Mini Chest Freezers

Anybody ever use one? What I'm looking for is a very small chest freezer I can use in my pickup truck for freezing meat, fish, pelts. I'm assuming I can plug it in when I'm traveling and/or turn it on when I'm in camp. Will it be too sensitive to continue operating on back roads? I'm thinking something tiny, on the order of 1.1 cu. feet. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom.

Jack

My brother did that using a large inverter. He used a larger freezer. Save jugs and fill with water. freeze the jugs ahead of time and fill the freezer with ice jugs. They will hold the temperature for you. Discard jugs as space is needed. He was surprised at how little it needed to run.
best wishes.

Thanks Willy. I appreciate the tip.

My friend uses a large chest freezer, holds 2 un cut deer to go from cabin to Milwaukee. Uses a big inverter and I believe an extra battery

Get a bigger one than you think you'll need

I have a 7 cu ft 34"H x 22"D x 37"L... I haven't traveled a lot of backroads with it but we use it to transport Bear capes, I have 110 available so never used one with an inverter.

Everyone is saying, they use a inverter? Is that a small generator?

A power inverter, or inverter, is a power electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC).[1] The resulting AC frequency obtained depends on the particular device employed. Inverters do the opposite of “converters” which were originally large electromechanical devices converting AC to DC.[2]

Wika...

Yes, I have AC outlets various places in my truck ('06 Tacoma) so no need for the inverter. I'm mainly wondering if bad roads might be toast for the refrigerant.

Probably good idea, 330, in getting a larger freezer.

Jack

Mt friends sits in the bed up front by the cab

41long x 21 wide x 34 tall

He drives everywhere with it. Used it for Deer to coon. No issues

https://www.whynter.com/product-category/outdoor-living/portable-fridges-freezers/


This brand looks fairly rugged.

I've got a 7 cu foot ratcheted to the back step of the ocean boat. It seems to work and the ocean can get pretty rough.

Yes, I do own an ocean boat and Yes, I am an idiot for owning one.

The salt will probably kill it.

That’s what I take elk hunting in CO. Beats the (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) out of ice chest. I put 2 liter coke bottles full of water in it and freeze them. Like fill it up with them and remove them as I need room.

if this was a normal year and you could get freezers free for the hauling , I used to run 2 in a trail 6 foot I would leave them in the drive way plugged in cold , the bottom 6 inches was ice , that is a lot of thermal mass.

, I have a smaller one picked up curb side about 3 foot high 3 foot wide and 24 inches front to back, that I used for a deer season in the back of my open bed f150 plug it in while parked and just leave unplugged while moving


I am sure the vibration of driving all the time will cut the life short , it may still work for a few years

I have done it with no problem on good roads using generator going and it does not take much juice once they are going just the start up of the compressor drags a small generator for a couple seconds. Rough roads well tough on anything but you might be surprised.

Try Camping World or Bish RV over here or a RV dealer in IF.

Sams has them for about $100 and when you tear it up take it back.

Did the Tacoma come with the 110 outlets? I can't recall ever seeing a truck with 110 outlets. My 07 tundra doesn't have outlets.

Far as I can tell, yes, they are stock. One in the bed, one in cab, and one in engine compartment. Very handy. I bought the truck second-hand 10 years ago, but they sure look factory to me.

My Chevy and Ford has one in the bed and one in the cab.

A cooler and dry ice works well. If the dry ice is wrapped in freezer paper, it lasts much longer.

That would add way too much distraction for Jack. If he started with 5 pounds of dry ice he would have to weigh and measure it on the hour to determine the dissipation rate......and determine whether that rate varies with time. Also.......does the dry ice dissipate faster at 5000 feet than it does at 5025 feet , 6000 feet ? What direction is the truck facing and how fast is it traveling ? What about Coriolis effect ?

Hauled a small one around dirt roads in Maine for a couple years with no problem. Mine wasn't running while I was driving, not sure if that would make a difference or not.
I plugged it in every night.

Check the rated wattage for those receps... I have a 110 outlet in my Jeep but it's only rated for 150 watts (1.25 amps @120 volts) so basically is only suitable for a cell phone charger or other low draw device.

Mike

You called it white17. I've already put together dissipation tables with three scenarios; without a dog in the back, with one dog, and with two. Their addition of breaths per minute and the accompanying heat and increased humidity as a function of air circulation from the two side windows, compounded, of course, by the effects of the Coriolis input times the ambient temperature. Avagadro's number has to be factored in there somewhere, but may be offset by Mahalanobi's D-square. This calculation will vary when confounded by the metric tonnage of catfish filets, obviously their introduction temperature after thermal mass has been calculated. I figure at least 147 variables, so for analysis, I've got to haul my trailer with the Cray computer, and I've got to bring Seymour Cray along to run the thing. At this point, how much will it affect my 20.87954921 mpg?

Is that the raw MPG or the mean ? What about standard deviation ?

Give my regards to Seymour. If he looks closely at the river he may see more crayfish

We were fishing with Seymour and his boy down in the Snake Canyon one day, and his son said to his Pa, "Ain't this fishin' fun? All you do is talk about computers, and it kinda' sticks in my craw, Dad."

That's the weighted mean Ken.

You're killing me !!!


But seriously.......I need to refresh my memory. Does Mahalanobi's D-square, describe the distance between point P and the distribution of Avagadro's number of reciprocating voles ? Or am I confusing that with something else ?

Nope, Ken, you got it right, but it was determined antediluvian except during ophidian brumation.

HooBoy!

I figured as much. Thanks for the confirmation !!


I got to wondering .......since dry ice is frozen CO2, will the dog's breath increase or decrease the rate of dissipation ?? If it will decrease the rate, maybe you could just have them exhale into the cooler ??


What does a reciprocal mole leave in reciprocity for the grubs he has eaten ?

I don't rightly know. How do we know that mole will gopher the grubs?

Perhaps that mole will reciprocate with molasses?

Blind faith ??

Brother said when he had a cap/topper on his truck it was necessary only to plug in the freezer at night to run on 110 at a motel. This was Texas and New Mexico in winter.

Texas in summer without a cap/topper the inverter ran too much so he ran a very small generator in the truck bed so freezer could run as needed. Then plugged into 110 at night.

He then installed a 3,000 or 4,000 watt inverter and ran from that exclusively.

One year my wife and I drew back to back bull moose tags for the same year in two states. There was a weekend between the hunt weeks. She drew Maine and I drew New Hampshire for our first choice zones. In planning logistics for the adventure I was putting a full size chest freezer in an enclosed trailer and bolting a generator onto the trailer tongue. Then wife got horribly sick and we shredded the tags.

My 2019 F-350 has a factory 400 watt inverter mounted under the rear seat. There are two 110 outlets in the cab - one in the dash and one in the console in front of the rear seat.

I have an 05 TRD that has it.
R/Rear corner of the bed.

That's gonna cut down on your mileage even more Jack

They won't put out enough for a freezer. The invert that is built in on a Tacoma shuts down after so much amp draw. Won't run a freezer.

My 2014 chevy has one where the lighter used to be. It will charge a phone or a battery for a cordless drill 18v batt. Won't run an electric heater tried for curiosity sake. Green light starts blinking if over amp draw.

So Jack,
Did you find a freezer yet?

That 1.1 cu ft one? Probably get 10 marten hides in one. I used to be able to squeeze 2 or 3 in a quart zip lock up at the cabin for transport.

This is good advice. It will depend on the size of the inverter.

https://www.whynter.com/product/whynter-1-1-cu-ft-energy-star-upright-freezer-lock/

According to it's specs, this freezer is rated at 79 watts and 1.1 amps. Theoretically a 150 watt inverter should run it.

All comments with real good advice. Thank you all. I'm looking hard at Engel, but they are indeed spendy. At least on the internet, the Whynter looks real good because of the low amp/low watt specs. I'll do a bit more sleuthing. For me, it's 150 miles to the nearest town that might sell such an appliance (either Missoula or Idaho Falls, I'm midway between the two). Also, after the valuable input received herein, I'm probably looking for something with a higher capacity than 1.1 cubic foot. It's probably akin to building a shop or a skinning shed; bigger is always better.

Jack

My sons new Silverado has them.

I have used a smallish chest freezer in the back of the truck or in a hunting trailer for a lot of stuff. Hauled it all over the place and it has always come on when I plug it in. Been doing it for years.

Same with Sierra and I believe F150's

Do they have the wattage to run a freezer tho?

One important feature is that you need a MASD permit....and that little triangle patch with a explosive bottle on it.

I wouldn't be running too big a freezer off your truck. You will kill your battery. Takes more energy to keep freezing new stuff than to keep old stuff frozen. Inverters have a surge rating and a continuous rating. The standard used to be 3 times the rated amps of the freezer for it's start up surge. They don't always use this much. Inverters are far better at picking up surge loads (like compressor motor start ups) than generators.

Good luck!

We use to deliver groceries to man camp. We had 3 mounted in a cargo trailer. The worst thing was the vibration on them. Most lasted about a year with frequent use. So put a rubber mat under it and tie it down and you should be good to go. Vibration in your truck bed will be nothing compared to a cargo trailer on dirt roads.

Propane.