California Beach Cool Box

californiakid · Jul 30, 2016

Camped at Riverside, Stratford upon Avon 2 weeks ago on the hottest days the coolbox kept the temperature around 6*c beers were cool enough. Mine will run around 2 days when off hookup no problem .

Bramco · Jul 30, 2016

Kano, yes if you are on hookup the leisure battery is charged. So no worries there. I'm not sure where the 1 hour figure comes from or what cooler it refers to but like Californiakid we can go 2 days at least with our coolbox. It's a 12V / 240V coolbox from Lidl. Also have similar ones in at the moment. They cost about 30 quid of so and are perfectly adequate. You don't have to lash out loads of money for any fancy fridge.

Kano · Jul 30, 2016

Okay thanks. I have the VW cool box and I'm currently on hook up at a site and the cool box turned itself off. Starts again for a while if I start the engine! I can only presume the leisure battery isn't charging on hook up surprisingly. I'll look at the cool boxes suggested. Should I spend on a Waeco?

Bramco · Jul 30, 2016

Do the maths. Waeco etc. £300 to £400. And they are quite big.

Lidl, Aldi, or even Go Outdoors, £30 or £40. Ok GO would be more expensive but it's worth trying one of the cheap and cheerful ones. As I've said on other threads we did 6 weeks in Italy last year with a simple dual voltage cool box. No problems at all.

Mind you I've just fitted a solar panel for when we're not on hookup.

Kano · Jul 30, 2016

So by the looks of it the Lidl cool box will last 2days off hook up. Currently my VW cool box lasting half a day!

Bramco · Jul 30, 2016

try it and see - if it works great, if it doesn't it's not a massive investment.

MattBW · Aug 1, 2016

Bramco said:
Kano, yes if you are on hookup the leisure battery is charged. So no worries there. I'm not sure where the 1 hour figure comes from or what cooler it refers to but like Californiakid we can go 2 days at least with our coolbox. It's a 12V / 240V coolbox from Lidl. Also have similar ones in at the moment. They cost about 30 quid of so and are perfectly adequate. You don't have to lash out loads of money for any fancy fridge.

Just be aware that the cheaper ones wont have voltage cut off circuits so they will happily drain your battery to the point that it's ability to charge may be impaired. A cut out circuit or a voltage monitor is worth considering for these. Shouldn't be a problem on hookup of course.

I've used one in the past camping in a trailer tent and they work pretty well, only ever cool a 15-20c below ambient but in the UK that's usually more than enough.. I am glad I got a waeco though.

Webasto also do decent fridges now and have a better support network in the UK.

Kano · Aug 1, 2016

MattBW said:
Just be aware that the cheaper ones wont have voltage cut off circuits so they will happily drain your battery to the point that it's ability to charge may be impaired. A cut out circuit or a voltage monitor is worth considering for these. Shouldn't be a problem on hookup of course.

I've used one in the past camping in a trailer tent and they work pretty well, only ever cool a 15-20c below ambient but in the UK that's usually more than enough.. I am glad I got a waeco though.

Webasto also do decent fridges now and have a better support network in the UK.

How come on hook up my VW cool box turns itself off after a while? If I run the engine it will charge again?!

MattBW · Aug 1, 2016

Kano said:
How come on hook up my VW cool box turns itself off after a while? If I run the engine it will charge again?!

I wouldn't expect it to turn off, the charger should give enough for the cut off not to trigger, it seems to for my waeco anyway.

Have you tried a volt meter in the rear socket to check its charging on hookup? A few people have reported the charger cable being dislodged.

Monkeytree · Aug 3, 2016

I've got a New VW cool box and new van / battery and it doesn't last overnight, so I can't imagine it's fattening the battery but just cuts out early to avoid flattening it maybe? I think it is made by Waeco by the way, this is what it said on the box when I got it.

EnricoWindsurf · Aug 22, 2017

Hi everybody,

waiting for a "2 seater" Beach, I'm wondering what's the maximum cool box height in order to fit in the back just under the bed extention?

Thanks, Enrico