Igloo Koolmate 40 electric cooler

[OC Campers]

I just won a bid on e-bay for an Igloo Koolmate electric cooler.  I was just wondering how everyone likes theirs.  I know it comes with a 12 volt cord to run off the car but does it usually come with a cord to run off a regular electrical socket?  If it doesn't come with one where can I get one and about how much do they cost?  
 
I was so tired of buying ice.  Now I hopefully will only need to buy ice for drinking sodas and making marga G tas.
 
Are there any special things to do with this type of cooler?   I probably should of researched this purchase a little better but I really wanted it before we went camping next.  We have 3 trips planned for May, 2 trips planned for June and 2 trips planned for July.
 
Jacqui

[tlhdoc]

Check your auction and see if it comes with the adapter plug.  If it doesn't you can get one at Wal-Mart.  Many people like this cooler.  You need to have an electric site to use it, if you are dry camping it will drain your battery after several hours of use.  My electric cooler will keep things about 40 degrees cooler than the outside air, so if you are camping and it is 90 degrees out the cooler will only cool to about 50 degrees.

[griffsmom]

Hey Jacqui!
 
Are you trying to compete with Moose and us in how much stuff you can bring camping?!?
 
Congrats on your purchase!  I think that this is the same one that we have.  You can see ours to the left of the front door of our camper in this picture.  
 
We use ours strictly for food that we don't want to get soggy or beaten up in the ice chest, like lunch meat, eggs, fruit/veggies, etc.  Drinks go into the ice chest.  Milk either goes into the cooler or the ice chest, depending on how cold the weather is.
 
I will cool it down at home a day before we leave and I make sure that everything is already chilled down when I put it in, or in some cases, like with meat we may have the second or third day of our trip, I'll take it directly from the freezer and put it in the cooler while it's still frozen.  Ours has the 12 volt plug that we use in the car while traveling and the 110 plug for plugging into the outlets on the front of our camper.
 
Depending on how cold it gets outside at night, I sometimes have to unplug this cooler at night so that the eggs and milk don't freeze. And sometimes I have to remember to take that frozen meat out so that it can defrost.  So I guess I can say that it works pretty well for us! Enjoy yours!

[OC Campers]

Lori, I could never compete with you and Moose.  Now that we have a truck I can bring the "kitchen sink" with us:D .  
 
Thanks for the info Tracy and Lori.  I mainly want it for transporting items till I can get them in the fridge or to keep the veggies which always seem to get nasty by the time we get to the campsite.  I will probably still bring a small ice chest for drinks.  I don't think it came with the 110 plug.  I will wait till I get it and them go to Wally World and see if they have the connector for 110 volt.
 
Jacqui

[oldmoose]

Ditto on what Lori says.
 
If you thought we had a lot of stuff before, you should see the stuff coming out of my Explorer for the Boy Scout leader training we're doing. You would die laughing. We have to take more because Paula has to do all of the cooking in Dutch ovens. Plus I've made pvc tables and gadgets for the cook. I've so many items, Paula's car has all the ice chests, dry goods, etc. Two very full cars.
Moose

[OC Campers]

Ditto on what Lori says.
 
If you thought we had a lot of stuff before, you should see the stuff coming out of my Explorer for the Boy Scout leader training we're doing. You would die laughing. We have to take more because Paula has to do all of the cooking in Dutch ovens. Plus I've made pvc tables and gadgets for the cook. I've so many items, Paula's car has all the ice chests, dry goods, etc. Two very full cars.
Moose

.
 
Moose you are the Sammyslave of Southern California.  Larry finally had to upgrade to a Suburban because his Explorer was bursting at its seems.
 
Jacqui

[Dee4j]

don't tempt me..no more stuff to bring...Dh won't let me get a bigger vehicle 'cause he knows I'll use it to bring more firewood!!!!  he did say yesterday (while cooking for my Dad for his Bday) I need to bring my lil' fry daddy to make coconut shrimp for camping.....

[garym053]

If you camp mostly at sites with power, you will probably like it. If you mostly dry camp, you will end up storing it and getting one of the extreme coolers and block ice!!
As others have said, this unit on 12V will drain your battery in no time! I can put a chunk of block ice in my Coleman extreme, fill it, top it off with a bag of cubes and still have ice left 4 days later!
We dry camp 99% of the time, so maybe I should sell mine on EBAY!

[OC Campers]

I would say 95% of the time we camp with hookups.  We also have the Coleman Extreme 5-day but are not thrilled with it.  We had an Igloo 5-day first and it worked great till the hinges broke off.  But the Coleman cooler didn't have a lot of insulation.  We have to add ice almost daily.  

Jacqui

[oldmoose]

Jacqui, we have 2 of the Coleman Extreme's and absolutely love them. They keep things colder longer than our other ice chests. For keeping things cold we use blocks of ice as they last longer.

Moose

[garym053]

Jacqui, perhaps your Coleman extreme cooler was defective. Maybe they forgot to put the insulation in! Mine has worked great. I've used it on Holiday weekends and 5 day trips and have had one chunk of block ice last the entire trip!
Although if you mostly camp with power as you stated, then you might as well use it!!
My other complaint that I had with my first one was that it died after it's third use. And of course since I bought it OFF season, the warranty period was over!!!
Anyway, good luck with it.

[OC Campers]

I am not sure why our Extreme doesn't perform.  We do use block ice and put in refrigerated items.  Hopefully, this new one will help us out.  

Jacqui

[lushy]

When you have you cooler plugged into the 110 v. outlet at home or rv outlet, how "HOT" does your plug assembly (the black box which plugs into outlet) get?

I recently purchased the Coleman Powerchill Cooler and my plug was VERY hot when I went to unplug it. I called Coleman and they are sending me another plug because I was concerned about how hot the plug got and so was Coleman.

[oldmoose]

I have the Igloo and never had a problem. Sounds like it's using too much power and heating up.

Moose

[lushy]

When you have you cooler plugged into the 110 v. outlet at home or rv outlet, how "HOT" does your plug assembly (the black box which plugs into outlet) get?

I recently purchased the Coleman Powerchill Cooler and my plug was VERY hot when I went to unplug it. I called Coleman and they are sending me another plug because I was concerned about how hot the plug got and so was Coleman.

I recieved my new plug from Coleman today and tried it out. I figured out why the plug was so hot. The plug was very hot when I first plugged it in until it reached the normal cooling (drawing alot of amps to reach normal cooling). Once teh cooler was cold the plug was just warm.

Just wanted to share in case someone else was wondering. Love the Coleman Powerchill Cooler  :#