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I have an igloo ice chest that I would like to use to hold chum, but it has developed some cracks in the shell. Wondering if any of the faithful have a technique to fix a cracked ice chest? Since I'm using it as a chum box, it does not have to look pretty, just fix the cracks to keep water out of the insulation. I was thinking of using some of the 2 part epoxy putty to fill the cracks.

JR

inside or out

I've fixed several (both inside & out) using fiberglass tape and West System epoxy - two layers of glass tape does the trick and they can be applied at the same time, then faired out with a side grinder. Be sure the foam core in the box is dry & rough up the shell with some 80 grit.

UV

Jack,

Buy a 1 gal pail of Plasti Dip: http://www.toolorbit.com/Performix_Plas ... 9_301.aspx (Comes in a variety of colors.)

Remove the lid & clean the inside of the cooler well with acetone. When dry and doesn't feel sticky, sand the surface with 120 grit paper, and wipe the dust away with a rag dampened in acetone. Mask out any areas you don't want the Plasti Dip on, like the top rim.

Dump the Plasti dip into cooler, and work it into all surfaces and cracks with a paint brush to be sure you have a good surface bond. Throw the brush away...

Then tilt, roll, and slush cast the material around to build up the coating thickness. As one area is re-coated, and drains back, it will start to skin over and as you tilt back over that area another skin is established.

After ten minutes or so of this proceedure, drain all the remaining Plsati Dip back into a smaller can and save it for future use.

Allow the cooler to cure in the normal upright position on a level surface. Any more excess material will settle at the bottom, leaving you with a smooth interior finish. The sides will cure out in 24 hrs, the bottom, being thicker from the final drain down, may take as much as 3 - 4 days to fully harden...

speaking of igloo, from my personal experiance over the years, there not worth the money, i would never purchase another one, went with moeller cooler last year, solid as a rock and all stailess hardware, well built

I used epoxy. Filled a little star burst type crack in the bottom of a cooler.

Sometime later, the wife was assigned the task of cleaning the cooler. Apparently, she scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed some more. Came in a good while later, covered in sweat, a bit miffed, claiming she could not get the cooler cleaned and that there was this weird brownish spot of gunk stuck to the bottom.

Naturally, I allowed an appropriate cooling off period before informing her it was epoxy and it will not come off with a scotch bright.

Hyena, that's hilarious!

I don't buy the Igloos for marine. They are godawfully expensive. YOu can go to Walmart and buy a regular Igloo 120 or so quart cooler, all plastic for about $50-70 bucks. Its a throw away, but you will get a few years out of it.

For the monster? I am a big fan of my SSI.

But I am really kind to it, as it was silly money, even on closeout!

Dug

To keep it fresh, after cleaning, wipe it out with vinilla extract and leave the paper towel with it on it and close. When you open cooler next time it smells brand new. This is a great trick. I do it all the time.

Brew - thanks for that trick....an old coonass trick for geting the iodine taste out of deep water shrimp is to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the boil water.

UV

Great ideas. I went to the Performix website (make plastidip) and they have quite a few interesting products. I agree with you on the igloo coolers. They do not hold up to the rigors of offshore fishing. (The one I'm repairing I found discarded after a Mardi Gras parade Tuesday) I like the Yeti, SSI and Engel coolers, but they are $800 to $1000. Anybody know of a good ice chest in the 300 qt. size range that is less expensive that the ones I mentioned above?

JR

http://www.amazon.com/Moeller-Ice-Stati ... B000MTB81O

jr the 270 qt is $558

cwj,

Thanks for the link. I was just checking the Amazon site and it looks like shipping is free on the Moeller ice chests. I'm also looking at the 320 qt Engle which is $620 from a place here in New Orleans.

JR