Here's a ponderer, is there any way to convert a standard westy coolbox to have an electric fan and make it more of a cooler than just a cool box? Would it be possible to dril a hole through and still keep the box integrity, could a fan be fitted etc. Or is it just a little bit pointless and I should just go and buy a proper electric cool box and stop being a tight git!
You could do it on the cheap with a peltier plate, otherwise known as a thermo-electric cooler one side gets warm and the other cold when a current is passed through. What you would need to do is fix a heat sink to each side of it and fit a small fan on the hot side to take away the heat. You can get small ones for less than a tenner This is what basic electric cool boxes do. They are not very efficient, though I ran one on my leisure battery for 3 days, and they work best if the contents is cold to begin with, but they certainly help keep things cool
^^^ as its been said that is the best way or just get a mini fridge and use parts out of that there cheap now and run the same way mine is great keeps stuff very cold
Right, little update. Just been chatting with my resident IT guy, (who also has a electronics degree), and I think we may be onto something. The plan we've actually come up with is complete over kill but they always are in the planning phase! I'm getting a peltier plate and whhen that's arrived I'm going to play. I'll post photos etc as I create. Seems pretty easy enough. Wish me luck
just freeze 2 litre bottles of water they last for 3 days and it costs nowt, i don't even use my fridge unless i'm on 240v 'cos the water keeps the temp plenty low enough.
I did wonder about using the element and electric fan from my 12v cool box and make it better but the cool box is rubbish and it drains the leisure battery really quickly.
If you look on fleabay the peltier plates seem to be all made by the same manufacturer. The googling I did to try to find out which is the most efficient was inconclusive, there is a wikipedia acticle that says that you cant have cheap and efficient. When I was using my peltier coolbox I would turn it on the night before the trip away and put the battery charger on the bus. It helps if you put frozen stuff in there too, a few pints of frozen milk which you can use up over a few days What I did note about some of the spec sheets I saw was the current and cooling increase according to the voltage, so while the battery is charging and you are driving around with 14.4v on it it will get cooler and when you are parked up the current will reduce a bit as the voltage goes back to just above 12v 35w is just under 3a, for a 110ah battery that is 1.5 days continuous use with no other current draw, a thermostat will extend this. most cheap collboxes dont have thermostats, so it would be interesting to see what the duty cycle is with on, if it is 50% you've got three days use, 33% 4.5 days. If that were possible you will have a practical solution. Alot will depend on ambient temps and how well the cool box is insulated
^^^ that's saved me a post. That is exactly what process I am working through at the moment. I'm going to see what size heatsink / copper plate gives the best cooling to help the peltier unit and coupled with the thermostat I'm hoping for a useable and not too draining solution. I've ordered a couple of peltiers from eBay an will be using my mates electronics degree so am positive I can work something out!
