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Old 03-19-2017, 04:20 PM   #121
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A couple links to cooler reviews were posted, but if you're talking about the video one done in Florida, those coolers were outdoors, on pavement in the sun all day, then brought into a garage at night. Pretty sure the temps were in the 70s. Much different than in the house at 65. So it wouldn't surprise me that the "regular" coolers did much worse, mostly because of the direct sun. But still, a Coleman Xtreme will do better than a regular old Igloo, I agree.

RV fridges need to be pretty level, but I have found from looking at manuals that if the trailer is off-level enough that the fridge won't work well, it's off level enough that I'm not comfortable inside, so I'd be leveling it more anyways. The old RV fridges did have to be way more level. Much less forgiving. For I think about 90's and newer, the conventional wisdom is "If you're comfortable enough inside to hang out, cook and sleep, it's level enough for the fridge".
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Old 03-19-2017, 04:21 PM   #122
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Did you measure the temperature of the water at test conclusion? Might have been close to 32 degrees, or at least less than 42, which is still a useful temp.
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Old 03-19-2017, 06:52 PM   #123
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Frozen beer

Maybe this has already been brought up in this thread. Years ago I read about freezing cans of beer to use in a cooler. I have done this with great results. A few cans over the years have bulged slightly, but never ruptured. The beer cans have even frozen nearby food items. I think there is some physics involved with heat absorption capacity of alcohol, or some effect, but they work very well and the beer, like the cooler frozen water jugs, is usable and refreshing after serving it's cooling job.

Do NOT try to freeze cans of soda. I did, and coated the home freezer interior with a uniform layer of diet Pepsi. Experiment gone awry. Live and learn, and clean up the mess.
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Old 03-19-2017, 07:36 PM   #124
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Frozen cans of beer

Test info on the technique.




Freezing Beer for Your Cooler ~ Living Overland
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Old 03-20-2017, 04:08 PM   #125
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo View Post
Did you measure the temperature of the water at test conclusion? Might have been close to 32 degrees, or at least less than 42, which is still a useful temp.


Paul said it was still icy cold. So it could still be useful.

Another time or someone else could do a test but this time drain the melted water each day. I hear it gets warm faster without the water.

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Old 03-20-2017, 04:37 PM   #126
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Paul said it was still icy cold. So it could still be useful.

Another time or someone else could do a test but this time drain the melted water each day. I hear it gets warm faster without the water.

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Instructions that came with my Coleman ( yes it came with a manual and I even read it ) said not to drain the water. You are just pouring out cold.
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Old 03-20-2017, 04:42 PM   #127
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Yup, the wisdom is that water cools better than air, so keep the water. It's what one of my coolers instructions told me, too.

Funny that over the years I've had multiple people tell me, in a very expert tone, that I must drain the water from my cooler. That's why there's a drain. One guy even just kept the drain open, all the time when the cooler was out of the truck.


For keeping beer cold on long river trips, before the existence of all these fancy coolers, some friends of mine would do this: take the last couple 12-packs of beer you bought, take out all the cans. Line the inside of the box with a plastic garbage bag. Put the cans back in. Fill with water. Freeze. With any luck or colder than expected temperatures out on the river, you're having to chip your beer out of an ice block on the last couple days of the trip!

Now I don't drink as much beer as they did so it never mattered so much to me...but I thought it was a really good idea.

In theory the water around the cans will freeze before the beer, since the beer has some alcohol, and keep the beer from expanding too much when it freezes. In that way it might even work for soda, since alcohol or not, the small amount of water around each can will probably freeze first. I'm not going to be one to experiment with that, though...
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Old 03-20-2017, 04:50 PM   #128
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It's been so long since we got this cooler as a free gift with a pop-up tent trailer that I can't remember what the instructions said--but I know you're right. We sold the trailer but kept the cooler.


It must've instructed us to keep the water, too...I'm not even sure the cooler has a drain, but if so it's for clean-out when you're all done, rather than to keep it "dry" inside.


Paul hates fishing around in the melted water for food...hence the utility 0f little plastic baskets to, um, "lift and separate." And lock-tite baggies or other ways (such as original hot dog packaging) to keep water and food separate.


If desperate, you could drink the cold water. Maybe you wouldn't even have to be desperate. And the dogs could drink it...


Back when I was a kid, if you had a body of water near your camp or picnic area you could put cans of drinks into the water and leave it a while--it would chill them. Lakes, rivers, etc. So why hot the liquid water in your own cooler? Less chance of floating downstream that way!


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Old 03-20-2017, 05:32 PM   #129
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We portion out things like bacon , sausage , hot dogs , brats , steak , pork chops etc into meal size portions and then vacuum seal them in seal a meal bags. That way when the ice melts and fills the cooler with ice water the food stays safe and doesn't get water logged. Tried Tupperware , but they some times leak or the lid gets popped off.
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Old 03-20-2017, 06:58 PM   #130
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If I bring a couple cans of beer backpacking, letting them sit for a few hours in the lake is always the plan. If we're lucky, and high enough up, and it was a good winter, we'll still find snowdrifts to put our beer in up until July. But by August, the lake is only thing left for beer-cooling.

Yeah if you keep your cooler clean enough you could drink it...I'd still be hesitant though.
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Old 03-21-2017, 07:26 AM   #131
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Steve - "We portion out things like bacon , sausage , hot dogs , brats , steak , pork chops etc into meal size portions and then vacuum seal them in seal a meal bags. That way when the ice melts and fills the cooler with ice water the food stays safe and doesn't get water logged. Tried Tupperware , but they some times leak or the lid gets popped off."






Aha. I knew I shoulda kept that Seal-a-Meal. Of course. Because even zip-lock or zipper-lock, or lock-tite baggies sometimes leak.


But Seal-a-Meal doesn't. Now I have something new to shop for. A shopportunity.


And that'd be good in any kind of cooler, Roto-molded or otherwise. I really like that idea. And you could even freeze things in portioned-out bags, which would help keep the cooler, well, cooler.


Thanks.


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Old 03-21-2017, 09:52 AM   #132
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Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle View Post
Steve - "We portion out things like bacon , sausage , hot dogs , brats , steak , pork chops etc into meal size portions and then vacuum seal them in seal a meal bags. That way when the ice melts and fills the cooler with ice water the food stays safe and doesn't get water logged. Tried Tupperware , but they some times leak or the lid gets popped off."






Aha. I knew I shoulda kept that Seal-a-Meal. Of course. Because even zip-lock or zipper-lock, or lock-tite baggies sometimes leak.


But Seal-a-Meal doesn't. Now I have something new to shop for. A shopportunity.


And that'd be good in any kind of cooler, Roto-molded or otherwise. I really like that idea. And you could even freeze things in portioned-out bags, which would help keep the cooler, well, cooler.


Thanks.


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The food we put in seal a meal bags is frozen .We put the bags of food in the freezer and freeze them until they are frozen solid . We pack the frozen seal a meal bags tight into a cooler and then add ice , ( block & cubes ) We try to eat the fresh meat first and the cured meats last ( bacon , hot dogs , ham , smoked meats) last .
This is not a long term solution but for 5 to 7 days it works well.
For longer time periods ,we have used block dry ice and then when that is gone add block Ice. We have gone up to 2 weeks using this method.
Our trailer freezer is small and going to town to buy fresh every other day does not fit our style of camping. We try to plan out our meals and carry enough food so that we can camp for up to 7 days without have to go shopping . If you enjoy shopping then going through all this effort is probably a waste of time.
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Old 03-22-2017, 03:16 PM   #133
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Canyon Coolers

I did a ton of research and got a Canyon Cooler, small company out of Flagstaff.
Lowest price point for a rotomoled and performs the best in ice retention.
Bear proof and recessed cam latches, lifetime warranty.
I retired my fleet of vintage Coleman Diamond logo coolers after decades of service.
Here is a link, Canyon vs Yeti

Canyon Coolers vs Yeti - The Cooler Box
Attached Thumbnails
canyon cooler 001 (Small).JPG   canyon cooler 002 (Small).JPG  

canyon cooler 003 (Small).JPG   canyon cooler 004 (Small).JPG  

canyon cooler 005 (Small).JPG   coleman coolers 001 (Small).JPG  

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Old 03-27-2017, 10:01 PM   #134
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Wonder why the don't make a Molded trailer

Makes me wonder why they don't make a molded (injection) trailer vs hand laid.
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Old 03-27-2017, 10:05 PM   #135
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Actually they did. The Teardrop American Outback. Have one in my garage
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:05 PM   #136
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no way!!!

Do you have any pics?
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:11 PM   #137
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Yup.
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:18 PM   #138
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But not on my phone. I think I posted some on fiberglassrv.Com and some on facebook. If you dont find them, let me know and I can email some
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Old 04-06-2017, 09:20 PM   #139
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Originally Posted by shane n View Post
I did a ton of research and got a Canyon Cooler, small company out of Flagstaff.
Lowest price point for a rotomoled and performs the best in ice retention.
Bear proof and recessed cam latches, lifetime warranty.
I retired my fleet of vintage Coleman Diamond logo coolers after decades of service.
Here is a link, Canyon vs Yeti

Canyon Coolers vs Yeti - The Cooler Box
Nice cooler ,better latches and price the Yeti . Pat
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Old 04-07-2017, 02:42 AM   #140
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Lots of Teardrop American pictures here.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...can-27419.html
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