I've driven across most of the country with one of these in my younger days
(Totally ridiculous to say when your my age....but still).
It works fine as a cooler. Fill it with some packs of "Blue Ice" or ice in a
bag, and you're good to go. It does make a difference when plugged in....it
will keep things cold and works great while driving. Just don't pack stuff
in too much around it.

If I were doing it again though..... I'd opt for one of the coleman EXTREME
coolers that can supposedly keep a block of ice for a week. Same
price.....and more internal capacity. (the cooling system takes up space).

-Craig
'85GL turned WESTY
BOSTIG in the back
Traveled through 45 states without getting on a plane.

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 6:50 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:

> At 09:15 PM 6/30/2009, Paul Chubbuck wrote:
>
>> Does anyone on the list have experience with those Coleman DC coolers?
>>
>
> Me.
>
>  It is said to cool down 40 degrees below ambient.
>>
>
> On a good day, with your mouth held just right...nah.  35 maybe?  It
> performs noticeably better if you use a much higher-capacity fan and
> open things out to get some serious airflow across the external heat
> exchanger.  I left the original motor just powering the internal fan.
>
>   Do you think it is as well
>> insulated as a normal ice chest?
>>
>
> I think likely as good as a regular one.
>
>   It would be great on travel days, but much
>> of the time when I'm camping, I won't be running the engine, or have
>> sufficient battery power to keep it plugged in.  Do you think it would
>> continue to keep things cool if there was ice in it?
>>
>
> I've got (I think) an Igloo I could compare it with -- chunk of ice
> in each and see how it keeps.  Give me a few days.
>
>
>  --
> David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
> '89 Po' White Star "Scamp"
>