freezers in roomettes?

[Asher]

Dry ice is not the easiest thing to acquire and most time has to be sawed into usable size pieces. Then for sure you should experiment on placement. Otherwise, you will be looking for a microwave to thaw out food or drinks.

 

[PVD]

Thanks, that is an impressive achievement in energy. A compressor fridge of any size using 60W is not bad.....

 

[tgstubbs1]

Dry ice is not the easiest thing to acquire and most time has to be sawed into usable size pieces. Then for sure you should experiment on placement. Otherwise, you will be looking for a microwave to thaw out food or drinks.

It would be great if somebody could make a low power, small microwave, but they don't seem to exist. Some of the peltier coolers, like my Koolatron, can be used to heat(switch the polarity) but I've never tried it. I think they might get up to about 140'

 

[Qapla]

I don't have a horse in this race but found this article to be informative
https://labincubators.net/blogs/blo...red,efficient for small temperature gradients)

 

[tgstubbs1]

That's interesting. As far as the original poster's quest, I can't say if the size and weight would be acceptable. The one I have is about as big as a microwave oven. It doesn't weigh as much but it should be transported and used in a level position. It shouldn't be a problem with power, but the room attendants might have to approve it. It should do a good job keeping medications safe. It displays the temperature and keeps the thermostat setting by about +-5'.

 

[me_little_me]

These new compressors are designed for use in vehicles and so a very low current draw.

People sometimes have trouble running the compressor fridge on 12v but they work well with the transformer and inverter connected to a battery. The compressor fridge will shut down if the battery voltage sags but the inverter seems to insulate it.

My Koolatron manual says it draws 4.5amps at 12vdc. Most of the other peltier coolers I've seen the specs on say 3.5 amps at 12v. It is a constant draw because they don't have thermostats, while the compressor fridge is computerized and has a thermostat.

I don't have a way to easily measure 12v amps but when I use the transformer the compressor fridge uses .50 amps while the peltier uses .90 amps on 110vac. They are both switcher type 110v - 12v power adapters.

Per Koolatron, all their 12V coolers are thermoelectric. That means no compressor. And those numbers you quoted for power consumption are for a thermoelectric cooler. Can you provide us with model number?

 

[tgstubbs1]

Per Koolatron, all their 12V coolers are thermoelectric. That means no compressor. And those numbers you quoted for power consumption are for a thermoelectric cooler. Can you provide us with model number?

B07 Travel Tote is all it says on the manual. It is thermoelectric (peltier).
It heats as well as cools. It has a partly metal surface on the interior. It doesn't have very good insulation compared to the Igloo I have but it's small size would be more manageable on a train.

 

[tgstubbs1]

Here is the compressor fridge. I found a 9L type on Amazon, too, but it is still rather large.
:
https://www.amazon.com/Alpicool-C20-Portable-Refrigerator-Vehicle/dp/B075R1LH8D

 

[Nick Farr]

Isn't ice always available upon request? Why couldn't the cooler in question be restocked periodically?

 

[MARC Rider]

Isn't ice always available upon request? Why couldn't the cooler in question be restocked periodically?

What about draining the melted ice? We have a soft-sided cooler, which is nice and folds up, but there's no drain hole, so when the ice melts, you have to take everything out and dump it somehwere. Not too many "somewheres" on a moving train or a large urban station. I use it with chill packs, which are fine for a one-day picnic, but on a multi-day trip need to be refrozen somewhere.

 

[Nick Farr]

What about draining the melted ice?

There's bathrooms in every car, and the showers in the sleepers. There's also station stops where you can drain directly to the tracks.

Not pleasant but neither is lugging a freezer with you.

 

[tgstubbs1]

Ice can be a problem but isn't there a bathroom nearby?

What can be bad is water getting into things you don't want to get wet.

 

[Barb Stout]

Recently I went on a 3 day camping trip and used several ice packs that were apparently from Harry and Davids (at least that's what is printed on the pack) and to my surprise, a 1 or 2 of them were still solid and cold upon my return and the melted ones were still cold. The weather hadn't been all that warm; I would say the highs were in the 80s. In addition, I had not stuffed the cooler full of them or food, so that's another reason why I was surprised.

 

[tgstubbs1]

What I wonder about is how Amtrak treats a cooler. Is it one of your allowable carry ons?

 

[Nick Farr]

What wonder about is how Amtrak treats a cooler. Is it one of your allowable carry ons?

If you're in a Western sleeper, in my experience whatever you can haul to your room and fit there is fine. I've lugged 200 lbs of gear on various trips and nobody said a thing.

 

[tgstubbs1]

If you're in a Western sleeper, in my experience whatever you can haul to your room and fit there is fine. I've lugged 200 lbs of gear on various trips and nobody said a thing.

That's cool. Is it 'official' policy, though?
I remember them being pretty generous to Scouts getting off at Raton for their trips to Philmont Scout ranch but I think they were making some minor concessions, which is a great thing about Amtrak. It could be subject to particular trains, I guess.

 

[Skip]

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions. I did take me_little_me's suggestion and tested it out yesterday and today. I went to praxair who sells dry ice. Told the fellow what I was trying to do and he gave me 10 lbs free (which filled my small cooler) to test it out. With about 5 lbs of dry ice in the cooler I can get 2 of the BodyIce in there (with 10 lbs there was no room for the BodyIce packs). It cooled very well with a small towel between the ice and the BodyIce for the one closest to the dry ice. The towel was necessary, else the BodyIce nearest the dry ice froze solid. It has to remain pliable for comfort reasons. The one on top was not cool enough for me to use. So, I took to sitting on one while the other was cooling. It worked fine for a little less than 24 hours before the dry ice was exhausted. A good portion of that was during the night when I was not using any at all. I can sit on the BodyIce for an hour or two before it needs to be cooled again, which I think is the problem. Those 'warm' BodyIce are taking a lot to cool. It's just not lasting long enough I'm afraid. And I don't know how I could replenish the dry ice during the trip. I can't use 2 coolers, they're just too heavy and I wouldn't be able to tote any luggage. This dry ice is not light. It is significantly heavier than the equivalent volume of frozen water, so a bigger cooler is out of the question, unless I also bring a dolly to move it around. I do have a portable cooler in my car which can plug into a wall socket or a lighter. But it is very heavy. It's literally a small refrigerator with a condensor and motor, which is why it's so heavy. Works great in the car but you don't want to tote this thing around for any distance. Think I'm going to have to fly unfortunately. But I really appreciate all the help suggester here. Cheers!

 

[Skip]

After posting my reply, there were many new posts. I saw me_little_me's post, while I was typing, about the handicapped room. I'm sure I could get a letter from my doctor to be able to use the handicapped room, but it still doesn't solve my problem, does it? I don't suppose there's a freezer in there, or is there? I don't want to spend all my time in the room where I could put my feet up, certainly a blessing, but I've got a horrible case of cabin fever from 'sheltering in place' for the last 6 months. I want to be able to sit in the car where you can view the scenery better. Thanks again for trying so hard to solve my problem!

 

[me_little_me]

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions. I did take me_little_me's suggestion and tested it out yesterday and today. I went to praxair who sells dry ice. Told the fellow what I was trying to do and he gave me 10 lbs free (which filled my small cooler) to test it out. With about 5 lbs of dry ice in the cooler I can get 2 of the BodyIce in there (with 10 lbs there was no room for the BodyIce packs). It cooled very well with a small towel between the ice and the BodyIce for the one closest to the dry ice. The towel was necessary, else the BodyIce nearest the dry ice froze solid. It has to remain pliable for comfort reasons. The one on top was not cool enough for me to use. So, I took to sitting on one while the other was cooling. It worked fine for a little less than 24 hours before the dry ice was exhausted. A good portion of that was during the night when I was not using any at all. I can sit on the BodyIce for an hour or two before it needs to be cooled again, which I think is the problem. Those 'warm' BodyIce are taking a lot to cool. It's just not lasting long enough I'm afraid. And I don't know how I could replenish the dry ice during the trip. I can't use 2 coolers, they're just too heavy and I wouldn't be able to tote any luggage. This dry ice is not light. It is significantly heavier than the equivalent volume of frozen water, so a bigger cooler is out of the question, unless I also bring a dolly to move it around. I do have a portable cooler in my car which can plug into a wall socket or a lighter. But it is very heavy. It's literally a small refrigerator with a condensor and motor, which is why it's so heavy. Works great in the car but you don't want to tote this thing around for any distance. Think I'm going to have to fly unfortunately. But I really appreciate all the help suggester here. Cheers!

How to Use Dry Ice in a Cooler
Did you follow the suggestions of this site (or one similar) to extend the life of the dry ice? Or use ice packs as filler?

How long a train trip do you anticipate? Would you be able to make it with a cooler big enough to carry?

Would you be able to use the cooler with dry ice to keep ice packs cold and use a smaller cooler with ice packs to keep your BodyIce cold to reduce the number of times you have to open the dry ice cooler.

With the addition of ice packs and a free source for them, the weight is reduced after initial carry-on as the dry ice disappears and the ice packs can be dumped into the garbage. Mine get chucked on trips when no longer needed as do my disposable coolers.

As to Handicap room, no freezer but a lot more room (more than bedroom) and a private bathroom at about roomette prices.

Oh, I always print out a color red cross on my printer with the words "medical equipment" on it so Amtrak people know that it's not just extra junk. I always wondered what would happen if I used the words "Human Brain" instead.

At your train destination, you can buy additional dry ice if necessary and if you keep the ice packs (or store unfrozen ones in checked baggage) you can always get a hotel to throw them in their office fridge's freezer. Never have been turned down when I told them it was for medical supplies.

Good luck.

 

[Skip]

tg_stubbs 1 I'm interested in this B07 travel Tote. It appears it might be lighter than the portable freezer I am now using, which is simply too heavy for me to be lugging it around. Can you tell me how much it weighs (it does not show the weight on Wal Marts site). They seem to be suggesting from the picture to be a good pop cooler. Do you think it would be able to get the temperature below zero? I keep the BodyIce in my freezer at home. I'm not sure of the precise temperature in my freezer unfortunately. But i would guess maybe 15 degrees F below freezing, or somewhere around there. If this B07 can get close to that temperature and is not too heavy, it just might be the best option. But I suppose I should call Amtrak to make sure I would be allowed to keep it in my room. Seems to be some question about that. Thanks again everyone. I sincerely appreciate all of your help. I would love to be able to do some traveling around the country on amtrak.

 

[tgstubbs1]

Personally, I think traveling by train is a lot of fun. When I was a kid my dad took us on a trip on the Rock Island Line. It was behind schedule but worth the wait.

The cooler weighs about 5 lbs. It uses a thermoelectric peltier junction and cannot cool below freezing.

I've mostly used it for IPA but sometimes it's difficult to squeeze the carton in there. It seems exactly sized for a six pack. It has poor thermal insulation and uses quite a bit of current. This isn't a problem plugged in but can run down a car battery over night.

It can also reheat food. I haven't tried that but read favorable accounts from truck driver's , etc. that use similar products on the road.

I get the impression that Amtrak is fairly accommodating about things in your private room. I would think a medical need would probably be acceptable.

I saw a freezer fridge (-4F) on Amazon that was 17 lbs. It would still be a handful, unless you had some kind of wheels, maybe.

 

[Skip]

tgstubbs1 After spending time going over the specs on this B07 travel tote, I am skeptical it would be able to keep my BodyIce cold enough. But with all of the comments y'all have provided I have some ideas how to make this work. These large ice packs "Cold Packs, Frozen Gel Packs for Shipping in Stock- ULINE" might do the trick and are cheap enough that I can test it out. I could put one on the bottom and one on top with the BodyIce in between and it should all fit in my small cooler, and it would avoid this wet issue from regular ice. I would need to have a way to re-cool these ice packs. I can get about one hour of sitting on BodyIce before it gets too warm. I'm thinking that might give me enough time to re-cool these ice packs with regular ice. Well, it's going to take some experimentation, which I will have to do before venturing on to a train. Thanks very much every one, I feel I am much closer to making this work because of all the ideas you threw at me.

 

[BoulderCO]

It is probably OK with Amtrak, but probably a poor choice. Peltier coolers/heaters are terribly inefficient - only a few percent if I recall correctly. Use ice or one of the small freezer packs.

 

[drdumont]

I sorta dropped the ball on the OPs issue.. No way will a practical Peltier device freeze something. However, keeping something cool, yes it will. And you can extend the frozen period with those freezer packs you can purchase (Amazon,natch!).
Or do it the Old Fashioned way. Grab some ice, put it in a Ziploc bag and another for safety.

 

[41bridge]

Isn't ice always available upon request? Why couldn't the cooler in question be restocked periodically?

My friend, a coach passenger, asked for a cup of ice on the Capitol Ltd. 2 weeks ago and was told no, he had to buy a soda. Don’t really know if this applies, but is food for thought.