USB appliances are popping up all over. Usually they are just novelty items that don’t serve a very useful purpose. CoolIT Systems has come up with a very useful USB appliance. The USB Beverage Chiller is great because everyone has something to drink while they are working on their computer.
Features
- 1.2 Amps/5.75 Watts to operate
- USB 1.1 and 2.0 Compatible
- Works on Computers, XBOX, XBOX 360, and Playstation
The USB Beverage Chiller is a very unique item. Most people who work on or near a computer will at some point need something to drink. With the USB Beverage Chiller you can be sure that it is always cold. The chiller is very compact so you can easily take it with you. Because it draws so little power you can easily power it with a laptop running on batteries.
Design
The USB Beverage Chiller is very simple in design. As you can see it is mostly white with a small round blue disk. This disk is where you put your drink so that it will be cooled. If we flip over the Chiller we can see that it is held away from any surface by 4 rubber feet. This not only reduces any vibration noise that you might hear, but it also reduces the chance that air flow might be blocked. On the back of the Chiller is a small fan. Even though it is small and turning fast it is very quiet. The fan moves air over the heatsink that is attached to the chiller. This helps the chiller from overheating while in operation. The front is where the air comes out after passing by the heatsink.
cooler_top_big.jpg
cooler_front_big.jpg
cooler_bottom_big.jpg
cooler_back_big.jpg
I decided to take this one apart just to see how it works. I first removed the bottom and from there I could see that the USB Beverage Chiller is a rather simple device. In this picture you can see the heatsink, fan, and power cables. Next, I turned the heatsink over and removed the blue disk. The disk is attached to the Chiller by some thermal glue that I assume helps transfer the cold. On the other side of the Chiller is the heatsink. This is used to dissipate any heat the chiller might produce while creating the cold.
cooler_pad_on_big.jpg
cooler_pad_off_big.jpg
cooler_open_big.jpg
Performance
Testing the USB Beverage Chiller is really easy and quick. Once you plug it in you will immediately begin to feel the blue surface get cold. It takes about 20 seconds for the chiller to reach its maximum cooling temperature of 45°F. You don’t have to wait for it to get cold before you put your drink on it.
Because it cools from the bottom up it is most effective if your beverage container has full contact with the blue surface. Soda cans (with concave bottom) and other containers that do not make full contact can still be cooled, it will just take a little longer. You will also want to watch out for insulated containers. Because the USB Beverage Chiller is trying to cool from the bottom up it must first pass through all the insulation and then to the liquid. By the time it gets through, most of the cold is waisted by cooling the container. Also if your drink is not already cold then it will take a lot longer for the chiller to get the drink cold.
The Chiller is very quiet. It is so quiet that I had to hold it to my ear before I could hear it over the normal noises in the office. All this is achieved without using more than the 5.75 Watts that a single USB port can provide.
Warranty and Support
CoolIT Systems warranties the USB Beverage Chiller for 1 year. Since the only moving part is the fan, it would have been nice if they could have increased the warranty to at least 3 years, if not longer.
Conclusion
If you drink a lot of beverages, mostly from aluminum cans and glass bottles, then this will do a great job of cooling your beverage. It also helps if the drink is already cold. For the small price of $39.99 I think it can easily be purchased as a gift, or for yourself, and it won’t break the budget.
| JusTech'n editors' rating | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||
Click here to go to the forum for this post
Loading ...
It’s important to note that this device draws almost double the 0.5A spec on typical USB ports. Quite often this 0.5A is shared amongst several ports. So even if you’re lucky enough not to take your port down, you may eliminate the ability to add any other USB devices. Buyer beware is all I’m saying.
The Travel Insider did a pretty extensive test of the power demand this unit requires. While they admit their test computer didn’t suffer any ill effects over 24 hours, there is a risk of overburdening the 5V supply. You can read about it here…
http://www.thetravelinsider.in.....hiller.htm
loading...
From the USB 2.0 specifications 7.2.1.2.1 Over-current Protection:
The host and all self powered hubs must impliment over-current protection for safety reasons, and the hub must have a way to detect the over-current condition and report it to the USB software. Should the aggregate current drawn by a downstream facing set of ports exceed a preset value, the over-current protection circuit removes or reduces power from all downstream facing ports. The over-current condition is reported to the Host Controller, as described in section 11.12.5. The preset value cannot exceed 5.0A and must be above the maximum allowable port current such that transient currents (e.g., during power up or dynamic attach or reconfiguration) do not trip the over-current protector. If an over-current condition occurs on any port, subsequent operation of the USB is not guaranteed, and once the condition is removed, it may be necessary to reinitialize the bus as would be done on power-up. The over-current limiting mechanism must be resettable without user mechanical intervention. Polymeric PTCs and solid-state switches are examples of methods, which can be used for over-current limiting.
This device draws no where near USB 2.0 specified over-current limit of five amps. Even users of antiquated Macs, Xboxes and quality PCs that are fully USB 1.0 compatible will have no issues with this device.
This USB beverage chiller was designed as an accessory for quality computing devices. It was NOT designed for use with computing devices that have a lesser value than the accessory.
loading...
RocketRobin,
The USB 2.0 spec states, “cannot exceed 5.0A” for “safety reasons”, meaning it could actually be less. The over-current refers to the “aggregate current”, not the per-port current. The CoolIt Chiller uses only one Type A port, defined as follows:
USB 2.0 spec, 7.2.1 states, “A unit load is defined to be 100 mA. The number of unit loads a device can draw is an absolute maximum, not an average over time. A device may be either low-power at one unit load or high-power, consuming up to five unit loads.” Further, Type A contacts are typically 1.5A max, with the max wire size (20AWG) as 1-3A bundled (depends on jacket).
That being said, given this is a high current device with no communication electronics… it is best to refer to the USB Battery Charging Spec, Rev 1.1
“3.5 Charging Current Limits – In order for a Portable Device to force a Dedicated Charging Port into current limit mode, a Portable Device is allowed to attempt to draw a current that is greater than 1.5A, and which can be as high as 1.8A max.”
That assumes it’s even a dedicated charging port to begin with. Granted, high enough for this device, but not exactly the 5A you suggest What does “quality computing device” mean anyway? USB power alone hardly defines overall quality.
loading...
Eek I feel a little guilty for bumping this but oh well.
This is what I did with my USB drink cooler…80watt peltier
http://semprongamerrules.110mb.....;Itemid=26
Questions/Comments e-mail me at Plant-10@hotmail.com or join the forum on my site.
loading...