Building a Tripping Cooler

[alsg]

Ice retention test. The cooler was precooled in the freezer for 5 hours. I added a total of twenty pounds of cubed ice, a six pack of chilled adult beverages and a six pack of chilled ginger ales (placed on top of the adult beverages to try to keep the ginger ale from freezing solid. There's still a lot of air space in the cooler, which is suboptimal for this kind of test.

At 2:45 PM on 8/12 I closed the cooler. Ambient air temperature was 81 degrees.

The freezer thermometer in the picture was reading 43 degrees when I closed the lid, which I assume is the result of it sitting in the the cooler with the lid open. I will be interested to see what it is reading when I open it.

The cooler is mostly in the shade.

 

[Guest]

The idea came from Mr. Gilpatrick's book, "Building Outdoor Gear" https://www.amazon.com/Building-Outd.../dp/1565234847. Given your DIY bent, I think you'd like the book.

I have the book, bought on consideration of making Gilpatricks side motor mount.

Welder friend Steve came up with something simpler (for his welding skill expertise) and sturdier, in height adjustable aluminum.

PC060056 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

The thing sure is sturdy and as configured it is a perfect seat/coffee table height!

I do like a side table in camp. Maybe a little game board action on top?

P8033834 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Got a favorite family game? Chutes and Ladders? Candy Land?

The adult beverage meets with applause, although I am more of a Chesterfield Ale or Black & Tan Yuengling guy. Yuengling Porter on the off season trips.

 

[alsg]

1. That's hilarious about the motor mount, Mike, because that was exactly the project from the book that I thought might be of greatest interest to you!

2. I thought about painting a game board on top of the NYETI, and I might still do so. Or maybe it will go on top of a non-cooler wannigan if I ever get around to building one.

3. On beer: I'm not a huge fan of Yuengling, but it is consistent, and is the first recognizable brand I saw on my dash-in/dash-out trip to the local store. Side rant: I am thoroughly sick of the craft beer/micro-brew craze. I don't enjoy high alcohol content beers (if I want something with a little more kick I'd rather drink wine; if I want something that really packs a punch, I switch to vodka) and and I hate sweet or spiced beers. Craft brewers seem to be competing to see who can brew the highest alcohol content and put in the weirdest flavors. In my opinion, it's beer for people who don't really like the taste of beer (like Starbucks is for people who don't really like the taste of coffee and have to put in various flavors). After many bad craft/micro-brews, I've gone back to the KISS method. Yuengling for domestic. Boddington's for imported. But when I am in a bar and it is on tap, Guinness is probably my favorite.

 

[alsg]

Well just two hours into the "test" at 4:45 PM my son decided he "needed" a ginger ale (and I decided to have a beer as long as we were opening the cooler). Temperature when the lid was removed was down to 37 degrees on the thermometer.

 

[alsg]

My son opened the cooler a second time last nite to retrieve another ginger ale but he didn't tell me and I didn't get a temperature read.

However, this morning at 7 AM when I opened the cooler, the thermometer read 30 degrees. Overnight temps hit a low of 68 degrees.

 

[Canotrouge]

Hmmm that is impressive, I might have to make me one of these.... Good job!

 

[alsg]

Don't count your chickens before they hatch or your ice before it melts. As of 7 PM, temperature in the cooler had crept up to 32 degrees. Ambient air high temperature in my area was 83 degrees. Still lots of ice.

 

[deerfly]

looks like you have a winner here, but you won't be sure without drinking a lot more beer out of it under a variety of circumstances. Sometimes too many controls in your testing defeats the purpose of such things...

 

[Canotrouge]

Ok we need a total time in hours!! until the temperature gets to maybe 40f

 

[alsg]

Ok we need a total time in hours!! until the temperature gets to maybe 40f

Roger that.

 

[alsg]

7 AM 8/14. (Total elapsed time since test began is 40 hours 15 minutes): Inside cooler temp is 31 degrees on the thermometer. The reported overnight low temperature was 65 degrees.

 

[Canotrouge]

that start to be pretty "cool"!!!
Keep at it and let see how long it last!!
Thank you for the report!!

 

[latremorej]

Wow! That DOES look sharp! And holds ice well too!

 

[alsg]

6:45 PM 8/14 (elapsed time 52 hours). Inside cooler thermometer is reading 32 degrees. Max outside temperature today was 84 degrees. (The beer tastes great!)

 

[Odyssey]

Hmmm. The ginger ale is outnumbering the beer. Who's in charge there?!
Oh no, wait. I see there's 3 of each. Everyone can relax now. Back to work.

 

[alsg]

7 AM 8/15 (total elapsed time 64 hours 15 minutes). Internal thermometer 32. Overnight low was 68 degrees,

I was talking to a friend about this test who pointed out that the thermometer is sitting on ice and will keep reading 32 until the ice is gone, which sounds right. If I repeat the test I'll rig up the thermometer to get the air temp in the cooler; but given the slow melt rate the air temp inside the cooler can't be significantly higher than 32.

The cooler was opened twice last night. Once when I took the 7PM reading (and fetched a beer) and once around 9 PM when my son went in for a ginger ale.

Note to Odyssey regarding the observed ginger ale/beer ratio: I started with six of each and I've been showing greater restraint during this test than I would in a real camping situation.

 

[Odyssey]

Restraint. That's what we used to call those lap belts in cars when they first came out. The belts I mean, not the cars I'm not that old. I've never heard that word applied to beer. I learn something new everyday, eh?

But as the Nyeti would be used for frozen and fresh tripping foods then maybe we ( I say we because I'm an eager spectator feeling quite involved at this point) should proceed on to test # 2 just as soon as the restraints are loosened and the ginger ale and beer are responsibly consumed. Test #2 might be to pack the Nyeti with the tripping foods necessary for an elaborate tripping experience. I say this because I'd hate to see us fall short of our goal. (And I'm getting hungry.) But I guess that might as well be done on the actual trip. The ice test has been a success. Mind blowing. But I wonder how long the cold will last? At this rate the Nyeti would perform for week's worth of tripping cold containment.

I'm really impressed with the insulating abilities of this little unit. Amazing.

ps Also, I've been spurred on to reading about insulation thanks to this thread, and pondered reflective properties of a radiant barrier. The white exterior of the Nyeti goes a long way in providing this. Good simple idea.

 

[alsg]

Quite right, Odyssey, NYETI was designed for frozen/fresh food not beverages. On the other hand, I think beer is one of the 4 major food groups (the others being pizza, Mexican food and Chinese food). It is also well known the beer must be kept fresh to avoid the dreaded skunking effect.

I am feeling somewhat emboldened by the results so far and may try a frozen food test, but the real world test of the NYETI will be when I head off to Maine in September on a canoe trip.

 

[Guest]

Any chance you have a piece of rectangular Tupperware or etc container about the size of the NYETI interior?

Thinking freeze a several inch thick block of ice and use that, augmented with cubes.

I've been spurred on to reading about insulation thanks to this thread, and pondered reflective properties of a radiant barrier. The white exterior of the Nyeti goes a long way in providing this. Good simple idea.

A reflective/radiant barrier does help, even with the white Igloo Marine cooler. Could be Reflectix, or even a car windshield sun shade from the Dollar Store.

 

[alsg]

Any chance you have a piece of rectangular Tupperware or etc container about the size of the NYETI interior?

Thinking freeze a several inch thick block of ice and use that, augmented with cubes.

I was thinking of doing something like that since it is well known that a solid block will last longer than an equal weight of small cubes.

But I am also toying with the idea of simply pouring several inches of water into the NYETI and putting it in the freezer to freeze up solid. The danger would be that the expansion might go outward rather than upward and cause compression damage to the insulation or even compromise the integrity of the wood joints.

Also was looking at water bladders that might be partially filled/frozen. Lots of options.