Very good value Powered coolbox

curtlyb

cheers for that advice Syd,
I was looking at the 12v only one in Argos for 39.99, I've found a '240v to female cigarette lighter ' convertor for 19.99 which will do the job.
Still pondering whether its worth upgrading to something more substantial which can be reliably left on for a couple of days but then the price shoots up.:rolleyes:

Daniel_B

The thing is with the coolboxes, all you need to do is leave the lid on, and switch them off overnight, they maintain the temp fine - just switch em on again in the morning.

They are just as good as a standard coolbox at keeping the warm out, so the fact that it is has a powered option doesn't change this.

The feature I like about the Ring model, is that the power cable is just that, a simple figure of 8 cable, with an 8 amp fuse IIRC.

The aftermarket ones are usually a big lump, with a power block to lug around, this one is all built into the lid, and feels WAY better quality than the one we nearly bought from Woolies.

The Thermos one from Argies is 4L bigger, but as pointed out has no mains, and for me that's a major compromise, as we will likely want to use it at home at some point, or off the ECU at the campsite.

As I said, we took the woolies one to Maplin, and I picked up a 14.99 adapter thinking it would be fine - Mr leccy techie checked it out though, and due to the high power consumption he said we would need a 29.99 example.

I'm pretty sure he wasn't trying to blag a big sale, and he even suggested we took it back and look elsewhere, and I got the impression he lived and breathed watts and amps, so am inclined to believe him.

The one he suggested was a whopper of a powerblock, about 4 inches by 8 - ludicrous!

Dan

gromituk

I doubt he was telling porkies. As has been explained already, these things take several amps at 12V, so to run them off the mains you'd need an adaptor that produces several amps at 12V. Most adaptors are designed for the likes of CD players and stuff, which consume a lot less. The "ludicrous" power supply isn't necesarily so ludicrous after all.

gromituk

But I'm not sure the price is all that good. You should be buying these things at the end of the summer, not the beginning.

Daniel_B

gromituk wrote:

But I'm not sure the price is all that good. You should be buying these things at the end of the summer, not the beginning.

That's all well and good with hindsight, but if you happen to NEED one in the next few weeks then it is no use at all.

In my opinion I don't think £50 with both powersupplies, and a good build quality, is going to be beaten by much if at all, at any time of year.

We haven't used it 'in anger' yet, but will be doing so later this month, i will report back as to it's effectiveness then.

gromituk wrote:

I doubt he was telling porkies. As has been explained already, these things take several amps at 12V, so to run them off the mains you'd need an adaptor that produces several amps at 12V. Most adaptors are designed for the likes of CD players and stuff, which consume a lot less. The "ludicrous" power supply isn't necesarily so ludicrous after all.

Hi Gromit - no I don't think he was either, but I suspect most people would do.
When i said ludicrous, I didn't mean as in silly, and not required, I meant ludicrous as in it weighed a ton and was huge, and the bargain £30 coolbox doubles in price - that what was ludicrous :rotfl:

Dan

goldenbolux

for whoever bought one from woolies they do the 24ov unit for it for £12
hope this helps

beerqueen

Daniel B - can I just double check that it comes with a mains lead because in the description its says "complete with 2 mtr cord and cigarette lighter plug" but no mention of mains. I'm after something like this to take to Disneyland Paris with us in the summer so I can cool some drinks (taken with us from UK like a good MSE!) and avoid paying too much in the parks. I'm afraid a lot of the electrical stuff mentioned has gone completely over my head but I don't want to set the hotel on fire so as long as I turn this off for regular intervals I'd be fine, yes?!!?

gromituk

You can leave them running continuously. The only reason you'd need to switch them off is if you are running them from a car battery which isn't being charged, i.e. the car isn't running.

moonpie

MIght be worth waiting a bit to see if Lidl do the same offer in your region as they're doing here

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home_ni.nsf/pages/c.o.20060511.p.Box

errolevans

gromituk wrote:

I doubt he was telling porkies. As has been explained already, these things take several amps at 12V, so to run them off the mains you'd need an adaptor that produces several amps at 12V. Most adaptors are designed for the likes of CD players and stuff, which consume a lot less. The "ludicrous" power supply isn't necesarily so ludicrous after all.

Don't know if this helps, but if the unit is 12v dc and say draws about 8 amps, that makes the power rating 96 watts. If you then want to run the same unit off the mains, you are only looking at approx the same power level (It's slightly different for AC Voltage, but not a great deal) This is only the same power as a 100w electric light bulb, so wouldn't have thought you'd need a big power converter.