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- 22Customer Reviews
Reviews for B-Kool Portable Cooling Systems
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Verified Purchase
Excellent co*ckpit Cooler
- By Robert Sfrom Fort Worth TX USAon Monday, July 27, 2015
- Pros: works as advertised
- Cons: none
- Review:Nicely designed and high production quality. I chose the B-Kool device over competing units because its relatively small size let it fit on the floor behind my pilot's seat.
It blows a lot of REALLY cold air as long as it has ice remaining. I've not done careful checks to determine how much cooling time is available, but it's certainly enough to operate during start-up, taxi, takeoff, and climb to (a cooler) altitude. Alternately, it will retain ice for at least several hours when not operating, so that cooling is available upon landing.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo11 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works Well to Manage co*ckpit Temps
- By ETDfrom Garden Ridge TX USAon Wednesday, September 16, 2015
- Pros: Cooling is immediate and great for taxi/take-off. Can be turned off after departure. Positions well in the bag area. Is easy to carry with full ice load.
- Cons: I wish the cord were 2 foot longer because of where I place the unit.
- Review:This devices provides cool air in my PA-28 in the San Antonio TX area. I place it in the baggage compartment and let it blow cool air to the front. I wish the cord were 2 foot longer, but not worth cutting my rating. I like the on/off switch being on the power plug. co*ckpit holds around 80-degrees on 98-degree, severe clear day. 20 lbs ice lasts about 1.5 hours. Need to manage usage to have cool air for landing. The handle makes it easy to tie down in the bag area.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo8 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Can't go wrong with this purchase, cools you off
- By Mikefrom Miami FL USAon Tuesday, May 17, 2016
- Pros: Does the job.
- Cons: I wish the ice would last longer than two hours, but for ground ops till you get to altitude it does the job.
- Review:I know this product has gotten good reviews but I have to add my own. Why didn't this exist 30 years ago? No more sweating like mad in high humidity here in south florida. Took this for a test flight and it like night and day the difference that this makes in comfort. No complaints.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo6 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Cooool Comfort on a Budget!
- By Skymaster Pilotfrom Cloverdale IN USAon Monday, August 14, 2017
- Pros: Great Cooling using only ice!
- Cons: None
- Review:After reading other customers review I purchased this unit. We have been very pleased with how well it works. We use it for taxi, takeoff, and climb. We then turn it off during the cruise portion of the flight. Turn it back on during descent, landing, and taxi.
Just get one and stop burning up. This thing really works!
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo6 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
A good product
- By Lannyfrom Cartersville GA USAon Tuesday, September 15, 2015
- Pros: Cools well
- Cons: Short duration
- Review:As expected
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo4 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
I am pleased with this product
- By Terryfrom Granbury TX USAon Wednesday, July 08, 2020
- Pros: Easy to use
- Cons:
- Review:If you don’t expect too much from this system you will probably like it. By that I mean it is not going to make the airplane 70 degrees inside on a 100 degree day but it does make it tolerable.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo2 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Just plane no sweat!
- By NEILfrom Georgetown SC USAon Friday, July 10, 2020
- Pros: Easy to use, effective, small size/weight
- Cons: Attaching nozzle care, price
- Review:Flying a BE55 with my family of 4 in the summer heat and humidity of South Carolina was always a miserable experience until I purchased the B-Kool Portable Cooling System. I use 2 bags of ice from the FBOs and add a couple bottles water right before departure. I only use the system during startup, taxi, and takeoff, turning the system off out of approximately 5,000 to 6,000ft, then back on during the final descent, landing and taxi in. The system works as advertised for sure. Due to the location on my cigarette lighter outlet I did not need the remote control as the on/off switch is on the plug. The size of the cooler is perfect and does not take up too much room as well. The exhaust nozzle is capable of many heights, angles, and curves for your customization. Take care in putting the nozzle on, DO NOT force it too much, as explained by the directions. HIGHLY recommend!!! ENJOY!
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo1 Other people found this review helpful.
Works great!
- By Teresa from Huntsville on Friday, August 19, 2022
- Pros: Well built. Good value.
- Cons:
- Review:In our travels from north Alabama area, has been well used for a number of years to cool off the cabin of our airplane. So glad we have it.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo0 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Excellent Product
- By Dante Antonellifrom Virginiaon Monday, July 18, 2022
- Pros: Very cold with powerful blower.
- Cons: Ice melts FAST
- Review:So, first things first, this things WORKS! Keeps my Arrow III super cool for taxing and landing. Keeps wife very happy. On/off switch is right on the power plug, so if you can reach your cigarette port easily, there’s no need for the remote. Cord is about 10 feet long so it was plenty long enough for the cooler to sit in my rear baggage compartment with the cord running along the right floor of the plane. The ice melts FAST, but it doesn’t matter because the unit still blows cold as long as the water is cold. Great product and it works exactly as advertised. Best $300 I’ve spent on the plane, and like I said, keeps the wife happy and enjoying the flight!
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo0 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
- By Jerryfrom Cave Creek AZ USAon Tuesday, September 16, 2014
- Pros: Perfect size for my plane
- Cons: Very noisy!
- Review:Works well and on a hot Arizona day on the ground with 16 lbs of ice, it lasts a little over an hour. I can only get 2 8lb bags of ice in it...the third one won't fit.
Does a good job blowing cold air but isn't anywhere near the BTU's per hour of an actual A/C. Ice is 144 BTU's versus 5,000 to 10,000 for installed AC's. - Was this review helpful to you? YesNo18 Other people found this review helpful.
It works.
- By A Customer from Huntsville ALon Monday, May 07, 2018
- Pros: It works very well.
- Cons: The lid is too heavy and falls off, making operation difficult.
- Review:I use the unit during pre-flight and ground operation in a Piper Matrix. I run it on a small deep cycle battery to have cooling before start up. With the co*ckpit shades installed the unit will cool the interior very quickly, even to the point of being cold on the hottest days. I shut it down shortly after take off, and turn it back on shortly before landing. The Matrix has air conditioning but it is not sufficient on the ground in really hot weather, and of course the engine must be running for it to work. The B-Cool unit bridges the gap nicely. Pre-flights were a misery before I added this unit. The unit just failed after three years of use and I am buying another.
The bad, the lid is awful. It started falling off after the first few uses which makes the unit difficult to fill and empty. Shortly after, the circulation pump detached from the bottom. The plus side is it's now easy to empty, you just lift the whole top lid off and dump the cooler. However, it is now even more difficult to fill since you must hold the pump and discharge hose in place while balancing the lid and adding ice at the same time.
Warning: be sure the discharge hose is not pointing anywhere near the fan. I had a passenger help me once by starting the cooler while I finished briefing. By the time I got to the aircraft the ice had begun melting and the discharge hose was blowing it into the fan which dutifully sprayed it over the entire interior of the aircraft.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo8 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Fair price and good quality build
- By Jimmyfrom Royal Palm Beach FL USAon Tuesday, August 13, 2019
- Pros: Convenient package size, ease of operation.
- Cons: Discharge temp. difference not as low as advertised in videos(44.5). Lowest I got was 59 deg. F with an ambient temp of 90 and 70+%humidity. using solid block ice.
- Review:It me my expectations as far as the power of the airflow and it cools the aircraft cabin fairly quick.
The block ice lasted only 1 hour but even then the cold water helped keep the cabin at a comfortable temperature. - Was this review helpful to you? YesNo7 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Worth the price with a couple of caveats
- By Michael from Marathon FL USAon Friday, August 09, 2019
- Pros: Very inexpensive solution
- Cons: As stated the pump was poorly secured to the bottom of the cooler
- Review:Got the 24 volt model. It works as advertised but the ice melts a bit faster than suggested in the literature. Plan on no more than 80 or 90 minutes of continuous cooling when starting with a completely full box of ice. Use it as they suggest. 30 minutes or so to start up, run up, and get up to altitude then shut it down and you should have some ice left at the end of the flight for landing and taxi on in.
Also, I had to reglue the bulge pump to the bottom of the ice box as it became dislodged after the second use. - Was this review helpful to you? YesNo7 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works as advertised
- By Jonathanfrom Wellington FL USAon Tuesday, August 30, 2016
- Review:This is a great design and does blow very cold air. I have it in a Seneca and even at 95 deg in Miami where I am everyday it helps stop the excessive sweating. At that temperature it lasts for about one hour. The ice melts fast and then causes the remaining ice to melt faster. It still blows cold air with cold water so I add one bag of ice on top of a large sealed frozen water jug inside. That way the melted ice doesn't accelerate the melting of the water jug. I've found it doesn't blow as cold after one hour but does blow at least 60 degrees for an extra hour. Beats 80 deg! Worth the buy.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo6 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works as described
- By Bill (V-35B driver)from Annapolis MD USAon Monday, June 19, 2017
- Pros: inexpenisve and effective
- Cons: time limited
- Review:It does exactly what it and the reviews said it would do. It holds approximately 20 pounds of ice and works well for an hour or more depending on the outside air temperature.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo5 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Helps in the heat
- By Gregfrom Hartford AL USAon Monday, August 10, 2020
- Pros: Reasonable price, reasonable results
- Cons: Inconvenience to lug ice, and dump water
- Review:The B Kool works as advertised. It puts out cool air as long as the ice lasts. Best use is during start, taxi and climb to altitude, where it is cooler. Then turn it off, and turn it on again for the landing. My wife wants to try to bring another small cooler of ice to replenish for landing, have not tried that yet. I put the unit on the back seat. I used a jump start type power supply from Harbour Freight to power it, worked well.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo4 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works as advertised
- By Ricardo Walter Nolascofrom Bradenton, Floridaon Tuesday, October 13, 2020
- Pros: Good size good air velocity
- Cons: noise and impossible to keep cover in place while servicing by yourself
- Review:The product can be made better to handle, the first day the cover came off of its hinges and there is no way to keep it in place when filling up with ice or pumping the water out.
The cooling is better and last longer with solid ice as opposed to the one you buy at a 7/11 - Was this review helpful to you? YesNo3 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works well in the South Texas Summer
- By Waltfrom San Antonio TX USAon Wednesday, July 13, 2016
- Pros: Cools well for about 1 hour on 20 lbs of ice
- Cons: One hour is about the limit, unless you can turn off during cruise
- Review:Works really well and provides about 1 hour of continuous cooling on 20 lbs of bagged ice - makes summer flying a lot more comfortable than without the cooler! I have not tried turning it off after takeoff and back on before landing, yet (to conserve ice/cooling), because of relatively short flights at low altitude. Presumably, you could climb to cooler air and turn it off during cruise.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo3 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Helps a little
- By Raymondfrom Chesterland OH USAon Sunday, August 07, 2016
- Review:If you use FBO ice cool air lasts about 30 to 40 min in my P Baron on 90 degree days.... So it makes things manageable. Unit blower is somewhat-loud, lid detaches way too easily with the weight of the extra components in it, a retractable power cord would be nice it is somewhat cumbersome to carry with cord always needing tending.. Overall probably good for light small unpressurized singles...company that makes unit is very responsive and will answer all phone calls and questions I would give them a A for effort...
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo9 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works for most??
- By Johnfrom Grand Rapids MI USAon Thursday, September 08, 2016
- Pros: Blows cold air like a wind tunnel
- Cons: Didn't work in my Cirrus
- Review:Don't buy if you have a Cirrus or ???
I was not aware that the cooler would not operate in my airplane. It draws 4-5 amps and my cig lighter can handle 3amps. I happen to be an electronic eng and devised a circuit that would cause the unit to draw less current. Now it works great. - Was this review helpful to you? YesNo7 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Cool for the first hour
- By A Customer from Summerland Key FL USAon Thursday, March 23, 2023
- Pros: Cool while taxing
- Cons: After the first hour the cool air is gone while flying low altitude in the heat or summer time
- Review:I understand is not a regular A/C but the ice melts too quickly especially in the Florida Keys.
- Was this review helpful to you? YesNo0 Other people found this review helpful.
- Verified Purchase
Works, but not very well built
- By John from TN - Tennesseeon Tuesday, October 06, 2020
- Pros: Keeps cool - variable on what type of ice you use
- Cons: Not nearly as industrial as you'd expect at that price point.
- Review:2 stars are because it really works. Design quality however is severely lacking. If you put 20lbs of ice in it, the handle pops out of both sides (2nd use), and the lid came shipped with the hinge points being all dented in. It sets on top, but is not 'hinged' to the base as designed.
We've used it on 3 trips in the summer and the cooling was as advertised, I am just really disappointed at the quality and probably should have returned it for the price paid. - Was this review helpful to you? YesNo6 Other people found this review helpful.
