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Keep Your Beer Cool In Your Corolla

By baadpuppy, February 5, 2007



my coworker just sent me this link and I figured I'd share it with all of y'all.

mini fridge in corolla

Note, I was just kidding about the beer. default_laugh

Also, this is not my car, and I have no interest in doing that to my car. Still, it's an interesting read.

I saw no mention in the article about what to do about the inevitable condensation.

Pretty cool - pun intended default_biggrin. Basically that guy built his own thermoelectric cooler with a Peltier plate normally used for a CPU - not a bad idea. Only thing is that sucker can get smoking hot on one side. Be interesting to see if one can water cool the Peltier - ala water cooled computer.

A few years ago, a friend gave me a little fridge (holds a 6pack) that runs off 12v (or a/c through a converter).

back 5yrs ago, i think it was about $100. I have seen them much cheaper (and bigger) since.

get a travel fridge, then you wont have to chop up your car...

tdk.

badpuppy: Outstanding! Very intriguing project, and a great web page. The photos and instructions were very, well, er, cool!

I live in a state which has no open container law at the present time, the legislature has been dragging it's collective feet on one for years. So, I could definitely use my "armrest cooler" to keep my Corona's cold while driving around! However, since I have a CDL and make my living with my driver's license, I wouldn't actually drink any of them until I got home!

I wonder if that armrest area would be big enough to stash a half-gallon of milk for the trip home from Safeway on a hot day?

BTW -- since you have that Peltier cooler wired directly to your battery, I hope you have in-line fuses on the leads going to the battery terminals. I didn't see any mention of them, just a reference to the possibility of wiring the device through the fuse box, which would be fine as well.

badpuppy: Outstanding! Very intriguing project, and a great web page. The photos and instructions were very, well, er, cool!

I live in a state which has no open container law at the present time, the legislature has been dragging it's collective feet on one for years. So, I could definitely use my "armrest cooler" to keep my Corona's cold while driving around! However, since I have a CDL and make my living with my driver's license, I wouldn't actually drink any of them until I got home!

I wonder if that armrest area would be big enough to stash a half-gallon of milk for the trip home from Safeway on a hot day?

BTW -- since you have that Peltier cooler wired directly to your battery, I hope you have in-line fuses on the leads going to the battery terminals. I didn't see any mention of them, just a reference to the possibility of wiring the device through the fuse box, which would be fine as well.

Well, that's just a link to something someone else did to their car. I happen to know a bit about electrical systems, and I wouldn't put any system together without a fuse in there somewhere. I also wouldn't use a peltier in quite that fashion. I also wouldn't butcher my car like that. I think it's neat, but just not for me or my car.

Do you ever get south of bridgeville? I work in Salisbury, MD and frequently have to go up thru bridgeville on the way to caroline county maryland for work.

jim

Bikeman982

It would be easier to just purchase a DC operated portable cooler, than modify the center console.

In the winter, just put them in the trunk especially like now here in the NE. Let mother nature cool it down. Cheers,

Bikeman982

In the winter, just put them in the trunk especially like now here in the NE. Let mother nature cool it down. Cheers,
Ever had them pop open due to freezing?

 

 

badpuppy: Outstanding! Very intriguing project, and a great web page. The photos and instructions were very, well, er, cool!

I live in a state which has no open container law at the present time, the legislature has been dragging it's collective feet on one for years. So, I could definitely use my "armrest cooler" to keep my Corona's cold while driving around! However, since I have a CDL and make my living with my driver's license, I wouldn't actually drink any of them until I got home!

I wonder if that armrest area would be big enough to stash a half-gallon of milk for the trip home from Safeway on a hot day?

BTW -- since you have that Peltier cooler wired directly to your battery, I hope you have in-line fuses on the leads going to the battery terminals. I didn't see any mention of them, just a reference to the possibility of wiring the device through the fuse box, which would be fine as well.

Well, that's just a link to something someone else did to their car. I happen to know a bit about electrical systems, and I wouldn't put any system together without a fuse in there somewhere. I also wouldn't use a peltier in quite that fashion. I also wouldn't butcher my car like that. I think it's neat, but just not for me or my car.

Do you ever get south of bridgeville? I work in Salisbury, MD and frequently have to go up thru bridgeville on the way to caroline county maryland for work.

jim

Jim: No, not lately, at least. When I worked for an airport limousine service years ago, I used to transport clients to and from various locations in Sussex County, and drove through Bridgeville many times -- usually in the wee hours of the morning!

I agree that the hack job done to that Corolla on the web site was a bit off-putting. I've always thought that if I needed a 12 volt cooler in my car, I'd just run a high-current capacity lead straight from the battery to the trunk, using maybe 6 or 8 gauge wire, appropriately fused. My brother did something similar on his Taurus in order to run a DC-to-AC converter located in his trunk -- worked quite well. He also added a second battery and, I believe, a larger alternator.

In the winter, just put them in the trunk especially like now here in the NE. Let mother nature cool it down. Cheers,

Ever had them pop open due to freezing?

 

I had that precise thing happen to me in my '91 Taurus while I was living in Colorado. I had a 6-pack of Diet Pepsi in my trunk, and forgot about it, so it froze overnight. When I discovered it, the bottles had popped and there was a Diet Pepsi iceberg in my trunk. So, I went down to my local self-service car wash, emptied out my trunk, scraped out as much of the Pepsi-sicle as I could, and vacuumed out the rest using one of their big vacuums. Unfortunately, one of the things I emptied out of my trunk was my toolbox with just about every tool I owned in it! I failed to put it back in the trunk, drove home, and forgot all about it until the next day. When I realized what happened, I rushed back to the car wash, but it was long gone, and the manager had not had it turned in to him. So I spent the next several weeks trying to replace all my tools. However, some of them were fairly irreplaceable, having purchased them in England and Germany during my Air Force tours there -- so I never got back to where I was before! We live and learn...

Bikeman982

In the winter, just put them in the trunk especially like now here in the NE. Let mother nature cool it down. Cheers,

Ever had them pop open due to freezing?

 

I had that precise thing happen to me in my '91 Taurus while I was living in Colorado. I had a 6-pack of Diet Pepsi in my trunk, and forgot about it, so it froze overnight. When I discovered it, the bottles had popped and there was a Diet Pepsi iceberg in my trunk. So, I went down to my local self-service car wash, emptied out my trunk, scraped out as much of the Pepsi-sicle as I could, and vacuumed out the rest using one of their big vacuums. Unfortunately, one of the things I emptied out of my trunk was my toolbox with just about every tool I owned in it! I failed to put it back in the trunk, drove home, and forgot all about it until the next day. When I realized what happened, I rushed back to the car wash, but it was long gone, and the manager had not had it turned in to him. So I spent the next several weeks trying to replace all my tools. However, some of them were fairly irreplaceable, having purchased them in England and Germany during my Air Force tours there -- so I never got back to where I was before! We live and learn...

That must have been a costly mistake.

 

 

In the winter, just put them in the trunk especially like now here in the NE. Let mother nature cool it down. Cheers,

Ever had them pop open due to freezing?

 

I had that precise thing happen to me in my '91 Taurus while I was living in Colorado. I had a 6-pack of Diet Pepsi in my trunk, and forgot about it, so it froze overnight. When I discovered it, the bottles had popped and there was a Diet Pepsi iceberg in my trunk. So, I went down to my local self-service car wash, emptied out my trunk, scraped out as much of the Pepsi-sicle as I could, and vacuumed out the rest using one of their big vacuums. Unfortunately, one of the things I emptied out of my trunk was my toolbox with just about every tool I owned in it! I failed to put it back in the trunk, drove home, and forgot all about it until the next day. When I realized what happened, I rushed back to the car wash, but it was long gone, and the manager had not had it turned in to him. So I spent the next several weeks trying to replace all my tools. However, some of them were fairly irreplaceable, having purchased them in England and Germany during my Air Force tours there -- so I never got back to where I was before! We live and learn...

That must have been a costly mistake.

 

Indeed it was. I haven't replaced quite a number of the tools I lost, but the ones I did replace have cost me around $250, including a new tool box. They were mainly tools for doing electrical/electronic work, since I am an amateur radio operator. Among the tools I lost were a couple of fairly specialized coaxial cable strippers which were around $30 each. I also lost my entire collection of drill bits and electric screwdriver bits. I have since learned not to keep all my eggs in one basket, and now have three toolboxes.

Bikeman982

In the winter, just put them in the trunk especially like now here in the NE. Let mother nature cool it down. Cheers,

Ever had them pop open due to freezing?

 

I had that precise thing happen to me in my '91 Taurus while I was living in Colorado. I had a 6-pack of Diet Pepsi in my trunk, and forgot about it, so it froze overnight. When I discovered it, the bottles had popped and there was a Diet Pepsi iceberg in my trunk. So, I went down to my local self-service car wash, emptied out my trunk, scraped out as much of the Pepsi-sicle as I could, and vacuumed out the rest using one of their big vacuums. Unfortunately, one of the things I emptied out of my trunk was my toolbox with just about every tool I owned in it! I failed to put it back in the trunk, drove home, and forgot all about it until the next day. When I realized what happened, I rushed back to the car wash, but it was long gone, and the manager had not had it turned in to him. So I spent the next several weeks trying to replace all my tools. However, some of them were fairly irreplaceable, having purchased them in England and Germany during my Air Force tours there -- so I never got back to where I was before! We live and learn...

That must have been a costly mistake.

 

Indeed it was. I haven't replaced quite a number of the tools I lost, but the ones I did replace have cost me around $250, including a new tool box. They were mainly tools for doing electrical/electronic work, since I am an amateur radio operator. Among the tools I lost were a couple of fairly specialized coaxial cable strippers which were around $30 each. I also lost my entire collection of drill bits and electric screwdriver bits. I have since learned not to keep all my eggs in one basket, and now have three toolboxes.

When I was younger I had a tool box stolen out of my van.

 

As I rode my bicycle around my neighborhood for a casual ride I noticed someone using tools from a box like mine.

I didn't approach them, but called the police and they brought me over to the person using my tools.

They admitted they traded a box of cigarrettes for the tool box.

When they found the person that stole the tool box, it turned out to be a person that I knew from town.

Needless to say, I was happy to get my tools back. I also never talked to the thief again.

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