Greetings Steve.
Cari and i are quite pleased with the Parkliner's stock ice-box for the type of adventuring we do (basically 5 days between re-stocks/laundry/town runs).
The ice box (I.B.) can be retrofitted with more insulation and i did so on ours. Below are some images of when i took the IB out:
First off... when/if you order it? You might ask Chandler if they usually finish off _both_ sides of the frame cut out with wood backing. Our #35 had wood holding the IB's screws only on the left side as you look at the IB as shown in this image i took after taking out the IB:
That said, i took the IB out initially because i wanted to see if there was a fix for the slow-draining i was witnessing out of the sink. Secondly i planed (and did) insulate the IB with as many layers of reflectix bubble foil i could. You can see the top of the IB in this image:
Please also note that the above image shows my moving/mod (_
link to post of mod_) of the
hepvO sink drain. There is little room for much more on the sides than two 1/4" layers of reflectix. I did insulate the outside wall with four layers as there was plenty of room, and three layers on bottom & top. I thought it was nice that the IB drained into the weep area in the galley area-wall and then drained to the ground in the weep holes. Simple and effective.
We will have our third _official_ test of the IB on a 5 day adventure next week in an area calling for daytime temps near 80. We will again place a block of ice in the upper ice-block-storage area ~3 days before leaving ($1.5 here on the coast at this time), and ~20lbs of ice in the ENGLE Deep Blue cooler. Then on the morning we leave i will fill the area up with some ice leftover from the ~20lbs i top off the ENGLE on the way out of town. This routine has kept both the ENGLE cooler and the
Parkliner IB at sub 40 degrees all the way into town on day 5 afternoon (or home to the coast on day 5). We typically will keep veggies in the IB and a few bottles of water/drink up above around the ice. We put frozen items in the ENGLE in the van.
How much _room_ inside?
Below the ice tray there is a about 7"h to 8"h x 11"d x 15"w
Above the ice-in-tray typically about 5"h to 6"h (same d x w).
For us, the simplicity of utilizing ice our two adventure rigs (Van Conversion + Parkliner) works out fine during our 5 day trips. IF we were doing this full time? I might put enough
solar on the roof(s) to power a larger
battery bank(s) and have a compressor style fridge in each unit. But for now? We are happy with the IB/Cooler in both.
OH, and if you are in a bartering/begging mood
You might ask Chandler to swap out the stock-miss-matched wood door cover ...
Stock:
And after my mod of swapping with a nice white cover from the local lumber yard/home-depot/lowes like i did:
Looks soooo much nicer in there! Took all of ~$10 in wood and ~10 minutes of time?
OH, and as Floyd stated above...
there are no _holes_ in the side with the Ice Box!
Sooo clean on the outside:
I think i covered all your Q's... if not ask away!
Cheers,
Thom
PS... added an attachment showing the interior of our IB taken for this post.