Vintage Caravan Ice Boxes

[Franklin1]

G'day John,

I haven't quite cottoned on to how that glass bowl works.

The end of the copper (brass?) tube looks like it's a fairly snug fit over the spigot inside the glass bowl, so how does the actual bowl come into play? Or do my eyes deceive me, and the glass spigot is a smaller diameter than the pipe?

cheers,
Al.

[cobber]

G'day Al,

Like you I'm not sure how the thing works but I wasn't sure how to explain my confusion..... you've done it nicely, thank ya

Because of the discoloration in the bowl... which looks to be level with the top of the spigot in the bowl I sort of assumed the drain pipe must be a loose fit over that spigot... probably wouldn't work if there was a large volume of water coming down the pipe, but with ice melting ....slowly

John can set us straight if the assumption is wrong.

I like the fact that somebody (I wonder who) thought it was worth going to that much trouble to install an "air lock" in a caravan ice box

Cobber.

[Franklin1]

G'day cobber,

...thought it was worth going to that much trouble to install an "air lock" in a caravan ice box

That's the bit that's got me beat. How does it function as an "air lock"??

This is how I think the glass bowl must work...


But that allows air to flow straight through the glass bowl and pipe.


A basic air lock design would be like this...




...or the more typical one we see under our kitchen sinks and bathroom vanities at home...




I reckon that last design would be handy in an ice box. Just put a couple of bends in the drain hose. That would stop ants and other nasties being able to get up the hose and into the ice box. Nothing worse than having your black caviar pinched by those pesky ants.

cheers,
Al.

[cobber]

G'day Al,

So you reckon it's an ant stopper.....and I reckon you're probably right now that you've drawn it out for me .... can't say I've ever had ants climbing up the drain pipe, although I have had a wasp build it's nest there when the van was not used for awhile..... and I didn't discover it until the second day on a trip when the ice tray filled with water and overflowed

As I mentioned in reply #18 I have thought about installing a “goose neck” in the drain pipe ....... but I haven't got a round tuit

Anyway...... neither of these gadgets are going to stop wasps blocking up the drain pipe so..... what can we do about them....... eh?

What do you say John, has Al got it right ?

Cobber.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2012 11:35:43 GMT 10 cobber said:

G'day Al,

So you reckon it's an ant stopper.....and I reckon you're probably right now that you've drawn it out for me

Cobber.

ok, but what about the "swimming ants"? ;D ;D ;D ;D



conti

[Deleted]

Nothing worse than having your black caviar pinched by those pesky ants.

cheers,
Al.

A RACEHORSE IN A ICE CHEST....
NOW I'D LIKE TA SEE THAT AL !!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

Reddo

[Franklin1]

Oops...off to a good start for 2012, aye?!! Only 3 days in and my first blunder on the forum! ;D

Getting my Beluga caviar and Black Sea's mixed up.


Anyway reddo, you should be in the Shed of Invention and finding a fix for wasps nests in ice box drain hoses...


cheers,
Al.

[cobber]

Al! You cart Beluga Caviar around with you when you're caravanning........ that IS class

Now..... while we're waiting for John to get back to us I just thought I'd drop a photo of Marks 1948 Furness Caravan's ice box in here.....OK?



With a large pull out drawer.



HOW ABOUT SOME MORE PHOTOS OF THE ICE BOX IN YOUR VINTAGE CARAVAN FOLKS ...... INSIDE AND OUTSIDE PHOTOS PLEASE

Cobber.

[rosie (John & Vicki)]

Yeah Cobber ,Al is right, the drain pipe is a very loose fit on the glass spigot, and true I don't think it would handle too much water at one time. Melting ice is a different cup of caviar. It was obviously purpose made for the job. John

[cobber]

The Ice Box as installed in the Lantern Roofed “IWANDA” ..First registered in 1946.



Cobber.

[kyliegirl]

not sure how to hyperlink but shall give it a go. here is Betsy's icebox (my pic top, seller pic of interior):





and her thread:
1953 bondwood - betsy

[aquamum]

Ice Box in my little Gypsy

Link:
vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=2013



As you can see...I used a match box for a size reference





Has some sort of insulated padding in top section

[jayboy2208]

Heres a pic of the ice box in my 1940's bondwood. It's in excellent condition ;D

[cobber]

Does anybody have a photo of an ice box that hasn't been posted in this thread yet...... why not post it ?..... keep the topic alive

As you can see by looking back through the thread,ice boxes ain't just ice boxes .... some have very unique shelves ..... some have very attractive doors ...... some have ingenious ways of making the ice last more than a day

Come on...Show us what your vintage caravan ice box looks like



Cobber.

[murray]

the icebox in our 1963 Valiant. Link- vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=photo&thread=11949&page=1]
It will be interesting to see how well it functions. Frozen water in old icecream containers seems the go.
No instructions came with the van ;D

[cobber]

Thanks Murray... and some mongrel pinched the icebox instruction .
... I found some to get us out of trouble


8 Tips for Keeping Ice Longer in Your Icebox

by David Leslie on 8th December 2011 in Camping Tips from "Snowys Blog" ( For even more tips scroll down to what "offroading" has to say in the comments)

1. Prepare your icebox.

Spread a layer of crushed ice around your ice box the day or night before you use it. A bag of crushed ice costs around $5, but don’t worry it won’t be wasted. By cooling down your icebox, and the air inside, in advance you’re doing half the job of the main ice you’ll put in later.

2. Use block ice.

Crushed ice is full of space and air which means there isn’t much actual solid ice, so it melts quickly leaving you with an icebox of cold water. Block ice is a solid mass of ice. It will keep your icebox as cold as crushed ice but won’t melt as quickly.

When block ice is unavailable, make your own using ice cream containers or juice bottles remembering to only part-fill them to allow for expansion.

3. Add some salt to your ice.

Adding salt to water before freezing lowers the freezing temperature of the water, meaning that your ice will actually be colder than frozen fresh water. Using sea water will work even better than adding your own salt to the water.

4. Cool your drinks and food first.

No matter what you’re putting into your icebox, cool it down first if possible. By taking your food or drinks from the fridge straight into your icebox, you’re saving your ice from having to cool the beers down in the first place, making the ice last longer.

If you don’t have room in the fridge, put your beers in the crushed ice you’ve already put in the icebox.

5. Adding the Beers!

If you’re putting drinks in your icebox, leave the crushed ice in (from Tip #1 above) even if it’s already half melted. The cold water will help to slow your block ice from melting.

6. Keep it out of the sun!

The sun is your worst enemy in preserving your ice and the reasons should be obvious. Keep your icebox in the shade as much as possible and ensure there is good air flow around the box. Sitting the icebox inside your tent or car is like putting it in an oven as temperatures can often climb 10 – 20 degrees higher than outside.

You could even cover your icebox with a blanket or towel to shade it from the sun, and if at the beach a wet towel will work even better.

7. Avoid opening your icebox too much.

This is obvious, but every time you open your icebox not only do you let the heat in but you let the cold out. Avoid opening your icebox too much.

8. Fill your icebox as much as you can.

An icebox packed to the brim will preserve its ice longer than a part-filled icebox of air. The more food or drinks you have in your icebox, there is less air which needs to be cooled down and kept cold.
................................................................................................................................

AND......... needless to say ... this subject has been discussed on this forum previously, back in 2005 when Belinda ... and Reddo .... and Retro1...... and Groovy..had more good advice to offer click here

Cobber.

[murray]

Thank you cobber.
I should have searched back a bit further.
Looks like ice cream for desert for a while?
Ice cream and Tassies winter go together
Cheers

[Deleted]

No wanting to detract from this info..
all that is there is very true and correct.

I would like to add one obvious hint that is quite often overlooked when packing for a vintage van trip....
and that is ...
If you are travelling to a town /holiday destination that has a supermarket / shopping centre in town...... Then don't pack perishables from home unless they are thoroughly frozen.
Logical point here is that you are using ice to chill down stuff which not only costs extra money ( the ice ) to buy...
But you are also carting extra weight for no reason.
Sure... pack a few basic essentilas in the ice chest that will get you through the first night in camp..
Then .. once up and about on the second day in camp, go shopping and buy food that you intend to cook and eat in the next 24 to 36 hours that will stay fresh and cool in your ice chest.

Same applies with tinned food....
Why have tins of food in the cupboards that you are storing "just in case".. or for what ever reason you can come up with.
Tinned vegies are good ... but multiply the weight of one tin of peas and corn ( hey I like peas and corn) by about 6..... Spagetti.. baked beans.. beetroot.. mushrooms.. pineapple...carrots .. etc.. etc.. and it all adds up to unecessary weight.

On one of our vint van tours we had a couple that where having trouble with their van " swaying" at speed....
Just happened to walk past their door at one of the stops... and noticed a top cupboard open..
Full of tinned food....
Not only not necessary.. but all that weight should be stored down low if you insist on carting it...
Getting off track here.. sorry .
Obviously none of the above applies if you are heading bush and across Australia and there isn't any shops for days on end.

Regards
Reddo

[Franklin1]

G'day cobber,

There was also another thread where Belinda talked about a camping business that could make a replacement ice shelf (or tray, or "waffle thingys" - as Belinda called it).

parts for ice boxes available

I'm going to send an email to the address Belinda posted, and see if anybody still lives there. I need one of those waffle thingys for my chest (errr...my ice chest, that is. I've already got Bonds for my other chest. ).

cheers,
Al.

[Franklin1]

The email to campapack(at)dodo.com.au has been returned to me because it couldn't be delivered to the recipient, so I guess they don't have that email address anymore.

Is there someone who could make contact with Belinda to find out some more information about where this business was located?

A search for "Campapack" brings back a result for a campervan dealer down in the Nowra region, but nothing in the Sydney region where I presume the business is/was located.

cheers,
Al.

[seeshell]

Hi Al

As usual it makes the point that others have noted that if you see something for your van or thing you might need it, buy it on the spot. You may never see it again. I admit I've become more of a hoarder of bits than I'd like to be...I put them in the Justin Case.

I wonder if you'd be able to make something similar with a bit of galvanised mini-corrugated sheet, and some galvanised edging, if you need one now? You're a handy bloke, I'm sure you can manage it!

Cheers
Seeshell

[Franklin1]

G'day seeshell,

...if you need one now?

Not so much "need one now", but will need one eventually. I guess I was more interested in knowing whether the person with the equipment was still around and still able to make them.

About a year ago I bought the local franchise for Reddo's Shed of Invention, so coming up with alternatives is not even a challenge for those in the franchise group. Not sure about the pink uniform that has to be worn, but I guess the head honcho knows what he's doing.

cheers,
Al.

[cobber]

G'day Al and all,

Just to show them what don't like clicking on hyperlinks what we are talking about here's a photo of two icebox trays

This is the underside.


And this is the top side.


It's a funny thing how most icebox trays look the same..... maybe the bloke Belinda made contact with created all the icebox trays in Oz. .

I do have Belinda's contact details....I'll keep trying

As it turns out most of these trays, in NSW at least, were made by T.G.Paterson, see a discussion about them HERE

Cobber.

[cobber]

Found an Ice Box with a name on it...."Mawson"


Mawson Ice Chests were made by the Carricks Furniture Factory in Brisbane from at least 1920 until well into the 1950s ( according to Trove )

The van is here

Cobber.

[seeshell]

Hmm!

Can we assume that the manufacturers were fans of/capitalised on Australia's arctic explorer Douglas Mawson, who was a bit of a rock star in his day? Kind of fitting for an icebox, wouldn't you say!

Cheers
Seeshell