If you cover that split in the factory gasket the cooler can’t be used for dry ice. That is the reason it is not sealed. The dry ice has to off gas and if it is put into a sealed environment the pressure inside could cause the cooler to explode or at the bare minimum blow the seal out. Also it keeps the cooler from air locking when you try to open it.
That’s a neat theory and stuff, but that is not true. Even with that split it isn’t enough room for dry ice to vent. When you close the lid it create a water/air tight seal. To let dry ice vent you would need a bigger gap or just a vent hole.
This modification provides you that super airtight seal so that when you pack your cooler with dry ice, it gives you that good clean pop when she finally blows.
I noticed a major improvement after adding a gasket to my BMX25. Air will pump in and out of a cooler when being carried or if you sit on it or by the bellows effect of sloshing water. I'd say the improvement is close to 20%.
Nice, we have been using solid 3/4" solid PVC adhesive backed foam for years, and no one notices, but it sure works better than the thin flap style everyone else uses. Your lid looks slightly bowed near the middle lock area.
I find foam insulation to be too stiff and non conforming, as well as become flattened, so I took a hollow tubular peel-and-stick weather seal and made it into a loop, like a bicycle inner tube, by gluing in 3" of plastic soda straw, before attaching it in the lid. It works beautifully in my Igloo.
The problem is that the Pelican gasket is SILICONE which is very resistant to degradation. The replacement gasket is not silicone and will degrade over time. If you want to seal the gasket into one continuous piece, just use McNETT Silnet (silicone seam sealer for tents, camping, outdoor equipment) to fuse the ends together. I don’t think the additional weatherstrip will improve insulation performance so I wouldn’t consider it an upgrade. Unless you are constantly knocking over your cooler and it HAS to be completely watertight. To open a sucked down lid, temporarily crack open the drain valve so allow air to enter through the drain (but no water to leak out). You will hear the hiss noise. All good to open.
Yeah could be, but i think some of us would like it better if it didn't leak when going over bumpy road. That way the trunks of our cars are not wet...
FYI, 4thewin , et al... Pelican has a pressure-release valve, on the original Pelican Case(es), for electronics; so they have no excuse, for skipping that item. Left to my own assumptions, I would put my money on...corner-cutting! 💰
What do you mean by at an angle? In what way? About to try this upgrade myself! I would be very grateful for a response as I have to waterproof the cooler for travel in the back of an SUV over some very bumpy terrain!
@@DZlife the same way you would join floor trims or ceiling mouldings, you cut a 45 degree angle when looking "down" at the plane of the seal. Then when you join them, there's a longer distance between one side of the seam and the other than a straight seam.
That’s not a big enough gap for dry ice to vent. Plus when you close the cooler it pretty much makes it air tight. For dry ice to vent you would need a larger gap or a hole.
It looks like you couldn’t open the cooler until the ice melted. Please explain exactly how difficult it was to open and how you did it. Of course you could open the drain, loose the cold water melt, and relieve the pressure. But what do you recommend?
The Lid doesn't always get stuck. It only happens when you let hot air into a really cold cooler (have a lot of ice), and let it enough time to cool. Won't happen for most people under regular use. I would actually recommend people leaving a 1/4 - 1/2 " gap on the seal, when install it such that it doesn't have this issue. It will still keep the cooler really tight.
@@dylancromer5765 Yeah, I do. Elastic closures like the ones Igloo uses on their BMX series which compress the seal but will still release pressure if necessary, is a far superior design than the rigid latches on the Pelican, for starters. Then there's the non-folding carrying handles which increase the exterior dimensions without providing capacity and the overhanging lid, 20% larger than the cooler below it. Really dumb. Pelicans are over styled and under engineered with the worst interior volume to exterior dimensions ratio of any cooler I've ever seen..
Bad design. Why do they design a cooler with a lid that's a foot longer than the box??? You need four feet of space to store a three foot long cooler? And the mechanical closure latches are why one can't use dry ice safely. My Igloo for a third of the price has elastic fasteners that would stretch under pressure to vent CO2. I added a gasket to make it air-tight and a couple other things like feet to get it off the ground and Reflectix on the bottom and it now keeps perishables for at least a week.
I just got my pelican 50Q in and I’m highly disappointed in that gasket. It looks like a dollar store gasket. My Kong 50Q has a much better factory seal
A gasket on top of another gasket may seem better but it makes the whole setup inferior. No manufacturer of anything does that, because it is bad science.
Great question. Never crossed my mind. Typically The food i carry in the cooler is in waterproof containers like Lock & Lock, so even if that were the case should be safe. In most cases should be safe as long as you're not drinking the water or using the cooler to carry ice that is to b used in drinks; which is not the case for me. Now i'm looking around to see if there are better seal options.
I bought an elite 80 quart cooler and i went ahead and purchased a 95 quart pelican gasket directly from pelican which is food grade safe for $9.95 with free shipping.
Yeah the one problem with Pelican that no one seems to address there is no handle for the lid. Everyone seems to just grab the open latch. Is that comfortable? It seems like the single disappointing moment of the product.
It's pretty easy and natural to just pop the latch open a few degrees and use the bottom edge of the latch to lift the lid. I'm not keen to fully fold the latch back and apply that much force on the latch to open the lid.