Customer Reviews

Coleman PowerChill Thermoelectric Cooler (40-Quart)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I've been using one of these in my motorhome. I leave it on 24/7 and it lasted 11 months, or about 8000 hours of continuous use. Mine quit when the fan slowed down--it no longer had that loud sound--and the cooler warmed up inside. I replaced the original fan with a quality fan with ball bearings that should last a lot longer, and the new fan is quieter too. The fan is a common size used in personal computer cases, 92mm square by 25mm, and you can get a good one for $10-15.

This cooler saved me enough money in bagged ice to pay for itself over the years we used it. It doesn't keep things ice cold, but I don't know of any electric cooler that does.
For our family of 6 we use it for a variety of things. When we go on long car trips, we use a power inverter and plug it into our car. We keep drinks in it and sometimes sack lunches. Saves us a lot of time and money over stopping and buying these items on the road. We have a camper and camp often. We use the plug in cooler outside the camper (we bring it in if it rains) and keep drinks only in it. That way we can get cold water/soda out of it without fanning the camper refrigerator so often. (The camper refrigerator cannot keep food cold enough if the door is fanned all the time.) When we do get to go to hotels as a family, we usually bring the cooler and use it once again for drinks and lunch supplies and sometimes milk for breakfasts if needed. It keeps things much cooler when it is in an air conditioned room than when it is fighting against the high temperatures of camping in the summer, so I can use it for more food items when used indoors.
We used it several years, and I'm replacing it this year. Finally the fan is making an extreme amount of noise. I imagine that sitting it on the ground at dusty campsites over the years and letting it suck dust into it's fans is likely the culprit. It is still working, but I doubt for long. It has also become so noisy that it drives us crazy to have it running anywhere near us.
I think I got my money's worth on this unit, despite needing to replace it.
I knocked it one star because I wish it could keep things colder than it does. Also because the light color design gets dirty looking quite quick while camping.
I never used the heating option so I have no comment on that feature.
It will drain a car battery, so don't plan to plug it into the car battery when you are not driving.

After replacing three of these things in 9 years at steadily increasing prices, I took my 10 month old cooler apart and replaced the muffin fans on either side of the peltier device with some that came out of old junk computers. They are better fans: after reassembly it works at least as well, if not better, than when brand new, and I have a couple more fans for when these fail. I should add that I run this cooler continuously from Sunday night until Thursday evening in vehicles and motel rooms 50 weeks a year and then take it with me while traveling for "pleasure" the other two weeks, so it gets a lot of use.

I'm not sure what planet some of these negative reviewers are coming from, but I've used one of these for several years with very few problems. No, you don't leave it plugged in in your car when the car is not running or, yes, you run the risk of running down the battery. Common sense (getting to be a rare thing these days) should tell anybody that. Nor will it keep ice cream frozen. But for your bottled water, milk, soda pop, cold cuts, and things like that, it works great.

The mechanism is about as simple as it gets and the only way it's not going to work is if the fan is getting old or losing power. And that's a cheap replacement part. You can usually find fan motors for these things at just about any truck stop. I've had the fan motors last for as long as two years and as little as six months. I've also heard of people throwing away a perfectly good cooler and buying a new one, or something different, when all they needed was a little $10 or $15 fan motor that it takes about 10 or 15 minutes to replace.

Bought this for my boyfriend who is an over-the-road truck driver. He absolutely loves it. Says it works great upright as a fridge, or laying down like a cooler. Keeps things very cold, and items stay cold for a long time after it is shut off.

We bought one of these at Walmart for around $90 approximately 3 years ago for occasional travel and car camping. We have used it probably 10 times total over the three years for periods of up to two weeks at a time. A couple of things to keep in mind. THIS IS NOT A REFRIGERATOR!! It is a Thermoelectric Cooler, so there are limitations to what it will do. Ours has never failed, but I make sure that water/liquid never accumulates in the electrical components. I also make sure that prior to storage, the cooler is completely dry!!

Our unit came with a 12VDC plug that plugs into the power connectors in a car (old cigarette lighter connectors). It also came with 120VAC converter to plug it into the regular wall plug. When getting ready to use the cooler, I have found it useful to plug it in the day before we leave to get it chilled down. You can also help it chill down by throwing in some freezer packs the day before as well. When you get ready to fill it, place those items you want to be the coldest, closest to the fans. It also helps to load it with prechilled items (chill them in the regular fridge overnight first). Finally, keep it plugged in as much as possible, but be careful about leaving it running in the car without the engine running, as it will pull the battery down. Also, I have found that the unit works best when sitting upright (not like a cooler) with the fan on the top. The cooling is more uniform this way.

When we travel, we just take cooler into the hotel room with us. When car camping where we have power, I run an extension chord to the van to power the cooler. All this to say we have used it on several trips and it has worked satisfactory. We have not had any mechanical/electrical failures, and for the price it functions fine.

Coleman Corporation should be ashamed of what they have done to what used to be THE BEST camping equipment company in the world! When they manufactured their products here, in the US, there wasn't any other company that came close to their quality. Now, it seams they are willing to slap the "once great" Coleman name on any cheap garbage the Chinese will produce.

I drive truck for a living, so rely on an electric cooler at least 300 days/year. My 1st Coleman lasted for about 2 years. When it finally quit, I called the company for parts, and they paid shipping, both ways, and sent me a new cooler, for free, no questions asked. That one lasted for about another 1 1/2 years. Of coarse, I would purchase nothing but another Coleman.

I didn't realize that they stopped manufacturing the coolers, in Topeka, Kansas, and started shipping them from China. My next cooler lasted about 6 months. I have since bought 2-3 more, which lasted even less. The first cooler I bought, was around $100. Now you can buy them at Walmart for around $85, including the 120V power supply. That means in order to get the service of my original cooler, I need to buy 4 of them. And, that doesn't include the cost of a cooler full of spoiled food every time it breaks down.

The same is true of there air beds, but that's for another review.

The bottom line is... I am through with Coleman. If they want to be just another cheap Chinese junk peddler, why should I pay for the name that the founders of the company worked so hard to build, only to have it trashed by a bunch of mindless accountants.

Unfortunately, I still haven't found any other company that make a quality electric cooler. I have tried Igloo, Koolatron, and Road pro, with no better success. It seems they all believe that cheaper is better, even if it costs the consumer 3 times as much, in the end.

I purchased this Coleman ThermoElectric Cooler two years ago and found it did not cool, so I returned it. The new one kept things cool when I precooled them and added ice. After about six months of use, it died. By then the original warranty had expired. I called Coleman and was told that I needed to return the cooler and pay them an additional $60 to fix it. So, save your money and your food--do not waste it on this junk. I have old Coleman camping equipment, which served many years, but the company and their quality has changed. I am replacing this with a Kooltron.Coleman PowerChill Thermoelectric Cooler (40-Quart)Coleman PowerChill Thermoelectric Cooler (40-Quart)

Living in the desert 50 miles from a supermarket, the Coleman Power Chill is a valuable convenience. It lets me shop for groceries and be sure of getting home with perishables intact. It's also a convenience when traveling by car, letting us carry food for picnics and in-room meals without spoilage. I had a Rubbermaid thermoelectric cooler that only lasted a few months and didn't do a good job of keeping food cool. This cooler is larger (holds more) and cools better.

Nowhere on the item page is it mentioned that this Coleman ThermoElectric Cooler doesn't come with a power supply. Be warned that you will need to spend an extra $45 USD to use it anywhere other than a car. A much better buy is Coleman 40 Quart Powerchill Thermoelectric Cooler with Power Supply 5644-760 which is the exact same thing but comes with the power supply for only $10 USD more. Shame on Target and Amazon for not disclosing that this is missing parts.

Update 4/15/2009: It has died. This thing was built cheaper than the off-brand Chinese one I used to own, avoid it like the plague.