Mobicool coolbox W35 DC/AC

Used the cool box several times. Very reliable, versatile and easy to use. Took coolbox on 2 week camping trip to Austria, using it on mains on board ferry overnight, car battery whilst on the road and then on campsite mains. It was in continuous use for 2 weeks and kept all our food, wine and beer nice and cool even in 30 degrees. Easy to move, using handle. I did a lot of research into various products before purchasing; this is the best value for money you will find - get one!

I purchased this coolbox well in advance of a trip planned for May 2011 where I will need to be able to keep the coolbox running overnight in a motel bedroom; hence the need to run off either a car's 12 volt DC system or AC Mains voltage.

So far, the box has performed well, both as a chiller (reaching about 2 degrees Celsius) and as a warmer (reaching about 65 degrees Celsius) on both electrical systems.

However, and I am very glad to have discovered this problem sufficiently far in advance, the coolbox is advertised as having a "Battery Monitor" which, it is claimed, switches the device off if there is a danger of flattening the car's battery so that it would not be able to start the engine. The manual states that this cut-off should operate at 11.7 volts (plus or minus 0.2 volts).

My experience with this particular device is that the Battery Monitor cuts off the supply to the coolbox immediately the car's engine is switched off, even though the auxiliary supply socket (cigarette lighter) remains live. Tests with a simple multi-meter confirm that there is well in excess of 12 volts available.

In order to rule out the possibility that there is something odd about my car's electrical system, I have tried the coolbox in two other cars with the same results. So, three different cars (two diesel and one petrol) have produced the same results.

I have returned the coolbox to the suppliers (Jacksons Leisure Supplies) who have been helpful but have not (at the date of writing this review) come back to me with an answer. Regretfully, the manufacurers (Dometic) have been unhelpful in the extreme, giving the impression that I must be a fool to doubt the efficiency of their products.

I am awaiting a more positive response from Jacksons Leisure Supplies and will update this review when appropriate. I am hopeful that this problem only relates to my particular example and is NOT a design fault.

Update (7 September 2010)

Jacksons have advised me that they are dispatching a replacement today.

However, I have no information as to whether the problem I experienced with the original coolbox was a design fault or a production fault. I hope it was the latter and that the replacement will have come from a different production batch and will not exhibit the same fault. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Update (8 September 2010)

Replacement coolbox received. Exhibits exactly the same fault, so I am now contacting the manufacturers for their advice. Very disappointing!

Update (13 September 2010)

Very helpful telephone call and e-mail from Jacksons. It appears that the fundamental problem is that the Battery Monitor cuts off the supply to the coolbox if there is even a momentary interruption of supply to the Auxiliary Socket. They suggest that there is such a break of supply, however short, whenever the vehicle's ignition is turned off. Unless the supply voltage returns at a higher level than the "switch-on voltage" (12.8 volts according to Jacksons' e-mail; 13.1 volts according to the manual), the coolbox will NOT restart. To reach the "switch-on voltage" will require the engine to be restarted so that the alternator can provide the required voltage. But when you switch off the engine again, the coolbox cuts out again and we have a Catch 22 situation.

It seems to me that the manufacturer did not research vehicle electrical systems adequately before designing the Battery Monitor. The solution is for the monitor to allow a few milliseconds delay before switching off the coolbox, during which time the vehicle's electrical system will have restored more that the "switch-off voltage" to the Auxiliary Socket.

In the meantime, anyone thinking of buying this product expecting the battery monitor to work in the way the Product Description suggests would be well advised to check the electrical system of their vehicle very carefully first!

Ok, I have had my Mobicool for a while now. I have had a few portable fridges and this is number four, but the first one from 'Mobicool'.

There are many advantages with this model over all of the other fridges that I have owned of this type. The wheels and the long pulling handle are a bonus on level ground. The access hatch in the lid for drinks is a good idea and saves the cold escaping unnecessarily. The battery saving device seems like an excellent idea, although I have not used it yet! It takes really big bottles too! Of all of the portable units that I have owned, this probably keeps the contents the coldest and was the most reasonably priced. It is a nice looking unit, it appears robust, workman like and is easy to keep clean. All things considered, it is the best portable fridge that I have owned!

I can only find two real faults. The door is designed so that it can be removed. This is presumably for cleaning and replacement. The hinges are plastic pins with a flat surfaces. These are surfaces are aligned with a recesses in the box itself and they just drop in. It is so easy! When using the unit as a chest fridge this is not a problem, gravity plays it's part and keeps the pins in the hinge grooves, it all works beautifully. However, when the unit is used as an upright gravity is not helping and the top pin can easily slip out of the slot. It easy to re-insert though, provided your hands are empty! Anybody who has owned a fridge of this type will tell you that you can fit more in using it as a chest than you can as an upright and it may be that you will never need to use it this way. You neeed to bear this in mind when making your decision!

Another small point is that there is nowhere to store the two cables that come supplied. When the unit is not in use that isn't a problem, you can stick them both inside the box. When on your way to a pitch or site you have the unit running from your car battery and full of beer, you have a cable over, when you are in situ and the unit is running and full of food, you have a cable over. It needs a storage space with a hatch in the body somewhere or someway of making one cable do both jobs.

Having said all that please remember, that this is the best portable fridge that I have ever owned! I can not recommend it highly enough!