Coleman PowerChill 40-Quart Thermoelectric Cooler with Power Supply 4.1 5 178 206
Great Cooler We purchased our Powerchill in 2000, and immediately drove to Alaske some three thousand miles. We did it in 4 days however. We were going there to work, and used the cooler first in the car and then in our room as fridge. It ran, straight out of the box, for three months rarely being turned off. The only complaint we had was it is a little noisy at night to sleep too, but it is not a fridge, and that is to be expected. We have used it many many times since and love it. Our most recent long trip with it was to Glacier National Park on a 12 day trip. It took it a minute to get itself regulated. Also it needed to vent better and we got that working better too. The other trick we learned was that if you fill a quart sized container with ice, and place it in the cooler as well, it makes a huge difference on it ability to keep things cold longer. This was also due to the fact that we shopped along the way and our food was not chilled before putting it in the cooler. However, I will always do the ice in the future. If you freeze a juice bottle with juice in it or water, it will aid greatly and then you can drink the juice or water when it thaws. So you aren't really waisting any space. I love the cooler so much that I am considering buying a second 40 quart so we will have two on our trips. I hate melted ice mess! 05/06/2010
Fixed my Coleman thermo-electric cooler! I too am a truck driver and baught my cooler about a year ago. Saved me a lot of money from eating out by being able to take my own food. Healthier, too. I give it an overall rating of 4 because it works great but you can't find parts for it. You see, about a month ago the fuse panel in my truck caught fire and killed the fan that operates the cooler, and blew the fuse in the plug. However, I did fix it. Instead of buying a new cooler just replace the fan, for some of you mechanically inclined folks. In most cases that's why the cooler stops working. I didn't feel like scouring the stores for the origional fan so I took one out of a power supply unit from an old computer I had. It's a bit smaller and less amps, but so far it works better than before. It's easy to do, too. Be sure to take the cover off once a month and clean the fan and heat sync too. Very important. Dust and dirt will kill these thing quick. 11/14/2009
money saver I drive an 18 wheeler, if you stop and eat at fast food or restuarants all the time you know how expensive it is, most of you think this product is a fridge, guess again. I use mine 24/7 for chilled items, always plugged into power receptacle, most new cars dont have power to cig lighter when key is off, yes just like almost anything else you get a lemon for one, i have had 3 in 5 yrs and only 1 died within a 1 1/2 year span, they do tend to wear out, but for the cost of one, much cheaper then eating out everyday, u eat 2 or 3 meals at fast food or restuarant, in one week it will cost u more then this cooler did. The extra $$$ u spend on eating out u could have stocked this cooler with food. 07/02/2009
Good if you have power We just completed a road trip from WA to OK with this cooler. It worked great as long at it was plugged in and you started it cooling for the trip the night before. In cases were we had to leave it disconnected for more than three hours the temperature would start to rise and would be unacceptable for raw meats, but for the lunch and drink stuff we were using it for it worked great. As a helpful hit the compressor does not have to work as hard if you keep the cooler under a blanket or in the shade while driving. Lastly the included AC wall adapter is a must and makes this product usable since it can be plugged in at hotels.PS. We successfully ran the cooler for two to three hour periods on the battery alone without draining the battery to the point of not being able to start the car. 08/18/2007
