Coleman Powerchill 40 qt ThermoElectric Cooler

What customers say about Coleman Powerchill 40 qt ThermoElectric Cooler?

1. 68 of 68 people found the following review helpful

   
   Much better than expected, April 10, 2014

   By 

   Leslie (Yorktown Heights, NY, United States) –
   
     

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Coleman Powerchill 40 qt ThermoElectric Cooler (Misc.)

   I purchased this cooler just prior to going to visit my daughter in Houston Texas. I planned to drive from my home in New York state to Houston. Google Maps says that is about 1,750 miles each way. My car odometer agrees. I wanted something to keep some snacks and drinks cool along the way and did not want to worry about where I could get ice. Amazon, bless them, got it to me the Friday before I planed to leave on Monday.

   Since it is not a refrigeration unit I assumed it would take some time to get cold. I plugged it in Saturday morning (I also bought the power brick) and let it rum. Since I was not sure if it would really get cold I placed a thermometer inside so I could check. The temperature in the living room was about 74 degrees. By Sunday evening the cooler registered at 30 degrees.

   I packed the cooler with soda cans and water bottles chilled in the refrigerator. Also, some cut up veggies etc.. Other than the time the unit was unplugged during transport between the car and the hotel room it was running 24/7 for 7 days counting the two before I left. The unit gave no problems while running in the car and the power brick never got more than warm to the touch. Never hot.

   I used the cooler exactly the same way on the return trip. The only problem I ever had was that some of my cut up veggies froze in their plastic container box. They actually had visible frost on them and were stuck together. All-in-all, I found the unit very convenient to use. It will be in the back seat of the car on any future trips around the country.

   EDIT: One thing I should add. During my stay in Houston the unit ran 24/7 for 9 days using the power adapter.

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2. 96 of 101 people found the following review helpful

   
   Great cooler – Coleman quality – would you expect any thing less?, March 5, 2014

   By 

   E. Ford (Guyana) –
   
     

   This review is from: Coleman Powerchill 40 qt ThermoElectric Cooler (Misc.)

   I came across a guy selling these coolers locally, with the power cable cut off, at a price I could not resist – so I took the chance & bought one – brought it home, removed the «electronics cover» and added a power cable with cigarette lighter plug – tested it using an old 12V 4A AC adapter (it pulls just around 3.7~3.8A) – both fans ran, and it cooled.

   Now the correct way to test a cooler is to see if it’ll keep your beer cold – so I went outside & got a couple of beers and put them in the cooler – please note these beers were at room temperature when I put them in the cooler – sure enough a few hours later I had cold beer – the cooler didn’t just keep the beer cold – it cooled the beer down – yes, it will do that – but, because it’s not designed to, it’s not very good at it.

   Some of the other reviewers have reported «bad experiences» so I think I’d like to point out a few things – this is a «thermo-electric» cooler, not a refrigerator, so don’t expect it to do the job of a fridge, (12V fridges are available, so if you need a fridge, buy one – expect to pay as much as 10x what this costs).

   Thermo-electric coolers are not energy efficient, they will drain your car battery if left running for more than a few hours with the car engine off, they will keep cold stuff cold, within stated limits – roughly 40*F less than ambient temperature – and please note ambient means outside the cooler, not outside the car you locked the cooler in – because temperatures in a locked car can get extremely high in the summer sun. A 12V fridge will do a better job at keeping your stuff cold in a locked car – it will draw around the same current as this cooler, but only do so when the compressor is running (see you do get what you pay for), but they will also drain your battery because the compressor will run longer in the heat.

   Read the manual (available for download from Coleman), it’s a single sheet of paper printed both sides, so not a lot of reading, understand what it is you’re buying, and you’ll be almost as delighted as I am – the cooler will keep your cold stuff cold and do it just like Coleman claims, without the fuss & the mess of ice, there will be no melt water, so no soggy food – and just in case you’re curious as to why you won’t be as delighted as I am – I got mine at a really, really, good price.

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3. 54 of 62 people found the following review helpful

   
   Coleman PowerChill Thermoelectric Cooler, April 12, 2013

   By 

   Shirley Brockman –

   Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Coleman Powerchill 40 qt ThermoElectric Cooler (Misc.)

   Purchased for My Husband. He uses it on His job. He is a Semi-Truck driver.
   Has it plugged in all the time. The last one lasted 3 years. Hoping for the same duration with this one.

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