Yeti cooler experiments

[waldenbound]

I have a Yeti Tundra 65 cooler I was supposed to experiment with over the summer. Work got in the way, but here are some results I tried.

Experiment 1: keep food on selves in order to keep out of the dripping water.
I tried to use some utility shelves with legs, but they take up too much space, and don't leave a lot of room for containers. I was thinking of the food being on shelves, then the water dripping to the bottom, then opening the drain plug to let the water out.

Experiment 2: put ice in a bucket, let cold radiate to the entire cooler.
This one looks promising, but I was only able to get the cooler to 45 degrees. I got a metal, rust-proof bucket, filled with ice, put pre-chilled water bottles around it. Ice melts in bucket, easy, less mess when dumping off water.

I can't eat dairy, so I don't need a lot of things chilled to around 32 degrees. I plan on having lots of vegetables and fruit. So, I guess I have a fine, portable root cellar. Want a cold drink? Buy things from the refrigerated section, put it in the ice bucket.

I'm going to do one more experiment, dry ice. I will wrap dry ice in paper, then put it in the bucket. Put water bottles around it, check temperature.

 

[tav-2020]

i wish stores that sell to camping clientele would throw drinking water bottles (of various sizes) in their freezer section. its my fav way to keep my cooler cool. I pre-freeze my drinking water and since the bottles have tops there is no melting water sloshing and ruining other food...and i drink the smaller bottles first as they thaw. for larger blocks of ice i recycle plastic milk jugs, and leave plenty of space for expanding, but the regular 16 oz spring water bottles can just chuck in the freezer a day ahead and good to go.

 

[waldenbound]

Yeah, that would be ideal to sell pre-frozen water in bottles, but the civilized world has a home refrigerator and freezer.
I just have no funds for solar and fridge starting off, so I'm determined to make this cooler work.

 

[Ballenxj]

I will be curious to see how your Yeti handles the dry ice. I did a similar experiment using a Coleman Marine Extreme that can be found 
here.----> https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=25866

 

[tx2sturgis]

I make my own block ice with new plastic shoeboxes you can find in the plastic storage section of your local big box stores.

Of course, this will only work for someone with the room in a home freezer.

Then you can pop the ice block out of the shoebox, put the blocks of ice in the bottom of the Yeti, and put your food items in the shoeboxes, replace the lid, then put the shoeboxes down on the top of the ice blocks. 

Works for me!

 

[John61CT]

I was assuming OP has no access to a freezer?

If that's not correct, google "polar tubes", just glue-capped 2" PVC, cut to the right length and filled 85% full with seawater.

I plan to work out clips to hang them from a cooler lid, top of the space.

Rotate between the cooler and a freezer, will likely stay cold 8 days in your Yeti

No leaks, no water, more space efficient.

 

[wagoneer]

I got a Yeti way back when I was in a lot of Bear country yes lockable and OK'd by the local Ranger but not as good as advertised when in practical use.
overpriced but very very sturdy, Lost a few drain plugs used a wine cork for a while.

 

[waldenbound]

Experiment 3: dry ice
Bought 10 pounds of dry ice, wrapped loosely in newspaper , set in bottom of Yeti. Day one, volume reduced by half. Whoa. Wrapped in cotton/ jute bag. This slowed down the dissipation alot.
Temperatures:
10 pounds wrapped in newspaper, 0 degrees .
7-5 pounds wrapped in bag, about 25 degrees.

Dry ice wrapped well to slow the dissipation shows promise.
Next and final experiment will be block ice wrapped well to add some indulation and slow melting.

 

[tx2sturgis]

You can combine dry ice and regular, wet ice, but for a couple of days after you do this, the wet ice cubes will form a solid frozen 'mass' around your drinks and meats, etc. So make sure to place food items up on top, or they are hard to retrieve when needed!

 

[Burbanlife]

i wish stores that sell to camping clientele would throw drinking water bottles (of various sizes) in their freezer section. its my fav way to keep my cooler cool. I pre-freeze my drinking water and since the bottles have tops there is no melting water sloshing and ruining other food...and i drink the smaller bottles first as they thaw. for larger blocks of ice i recycle plastic milk jugs, and leave plenty of space for expanding, but the regular 16 oz spring water bottles can just chuck in the freezer a day ahead and good to go.

Trader Joes stores sell frozen bottles of water, you just have to ask, last time I bought some they were 28 cents each