Truck stop fridge reviews?

Ive bought an Igloo 12 volt cooler and it works great. The Coleman ones suck, they break too often.

 

Really haven't had any issues with mine.
I have replaced the power cord...but other than that...

Current company has small fridges in the truck though. So it's sitting at home.

 

I suggest getting a black and decker 120 volt dorm room fridge at Walmart and an inverter thats rated for 350 watts or more. The fridge is a real compressor fridge and has a freezer that will turn meat to blocks of ice. I can run that fridge and my cpap machine during my 10 hour break without draining the battery.

It will run about 14 hours off battery power before the low voltage cutout shuts the inverter down.

 

I've got 2 of those "fridges" aka thermocoolers at home. I use them as storage for my papers. They come in handy, but as a cooler, nope. Gave up on those years ago.
Best route is to buy a mini fridge from Target etc and run it off an inverter, but be aware that most of these small fridges are not designed to run in trucks, only at home.
The route I went for was to buy mine from truckfridge.com and it's directly wired to the fuse box. They make them so they can run either DC or AC and use very little power so not much draw from the batteries. Yes, they're not cheap so it depends on how motivated you are to cool your food. I just want to be able to eat like I do at home and not have to eat that truckstop garbage. I've also invested in a stand alone deep freezer which works off the batteries and it's an amazing unit. Keeps everything frozen and I don't have to shop as much while on the road.
Good luck

 

That's been my experience as well.

Had an Igloo. Finally died after two years nearly continious use. Was desperate and replaced it with a Coleman that died in about two months. Replaced that one with an Igloo that's still going strong after several months of use.

 

Personally I wouldn't buy any appliances from a truck stop. You can always find a better and cheaper deal online.

 

With a little pm the coleman has run for 2 plus years now. Simply blow the fan clean every now and then with a airline blowgun.

 

I've had 4 coolers in nearly 4 years.
The first was a RoadPro. It was rather small and fragile (I couldn't even hope to stand on it for a boost up.) After a few months the power switch burnt out. There is no replacement...
So I replaced it with a Coolertron. After a few months the fan went out. It was an odd size that no one had, not even Radio Shack. And it was the only size that would fit.

After 2 bad cheaper coolers I heeded my mentors advice and spent the extra for the Coleman.

The Coleman is generally a very reliable unit.
I've had a plug go out on one, and both of them have needed replacement fans at some point.

I couldn't find a decent replacement plug, so I replaced the cooler.
The problem was that the replacement plugs were either fused, or not. The ones with the fuse had a fuse that wasn't rated high enough so it blew. And they were an odd size that I couldn't find, so I couldn't simply install a higher rated fuse.
The un-fused plugs simply melted after an hour or so.
I'm really going to have to get to a Lowe's, or someplace, to see if I can find a suitable replacement plug in case it happens again.

The thing about the Coleman is that it is very easy and cheap to replace the fan. The same can not be said for most; because while the Coleman can use several sizes of fans that can be found in any computer store, most of the others require an odd size fan that is impossible to find.

It comes with a 92mm fan, but an 80mm standard computer case fan can be used as well. It doesn't cool as well, so not very useful in the summer heat.
The fan mounts to the heat sink fins, so any fan that can physically fit inside the cover can be used. The 92mm fan mounting holes are like 4 rows in on the fins.
I'm currently using a 112mm CPU fan (with a round housing, not square). It is the largest fan that will fit, and it keeps everything VERY cold. I need to turn it off every now and then to let the ice melt from the inner heat sink.
I found that fan in a little computer store across from a Walmart, for $15.

The Coleman is strong. I'm 185 pounds and I can stand on it all I want.
It has a better capacity than most other coolers.
There are no switches to burn out.

My current Coleman is nearly 2 years old.
All it has needed was the outer fan replaced, and a fuse with my newest fan. And the fuse in that original plug was one that was found in a TA.


It also uses a small fan inside. But that is also a standard computer fan, and easily found at little cost.

 

That's really good info. there. I have the Coleman too but never thought about switching out the fan for a better one. My stock Coleman fan, after about a year, is struggling. I disassemble it often and clean it up but it still only cools so so. A new fan sounds like it will work much better.