Tag Archives: cooler

photo of raided egg carriers

Raccoon Caper #2 – The Nocturnal Invasion

Teardrop Trail Log: June 14, 2016

Camp Mark Twain State Park established and a scrumptious chicken dinner under our belts, we cleaned the dishes and put away the food. We’ve camped in numerous national and state parks in the last few years, and have developed a bedtime routine. Galley closed, kitchen boxes stacked and Igloo cooler closed. Time for bed. Marilyn is usually earlier into bed than me, but I was tired as well and we turned in. Soon we were both asleep.

photo of Raccoon crime in Progress

Raccoon crime in Progress

I’m a light sleeper and usually up in the middle of the night, but this night I was awakened by a commotion outside. Crash! Bang! What on earth?! I sleep next to the door in our teardrop, and grabbing my iPhone (always ready for a photo!) I opened the door and leaned out. We had a raccoon in camp, and he was exploring our stuff. Pushing the door open and stepping out, I made some noise and the invader escaped. Even though it was dark, I could see we’d been raided. The cooler was open, and various wrappers were scattered around. Well, the damage was already done so I went back to bed. We could survey the crime scene in the morning.

photo of the evidence

The evidence

Marilyn was the first one up in the morning and cleaned up the mess. The raccoon had opened the Igloo cooler (we even have trouble opening that!) and scored a pound of bacon, a pound of butter, two pounds of lunch meat, several eggs and a yogurt.

photo of opening the egg carrier

Not easy to open

It was able to open the egg containers and that’s not easy. It was also able to get the meat and bacon out of zipper bags without destroying them. Apparently they can work the zipper pulls. Their scientific name is appropriate: Procyon lotor or extremely dexterous front paws.

Later, when Marilyn went to the camp office to buy more ice, she mentioned the raid, and the camp host wasn’t surprised. It seems the local raccoons have developed a taste for beer and are able to open pull-tab cans. Two nights of camping so far, and two incidents. I wonder if they prefer lagers or ales?

photo of Igloo cooler

Tiny raccoon fingerprints

Photo showing the galley with stove and beer cooler

A Solar-Powered Beer Cooler

Jim, May 31:

Photo of a Tiny, Solid-state cooler

Tiny, Solid-state cooler

We were recently invited to the Southwest Teardrop & Vintage Trailer meet-up at Krause Springs and knowing there would be some cool trailers there, I wanted to add something unique to ours. Solar power is that not that common on teardrops yet, so it seemed a possibility. A couple of years ago, we purchased a little solid-state cooler from The Home Depot. It cost less than $30, and was shaped like an old Coca-Cola Machine. A similar product is available from Amazon, but without the Coke branding. Best of all, it could run on 120-volt or 12-volt power. Would our solar panel power it for a day?

Photo of the interior of a beer cooler with bottles and cans

Cools a 6-pack

We’ve traveled with the little cooler several times, and I routinely use it in my shop. It will hold a 6-pack in cans, or 4 short glass bottles. I’ve always got it filled with “cool ones”. I had never tried it on 12-volt power though. We also have a solid-state ice chest from Igloo, and it’s always in the car — perfect for keeping groceries cool during the hour-long trip out to the ranch. It draws about 6 amps at 13 to 14 volts (car running), so it’s not super power efficient.  We once drained the car battery by forgetting to unplug it while the car sat in a parking lot for several hours. I guess that’s why I hadn’t ever tried the beer cooler on solar. Didn’t want to drain the battery.

Photo showing a removable solar panel

Solar panel is removable

This was a different situation. Although the rig would be sitting idle for several hours during the meet-up, we would have sun available, and that might make it practical. I designed the solar panel to be removable, so it can be located in full sun while connected to the trailer electrical system (sitting in the shade) via a 20-foot cable. That should be sufficient to power the cooler and a a few other accessories during the day.

Well, long story short, it worked. Since we weren’t staying for the night, the Lady and the Ambassador stayed hitched and I located the solar panel on her windshield. The extension cable just made it to the normal panel connection on the trailer, and the cooler was plugged into the galley. By the afternoon, I had cold beer. The solar panel kept up just fine in spite of the partially cloudy day and occasional rain. Hmmm, now what else might we be able to power?

Photo of the Current Galley

Current Galley