Can I Resurrect The Aldi Adventuridge Cooler?

Описание: Originally recorded November 14, 2024.

I figured the problem with the old Aldi cooler is the internal power supply. It had failed once before, and was repaired by ‪@RollingTardis‬. Apparently, the power supply likely has other problems, or even more likely, is undersized for the application. An undersized power supply for the application is going to be run very near 100%, that's essentially the same as running the engine of your car at redline all the time. It just doesn't work that way in real life, and shouldn't be done for electrical circuits either. There needs to be a "margin of error", or if you must be politically correct, a "margin of safety" built-in. Always oversize what you think you need. That way there will be room to grow in the future, and you won't be stuck with something barely adequate now.

So, opening it up, I found that indeed, the problem was exactly what I thought. Now, the new caps on the power supply exploded. But that's just for the AC side, this cooler operates on AC or DC. On DC, it just takes straight 12 volts, the AC side is simply a 12 volt DC power supply that obviously was sized for cost.

What about running it on DC, using an external power supply? How much current does it use? How do I find out? Well, very simply, I could use a VOM configured to measure amperes, but I have a less precise, yet easier way. China sent me "battery boxes" as I call them, that have 120 volt inverters built-in, but also have a 12VDC cigarette lighter port, just what this unit craves.

All right, well, let's see, seems to use between 55 and 60 watts. We have to employ the use of the 4th of JuSlime equation P=IE, that is power=intensity times electromotive force, or more simply, watts=amps times volts. OK, 12 * 5 (for a 5 amp supply) equals 60. Well gee wilikers, I wonder if that's what kine they used. Wouldn't be too good to run that at maximum capacity, now would it? A 10 amp supply would provide 120 watts, twice what this unit requires. Remember, it's never going to draw more power because it's available, it's only going to draw what it needs. Giving it twice what it needs won't hurt anything, and would keep the supply running cooler, and running much longer. So, off to find a 10 amp supply!

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