igloo

[desert_sailing]

There has been a bit of talk lately about the Alpicool. For my needs it sounds pretty good. At this time of uncertainty I am not too keen about ordering many things and then have some delays in shipment and such. As such I am looking to pick up as much as possible at local stores.

Today I bought an Igloo iceless 40. 12v cooler thing. 40 qts and supposed to cool 36 below ambient. I figured it would be worth a test. It was 180 and was there to go.

I get it home and plug up to test. It doesnt seem to be working? I left it plugged in for a few hours never heard it turn on and it never cooled down.

I of course will be taking it back tomorrow. But I am curious if anyone has used these or heard much about them.

Of course if I am experiencing user error and it is my fault and I hear nobad reviews I will keep it. Otherwise I will wait to find something else...

 

[B and C]

That cooler doesn't have a compressor. It is a peltier type cooler and uses a lot of electricity for what it does. They take a long time to cool.

Look for one that has a compressor, not a cooler.

 

[JerryJ]

I signed up for the Amazon Prime free trial when I purchased my Alpicool two days ago. This gave me free 2 day shipping, no long waiting. I can cancel the trial membership, and still enjoy the Prime benefits till July 22nd (gonna check out the video stuff, together with savings on shipping, it might be worth the price). I really doubt TSHTF in two days!

 

[desert_sailing]

That cooler doesn't have a compressor.  It is a peltier type cooler and uses a lot of electricity for what it does.  They take a long time to cool.

Look for one that has a compressor, not a cooler.

Thank you. I guess I will just get the refund and let them keep it.  I have only 35ah battery... I cant afford to have a cooler that hogs it all.

I guess I will browse for something online that can arrive quickly.

I guess alpicool is the way yo go around here for a modest priced "fridge".

 

[JerryJ]

FYI - the Alpicool C15 and C20 are the same unit, with the C20 having a lid with extra space. Both are very small inside, but you would be surprised how much you can fit in there.

These are true compressor refrigerators, and they can be used as a freezer. According to one YouTuber's test, it draws about 6ah a day as a fridge, and close to 40ah a day as a freezer. Your 35ah battery should be ok for fridge mode, but I would suggest a 100ah battery if you want to use it as a freezer (assuming you have solar or some other means of recharging daily).

 

[desert_sailing]

FYI - the Alpicool C15 and C20 are the same unit, with the C20 having a lid with extra space.  Both are very small inside,  but you would be surprised how much you can fit in there. 

I unfortunately wont be upgrading the battery for some time.  So I guess I wouldnt be using an Alpicool as a freezer. A fridge I would be able to use fine tho at that rate. I do have a 100watt solar and wont be running hardly anything other than led and charging my phone.

I had been thinking if I am able to store frozen meats then the fridge could get me by easily and I can carry a bit more. I have no idea how long fresh meat lasts in the fridge. I always take it out of freezer to thaw. I don't think I have uncooked, thawed meat in my fridge in years for longer than 2 days.

I would like to be able to go 2 weeks before reprovisioning. I may only be able to do that if I do upgrade battery to keep meats frozen.  Here I am.. old as the dust and have no idea how long  thawed meat lasts in the fridge....yikes!

 

[desert_sailing]

Well that is a bummer. I was hoping closer to a week.
 Back to the drawing board.

 

[Dingfelder]

People have commonly eaten rotten or "aged" meat down through the millennia.  Or just carved off the brown spots.  You probably can too. The only problem is that it sometimes goes disastrously wrong.  How much gamble do you have in you?  It's worked for thousands of years; but those folks also died pretty young.

 

[highdesertranger]

those Peltier coolers are notorious power hogs. you would be very lucky if your battery ran that for 2 hours. then the cooling 36° below ambient that's in the lab, in the real world I found it to be more like 20-25 below ambient. what are you going to do in 90° weather? highdesertranger

 

[JerryJ]

There are larger models that have a freezer compartment, I believe the cheapest is around $300. Not much storage in the freezer compartment though.

Stepping up to a dual unit system would require a minimum of 200w solar and batteries totaling at least 150ah (200ah would be better in case of cloudy weather). If I was doing a dual unit system, I would feel most comfortable with 300w solar and 200ah batteries minimum. Those here with more solar experience could say for sure.

Though it's not the most efficient way, you could use an Alpicool as a freezer, using it to store meats and make ice, then use the ice to keep items needing refrigeration fresh in a normal ice chest.

 

[desert_sailing]

those Peltier coolers are notorious power hogs.  you would be very lucky if your battery ran that for 2 hours.  then the cooling 36° below ambient that's in the lab,  in the real world I found it to be more like 20-25 below ambient.  what are you going to do in 90° weather?  highdesertranger

I really don't want/can't upgrade to more than 100 watts solar for some time. I currently have a 35 ah battery. I could buy another one of those and wire the 2 together? I am wondering if that would be sufficient to run an Alpicool plus my led and recharge the phone/ipad and if a 100 watt panel would recharge both of those batteries.?

 

[highdesertranger]

in my first system I powered two 12v Engels off of 160watts(2x80watt panels) and 2 el cheapo marine/deep cycle batteries. worked fine highdesertranger

 

[JerryJ]

The issue is will the solar panel be able to recharge both batteries after a day or two of clouds. On cloudy days, you'll be lucky to get 10-30% output from a solar panel compared to a full sunshine day.

Everything I've read here and elsewhere says all of your calculations need to be doubled for safety.

- Batteries need to have twice the total needed AH to stay healthy

- Conditions could make your fridge work harder than normal, so double the AH again

- Clouds can linger for days, so double it twice to be able to last 4 days

Alpicool 15 & 20 use at least 4ah a day as a fridge, four days is 16ah, doubled for unexpected conditions is 32ah, doubled for safety of the battery is 64ah (two 35ah batteries would be good).

Your 35ah battery may be ok if you don't ever experience more than 3 cloudy days in a row.

If you do add another battery, you should add at least another 50w panel, not being able to charge to full over repeated discharge cycles will diminish your batteries capacity much faster than charging them fully as often as possible.

All of this is overkill in order to make your batteries live longer and make sure your fridge always has power. You may be able to do fine with less.

 

[highdesertranger]

well a couple of points,

first off a 35ah battery is very small so I really wouldn't rely on it for anything critical.

second Jerry your estimate of an Alpicool using 4ah's per day is way low.

third yes cloudy days affects your solar output. but if you have enough panel you will be ok. I have seen my system put 25+ amps into the batteries on an extremely cloudy day. even on the cloudiest I get back to 100%. it might not be at 11AM(normal) but by 2PM for sure.

I wouldn't even mess with anything under a 100watt panel and then I would get as many on my roof as possible.

a much better solution is to use high voltage panels and an MPPT controller. way cheaper and a lot more bang for the buck.

highdesertranger

 

[JerryJ]

Oops, I stand corrected, 6ah per day minimum as a fridge according to slim potatoes on YouTube. 40ah as a freezer.

I'm starting off with a 35ah battery because I'm only running the fridge on it, everything else I can charge off the Prius. I can also run the fridge off the Prius at night since I'll be using the ac in Ready mode, so I really only need the panels to provide 4ah (hence my confusion above).

My solar kit is being delivered tomorrow, and I'll be testing it thoroughly before hitting the road.

This is a learning system for me, and I appreciate all the info you and others are sharing! I'm sure I'll increase my solar capacity as time goes by.

 

[highdesertranger]

ok what does the manual say. 6ah is still extremely low, my thinking is slim is fudging the numbers or there is a flaw in how he testing. how is he measuring? something isn't right. 6ah is like .25amps per hour. LED's use that much. highdesertranger

 

[JerryJ]

The manual doesn't say anything other than what the basic button functions are.

Here's the video I mentioned, testing results are at 10:30 for fridge and a couple minutes later for freezing.


Can't wait to do some testing of my own!

 

[highdesertranger]

well he does say .25 per hour. and I did see it on his meter, and I still don't believe it. IMO something is up.

any of you electronic wizards have anything to say?

highdesertranger

 

[desert_sailing]

If I am able to draw down half my 35ah battery.. 17ah usable.. and the Alpicool uses even 10ah a day.. I still have those 7ah for led and phone recharge.

I really dont want to buy more solar at this time. Maybe I could buy one more 35ah battery and rotate them? One charging one using  and just bounce back and forth?



I

 

[B and C]

You would be better served by connecting your batteries in parallel.