Question:
IMHO 12 volt coolers are far superior to a run of the mill ice chest but not quite as nice as an actual refriderater. Where as a real fridge will cool items independantly of the surrounding air temp and 12v cooler will only cool to approx 30 deg below the surrounding air temp. (If the temp inside your truck is 70 deg the cooler will cool down to about 40 deg in most cases).
There are a few things you can do to maximize the effectiveness of your cooler.
1. Run the cooler empty for 1 or 2 hours prior to putting anything in it. If not possible then see tip #5.
2. Place few or no items that have not been chilled ahead of time. The more warm items you place inside the cooler at one time the longer it takes for it to reach its full cooling capacity.
3. Do not over fill your cooler. If you stuff it to the max air is unable to flow well inside and it is the flow of air inside that provides the cooling through a heat exchange process.
4. Clean the fan and the cooling fins monthly with a slightly damp rag or paper towel. Be careful not to damage any of the parts.
5. Place something frozen inside the cooler. A bottle of water, some frozen meat or left overs that you are taking to eat on the road will help keep the cooler cold. Do not place bags of ice inside however because as they melt the excess moisture will actually work to defeat the purpose.
6. If the food is going to be re heated prior to use and it will tolerate freezing do so. It will make the food last longer. If needed you can always take it out and defrost it.
7. make sure there is adequet air flow around the cooler at all times. If it barely fits in the cubby hole you place it then it will not cool as well. Also be careful not to pile clothes, blankets, etc in front of the cooler.
8. If the floor of your sleeper is not well insulated (ie gets warm while running down the road) place a slim piece of styrofoam insulation under the cooler. Just be sure it is not so thick that it does not leave an inch or two of space between the top of the cooler and the bottom on the cubby hole.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
I always place some of those "blue ice" packs in mine the nite before I am leaving. This allows the insides to cool down, then when I pack my cool stuff the next day the cooler will not have to work as hard to stay cool.
Some brands even come with a 110v adapter to run off household electricity. I've coole it down this way also, but got to thinking and it's just running the motor and now use the blue ice method. I do carry the adpter with me, for those times I may be at a terminal or every once in awhile, I have gotten a motel room for the night.
If you don't have one they can be bought at Wally World for around 20bucks, just like the ones in the truckstops for around 60!
I also keep a thermometer iside to keep an eye on the temp, several times during the colder weather I'll unplug it for a few hours, again trying to save the motor.
If it does break down, just call the manufacture and they will send you the replacement no charge. I believe there are only 2 parts to make it work!
Drive on! bandit58....

Answer:
If your like me and like sleeping in a warm sleeping bag in a cold room put cooler in sleeper and close curtain. I would run AC and keep it Cool for me as well as for cooler.
Good eats. I would have my wife cook whole meals and put them in vacuum sealed bags and freeze. Helps cooler stay cool and warm meals heated in microwave in truck stops are great.
Also a good thing to have is a burton 12V oven for those days you can't get to a microwave.
The vacuum sealer played a big part in eating out of the truck for me. You can seal most anyting in those and keep them fresh. Salads keep great that way. I was able to pack a weeks worth of food with no problem. Only expense I had on the road was coffee. Got to have my Fresh coffee in the morning. And a few sausage
/biscuits sealed go great for breakfast.
If you put some thought into it you can come up with many things and ways to eat out on the road much like back country camping..
Sorry sorta got off the subject a bit.
NO COLD CUTS FOR THIS COUNTRY BOY

Answer:
I'm kinda with Diger on this. I do not run the heat in my sleeper until I go to bed. (I do run AC in the sleeper during summer all the time).
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Cover Your Cans People!!!It's apparent this place is never going to change....then again; why should it? It gets the clientel it deserves.
Bette Midler

Answer:
Before I got my fridge, I used the 12volt coolers. One way I found, along with the tips given above, to keep things cool, is to put the cooler on the passenger seat, with the a/c blowing right into the motor area. That way, the air it's working with is 30-50 degrees. My truck is blowing 36 degree air. Helps to have a mechanic in the family that loves COLD air conditioning. In the winter, use the sleeper, with the heat turned off, or simply put your heat down on the floor, not using the dash vents.

Answer:
When I was OTR, and after going thru my 3rd cooler and rather than to replace the motor and other replaceable parts, I decided to drill a hole on one end of the cooler, at the bottom, run a plastic tube thru to the inside, seal it, and connect a rubber hose to the outside of the cooler, via the tube and route it thru an opening in the shift boot. Now, I can use ice, which will last for days, even on the hottest days and WILL keep everything at refridge temps or below. I never had to worry about the temps being low enough to cool the food(s) that needed to be cooled. There's not much worse that expecting to have an Italian or Cajun roast beef sandwich at the end of the day, only to find out that it's spoiled, due to non-cooling. Tho, I would suggest that everything be put into Zip-Lock freezer bags. Worked extremely well while I was OTR.

Answer:
Since I now have a truck that has the cabinet for the fridge or cooler, I discovered that it will only maintain about 45-50 degrees while in the cabinet.
So far I have added a small fan to the "exaughst" side of the heat sink. I used a 3.5" computer fan, 12v. I also took the top from a wet-wipe container, and an old vacuum hose and made a snorkle for the intake side of the heat sink. I routed this hose out of the cabinet through one of the side slots, and then under the bed. The "wall" under the bed has holes in the metal and the front is only covered by cardboard and carpet. It was easy enough to get through. The space under the bed is usually cooler than the cab area during the winter.
So far it has mantained 40-45 degrees in the cooler.
I was going to add another "Pelter" unit, that is the actual cooling device, and a thermal switch to shut down the main unit before the freezing point. But I thought about it a bit, and for the price and effort, I might as well get a fridge!!!!

Answer:
One question I have is, does anyone know the WATTAGE of the small 110v refridgerators. I can't seem to find the information on the net. My company only allows 1750W inverters, so I am limited. They were nice enough to prewire the trucks though! All I have to do is put in the inverter, and pop in the fuses!
I would like to run the following:
- The biggest fridge that will fit in the cabinet
- A small 700W microwave
- My laptop
-- A coffee grinder "It works on my 300w inverter now, but I have to hold the button and then turn the inverter on...." I love it!!!
--- OH how I would love a coffee machine, no 12v unit!!! I currently use my little water heater thing and make one cup at a time.
My original question.
WATTAGE consumption of a 110v fridge!

Answer:
Originally posted by KatManT:
One question I have is, does anyone know the WATTAGE of the small 110v refridgerators. I can't seem to find the information on the net. My company only allows 1750W inverters, so I am limited. They were nice enough to prewire the trucks though! All I have to do is put in the inverter, and pop in the fuses!
I would like to run the following:
- The biggest fridge that will fit in the cabinet
- A small 700W microwave
- My laptop
-- A coffee grinder "It works on my 300w inverter now, but I have to hold the button and then turn the inverter on...." I love it!!!
--- OH how I would love a coffee machine, no 12v unit!!! I currently use my little water heater thing and make one cup at a time.
My original question.
WATTAGE consumption of a 110v fridge!
Don't know the wattage, but I have a dorm size fridge that is about 4' tall, a 700 watt microwave, laptop, 13" color TV, DVD Player, etc. and have no problems with an 1800 watt invertor. When the wife is along and uses the blow dryer in the morning, we have to turn off the fridge. Blow dryer is 1800 watts. Kinda maxes out the invertor.

Answer:
Thanks for the reply magicman.
I have found but a few, 1750w inverters. There are a lot of 1500w units out there. I will probably go with that, the fridge I am looking at will probably be a 2.5 - 2.7 cu/ft unit.
Since I don't use a hair dryer, I should be good to go. huh...

Answer:
Do any of the units list AMPERAGE??
Amps x Volts = Wattage
If the unit says it needs 10 amps
10 x 120 = 1200 watts
Just a thought
1959 B Model Mack

Answer:
I don't know what make/model trk you have, but make sure you MEASURE the cabnit space for your fridge/cooler BEFORE you buy it.
My first fridge was a 2.0 cu ft & it was a little too big.(I drove for an O/O & he made some adjustments so the fridge would fit.)
The next carrier I went with did Not allow adjustments to be made...so I bought a Smaller fridge.(1.7 cu ft & it fit fine.)
Both fridges were Kenmores...I bought from Sears.

Answer:
check out BigFrogMountian.Com a little pricy but keeps temp 40-0 degrees F. 1/2 a dozen or so to choose from. Also RoadTrucker.Com has 12v coffee makers pizza ovens blenders & darn near anything else u might want

Answer:
I've been thru 3 twelve volt coolers in 4 years. I cleaned the fan blades periodically and made sure they were in a place where air could circulate well. The first one lasted 3 years, the second one lasted six months, and the last one, bought with my carefully saved Pilot payback points, lasted 4 months The first one quit cooling the last two just plain quit running for no obvious reason. I'm not buying any more coolers I just use ice to keep sandwich meats fresh, its annoying but I dont have any faith in 12 volt coolers anymore.