Ice in ice chest question

[livemusic]

Ok, physicists, a goofy question. You put a bag of ice on your fish and it, obviously, slowly melts. (I close the drain hole when I do this. The super-chilled water keeping the fish cooler than if you let the water drain is the idea. Dunno if that is right or wrong. But main question is this, just curious... if you have ANY ice left in that cooler full of super-chilled water, fish, and even a little ice, is that chilled water just as cold with any amount of ice as it is when there is a LOT of ice left? What do you think, lol!

I'm going to get a bag now anyway, as it might be a few more hours before I can clean them from yesterday's catch. I've always wondered about this, assuming that if there is any ice in there at all, it's good to go. Until it all melts!

If you were to put a thermometer in there and graph the temp, it would probably just be an upside down bell curve, with the temp falling, falling, falling, then slowly rising as it melts. But I wonder if that bell curve is skewed! I guess that would make it not a bell curve, lol!

EDIT: WOW, I happened to find answer to this very question in detail! Here... Is It Better to Drain the Cooler or Not?

The page says, "So we know that the tipping point from ice to water and vice versa is 32º F, right? It’s also the crux of the drain-or-not-to-drain quandary because melting ice will stay precisely at its melting point until the conversion from solid to liquid is complete. In plain English: as long as there is some ice left in the cooler – regardless of how much water is sloshing around – the temperature of the ice/water mixture will hold steady at 32º F."

So, I been assuming right!

[Chuck Adams]

Get a Yeti and don’t worry about it. Lol


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[livemusic]

Get a Yeti and don’t worry about it. Lol


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See my edit of the OP.

Hi, Chuck. I actually did buy a nice ice chest but it's not a Yeti. I bought one at Academy that is built like a Yeti for around $125. Then I saw one at Walmart I liked a little better and it was $107. I think it is called "Lifetime" brand. Took the Academy purchase back. The Lifetime cooler was shaped better, dimensions better, for my needs. I dunno if Yeti is superior but the same size costs probably triple what I paid. It would be interesting to find out if Yeti is superior to ones that look similar.

[DockShootinJack]

Being that the point of icing the fish down is to prevent spoilage I tend to err on the side of having plenty of ice. It is cheap insurance to prevent spoilage and possibly sickness

[catchNgrease]

It will be +/- 32.5 F as long is there is a tiny portion of ice. That's plenty cool enough to keep fish from spoiling.

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[Chuck Adams]

See my edit of the OP.

Hi, Chuck. I actually did buy a nice ice chest but it's not a Yeti. I bought one at Academy that is built like a Yeti for around $125. Then I saw one at Walmart I liked a little better and it was $107. I think it is called "Lifetime" brand. Took the Academy purchase back. The Lifetime cooler was shaped better, dimensions better, for my needs. I dunno if Yeti is superior but the same size costs probably triple what I paid. It would be interesting to find out if Yeti is superior to ones that look similar.

Hey livemusic,
I have one of those lifetime coolers as well. Got it after the Yeti. Yeti fit my needs better in my boat. I carry food and water in it while fishing. The lifetime seems to have found a spot in my garage. I have never done an ice melting comparison on them but have seen many on utube comparing yeti with others.
I plan to set lifetime up in boat when I cary 5-10 lbs of minnows for an extended couple days of fishing. I often fish 8 rods when alone and that equals 16 minnows. Don’t take long to go thru minnows.
I have a medical oxygen cylinder to keep them alive along with aerator system.
Is yeti worth the money? Who knows.
I had saved me from buying ice every day when taking big boat out in the Gulf of Mexico for a couple days.
Probably buy a lot of ice for what the cost difference is. lol
Chuck


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[Ketchn]

we found back when it was ok that adding beer to the ice and fish made it a perfect day . what was the temperature you might ask ,no clue but the beer seamed frosty and a little slimy and the fish had beautiful colors on them when we left the lake each time .
we typically used a 20 dollar ice chest and the cheapest ice we could find to have money left to buy the beer .....

[M R Dux]

I’ve left crappie iced down for a couple of days as long as there is plenty of ice in the water and the gills on the crappie are red when I clean them. Anything but RED, you’ve let them spoil. Shame on you.


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[MikeF]

What is the difference between 32 degree ice and 32 degree water?








Latent heat of fusion...144 BTUs per pound.

Just adding or subtracting 144BTU/pound, makes the change from liquid to solid and vise versa.

As long as ya got ice present, ya got at least 32 degrees.

After that, the temp climbs.

[DockShootinJack]

we found back when it was ok that adding beer to the ice and fish made it a perfect day . what was the temperature you might ask ,no clue but the beer seamed frosty and a little slimy and the fish had beautiful colors on them when we left the lake each time .
we typically used a 20 dollar ice chest and the cheapest ice we could find to have money left to buy the beer .....

A little rock salt added to make the beer slushy.
Twist off the top and watch the ice crystals form.