Wagan EL6206 12V 6 Quart Personal Thermoelectric, 6 Liter Capacity, Portable Electric Cooler Warmer with 12/24V DC, Small Fridge for Car, RV, and Camping Use, UL Listed

I previously erroneously submitted a review for this product that should have been for the previous cooler/heater I ordered.This cooler cooled in less than 30 minutes. The same for heating.For the person that wrote the review that the cooler didn't cool the soda in 30 minutes, put a soda in your refrigerator, not the freezer, and see if it cools in 30 minutes.

EXCELLENT QUALITY, GREAT CONSTRUCTION. This cooler is perfect for small amounts of drinks, food, or other vegetables/snacks for short or long day-trips. We just used it for the first time, alternating between 12V power in the car for 3-4 hours at a time and AC household current (using the optional converter) throughout the day as we traveled, stopping for short family/friends visits. Everything stayed COLD all day and early evening; and outdoor AZ temp was as high as 110 degrees that day. Size is perfect for the purpose we intended. If you want to carry larger amounts, buy the larger cooler that Wagan makes. Saw the negative comments about cooling capability. Mostly bogus, in my opinion. Don't give this product a bum rap just because you don't know how to treat it properly. It's not a freezer! Be smart. Use the converter and "pre-cool" the Wagan cooler for an hour in your home before moving it to your car. Add one or two ice-packs from your refrigerator's freezer. Put only drinks and food items in it that you have already pre-cooled in your refrigerator. Set the cooler on the floor of your vehicle away from the sun, preferably near rear A/C vents from your console, if you have that. Keep good air-flow around the cooler. PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARNINGS in the owners manual. Turn off the cooler and unplug it before you turn on or turn off your vehicle's engine. THE MANUAL ACTUALLY TELLS YOU TO DO THAT. Read and heed. Why would you thinks it's okay to leave it plugged in and switched on every time you cycle your engine on and off??? Also saw the claims about wires or connectors overheating. Again, bogus. Don't leave the wires for either the 12V connector or the converter coiled up and secured with the little plastic wire twist-fasteners. If you do that, you are creating a heating coil when current runs through the wire and, of course, it's going to heat up! Keep all wires laying loose. Again, just be smart. USED INTELLIGENTLY, THIS IS AN OUTSTANDING PRODUCT. No hesitation in giving it our highest recommendation. (Full disclosure: We have not tried the heating function, didn't buy it for that purpose, so offer no evaluation of the product used in that mode.)

The shape and weight make it ideal for the car. And the cups holders are very convenient.It works very well as a cooler but the frigid aire only works if you 1. Will be in the car all day and keep it running consistently or 2. Pre chill the itemsIt fits a days food or drinks for a week.

Handy size for car or truck, all seasons. Well built, attractive, roomy.

We've taken this cooler on two trips so far - 4,500 miles to the Mojave in the Jeep and 3,000 to Arizona in the Subaru.It works great. Keeps drinks and snacks like cheese and jerky nice and cold. We set it in the middle of the back seat and can reach it easily from the front. Its noise level is low enough the road noise masks it.We usually keep four drinks and the snacks in it. Plenty of room. On the return from AZ, we had a third person with us and it was big enough for all our stuff.My only criticism is that the wiring and connectors are just barely adequate for running steadily at 5 Amps for 8 to 10 hours on the road. On the first trip, the cable connector into the front of the cooler melted slightly. It also began to corrode one of the pins on the cooler's power socket. On the rest of the trips it hasn't melted any more - yet. I would suggest one gauge larger wire and connectors rated at 20 Amps just to keep the heat damage to a minimum. My old 12V cooler, purchased over 30 years ago, melted two 12V cigarette lighter plugs. I finally replaced that connector with a 20A model and it's been fine since. The connections on the cooler itself never deteriorated.Note: The instructions warn you to turn it off and unplug it whenever starting or stopping the engine - apparently to protect from Voltage spikes. That's a pain in the neck. I've never done it with my old 12V cooler. I've forgotten to do that several times with the new one with no damage so far. I suspect that's simply to give them an out if the thing dies electronically. Mostly I just reach around and turn the switch off whenever starting or stopping.The cheap slide switch is a bit fiddly to find the Center OFF position. If it breaks I'll replace it with a toggle.So far I'm satisfied with it. It's nice to have a small cooler. My old one is a 7 gallon chest. Too big for most trips.This one is just right.Update July 2021We drove to Dallas and the cooler performed well AFTER I repaired the switch. It was getting very flaky so I treated it with Cramolin contact cleaner:https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-D5S-6-DeoxIT-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B00006LVEU/ref=sr_1_15?dchild=1&keywords=cramolin&qid=1632410073&sr=8-15It's the best contact cleaner product I've used in 40 years of electronic service.ButEven with that treatment, the switch is still a little flaky. Before the treatment, it was dead - no contact. I will eventually have to replace it. I am not a fan of slide switches. In my decades of electronic service, I've found slide switches to be the least reliable choice for almost any application. Give me a good, solid toggle switch, please.Meanwhile, the cooler works well and is still a 4 star for me. Upgrade the switch and 12V connectors and it'll be a 5.Update Jan 2022Despite the Cramolin treatment, the slide switch has failed. I gave up on it, removed it from the circuit board and wired the 12V cable directly to the points where the switch was soldered. It is no longer usable as a heating unit, but I've never cared about that function. Never used it on my big 7 gal chest in over 30 years so no loss for me. For the average user, this is not an acceptable solution. I'm downgrading the rating to a 1. Without my fix it would be a total failure.Also, I will never buy a solid state heat-transfer-module type cooler like this one again. The newer, compressor types work better, use MUCH less power and are quiet enough to compete with these solid state types.Try this one:https://www.amazon.com/Alpicool-Portable-Refrigerator-Freezer-Vehicle/dp/B082SH11RC/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=28VTHBNCEO22&keywords=alpicool&qid=1652126683&sprefix=alpicool%2Caps%2C341&sr=8-4-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFBVVUwMUs0UFY5MCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRJZD1BMDAzOTIwNzNERU5OTU9VOFhRSUQmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDgzOTQxNTIzNVAxSEZRUkIyRlYmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVlOr this one:https://www.amazon.com/Alpicool-Portable-Refrigerator-Freezer-Vehicle/dp/B082SJQDNR/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3S7G8B2MQC9TB&keywords=alpicool+c12&qid=1652126758&sprefix=alpicool+c12%2Caps%2C57&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFPS1NTV1pYWVowV1gmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAxMDkxNDMySUtaNlM5NzNGWlVWJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA4MzkyNTkzRUpXNUg3WllTSVVGJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==Final Update February 2023That last fix turned out to not be the last. I found the non-detachable cord a pain. So I scrounged in the shop and came up with a pair of old Cinch Jones connectors rated at 10 Amps. Now the cord can store inside the cooler when on the shelf.Final conclusionThe cooling itself works fine, though as i said above these solid state units are now obsolete. Compressor types are far more efficient, using much less power and can cool all the way down to below freezing. The solid state type can only achieve a temperature 20 or 30 degrees below ambient. The only advantage of this one is its small size and weight. Compressor types are bigger for the same internal storage volume and heavier.I've kept this one and done multiple repairs on it to keep it functioning because it's OK for trips where small size is needed and it won't be running if the car engine is shut off. Don't leave it running in the car when not driving or you'll run your battery down. A compressor type would take a couple days to run the car battery flat.So buy one if it fits your needs and hope the wiring and connectors have been improved to last more than a couple years.

This unit replaced a similar type product we used for years to keep things cool during long car trips. I think it maybe cools by chilling a metal plate lining the inside of the box. The cooling plate seems to be only in the lower 2/3 of the bottom part of the unit. It was smaller inside than we expected so check size carefully. The plug for the car power socket failed after our third use. It looked like it overheated while traveling and warped the shape of the plug so it no longer functioned. We were able to buy a replacement plug/cord on Amazon for about $10.00. We did not use the warming function.

Functional, sleek, nice storage options and portable.

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