Ice box vs mini fridge

The old ice boxes work fine but not as well as our new Coleman cooler. 

The downside of the ice box is you need ice even on the grid. A hassle.

We have a mini fridge in our Forester. Great on the grid and doubles as a cooler with ice. The downside, when it defrosts it drips. You need to have some way of sopping up the water so it doesn't ruin the floor between campgrounds.  And you need to cut a vent in the camper. Sort of ugly, IMHO.

Gas/electric fridge does seem best but is a gas appliance running all night safe in a 12' box? And are they reliable? I've read mixed reviews.

If you use ice it's best to have the block. It lasts twice as long but it may not fit in the ice box. And keep ice in a plastic bin for melt off, obviously. 

Here is one thread regarding mini fridges.

vintagetrailertalk.freeforums.net/thread/561/refrigerator

Seems like the discussions on ice boxes focuses on ways to maintain the integrity of the cooling ice the longest. Block ice vs. bagged ice vs. home made ice in gallon jugs...even dry ice use.

Also, many people that switch to the mini-fridge indicate that they will be camping mainly in campgrounds with hook-ups. Those that boondock with minis say they either use a very small generator or simply use a cooler when boondocking. The big thing in my opinion, if replacing the ice box with a mini fridge will be proper ventilation for the heat produced.

I have mentioned before I bought a 120v/12v Coleman ice chest that can be used standing up or laying down cooled also by plugging it in to a cigarette lighter socket or wall outlet. I have tested it, and did not think it performed up to expectations. A very disappointing result...little cooling unit iced up quickly, suggested drop in temp from ambient air never achieved, only good thing is that it works well as an ice chest too, with a useless electrical thingy attached to it.

Obviously you know, if you remove an existing ice box, save and store it, so when you decide to sell, you can mention you have "the original icebox".

Finally, I would imagine most people keep their stuff cold in a cooler while going to the camp ground. Even if I had the best electric/lp fridge, I'd still want a cooler for keeping stuff cold at the campsite that you don't want to be traipsing inside and out to fetch, like a cold brewski or twoski or sodas. You can also keep your fish cool if you plan on staying at the lake for the weekend.

My Oasis has an icebox. It came out and got new insulation around it and then an outside layer of thin aluminum. It also has a small drain that goes directly outside. I just took it on it's initial outing and the fridge worked wonderfully well. I only had a bag of ice at first but after the second day was able to get a block and that lasted much longer. Like Hamlet, I like simple.

How cold do you guys' vintage ice boxes actually stay?

Mine is a combo 110v fridge/ice box (Marvel), so what I did to test it was run it on power over night to cool it off (to 40 deg), then I unplugged it and put in a 12x7x3.5 ice block I had made over night. 2 hours after unplugging it and putting in the ice block it's up 10 deg, to 50 degrees. I think you are supposed to keep food at 40 or below to be considered safly refridgerated. I'll continue to monitor it to see what the temperature does and how long the ice lasts...

What kind of temps do you guys maintain in your vintage ice boxes? What size are your ice blocks?

Thanks for your reply. I was opening it about once an hour, just long enough to read the thermometer.

I'm assuming the fridge/ice box is a '53, like the trailer. I would be pretty surprised if the insulation wasn't toast. The seal on the door isn't great either, so that's probably not helping.
There's definitely room in there for a larger block of ice too, I just made one in the container I found that would fit.

I guess at some point I'll be yanking it out and re-insulating it, and replacing the door seal. I'll have to start hunting for a bigger container to make ice blocks too, maximise the use of the ice block shelf.