades, this is what we have always done. Fill al the space with freezer packs and run the cooled when the engine is running. Have kept things froze for a couple of days this way without any hassle. I'd happily run (and indeed have done in our MINI where the 12V boot socket is permanently live) the cooler for a couple of hours from my car battery but not more than that.

[gtidriver]

I was in German a few years ago,we had a cooler box left plugged in to the car, the next morning I had nice cold drinks but even the central locking wasn't powering up the battery was that dead. I had to walk around the car park with some jumper cables asking for help.

[BFG TERRANO]

Its not a good idea. I left one in the boot of a new focus a few years back and it took just over 2 hours to kill the battery. As said, a cool box and some ice packs.

[Dodsy]

You are doing it all wrong. Think of a proper PH solution and its simple - Dry Ice :-) just stick a small block in your coolbag, sarnies on top they will stay cold all day.

You might need to get them out 30 mins before eating to warm them up a bit but they will definately be cold.

Once you've eaten your sarnies find the nearest bog and chuck the dry ice down it for extra fun.

[El Guapo]

okie592 said:

the cool box is 12v rated as 50w when plugged into a 12v dc source. not sure what sort of amps its pulling though?

Ivy Watts, man. IVY WATTS!

[cheesesliceking]

You're all doing it wrong, forget the cool blocks, get yourself a box of wine, drink the wine, use the bag as a giant cool block.

[Cliftonite]

KingNothing said:

I have an auto-cutoff adapter for mine, which cuts off supply to the cool box when the voltage drops to a certain level.

Did a quick search, and this is the exact one I have:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-WAECO-Coolbox-Fridge...

Available cheaper from Amazon!

Does it work, though with other manufacturers' 12 volt coolers? One site intimates that it works only with Waeco products. Is this so??

Waeco COOLPOWER M50U Voltage Monitor Universal by Waeco
Price: £16.12 & FREE Delivery in the UK.

[Sheepshanks]

Qwert1e said:

Depends enormously on the condition of your battery. If you are going to run that type of accessory it's best to have a second battery and a charging system which deals with your primary battery first. These things are routinely available for caravans, camper vans, boats etc.

http://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-...

Yes, and it's not just any old second battery - Leisure batteries are designed for this kind of use. A normal car battery is designed to start the car - ie a lot of current for a short amount of time.

Hence the stories in this thread of cars that wouldn't start after a fairly short time.

[KingNothing]

Cliftonite said:

Available cheaper from Amazon!

Does it work, though with other manufacturers' 12 volt coolers? One site intimates that it works only with Waeco products. Is this so??

Waeco COOLPOWER M50U Voltage Monitor Universal by Waeco
Price: £16.12 & FREE Delivery in the UK.

I don't know, I have a Waeco box , it definitely works for that. Can't imagine why it wouldn't work for other boxes as all the feedback it gets is how much voltage is there, and once it gets low it would cut off? Don't quote me though, lol.

[s55shh]

I use frozen bottles of Evian rather than ice blocks. When the melt you can drink them.

[jsp56]

I've heard that that works in packed lunch boxes too. (frozen drink cartons which thaw in time for lunch).