Dick Smith cooler / warmer

Bought one of these today.
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4b592d160009c5b02740c0a87e01062d/Product/View/M4501
Looked at them last week and they were $52, the price drop swayed me. $40 today.
I don't need an Engel or a Waeco since we are only doing day trips at the moment. We normally pack a few rolls and a few drinks into an insulated bag with some ice bricks for lunch but have found that it is not the best way of keeping drinks cold and since it will fit a dozen cans it seemed like a perfect solution! I don't expect that it would be able to chill down food or beverage too rapidly but if they were already prechilled then it shouldn't have too much of a struggle to maintain them.
As for the heating function I cant see that as any more than a salmonella incubator.
Lets see how it goes.

I saw some feedback on these where a guy warmed some pies and sausage rolls after putting them in from cold in the morning, they were ready by lunch. I think they use a peltier to cool, the heating must be a small element.

Any info in the docs/tally on current draw?

Hi Guys, The peltier can work in reverse. You can buy a peltier kit to convert an esky into a cooler for about $20 from some of the electronics stores. Also you would have been better off using the cooler bag and ice bricks. Ive got one of those thing from dicksmiths and there pretty usless.

60w 5amp. Says it will heat or cool to 20deg + / - ambient. Will try the heating over winter I suppose. Seems to run constant and doesn't have a thermostat as such.

spender said:

Ive got one of those thing from dicksmiths and there pretty usless.

Click to expand...

Cheers for your input.
Idea is to test it out and as you have done rate it to say whether they are a good or bad purchase.
So on that basis lets chalk that up to
Its crap x 1
Its good x 0

At $50 its hardly worth worrying about, I'm sure we've all spent more than that on testing stuff out to find its crap but isn't that current drain a little too much for what its doing.

My fridge is drains about 2.5amps every time it switches on and in 40 degree heat in the tub it switches on maybe 3 times an hour if it stays closed.

I understand these things aren't fridges and therefore can't be compared to fridges but given that the average person would no doubt just run them off a standard car cig lighter 5 amps constant does seem a little excessive for what its doing. Is the heat from the unit noticeable when running?

Dragged it out of the box behind the DS store and plugged it straight in. Completely empty and drove home about 7 kms. At home there was a noticeable cool feel to the areas surrounding the cold plate ( heat exchanger?) and the outflow from the fan was warm but not hot. 55% humidity - thanks telstra - and as soon as I opened it the plate condensated.
5 amp is alot but I wonder if that is its peak draw at start up. The instructions were inside it on a photocopied piece of a4 with the general precautions and broken engrish.

we can't really compare a $40 cooler against a $1000 fridge,so if it keeps your drinks cool enough and doesn't drain your battery I reckon its not a bad item. Keep us informed of what you think of it mate.

Aido said:

Dragged it out of the box behind the DS store and plugged it straight in. Completely empty and drove home about 7 kms. At home there was a noticeable cool feel to the areas surrounding the cold plate ( heat exchanger?) and the outflow from the fan was warm but not hot. 55% humidity - thanks telstra - and as soon as I opened it the plate condensated.
5 amp is alot but I wonder if that is its peak draw at start up. The instructions were inside it on a photocopied piece of a4 with the general precautions and broken engrish.

Click to expand...

The cold plate/heat exchanger is the Peltier. Good sign that it condensates, least it reached dew point!

I guess we'll find out how good it is tomorrow.
My mate has an esky which cools just a little below ambient temperature, basically its just a fan really, it does stuff all in 40degree heat. I suppose his model works on the principal that flowing air might be a degree or more cooler than outside air temp.

20C below ambient is still 15C when it's 35C outside. Don't bother putting milk in it.

5A is horrid. I have a 32L Tropicool that can cool 20C or so below ambient and it draws 4A max. I don't use it because at a 50% duty cycle, you get about 10 hours out of it and that's it.

How do I work that out? Car battery charges to 70% of max charge. Say you have a 100Ah battery, so you've 70A of capacity. You should never drop the battery below 50% so you've 20Ah to play with. That's why I use an inverter and a CTek charger, so that my battery goes to 100% charge giving me 50Ah to enjoy.

However, as far as coolers go, DSE have another smaller unit with crap hinges (they break really easily and then you need to put a brick on top to keep it closed. I can squeeze 8 cans into it, and it draws just 1A. I have one, and I've filled the hinges with an epoxy/carbon fibre mix to repair and lend strength. I'd consider these as a more viable alternative due to their low power usage and just make sure the lid doesn't get opened to the point of breaking the hinge.

Although it might not be the best news for Aido if this item does appear to be what others want and they hurry an ad I saw for DSE today shows they have dropped the price down to $39

Drawing 5A won't be an issue if you are using it for a day trip though will it. As long as the car is running for a fair bit of the day like ours usually is, amp draw wouldn't even be an issue would it?

Theoretically that is right, its not like a running engine can't supply that kind of current and providing you understand that such things wont last for ever on the cranking battery without the engine running there is no reason why this wont work as a cooler exactly like it says.

Absolutely, while driving it's not a bother at all, just remember that it's there and drawing power while you're camped.

Err so all arguments aside.
I didn't buy it for extended use, just for day trips. Everything that goes into it will be pre-chilled and all I expect from it is to maintain temp.
Like I said in the beginning its not an Engel nor a Waeco but just a viable alternative for keeping your lunch cold when your out for the day.
For $40 whats the harm? And it dosent need its own dedicated power supply and set of slides.

Aido said:

For $40 whats the harm?

Click to expand...

That is exactly right, there is plenty of other items out there for well over $200 that a lack of advertising and have sales staff that either don't know or don't care who will try to flog off on naive people who think they are getting more than a cooler. $40 is nearly cheaper than a decent esky these days and trying plugging your esky into a cigarette lighter connection and with the price of ice I bet a $40 cooler will keep things cooler longer than $40 worth of ice.

So Aido how did it work on the day was it worth the $40?

In short .....worked well enough.
Not everything that went into it was prechilled. Juice boxes, cheese, ham, mustard were but the tomatoes and the bread rolls were ambient. It did chill, no doubt about that but I found that the juice boxes at the furthest point from the chiller plate wer cool but not what they were whilst a tomatoe and the jar of mustard that were closest to it were as if they came out of the fridge.
I would rate its ability as on par with the soft bag and ice bricks we have been using up until now. It will keep your lunch cool but the biggest drawback is the limited storage space at (7L) for the overall size of the unit.
Going out again tomorrow and it will have alot less than a picnic for 2 and I will supplement it with one of those soft sports ice packs used for sprains etc. I will lay that on the bottom with everything pre-chilled and ready made.
So far not disappointed with it as it is what I expected. Sometimes though you try something and it exceeds your expectations. Thats when I clap and cheer.

I even use those soft ice packs in my fridge, not because I have to but because for the limited space they take up they are a great back up if the fridge ever goes off for any reason. Can't say I've had to rely on them very often but they do the job when needed and may make the difference between not realising the fridge has gone off in the tub while driving and throwing out food.

I've got too much crap in my car on long trips at the moment but I can see a use for these things when my kid is a bit older and it can sit in the back seat and she can pass us cool/cold food or drinks without having to stop the car and get stuff out of the fridge and while its in the cabin even on 35 degree days with the a/c running the ambient inside the car is going to be less therefore the cooler should be colder.

Sorry I diddn't catch this thread earlier. I've had one of these little coolers for a couple of years now and it does the job nicely. It keeps the butter from melting and the cold meat from spoiling etc. so by my reasoning it does what it's supposed to do.

Cheers Brad