Powering a 12v coolbox with solar power bank

[Bonnie0720]

Hi,

I've tried to search for the answer to this question but I'm just getting more confused by the minute with volts, wattage etc. I want to buy a 12v coolbox and wanted to directly power it with a solar power bank similar to the small ones used to power a mobile phone. I don't have a leisure battery and this would be the most powerful appliance that I'd use and I don't use electric hook up at campsites. 
Has anyone done this and if so, what did you use?
Thank you
:-)

[Tomcat3]

The trouble you will have is the solar panel will not produce anywhere near the power needed to run a cooler box. Even running one plugged into a lighter socket will flatten the battery with the engine off. You would need ice blocks in the cooler for things to stay chilled for any length of time so make sure your cooler is big enough to accommodate these as well. Ive been caught out a couple of times over the years when the cooler had been left plugged into the lighter socket. Not a lot of fun trying to bump start a 3.5 tonne van down a grass field. You could use a portable battery  power pack to run your cooler when the car is not running and then when on the move plug cooler into lighter socket. A good battery power packs have the ability to charge from mains voltage and 12v vehicles so if you are on a site plug it in on the campsite to charge it. But keep an eye on it as people have thieving fingers for stuff like that. Zion and a few others spring to mind who are good with electric stuff hopefully they will come by and explain it better for you.

[Bonnie0720]

The trouble you will have is the solar panel will not produce anywhere near the power needed to run a cooler box. Even running one plugged into a lighter socket will flatten the battery with the engine off. You would need ice blocks in the cooler for things to stay chilled for any length of time so make sure your cooler is big enough to accommodate these as well. Ive been caught out a couple of times over the years when the cooler had been left plugged into the lighter socket. Not a lot of fun trying to bump start a 3.5 tonne van down a grass field. You could use a portable battery  power pack to run your cooler when the car is not running and then when on the move plug cooler into lighter socket. A good battery power packs have the ability to charge from mains voltage and 12v vehicles so if you are on a site plug it in on the campsite to charge it. But keep an eye on it as people have thieving fingers for stuff like that. Zion and a few others spring to mind who are good with electric stuff hopefully they will come by and explain it better for you.

[Bonnie0720]

The trouble you will have is the solar panel will not produce anywhere near the power needed to run a cooler box. Even running one plugged into a lighter socket will flatten the battery with the engine off. You would need ice blocks in the cooler for things to stay chilled for any length of time so make sure your cooler is big enough to accommodate these as well. Ive been caught out a couple of times over the years when the cooler had been left plugged into the lighter socket. Not a lot of fun trying to bump start a 3.5 tonne van down a grass field. You could use a portable battery  power pack to run your cooler when the car is not running and then when on the move plug cooler into lighter socket. A good battery power packs have the ability to charge from mains voltage and 12v vehicles so if you are on a site plug it in on the campsite to charge it. But keep an eye on it as people have thieving fingers for stuff like that. Zion and a few others spring to mind who are good with electric stuff hopefully they will come by and explain it better for you.

[Bonnie0720]

Thank you so much for your clear explanation. I'm now a step closer to understanding ?

[Tomcat3]

Looking at the Halfords 40 litre cooler box it needs 42watts on a 12volt system to power it to maintain 16oc below ambient temp so you can see the solar panel you would need would have to be quite large.

[ajb2494]

Might be late to the party but your best bet would be to get a leisure battery, connect the solar charger to it and then connect your coolbox.  The battery would act as a buffer to keep the coolbox going and solar would top it up and extend the life of it.

Depending on the current draw of the coolbox (40L Halfords one is 3.5ah @ 12v) and the size of leisure battery (e.g. 100ah, you can get smaller/larger ones) you can easily work out a close estimate to run time off just the battery, then add on your expected charge from the solar to give an idea of total run time.  You may find that this is long enough depending on your planned trip duration.

In any case, I think a battery is necessary to smooth out the current delivery.

PS. Some coolboxes have a 240v adapter, so you can run it overnight at home to pre-cool it before you put it on your 12v supply, essentially extending your run time off the 12v as it doesn't have to burn through a load of power to get it down to temperature.

[hawkeyefxr]

Redcote Leisure do one (supposedly) We are getting their micro camper kit and one is included, they do a larger solar panel along with a bigger battery which will give a bigger charge and more battery storage.
\

[Romahomepete]

We have a halfords 12v coolbox that we use in our car, wehave the mains transformer too.

We tend to put a couple of freezer blocks in and run it on mains for a couple of hours to get it down to temp, then put food and fresh blocks in and plug it in to a socket in the boot which is live all the time. We can run it off the car battery without the engine running for 4 or 5 hours without compromising starting.

It is so well insulated though that if it is left overnight without opening or running the blocks are still frozen next morning.

A leisure battery would be best but haveny got room for one.
Peter