DIY: Cooler

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SeguineJ

SeguineJ

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So, thanks to being a member of our lovely Armed Forces. I have had the opportunity to acquire my fair share of leftovers, extras, stuff guys give away they don't want. I have an extra one of these Pelican cases. I plan on starting the project this week and while I have an idea of how I am going to accomplish it, I was hoping for more opinions from the community.

I figured this is going to kick the crap out of a YETI. I'm not one for brand names when I don't have to be. My goal is to put a drainage at the wheelbase. For easy tipping and emptying. Already has strong latches. The shelving and storage amount are a greater capacity of any YETI I believe, if I can do it the way I want.

I am hoping to put some form of insulation in between the hollow walls of the shell. The problem is I am not that handy, I do not know what type of insulation would work best for this. As you can see in the picture in the left corner, there is room to maybe use block insulation if I needed to, but I am trying to keep the available storage as large as I can.

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ASNOBODY

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May be tough to keep stuff cold without the traditional double wall/foam structure. I feel like you might have more work to do to make it properly funcional as a cold storage unit than to just sell the Pelican and buy a new cooler. I mean…I'll take that thing off your hands if you want to get rid of it… *awkard smile* haha
 
Vyscera

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I would think expanding foam through a drilled hole up top would be your best option to fill the sides, but as ASNOBODY mentioned, not sure if the insulation will be as good as commercial coolers. The insulation will give you a R rating, but I cant recall coolers being labeled similarly for comparison.
 
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Glenn

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Neat idea and I can see the spray foam "maybe" working if you made thin poly walls to mold with and fill behind. But if it does not work, you just ruined an awesome tote. You will never get it back to the same way. I am trying to get one from work for nothing. We get pipe end prep machines in pelicans and through the years the machines just end up on shelves or destroyed and there is a pile of empty pelican cases. I want one for my solar and there is a perfect sized one collecting dust...lol
 
SeguineJ

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I am going to do the measuring this week and see what itll come down too. Like i stated theres room interally to add layers. Im currently just looking to see what would be best to fill between the plastic. I have to cut a drain hole and figured i have a hole i could add insulation into the shell.

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Big110

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SeguineJ said:
I am going to do the measuring this week and see what itll come down too. Like i stated theres room interally to add layers. Im currently just looking to see what would be best to fill between the plastic. I have to cut a drain hole and figured i have a hole i could add insulation into the shell.

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Check YouTube. I recall seeing someone do a video on doing just this. You need to drill a bunch of holes to be able to get the foam all over. Worth a search.

Looking at the price of say an rtic cooler versus 5 cans of foam and what you could sell that Pelican case for, I'd say the rtic is money better spent.


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Big110

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SeguineJ said:
I dont see anyone buying this case from me for a pretty penny. Even in its brand new condition.

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Sounds like you are like me. Id try to convert it too, even if it ended up being just a pelican case with a bunch of messy spray foam coming out a bunch of holes and had little R value. That looks like a Hardigg line case- before they were bought by Peli they were the cream of the crop and cost a fortune. Sweet cases.
 
SeguineJ

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Big110 said:
Sounds like you are like me. Id try to convert it too, even if it ended up being just a pelican case with a bunch of messy spray foam coming out a bunch of holes and had little R value. That looks like a Hardigg line case- before they were bought by Peli they were the cream of the crop and cost a fortune. Sweet cases.
Click to expand...
Thats exactly what it is!

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VCeXpedition

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SeguineJ said:
Alright, standing in line to check out of Lowes as I type. Got insulation, an adhesive, a way to seal all of it and a way to protect the insulation from possible damage. Its surely going to get interesting in my apartment tonight.

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Pics or it never happened! [emoji12]

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SeguineJ

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I believe for now i am calling it a defeat. While my overall thought and theory was a good one. With the way the container is molded throws in way to many nitches that will not provide adequate seal or the addition to adequate insulation. Though doing this did not end exactly how I would have hoped. 50$ and quite a few lessons on various products was well worth it. Maybe a revisit of this at another time. In the mean time, just gonna clean her up and get her back to being actual dry storage.



And when i decided I have had enough fighting to make it work


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