YETI COOLERS: are they really that cool...or is it all a bunch of hype??

The 5 day test mentioned above is "somewhat" good in the sense that it will let you know if a cooler may be a piece of junk. As far as to what is the "best" cooler....Sheesh. I've only owned two "hi end" coolers, a Yeti 45 and now the Sub Zero 48. Both performed well for me. I'm sure most of the other "hi end" coolers will too. The tech behind the mfr process is the same. It now comes down to wall thickness, durability of the outer shell material, hinges, clasps, quality of rope handles, , color, seals, finish, accessories and how much do you want to spent for a high end cooler that will most likely "perform" as well as any other high end cooler under similar conditions.

 

So i bought a Pelican 20 qt. Elite from pelicancoolers.com and MAJOR problem! What do you guys think? I pre chilled everything. Bought a bag of ice and layered in a 12 pack of drinks. Closed it and waited next day and the ice was melting rapidly and the ice was fully melted in under 2 days and this is just sitting in my garage in no sunlight. So with the lid closed and latches shut i turn it upside down and water just gushes out of it which tells me the seal is not working at all! Call Pelican and no one answers and call a number they say to call and its not even Pelican it sounds like some kind of telemarketers phone number! What the Hell. For $160 on sale i want my money back. Hell my $25 coleman that i have had for 20 years does better than this piece of crap! This 20 qt. was bought just to keep some drinks cold on small road trips...not to be a main cooler.

 

You must be doing something wrong - unless a seal is faulty. I keep ice in my Pelican 35 for at least 5 days. Usually longer depending depending on conditions.

 

Try this number, plus I don't think the 20qt are designed to hold water. Hope this helps
+1 310-326-4700

 

^this. My Pelican 50 holds ice for over 5 days in my truck with 90 degree outside temps. I'm sure one sneaks out of the factory every once in a while with a bad seal.

 

Yea the 20 is not as thick as the bigger ones so it won't hold ice as long but I watched videos about the seals being so good that they were hard to open because the seals was so tight. Mine let's air through so what is it you think I'm doing wrong?^^

 

Open the lid and take some pictures of the seal. Post on here and we can compare.

 

The seal is the exact same looking as on a 50. Funny i only opened the cooler ONE time to check the ice before it melted before 2 days and it was sitting in my garage not in the sun so i think it is laughable how you can say I am doing something wrong and remember i said i pre chilled everything plus i put the cooler in my deep freeze for 6 hours before as well! Tell me how happy you would be with this.

 

Yeti, RTIC, Igloo, Ozark Trails, Orca, styrofoam; they're all the same nowadays.

 

I didn't say you did anything wrong. I just wanted to see what the seal looked like.

 

Fill it with water and close the lid and latches. Then open the drain plug. Does opening the drain create suction making it more difficult to open lid? Mine does - almost can't open it.

 

It does not have a drain plug.
DVYota...i meant to say how Borgs thinks I am doing something wrong not you.
It is the exact same looking seal as on the bigger ones. I bought a 50 too but have not tested it out yet.
So Borgs how am i doing something wrong?

 

Mine doesn't create suction when I drain it. I did notice if the ice isn't filled to the top it melts much faster.

 

Not sure, man. Must be the seal. My cousin has a 20 and loves it.

 

50qt after 33 hours in 90 degrees outside. Opened twice to check ice. Didn't fill all the way up. Normally I'll put freezer packs on the top to help keep ice from melting.

 

Faulty seal. They should either send you a new seal or just return the cooler and swap it for another. Pelican quality is usually very reliable but no one is perfect.

 

The more you can get into the cooler the better. Temperature remains more stable with a "thermal load" effect. Less energy is expended to maintain cooling/heating with a proper thermal load. This especially applies to the larger coolers. The more ice/blue ice packs and "load"...rib eye steaks for example...the longer the ice/blue ice packs will last along with minimal opening and closing of the cooler.

This principle applies to environmental temp chamber/oven/freezer calibrations/verifications that we do at our lab. That's why I can most likely take any "decent" high end cooler and make it "chill" for days.....

FYI...melting ice actually gives off measurable heat if you have sensitive enough test equipment. (we do at the lab). As ice melts H2O molecules become more & more active. Hence giving off measurable "heat"

 

I use those large inflatable packing bubbles you get in Amazon packages to fill up dead space in my coolers. And towels. Works great.

 

It doesn't hurt to add your own additional 3M brand weather stripping. You add it over the top of the existing seal. Makes any good cooler even better. Did it on my Yeti and on my Sub Zero. Makes all the difference. I should have mentioned that in my earlier posts here but I'm getting old apparently.

 

Well two emails to two different email addresses and two phone calls to two phone numbers all listed on their site and no one answers and no responses.

 

I forgot to ask, are you sure you have the batteries in the right way?

 

Come over and show me if you want to be a smartass

 

Mine took 2 9 volts and all along I was trying to jam in 6 aaa's. I finally figured It out after a case of Genny Cream Ale. just saying.

 

Well hell i had 123s in there why didnt ya just say so!

 

The destruction manual on those coolers is brutal. I tell ya. I needed to YouTube it.

 

Curious what 3m you're referring to??

 

Home Depot carries various thickness/width 3M weather stripping. I find 3M to be the best from my personal experience. You don't need it too thick and don't go wider than existing cooler seal.

 

So you're referring to peel and stick?

 

Well they replied and sent a return label and will give me my full refund. Upon further inspection the seals had a 3/16 gap but still gushed water from all directions. So not impressed that I don't want another one. First impression is a big thing with me. 50 gets tested this weekend.

 

My seal has a gap... you mean in the middle of the bottom of the lid?