The thing about coolers

[jcollins]

Love 'em. Have always had one on the boat for food and drinks. How many have I purchased over 30 years of boating? How much ice? Who knows. But, as I started buying better coolers I always had the same gripe. Ice starts melting, food starts floating and getting soggy. And lugging the ice to the cooler.
Last year I puchased the Solaire grill and love it. Best add-on to Afterglow short of electronics. This year I bought the Edgestar 43 qt. portable refrigerator/freezer. Cools down nicely for food and beverages or can be used as a freezer for all the fish I never catch. Runs on 12 volt or AC. It weighs in at 45 pounds which isn't much more than a large cooler with ice. I'm keeping it at home as a beverage cooler and will take on the boat for longer / weekend cruises.
All my electronics are up to date and nothing is breaking. I gotta spend money on something.
http://www.compactappliance.com/FP430-C ... ge_Freezer

[DougSea]

Looks interesting. About the only I'm currently missing is what this provides - bulk cold storage beyond my built in refrigerator.

Does it look like it's built to stand up to a marine (salt) environment? If I were to get something like this it would be mounted at the forward ed of my cockpit. Not any direct water contact but we all know that salt water has a way of getting to everything!

[jcollins]

Looks interesting. About the only I'm currently missing is what this provides - bulk cold storage beyond my built in refrigerator.

Does it look like it's built to stand up to a marine (salt) environment? If I were to get something like this it would be mounted at the forward ed of my cockpit. Not any direct water contact but we all know that salt water has a way of getting to everything!

When I researched these units I found they were mainly used by campers, travelers, truckers, and a few boaters. This is not commercial grade. The commercial units were around 800.00.
I'll let you know in a few years.

[Veebyes2]

The couple traveling with us has 2 of these coolers. They do work very well. No, I would not keep one out in the cockpit of any boat. Its lifespan would be very short.

For years, on 2 night weekends, we got along just fine with carry on coolers. We seldom used the built in fridges on the 32 unless we were out for a 4 night weekend. We did not use cube ice either. It melted way too quickly. We did home made block ice in 1/2 gallon containers or plastic containers like Wet Ones come in.

[zinbaad]

Converted the "live Well" to act as a cooler by lining all sides with 1 inch pink insulating board, Block Ice seems to help stay cool with some extra time & keeps everyone out of the cabin area

[dvlyon]

I purchased a Yeti cooler last summer. It is bullet proof and keeps ice for days.

http://www.yeticoolers.com/categories/Tundra-Series/

[Mariner]

I've had a 12v Coleman cooler for years. I really like it for extra fridge space on the boat and for camping, but you do have to account for the additional battery draw.

[bigdishdoctor]

I replaced my two refridge units with a 12V compressor cooler from Dometic. This line of coolers use the reliable and efficient Danfoss compressor. Mine is a 50 quart unit and can be removed if needed else where. The unit can run on either 12VDC or 115AC.

Steve

[whwells]

There are some great ideas here. John you may want to bolt that one down. Nice and looks like an easy carry away. Hopefully, you have a 100% safe dock. One of our other members out of Seattle, Wa. awhile back was telling me he had purchased a similar unit for freeezing his huge catch out at Neal Bay, Wa.
Great way to clean & then vacaum pack the fish there and haul back in the cooler that 2 people should be albe to handle. Don't recall the price now but West Marine handles the marine version. Still left outside the life would be shorten. Good job and those following have done great work with theirs. Steve While nice looking set up. This platform is so helpful.
whwells "Howard"
35te Sportfisher
"Nibbles"

[Nancy]

Zinbaad, what kind of adhesive did you use to fasten the rigid insulation?

Steve, that's a beautiful retrofit! A little googling suggests that the power draw on those Dometic 50 qt. units runs a little under 4 amps - is that correct?

[Veebyes2]

Hey bigdishdoctor that looks like a good plan for whenever I finish the restoration job on my 32 & want to get back into the boating. I always regarded those two 12V fridges a waste of space. One of our former members (went to a much larger boat) had a top loading freezer in his 97 32+2.