Thermoelectric Coolerdor Project

[Endel]

I've read a ton of good info here about wine coolers, thermolectrics, coolerdors, etc.

Got me to wondering if one could modify one of the small inexpensive thermoelectric drink coolers to keep the heat down in my 70qt Igloodor. I'm in inland Southern California and don't want to run the air conditioning all the time.

Picked up an Igloo Mobile Mate 12 at BigLots for $20 and a 120v-12v power supply for same at WalMart for $20. This particular Mobile Mate I think is discontinued, but it looks just like this one.

In the black box on the end is a small peltier device, with a finned heat sink on it and a small fan. On the cooler side is a small aluminum spacer that protrudes into the cooler. On the inside of the cooler is an aluminum plate bent in an L shape, covering the side of the cooler and the entire floor.

It was simple to disassemble the unit, four obvious screws on the inside of the cooler, four obvious ones on the outside. A small cut into the soft side of the cooler to remove the plastic mounting plate. I believe this is my personal best time for voiding the warranty on an electronic device.

I picked the drain hole end of my 70qt cooler to start carving on. Due to the thickness of the cooler I had to carve a large enough space for most of the black peltier housing to fit in the cooler wall. If the aluminum spacer was an inch thicker this wouldn't be necessary but I had to deal with what I had. Amazingly the cooler carves up quite easily. I actually did the entire job with a Gerber multi-tool. Inside the cooler wall is urethane foam, also quite easy to carve as necessary.

After an hour or so of guessing at it, I got it to fit, and got the spacer in far enough to attach the aluminum plate on the inside. The bottom plate rests about 1/4 inch off the bottom of the cooler, so I slid some wood box lids under it to stabilize.

The thermo cooler was supposed to be able to get 12 room temperature cans of soda down to 40 or so in 15 hours. I was hoping the larger cooler size would keep it a little warmer so I wouldn't have to add a timer or brewer's thermostat. I reloaded it with cigars in boxes and one big tray, stuck it back in the closet, plugged it in called it a night. There's a RS wireless thermometer/hygrometer inside it so I can monitor without opening the lid.

I can hear the fan, although it's no louder than a single computer fan. With the closet door closed it's very quiet. The power converter draws 1.4 amps, which if I recall correctly at 120v is 168 watts - not too bad.

The closet it's in is currently 80 degrees. The two non-chilled Igloodors in there are 73.8 and 74.1 at the moment (retaining a little cool from last night) and the Thermoelectric Igloodor is 65.8 in the center. Only problem so far is humidity is 54%. I use my own humidifier device, florist's foam with 50/50 PG and distilled water. The boxes did sit out for awhile last night while I was working on it so it might come back up a little, or I may need to try beads.

I just opened it for the first time, lid was cool to the touch and there is condensation on the end plate only. I have enough wood from broken up boxes on it so it won't ruin any cigars. I might try adding a finned heat sink on the plate or maybe a small fan. Might also try a timer to cycle it on and off every now and then.