Coleman 12 Volt electric cooler stopped working

[@suzanneremllard7082]

Thanks a lot! It saved our trip! The fuse blew just like on the other one we bought a free years back. But thanks to your video, we replaced the fuse, checked the Spring which was already a copper one and put the thing back together and it worked perfectly!

[@JerryRigger]

The spring on yours is a copper one, huh? Maybe Coleman watched my video too! Thanks for watching, liking, and subscribing.

[@josephrutz4248]

Thanks Jerry Rigger ! I just picked up a similar cooler to test (A marlboro edition). I will forever remember your little trick ! Good luck with your new channel !

[@alsoto1619]

Thank You Jerry for taking the time to make this video, it’s really helpful! Blessings

[@JerryRigger]

thanks for liking and subscribing!

[@balakays550]

I’m a OTR truck driver and got one of these it stopped working after eight months going to check the fuse thanks for the video save me another to $150

[@balakays550]

Update yup fuses blown

[@JerryRigger]

Glad you didn’t have to buy a new one

[@francisconavarro956Tx]

Mine is not cooling

[@goxyeagle8446]

These are junk If it's not fuse it's a fan...not gonna last nore than a year.

[@DutchK75]

There's truck stop dumpsters littered with the Coleman and Igloo coolers like yours. I've had several. I'm wondering if that spring was the problem. Be that as it may. Those coolers have issues beyond the plug and spring. But it does bring back memories. 🙂

[@miguelrobb5719]

I would say just grow up and either spend the pretty penny by purchasing a dometic electric cooler or buy a $300 inverter and install real fridge in your truck. Those Coleman coolers were good when I didn’t know any better. Motor burns out in less than a year. The dometic electric cooler has an actual compressor in it and can act as a really good refrigerator or act as a passable freezer. The damn thing just plugs into the cigarette lighter

[@JerryRigger]

Good advice, but if I did that I wouldn’t be the Jerry Rigger!

[@JerryRigger]

It also occurs to me that if the spring is building up resistance as I suspect, it could cause premature failure of other components as well.

[@psalms1163]

I bought a new one and it started freezing up plus the cord end is getting too

[@z-z-z-z]

@@psalms1163 - if you run them 24/7 they will freeze up. i run my cooler 5-6 hrs and then unplug it for 5-6 hours. there is also less chance that your plug-in overheats/melts.

[@markperson3403]

Yea, thank you, I just acquired the exact cooler, used and it doesn't get cool at all, I figured I could fix it, I never thought about the plug! Thanks again my friend...

[@checho1281]

I'm having this exact problem. Hot, collapsed spring. After this repair, did it still get hot?

[@JerryRigger]

my plug no longer gets hot

[@southernsilver3448]

Good tutorial along with the show and tell. Thank you

[@JerryRigger]

Thanks for the feedback. Please like and subscribe if you haven’t already. It’s greatly appreciated.

[@E.W-s3h]

Did the light stay on when ur fuse blew. My coils are getting cold but the fans arnt working and my plugs getting hot

[@JerryRigger]

I believe the light will go off if the fuse is blown. Are either of the fans working? It would be odd for both of them to go out at the same time. Did you check to see if anything was blocking the fan from moving?

[@suzannebass8004]

Jerry Rigger, I have the same Coleman thermoelectric cooler as in your video. Bought it about 20 years ago. Recently, the black insulation on the tip of the old plug melted. Bought a replacement plug (which doesn’t have that black blob on it), but no instructions came with it. Watched both your videos, but you don’t cover my issues. First, how do you get the cover off the fan? Unfortunately, one of the screws seems so degraded that I can’t get it out. I tried leveraging the cover off-just to pop that screw-but I gave up. Any suggestions? Plus, I need to know how to safely connect the new cord. I’d really appreciate your advice. I’m a 70YO female who likes to fix things if I can. Otherwise, I’ll have to buy a new one. I’m going on a road trip next week. Would like to take the cooler with me. Thanks!

[@JerryRigger]

unfortunately, someone has borrowed my cooler so I can’t look at it at the moment. The screws I remember went directly into the heat sink. Since I don’t have mine, I can’t look to see if there’s room enough to pry the aluminum heat sink apart with a large flat head screwdriver to release the screw. of course that would risk damaging it but if you have nothing to lose cause you’re gonna just throw it away anyway it might be worth a try. If that worked you could probably straighten it back out with a needle nose or other plier after getting the cover off. Drilling the head off the screw is another option. If you purchased the replacement cord that Coleman makes for that cooler I would think it would have the correct connectors on the end and plug right in.

[@suzannebass8004]

Thank you! I didn’t think about drilling the head off the bad screw. I’ll try that next. I have the other three out and those corners of the cover loose. I almost got the 4th corner to pop up loose from the screw, but no luck. Maybe tomorrow! And you’re right, I’ll either toss it or just use it as a regular ice chest if I can’t fix it. It worked great for almost 20 years! Thanks again.

[@primitivohernandez9]

Great video just got my cooler back up and running 👍🏼👍🏼

[@JerryRigger]

That’s great!👍

[@larkspurlt]

Boy, am I glad I watched this video before I received my Coleman thermoelectric cooler. I bought it to use temporarily until my RV fridge can be fixed. I plugged it into a Jackery 1000 to cool down with a block of ice in it. Within an hour it was cold but the plug was really, really hot. I pulled it out. The fuse had not yet blown. I put the copper wires through the spring as in the video and tried it again. After checking it multiple times, the plug never got hot after 3 hours, although when I pulled it out the little button had lost its tension and was very loose. It still was making a connection. Hopefully this fix will last. Thanks again for the video.

[@JerryRigger]

When I did mine the spring had gotten so hot that the spring had collapsed. I just pulled the spring at both ends to stretch it back out.

[@larkspurlt]

@@JerryRigger I did that but I think I didn't pull it hard enough.

[@RobinHardman-vv6kr]

What if you’re not good at that kind of stuff. Isn’t there anyway to buy a new 12v connection?

[@JerryRigger]

Replacing the fuse is easy enough you can just unscrew the end. Coleman does sell a replacement cord but it, too, will require some tools to replace.

[@garyphloyngam7148]

Thx man definitely gonna try this

[@JerryRigger]

Good luck

[@walterquea1]

Hi, what fuse is? Específic please

[@JerryRigger]

mine was a 7.5 amp quick blow , but you should use whatever size you took out of yours assuming it is the original fuse. The fuse should say what size it is on it. It may be hard to read so a trick I learned is to use my phone camera and enlarge the image to make it easier to read.

[@richardjohnson4052]

The fuse is a glass tube with metal ends that is inside that part that you shove into the accessory plug in the car. It is designed to 'blow' to protect the cooler and car from an electrical overload. It also protects the wires from getting too hot and melting or starting a fire. I went to an auto-shop and bought a package of 5 for $4 and keep the extra inside the cooler in a waterproof case. The wire bypass is a temporary move ONLY to see if the fuse is the problem. If the cooler works with the copper wire, it means that the fuse has blown and needs to be replaced. If you leave that wire in, the cooler risks being overloaded and causing problems with overheating.

[@JerryRigger]

@@richardjohnson4052 In the video the wire is used only to allow better conductivity of the spring and does not bypass the fuse. You should never bypass the fuse as wiring damage or worse could result.

[@martinmontano7074]

Mine made it a lil over 3 years and finally went out today.

[@JerryRigger]

I don’t think mine lasted that long before I had to fix it. Thanks for watching, liking, and subscribing. Happy rigging!

[@AngelENuno]

What about if the cooler is not cooling anymore?

[@JerryRigger]

Are the fans running? I don’t believe these are that complicated. But I would need to open mine up and look at it. If the fans are running but it is not getting cold the cooling plate may have gone bad. If the fans are not running, then you’ll need to determine if the fan has gone bad, something is shorting the power, or if there’s no power going to the fan. I am assuming that you have already checked the fuse and that you have a good working power source. Do you have a DVM that you can test it with?

[@matjenkins7920]

Actually very helpful

[@JerryRigger]

I appreciate the feedback, please like and subscribe if you haven’t already. I am a fairly new channel trying to get over 1000 subscribers.

[@skynebula11]

This is the third Colman cooler I purchased; each one completely stopped working. I never knew there was a fuse in it. My newest cooler has only been used one time. ...I will be looking for a fuse tonight...thank you...okay...a few days latter. I opened up the part that goes into the cigarette lighter to find it completely empty. No fuse, no part that sticks out of the black part. Not sure where all that went. I guess I will replace the entire plug (?) Just ordered this: Coleman Thermoelectric Cooler Replacement 8 ft. Power Cord w/Fuse ..no wonder mine quit working...duh!

[@JerryRigger]

Hopefully that’s all it is. 👍

[@truckergirl3518]

Never wired anything in my life did exactly what u said and my cooler is working! They only had a 7 amp is that gonna be a problem I will get a 71/2 when I can find one but apparently it’s hard to find at truck stops because of this damn cooler. 🙄

[@JerryRigger]

If your cooler originally had a 7 1/2 amp fuse in it using a 7 amp fuse of the same type temporarily should be fine. It is always best to put in the recommended size though. Never install a larger fuse than is recommended.👍

[@truckergirl3518]

@@JerryRigger thanks still looking for the other size but it is working like a champ and plug is not getting hot like it was before. You are a genius! Thanks

[@meganpittman0615]

I’m so glad I found this video. I have this exact cooler and it stopped working. My plug also gets really hot. I’m going to check the fuse! What fuse is it?

[@JerryRigger]

The fuse should say what size it is on it. If it is hard to see try taking a picture of it and blowing it up.

[@larkspurlt]

I think it's a F7.5AL250V. I have found F7AL250V, but not 7.5

[@bollestechguy]

Thanks Jerry. My issue is that my cooler works when plugged into 12v but not when I plug in to 110. Is there a way to test the power adapter?

[@JerryRigger]

I would start by just visually making sure that the inside of the plug is not dirty. If everything looks clean make sure the plug goes all the way in the socket. If you have a DVM you should be able to change it to the DC setting and should read 12 V between the center tap and the outer edge ground of the socket. Be careful not to short the center tap and ground together as it could burn up the power adapter. If you don’t have a DVM, you might try plugging something else into it. Also try plugging the power adapter into a known working outlet. If all else fails I believe the Adapters are only about $20 or even less if you find an aftermarket one. I had one fail one time and luckily found that I had another adapter rated at a higher current off of something else that I was able to splice the plug on to. Thanks for watching

[@CERBERUS300ify]

Thank you

[@JerryRigger]

thanks for liking and subscribing

[@FREEZERQC]

Glad i didn't waste 60$ canadian on sale ill stick with the old koolatron my dad gave me

[@JerryRigger]

Just curious, how old is your Koolatron?

[@earthangel8875]

Shots every time he says "umm"

[@JerryRigger]

Good luck waking up without a hangover!😂

[@MXWJ01]

About to try it out, having the same problem.

[@JerryRigger]

Did it work for you as good as it worked for me?

[@MXWJ01]

@@JerryRigger I plugged it for about 15 minutes. It worked but it still gets hot, not as much as before though.

[@JerryRigger]

@@MXWJ01 that’s odd, there’s really no reason for the plug to get hot unless somethings wrong. Since I did the wire thru the spring trick mine doesn’t get hot at all. Did you double check the spring?

[@MXWJ01]

@@JerryRigger No I did not, maybe need to put more wire and check the fuse size

[@JerryRigger]

@@MXWJ01 You should always use the correct fuse. Heat though is usually caused by bad connections or wire that is too small to carry the current.

[@MauiRedMan]

That's not the fix the fan inside is clogged with dust and debris needs to be cleaned up that's what caused the fuse to blow in the first place and it's a 2.5 amp fuse so of course a 7amp won't blow You should always replace your fuse with the same amp fuse for your safety

[@JerryRigger]

@Ryan Bagwell If yours had a 2.5 amp fuse then you should of course replace it with a 2.5 amp fuse. Mine had a 7.5 in it so I replaced it with the same fuse. If you suspect that your cooler has the wrong fuse in it then I would recommend contacting the manufacturer. Good luck repairing your cooler and thanks for watching.

[@mr.franco4262]

I just got one lasted 7 days 🤡 unreal they are made like that on purpose. I have to see if I can return it and get a new one.

[@JerryRigger]

Yep, that’s what I would do.

[@katarinatina6802]

You could’ve just open (twist) upper part and slide it in.

[@JerryRigger]

The fuse on mine wouldn’t come out until I took it apart. If your fuse comes out easily then yes, you would not need to take it apart. Thanks for watching.

[@suburbansurvival5711]

Good info but you have a 7+ minute video that could have been 3 minutes or less.

[@JerryRigger]

Appreciate the feedback, but hey I am new at this so just help me out and like and subscribe.

[@rigobertohernandez2524]

I bought a couple of these and all tge time the fans stop working and the plate inside freezes up and deize the fan

[@JerryRigger]

good to know, I blow mine out every once in a while with compressed air to get all the dust out of it to make sure I get good airflow across the heat sinks. but I don’t use mine on a regular basis. Mostly just for vacations and occasional travel.