cooling your tent or van

[Keisters]

Hi all,

Is there a suitable AC alternative to the Endless Breeze fan?

Thanks so much,
Pkvenice

That depends on what you mean. There are A/C units that mount in the standard 14"x14" overhead hatch opening, there are freestanding portable A/C units...
What do you want to cool?

Referring to AC powered fans to replace portable (DC) Endless Breeze fans.

Going back and forth on what's the best evap cooler to build. With 97 pages of amazing input, I want to build them all.
However, I think i'm gonna bite the bullet and build 2 Home Depot versions instead of building the UniCooler this weekend.

We'll have to see how I feel 5 minutes from now.

[Keisters]

Cray cray question.

Does using a pump that pumps more gallons of water per hour encourage faster evaporation of water?
I'm curious because the Harbor Freight pumps are within a few bucks of each other and why not buy the higher gallons per hour pump?
thanks,
p

[FIGJAM]

Post a link to the pumps for comparison.

I don't use HF pumps.

Mostly it's about how much power they use.

[unjonharley]

Cray cray question.

Does using a pump that pumps more gallons of water per hour encourage faster evaporation of water?
I'm curious because the Harbor Freight pumps are within a few bucks of each other and why not buy the higher gallons per hour pump?
thanks,
p

I bought the HF solar fountain pump.. It pumped enough.. But I add another.. The down side of these pumps is, You must add a step down from 12 to 6 volts.. Get a 12 volt.. No messing around with voltage.. The small pump pumps enough water.. Altho more is better..

Building two Figam sounds good... I just cool the inside of the van to sleep or read..It gos on the MV trike also to keep my back cool out on the open playa..

[pug]

Two bits of info to pass on after putting mine together last night...

First, I bought one of these pumps off Amazon a while back. When I turned it on last night for the first time, it had a horrible whine. I took it apart (4 screws on the ends), removed the impleller, and shot a bit of silicone spray lubricant inside. Reassembled, and no more noise. So if yours is a whiner, you may be able to make it a winner.

Second, a good lead on a fan if you go for Prime or other fast shipping. The Nzxt 200mm 37.25 dBA Rifle Bearing Case Fan FN-200RB fan for $12.65 puts out a sweet 166 CFM of air flow. Seems to be one of the lowest cost with high CFM ones I've found. I've got an 80 CFM backup, but am going to give this one a try.

[bud buddah]

Any tips on where to find the t fitting for the 3/8 inch hose? I have everything but that built.
Thanks for all your help fig jam.

[FIGJAM]

Where ever you can buy the hose should have the T.

[aussieinusaburner]

Hi all

I am building the box cooler right now, its coming along well (photo attached).

I am looking for the "Costco" deep cycle battery my local Costco does not seem to have it. Anyone know where they have it in stock in the SF Bay Area? I am happy to go anywhere...

[unjonharley]

If you can not find anywhere else.. Go to a mobility scooter store..

[Joeln]

Any tips on where to find the t fitting for the 3/8 inch hose? I have everything but that built.
Thanks for all your help fig jam.

My HD store had a spot on the rack for that fitting but were out.
I had to go to the local store, which does a good job with hard to find parts.

Just got the fan in the mail so will finish and try it out today!

[leftynaut]

any recommendation on how to protect the battery from the elements? do i put it inside of my tent? or is that a big no-no fire hazard....

[unjonharley]

I don't care if batteries are sealed.. There is a lot of gas exchanging while charging and discharging.. Put you batteries out of the direct sun and you will be fine..

Avoid sparking when you hook/unhook the battery and the charger.. There could be gases in the air.. That in acid gas and can HURT!! you., Plug your charger in last when hooking up.. Unplug your charger first when unhooking..

Take care.. I have seen a couple of battery injury and big damage..

[SLOKnightfall]

any recommendation on how to protect the battery from the elements? do i put it inside of my tent? or is that a big no-no fire hazard....

You can get a plastic battery box that will do the job for around $10-15 at W-mart or an automotive supply store that will protect it from most of the elements.

[Ano]

I made a battery box out of an old makeup container and mounted my solar charger on the side. I drilled a ton of vent holes into it as well. The battery sits nice and snug in the box. I also insulated (electrical taped) the battery connections to make sure no stray bullshit can cause any problems.

[bhwfa]

.....5 weeks later.....

[MacGlenver]

.....5 weeks later.....

Get some spray paint on that thing!

[FIGJAM]

The "Hun" posted that, and I have no idea where she came up with that $6 figure.

The original cooler cost was about $45, not including the battery.

That was 5 years ago.

The all in cost including a 115 AH deep cycle battery is about $185!!!

[bhwfa]

Fuck Im Good Just Ask Me

FIGJAM - I greatly appreciate your post and I've enjoyed building my setup.
I sure hope that it works.

With over 98 pages of comments, at sure that at some point this has all been covered.
But I never found it.

1. When you wire the fan into the cheap Harbor Freight pump, there's not enough power to work the fan.
2. Not any old car battery will work (as well as you expect), you need an expensive Deep Cycle Marine battery.
3. The cheap solar chargers won't adequately recharge your battery.
4. You may not need to recharge your battery at all, but are you going to risk not having battery power?
5. Pay extra for the $25 regulator so you don't overcharge your battery.
6. Cheap overseas pumps are easily found on e.bay but may take four weeks+ to ship.
7. I'm a little disappointed with the Lowes cooler pad. They are too rigid and crimped to a point at the ends.
8. The suggested fan is out of stock with the original supplier but available elsewhere.
9. My version of the suggested fan came with four different colored wires. Use yellow (+) and black (-).
10. I put a lot of effort into building a silencer box. It doesn't help much.

Thanks again, enjoy your burn !!
b.

[FIGJAM]

Not sure if you are making observations or asking a question.

In the beginning when the HF solar pump was mentioned I said it LOOKED like the perfect pump.

After getting one and finding out it was only good under perfect conditions, I've only recommended a 12 volt submersible fountain pump.

Power consumption has always been a prime objective in the design so that a single 100AH battery or bigger would allow for a 5 or 6 hour nap every day for 7 or 8 days without having to recharge.

I've achieved all of that!

Any redesigns and add-on's that burners want to do is fine, but I didn't plan those, and they need to engineer to accommodate them.

[SourPatch]

I agree that the solar pump is not good enough. I got a very low power one (2w) that does a good job. The model is HJ-311.

[snardy]

Hi all

I am building the box cooler right now, its coming along well (photo attached).

I am looking for the "Costco" deep cycle battery my local Costco does not seem to have it. Anyone know where they have it in stock in the SF Bay Area? I am happy to go anywhere...

I'm having the same issue with the battery. My girlfriend went to Costco today in LA and they didn't have any.
Any other recommendations? They sell them at Autozone or some place similar?

[SLOKnightfall]

Just a FYI that the Costco brand of batteries are "Kirkland" and are usually found in the Tire/Auto shop of the store. You might be able to find deep cycle batteries at Autozone or other auto stores, but the local one by me only had normal car batteries. Other places you can get them at are Walmart and Batteriesplus.

[bhwfa]

I'm having the same issue with the battery. My girlfriend went to Costco today in LA and they didn't have any.
Any other recommendations? They sell them at Autozone or some place similar?

How close are you to Rancho Cucamonga ?
Bass Pro Shops or any other boat dealership will probably have them.

[snardy]

I'm having the same issue with the battery. My girlfriend went to Costco today in LA and they didn't have any.
Any other recommendations? They sell them at Autozone or some place similar?

How close are you to Rancho Cucamonga ?
Bass Pro Shops or any other boat dealership will probably have them.

We are in Culver City. I will need to make some calls and direct her where to go (I'm not flying out from the East Coast until this weekend - she has to do all my shopping! )

[FIGJAM]

She can find lots of places that sell deep cycle batteries, but the price could be a lot more than Costco or walmart.

[lavamatrix]

Has anyone used one of those portable batteries that usually charge cellphones/tablets/laptops?

I found one (Poweradd Pilot Pro 32000mAh) that can output at 12V, has a 32000mAh rated battery (probably actually somewhere closer to 27000 mAh) and it can output up to 4.5A.

I personally would prefer to use this battery because it is lighter, smaller and I can use it for things outside of the burn. My plan is to have a fan that draws about 1.4A and a pump that draws about .6A so total draw per hour is about 2A which gives me about 12 hours of usage depending on the actual power draw from the fan/pump and the actual mAh of the battery. That gives me about 3 days of use per full charge, not too bad. My camp has a generator where I can charge it so I dont need to fuss with solar if I dont want to (trying not to spend the cash on it).

Since this would be my first swamp cooler build I wanted to double check with the experts and see if this battery solution was a good idea. The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is that the playa dust could eventually kill the electronics on the battery. In which case I plan to put it in a zip lock bag and tape the seal shut around the input/output wire.

In case anyone was interested in skipping the giant but tried and true deep marine battery system I thought I would let everyone know that my idea for using the portable battery pack used to power laptops/cellphones/tablets did work.

This is what I bought -

It works great and weighs 1.3 pounds and is easier to manage recharging than the marine battery. I have not tested this setup at the burn yet but I did run it for a few hours at home and had no issues. I plan to seal the battery up in a ziploc bag and put paper tape over the seam to minimize the possible damage dust will do to the electronics. I will report back how it actually works post burn.

Thanks for the great information from everyone in this thread. It only took me two hours to build the cooler from start to finish and that is only because of everyone contributing to this thread. Hope everyone has a great burn!

[Joeln]

Finished mine a few days ago and it works like a champ.
Costs:
pad $7
pump $12
Fan $18
plumbing parts $9
Flex-duct $11
Toilet flange $3
Battery $89 (ouch!)
remaining parts I had laying around...
total cost $149

[sadie]

Finished mine a few days ago and it works like a champ.
Costs:
pad $7
pump $12
Fan $18
plumbing parts $9
Flex-duct $11
Toilet flange $3
Battery $89 (ouch!)
remaining parts I had laying around...
total cost $149

Cooled air in the heat of the day: Priceless!!

Looks great Joeln.

[boomaloon]

Hi, total non-handy question here:

My camp has generator access, could we use that to power the fan? If so what fan and connection would we need to get?

We also have friends in an RV next to us - could we run normal fans off their sockets from the RV? and what equipment would we need (Fan and Pump)?

Thanks!

[jwfold7777]

Hi, total non-handy question here:

My camp has generator access, could we use that to power the fan? If so what fan and connection would we need to get?

We also have friends in an RV next to us - could we run normal fans off their sockets from the RV? and what equipment would we need (Fan and Pump)?

Thanks!

I have the same set up and I use AC wall chargers (12v) to run the DC electronics on the AC power. I also have a deep cycle battery as backup in case the generators crap out. I just cut the ends off the wall charger and wire it to the leads for hte pump and fan. I'm pretty sure there is power loss in the AC/DC conversion, but not enough to be a problem, in any regard. This is the cheapest way I found to do it - aside from buying all AC parts (fan and pump). I just like having the option to run off the deep cycle if and when the gennies stop running.