Can this run for a long time while I'm camping without killing my battery?
1665359
I have several models of Koolatrons and the answer is: it depends. I had my Chevy Blazer plugged into a unit once all day while traveling across country and left it on all night while sleeping > only to find my battery (relatively new) drained to the extent of not being able of starting. In contrast I have accidentally left this plugged into other vehicles and not encountered issues. I would suggest not running the cooler more than eight (8) hours in a parked vehicle without restarting your vehicle and letting the alternator recharge the battery. I think this is best because the unit will NOT stay cold for more than a few hours unplugged... it needs to run to maintain lower temps. Hope that helps. I have several models of Koolatrons and the answer is: it depends. I had my Chevy Blazer plugged into a unit once all day while traveling across country and left it on all night while sleeping > only to find my battery (relatively new) drained to the extent of not being able of starting. In contrast I have accidentally left this plugged into other vehicles and not encountered issues. I would suggest not running the cooler more than eight (8) hours in a parked vehicle without restarting your vehicle and letting the alternator recharge the battery. I think this is best because the unit... » Read More I have several models of Koolatrons and the answer is: it depends. I had my Chevy Blazer plugged into a unit once all day while traveling across country and left it on all night while sleeping > only to find my battery (relatively new) drained to the extent of not being able of starting. In contrast I have accidentally left this plugged into other vehicles and not encountered issues. I would suggest not running the cooler more than eight (8) hours in a parked vehicle without restarting your vehicle and letting the alternator recharge the battery. I think this is best because the unit will NOT stay cold for more than a few hours unplugged... it needs to run to maintain lower temps. Hope that helps. « Show Less
1665360
I use it all the time in the car while we are moving, but for camping, unless you can recharge your battery, it needs the adapter for electric use. Car battery would only last a short time.
1665361
We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to much room. We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to... » Read More We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to much room. « Show Less
1665362
We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to much room.
1665363
I would have it plugged into my truck 12v outlet all day while driving, but I would unplug it in the evening and let it maintain whatever coolness it had. However, I didn't want to run down my truck battery, so I never attempted to leave it plugged in for too long without the truck running. Sorry I can't answer your question.
1665364
No idea how you define "long time", but I would say "NO!" I drained the battery on a new F-150 over night to the point where the truck wouldn't start, though the cooler fan was still running. You'll have to do the math (battery amp hours divided by the unit draw) to get the number of hours the battery will provide, but then you need to start your car.
941687
I have run it for about 6 hrs before on a fully charged battery. Sometimes 7 depending on how often it is used. I keep a spare fully chargedbattery on hand just in case.
941686
I have run it for about 6 hrs before on a fully charged battery. Sometimes 7 depending on how often it is used. I keep a spare fully charged battery on hand just in case.
1898396
I bought it to use for camping. It helped my phone last all weekend without plugging it in (I even played games on it for about 3 hours and still had over 30% left by Sunday night. If you're constantly looking for a charging station, this will ease your mind.
1005083
I use mine and my tractor-trailer all the time when I'm gone I leave it plugged in it does not drain my battery down I have left mine on for 72 hours
786466
It can run for a while off the battery, but probably not all night - maybe an hour or two, max.
186088
yes it can plus,you leave it plugged up all the time when you have it moored or parked on the Trailer. It will keep your Batteries maintained and they will last you much longer.
1894336
This would be way overkill for a 13 watt solar panel. One 13 watt panel would not even need a regulator while camping as your use would always exceed your input. If you were to store the camping unit without using any of the generated power it may eventually overcharge the battery slightly, though no damage would occur to the battery only slight loss of water in the cells which should be checked regularly anyway. There are usually enough parasitic loads (smoke detectors, clocks, radio memories, etc.) to compensate for the slight overcharging though.
714690
I'm agreeing with the prior answer. No reason it can't run all night with enough battery power! I usually run mine for just a time then shut off manually though, but that's just my preference. Use the auto shut off occasionally too!
1576604
Hi there. For camping. and sleeping on the back of my pickup truck. Im using a 100 watt solar pannel connected to a 125 mah battery with a 1000 watt power inverter. I also use a 200 watt heater( smallest I could find) so I wont drain the battery so quick. in other words this one can be use as well in a setu up like mine or if you want to use it in your car battery you would need to connect the 1000 watt amp DIRECTLY from the car battery. DONOT connect it of cigaret outlet. it will blow the fuse since those dont allow to go up to 1000 watts. any questions just ask :)
2002766
I think so. I bought mine back in October, used it camping in WY, PA and used it during a power outage last week and still have the same batteries in it. And I do not use it on low.
553411
Yes, it can run on the built in battery - not for an extended period of time though.
227240
It can run for a long time. If you are using it as a backup generator and your power is out for days - no problem. It could also be used for power if you are totally off the grid. Think cabin in the woods. We have a large propane tank for heating the house. Our generator is hooked up to it for its' fuel supply. Makes running the generator when power is out easy.
1182404
That would depend on what kind of battery you have. I ran it 8 hours during a bass tournament on a car battery with no issues, could have kept running it much longer
22550
It is not battery powered with no way to divert from the power cord. Can be used for camping if have access to power.
375512
yes you can, but it would drain the battery in about 8/10 hour at full load
958491
The simplest way to use this anywhere (while camping or in the home) may be to get a "Jump starter" device that is pretty much a small 12V battery in a housing with jumper cables, a lighter outlet, and more. There are several brands of those available, but they are all pretty much the same thing (do a search for jump starter here on Amazon). This needs over 10 amps power to start it and ~6 to run, so a car battery charger would be the only thing close enough to a "power supply" that plugs into a house outlet that could run it. I don't think running a charger without a battery is a good idea, so that's why I suggest the "jump start" battery.