Ice box drain

[TBirdy]

First time ever trying out our '74 Boler ice box fridge. I thought it was pretty straight forward---the ice melt water flows down into the little black tube BUT the tube does not lead outside the Boler(?!)
It just stops, behind the fridge and drains there ..which is, of course terrible as I found a pool of water on the floor today. Weird thing is, I can't figure out where the tube 'should' connect to the outside world! I'm camping alone so I can't be inside and outside at the same time.
Along that outside wall I see just two holes: the hole for hose hook-up directly to our sink and the sink drain hole but nothing else. Where does the little ice box tube normally drain to? Mine is fairly short, but maybe it was cut? I can fit my hand behind the fridge to feel around but I can't feel anything obvious..
Thank you so much for any info. Hot week coming up in Ottawa, Canada!


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[Glenn Baglo]

Don't know where your drain tube is supposed to go to, but I did read the instructions that came with my Coleman cooler. It says not to leave the drain plug open. Says to leave that cold water in the cooler, because it is keeping stuff cold.
At some point you do have to drain it, of course.

[floyd]

Replace the drain tube with a comparable sized Tygon tubing.
run it through the floor to a point just below the frame.
make the hole tight and you won't need to seal it.
Leave enough slack to allow sliding the tray out a little ways to clean it.
Your Icebox was designed to drain to the outside as the ice melts.

Some folks like to just put a bag of ice with a few holes poked in it, in the tray. If you can find it, block ice is better.
Or freeze a couple of milk cartons and cut the carton off before putting them in the tray.
The deep freeze at home makes a much colder block of ice than the store bought bags and can last more than twice as long.

[Glenn Baglo]

See the last item here. Then Google Coleman Extreme Cooler instructions. The instructions will cover any cooler since the principle is the same.

COLEMAN® XTREME™ COOLERS
How to use and clean

Xtreme Cooler Performance Guidlines
To achieve five-day performance in your new Xtreme cooler you must use it properly. Use plenty of ice and pre-chill items before you put them in the cooler. The following guidelines will allow you to achieve extreme performance.
37.5 lbs. for the 50 qt wheeled ice chest (model 6263-707)
43.5 lbs. for the 58 qt ice chest (model 6273-707)
27 lbs. for the 36 qt wheeled ice chest (model 6251-707)
Coleman recommends using .75 lbs. of ice per rated quart of the coolant. We highly recommend using cubed ice.
For best performance, always pre-chill food and drinks.
Two six packs or one gallon (3.7L) of liquid will use approximately 2.5 lbs. (1.13kg) of ice just to cool from room temperature. So plan ahead and cool off everything before you head out. You can even empty a few trays of ice into the cooler to pre-chill its interior.

Put the ice in last
Cold air travels down, so if you want your beverage well chilled, load cans and bottles first, then cover with ice.

Do not store cooler in hot location.
When storing cooler, avoid hot places such as the garage or the trunk of a car. If this is unavoidable, bring the cooler inside at least 24 hours before use.

Keep cooler out of the sun.
Ice lasts up to twice as long when the cooler is in the shade.

Choose cube or block ice.
Use cube ice to quickly cool food and drink, block ice to keep it cold longer.

Don't drain cold water.
Recently melted ice keeps food and drinks cold. Melted ice water preserves ice better than empty air space.

[rainjer]

An ice box is different than a cooler. If you do not drain it then you will have a mess.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by rainjer

An ice box is different than a cooler. If you do not drain it then you will have a mess.

thank you.

[Glenn Baglo]

Just providing information on efficient use of a cooler. So, might be best to replace icebox with a cooler, or perhaps instead of replacing the drain hose, place the ice in some sort of container within the icebox so that you don't have to discard the cold that you paid for.

[TBirdy]

Thanks all, but I'm still wondering where this tube was originally designed to drain to outside? Is there a hole in the Boler that I'm not finding? Seems crazy that the tube would exit the ice box through a little hole but then not leave the Boler entirely. Anyone have an original Boler ice box still in use?


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[Jon in AZ]

I have to agree with Glenn that a good portable ice chest makes a far better cooler than an icebox. Ice lasts 3-5 days in our Coleman 70-qt. 5-day Xtreme, versus 1-2 days in our Scamp's icebox (which we now use for dry storage of bread, cereal, chips, etc.). We also had issues with ants invading the icebox through... guess where... the drain tube!

If you are set on using the icebox, I'd pull it from the cabinet and add some additional insulation to the box. While it's out you can look for an existing drain tube hole or make one if needed. It's possible a PO replaced a section of the floor and didn't plan to use the icebox.

As Floyd suggests, now is the time to replace the tube, as old ones can get brittle and crack. Some screening on the end of the drain tube would reduce the likelihood of insect infiltration (but you'd have to check it regularly to keep it from plugging up). Mine extends past floor and frame so you can see it by looking under the trailer from the side.

I'd also look into putting plastic flaps across the door opening, like the big commercial walk-ins. Because cold air falls, opening the door of an icebox allows a lot more cold air to escape than opening the top of an ice chest.

If all this is more of a project than you want to tackle during prime camping season, I'd take Glenn's suggestion and let the ice melt in a tub for now and tackle this during the off-season. Just make sure you thoroughly dry out the floor inside the galley under the icebox.

Those are just my thoughts and experiences. Best wishes sorting out what will work for you.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Mine isn't a Boler, but you might look in the same general location- the tube from the icebox in my Campster goes close to straight down, slightly angled back.

Containers are nice for cleanliness but if the water melts more slowly it also removes less heat. I use a 5-day cooler to store extra ice blocks (as they are nearly impossible to find while traveling)

[Jon in AZ]

Blocks last longer, but provide less cooling. Many Costco stores sell 20# bags of cubes for $1.79. It's a good deal, about the right amount for our 70 qt. cooler, and lasts about 4 days. Freezing all our meat ahead of time helps a lot.

I prefer to use containers for food that we don't want floating in melted ice water rather than containers for the ice. YMMV...

Glenn, you will point out that I should have 70 x 0.75 = over 50 pounds of ice (according to the instructions from Coleman in your earlier post, if I read that right...). Absurd! Sounds like lawyer-speak intended to protect Coleman from food-borne illness claims.

[KatieA]

We use the icebox in our '72 boler. The drain tube goes from the hole in the top shelf, down through a hole in the bottom shelf, and out through the bottom of the trailer. I'll add some pictures in a minute...

[KatieA]

Here are the pictures...Let me know if you have any questions. We've never had a problem with water draining anywhere in the trailer so it sounds like you're missing the tube to the outside.

(Ignore the dirty icebox - my husband just finished replacing the floor and frame and I haven't cleaned anything up yet).

[TBirdy]

Amazing! Thanks so much all! Sure enough it was right where explained just a little hidden with some added spray foam insulation. Working great now. What a great forum!
Now... on to figuring out how to DIY an awning that will slip into the existing awning track. I know there's gotta be a thread on that!


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[DogHaus]

I have the icebox in my Scamp. The drain tube was plugged with bug nests when I got the Scamp, so I can relate to the puddle of water phenomenon! I sometimes use ice blocks too, but over time have found that frozen bottles of water work better when its just a short camping trip. When I'm going for just a three day weekend I completely fill the ice compartment with large frozen bottles of water and blue ice packs. It keeps the food compartment below 40 degrees the whole three days. I have a thermometer in the food compartment so that I can monitor it, and have a sheet of insulation installed against the inside of the icebox door.

[KatieA]

Originally Posted by TBirdy

Amazing! Thanks so much all! Sure enough it was right where explained just a little hidden with some added spray foam insulation. Working great now. What a great forum!
Now... on to figuring out how to DIY an awning that will slip into the existing awning track. I know there's gotta be a thread on that!


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That's great that it's working properly now. I love my icebox - it works great for us.

Re: a quick awning DIY - if you don't need something fancy, you could do what my husband did to make ours. He just stapled a piece of rope inside the edge of a tarp (folded the edge over the rope and stapled it shut) and then slides that through the awning track. The edges are held up with a couple of old tent poles. It's not pretty but it works .

[Maud]

Happy, happy! Joy, joy! I just received a brand new ice box for my birthday!

Since selling our '85 Westy Harold and acquiring Purl our little '85 Scamp, we've been living with a "cooler hole" where the PO removed the icebox. Our cooler is shorter, narrower, and wider than the hole is high, wide and deep meaning lots of wasted space, it sticks out into the living space, and it wants to slide out when we are going down the road but not when I want to get into it.

We live in Wisconsin, boondock much of the time, have never had a hard time finding block ice, and have spent far too much energy cajoling a three-way frig to get and stay cold. Restoring the original ice box just makes sense. Now the cooler can live outside with all the bevies while the ice box sits shut tight until I need to get food out of it.

I have one nagging question though... It seems I am supposed to make a hole in the shell of the icebox to pass the hose through. Really? Why doesn't a new ice box come with a hole already drilled? They put a hole in the ice tray for the hose, why not in the shell itself?

[Jon in AZ]

Or you could skip the drain and put the ice in a tub. Melted ice water helps with cooling, and the drain tube can become an entry point for insects (ask me how I know!).

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by Maud

Happy, happy! Joy, joy! I just received a brand new ice box for my birthday!

I have one nagging question though... It seems I am supposed to make a hole in the shell of the icebox to pass the hose through. Really? Why doesn't a new ice box come with a hole already drilled? They put a hole in the ice tray for the hose, why not in the shell itself?

I suspect the replacement ice box is made to fit multiple situations, and in some the drain hole might have to be in a specific place.