Best battery for Arctic Air cooler?

[Rykymus]

I have one of those mid-sized Artic Air coolers, (the one that needs ice) in my Archer. It works well, however, the portable battery packs that Artic Air sells (which are just the DieHard jump-start batteries, I believe the 750s) only last about 1.5 hours with both the fan and the pump going. Normally, that's not a huge issue, as I don't it at cruise altitude, only on the ground. But I'm starting my instrument training this month, and the weather is hot. (Average mid 90s to low 100s) A lot of that training is done down low doing approaches, plus it get's warmer when you're sweating it out under the hood, so I want to run the cooler during the entire lesson.

Anyone know of a better battery? I don't want to connect it to the plane's power, as I would have to rewire the cig-lighter plug to handle the current draw.

BTW: This is the 28v version of the Arctic Air cooler.

 

[rlarryr]

were any answers posted?

 

[dell30rb]

If you have a 12v you can use a SLA sealed led acid battery. About $50. I think mine is 12 amp hrs and will run the cooler for an hour.

Of course you could wire two of these up to accommodate the 24v version

 

[3393RP]

Just buy one or two (depending on cooler voltage requirements) sealed lead acid batteries that have a higher amp-hour rating than the one you have, as suggested above.

You should be able to locate data which lists the battery's watts per cell rating, which is given as a constant output to a cutoff voltage of 1.75 volts per cell. Multiply the WPC X 3 for 12 volt or X 6 for 24 volt systems for watts per battery produced.

Compare that to the wattage requirements of your cooler, and it will give you a maximum run time with that particular battery. They should not be used below the cutoff voltage if you want to get the maximum operating lifespan.

The batteries could be mounted in a simple plastic enclosure (strapped down for safety), and you can fabricate a power cord using 12-2 SO cord and the appropriate crimp connectors.

 

[Unit74]

I just bought a 4 in1 battery from Harbor Freight. 17 Ahr and has two cigar ports, a USB port, light, a tire pump, and a battery jump starter. $55. How can you complain about that? Based on the draw, I can run the B-Kool almost three times w/o charging it and still pump up a tire!