Cooler almost catches on fire...
Drivers, watch out for the Coleman model 5644-760 "thermoelectric" (???) cooler w/power supply. It's sold at Wal-Mart, FJ and T/A. The MSRP is $139. We had to exchange the first unit purchased because the power cord overheated and melted. If we were not in the truck to smell the problem and take action, the '07 KW T-600 we hate so much would have been toast. It was connected using the manufacturers AC power cord, which must be used in conjunction with the cigarette lighter cord. Stupid design. We had it plugged into our Cobra inverter all the time - 24/7. We didn't realize it was a fire hazard. It shouldn't be! Wal-Mart gave us a new one and just last week, the same thing happened. Right now, we're using the unplugged "thermoelectric" unit (that's what Coleman calls it) with "i-c-e." Coleman does not, at this time, sell replacement parts for this new unit. Do you believe that? They do sell parts for units that are so old most drivers have long since replaced them. We have contacted Coleman and are waiting for an intelligent response. You might want to wait on buying one of their products. If you're in dire need, perhaps consider an Igloo brand. When it was working, it was great - everything stayed nice and cold in the hottest weather. But we want to make sure our problems don't stem from a manufacturer defect. We don't want a fire hazard in the truck. We don't think our carrier would understand that "their" truck was destroyed because of a defective Coleman cooler. We'll get back to you on all this. Let's move on to some other "tech" issues. The Wilson replacement antenna for your Sirius radio is terrible. Don't buy it. The flimsy antenna wire will NOT stand up to the wear and tear of daily OTR usage. The slightest crimp or break in the antenna wire will cause you to get a "no antenna available" error message on your display and loss of service. A driver at the T/A in Savannah returned his today because of that reason. The (factory) Sirius replacement for the antenna is overpriced at $39.99. Unless you have fuel bonus points to buy it, don't. We do recommend the Wilson 303-5002 SR5000 Sirius (or XM version) for $59.97 which has the heavier duty antenna (and radio connection) far better suited for our needs. Our tech advisor, SaturnNate, the leading electronics installer in the US for a major retailer, tells us that Sirius is phasing out all of their present radios. Newer updated versions will be available in late August - early September. Unless you need an immediate replacement - wait until the new models come out. Next, we recently signed a (renewal) 2-year contract with Verizon. Our staff had tried AT&T, Nextel and others, but Verizon, although by far not perfect, had the best nationwide coverage (and price plan) for OTR drivers. In conjunction with that, we purchased two LG VX8300's which suited our requirements just fine and they work with Bluetooth devices. Verizon sells the Samsung WEP410 Bluetooth headset for $99 - we found it for $29.99. If you want to look like a pilot or air controller spend three times as much and get one of those anti-wind, noise cancelling "trucker" headphones. The Samsung unit works great in the truck environment and is very small and lightweight. The LG phone has a whole bunch of stuff we don't need and will never use. We don't need the MP3 player, the camera, the VCast, the downloads and whatever else it does. Darn we just use the phone as a phone - what a concept! Back to Bluetooth a sec - if you still use a cell phone without the Bluetooth feature - using any of the "standard" headsets by GE, Plantronics, Jabra, etc. - update to Bluetooth. We have wasted more money on headsets over the past two years. The wire from the phone to your head/set will drive you crazy. It gets in the way of just about everything. Countless times we've put our arm here or there - up and down - and it would get caught in the wire and snap. At least three got caught in our steering wheel and broke. If you drive without utilizing a headset, you're a moron and dangerous. You're no better than the idiot 4-wheelers that drive tilted to the left or right talking on the phone avoiding everything else around them. We've used the Bluetooth/Samsung combo for about a week now and love it. Lastly, the Wilson "trucker" cell phone antenna - the most popular version sells for about $39-$69 - it's on sale at many truck stops - is a complete waste of time. We've tested it for about six months and you don't need it. It looks impressive, but your cell phone will work just as good without it, no matter where you might be or what the conditions are around you. We'll keep it up on our mirror mount for show, next to our satellite radio antenna.
Drivers, watch out for the Coleman model 5644-760 "thermoelectric" (???) cooler w/power supply. It's sold at Wal-Mart, FJ and T/A. The MSRP is $139. We had to exchange the first unit purchased because the power cord overheated and melted. If we were not in the truck to smell the problem and take action, the '07 KW T-600 we hate so much would have been toast. It was connected using the manufacturers AC power cord, which must be used in conjunction with the cigarette lighter cord. Stupid design. We had it plugged into our Cobra inverter all the time - 24/7. We didn't realize it was a fire hazard. It shouldn't be! Wal-Mart gave us a new one and just last week, the same thing happened. Right now, we're using the unplugged "thermoelectric" unit (that's what Coleman calls it) with "i-c-e." Coleman does not, at this time, sell replacement parts for this new unit. Do you believe that? They do sell parts for units that are so old most drivers have long since replaced them. We have contacted Coleman and are waiting for an intelligent response. You might want to wait on buying one of their products. If you're in dire need, perhaps consider an Igloo brand. When it was working, it was great - everything stayed nice and cold in the hottest weather. But we want to make sure our problems don't stem from a manufacturer defect. We don't want a fire hazard in the truck. We don't think our carrier would understand that "their" truck was destroyed because of a defective Coleman cooler. We'll get back to you on all this. Let's move on to some other "tech" issues. The Wilson replacement antenna for your Sirius radio is terrible. Don't buy it. The flimsy antenna wire will NOT stand up to the wear and tear of daily OTR usage. The slightest crimp or break in the antenna wire will cause you to get a "no antenna available" error message on your display and loss of service. A driver at the T/A in Savannah returned his today because of that reason. The (factory) Sirius replacement for the antenna is overpriced at $39.99. Unless you have fuel bonus points to buy it, don't. We do recommend the Wilson 303-5002 SR5000 Sirius (or XM version) for $59.97 which has the heavier duty antenna (and radio connection) far better suited for our needs. Our tech advisor, SaturnNate, the leading electronics installer in the US for a major retailer, tells us that Sirius is phasing out all of their present radios. Newer updated versions will be available in late August - early September. Unless you need an immediate replacement - wait until the new models come out. Next, we recently signed a (renewal) 2-year contract with Verizon. Our staff had tried AT&T, Nextel and others, but Verizon, although by far not perfect, had the best nationwide coverage (and price plan) for OTR drivers. In conjunction with that, we purchased two LG VX8300's which suited our requirements just fine and they work with Bluetooth devices. Verizon sells the Samsung WEP410 Bluetooth headset for $99 - we found it for $29.99. If you want to look like a pilot or air controller spend three times as much and get one of those anti-wind, noise cancelling "trucker" headphones. The Samsung unit works great in the truck environment and is very small and lightweight. The LG phone has a whole bunch of stuff we don't need and will never use. We don't need the MP3 player, the camera, the VCast, the downloads and whatever else it does. Darn we just use the phone as a phone - what a concept! Back to Bluetooth a sec - if you still use a cell phone without the Bluetooth feature - using any of the "standard" headsets by GE, Plantronics, Jabra, etc. - update to Bluetooth. We have wasted more money on headsets over the past two years. The wire from the phone to your head/set will drive you crazy. It gets in the way of just about everything. Countless times we've put our arm here or there - up and down - and it would get caught in the wire and snap. At least three got caught in our steering wheel and broke. If you drive without utilizing a headset, you're a moron and dangerous. You're no better than the idiot 4-wheelers that drive tilted to the left or right talking on the phone avoiding everything else around them. We've used the Bluetooth/Samsung combo for about a week now and love it. Lastly, the Wilson "trucker" cell phone antenna - the most popular version sells for about $39-$69 - it's on sale at many truck stops - is a complete waste of time. We've tested it for about six months and you don't need it. It looks impressive, but your cell phone will work just as good without it, no matter where you might be or what the conditions are around you. We'll keep it up on our mirror mount for show, next to our satellite radio antenna.
