Nice try - improvement needed - Pelican 65 Quart Elite Cooler

Great service and super fast delivery from OpticsPlanet.

Product not so good. Nice try, but falls short in some areas. This cooler is sturdily built from mostly good materials, but a couple of design/manufacturing flaws significantly reduce its utility.

It would help with insulation and convenience if the cooler were watertight – unfortunately it is a long way from that – despite the impressive looking rubber seal around the lid. I put a couple of gallons of water inside and closed the lid, then tipped the cooler in all four directions. There were significant leaks (approx. one pint per minute) from 3 of the sides (back, front, right) and a horrendous leak from the left side – probably gushing out at a rate of four pints per minute.

Examination of the sealing surface (top of base and lid) revealed significant undulations in the top of the base. It appears that the box is manufactured as a hollow unit and then filled with foam. The foam must be injected in as a liquid and then expands to fill the void between the walls of the box. Unfortunately it is like the foam you spray into the gaps around your house (windows and doors) – spray in too much and the frames start bulging out. So, the top of the box is uneven and the lid seal cannot cope with the amount of undulation. Result = no seal, and any water inside will gush out fast when the box is tipped.

I emailed Pelican about this problem one month ago – no response. Looks like I’ll be left to fix it myself – thinking of improving the seal with the addition of more rubber in the low areas. The water drain is a little on the flimsy side too.

The base is slightly uneven and not all 4 feet touch the ground at one time – the cooler rocks a little. This rocking may annoy some people, but does not bother me any at all.

Apart from these low points the cooler has many good features – strong construction, good latches, good handles, lifetime warranty (if they respond).

Other premium coolers look like they were knocked up is some school workshop, this one at least looks a little more professional. 7 out of 10 for the product – some improvement required. 0 out of 10 for Pelican customer service – where are you ?.

I’ve had very good customer service from Pelican in the past – have a LOT of their equipment boxes and Pelican have always been responsive and helpful when I needed repairs or accessories. Perhaps they are just overwhelmed by complaints regarding the sealing problems on these coolers.

Despite my criticisms I would purchase another if needed, and recommend to others (as the best currently available). Hopefully they will improve the manufacturing process and turn out the products as the designers intended.