3D printed parts for swampie

[funkbomb]

Hi, thought I would share my marginal improvement to the FIGJAM cooler.

I use a Detmar 4" bilge blower for airflow. This blower has 4 small tabs on either side of the casing that can be used for mounting, so I created a 3D-printed mount that lets me attach and remove the fan from the swampie and the 4" ducting with a simple twist.

One mount is for the top of the swampie, the other is taped to a single end of my ducting.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3577265

IMG_3247.jpg

[Popeye]

The 3D printing looks good but I wonder about the current draw by that blower. Specs for that 4" Blower are 12V @ 3.5A. Figjams specs are less than 2A for pump and blower. 3.5A plus pump current will limit the number of hours you can use the evap. cooler.

[funkbomb]

I tried the other fans, this is better. It’s a 240 CFM fan with far more torque than figjam’s design. It not only pulls through the evaporative material better, but pushes hot air out of the tent. It’s the kind of motor used in RC airplanes. I used it on the playa last year and had quite a chilly tent. A small solar system powers it fine all day. Most people’s issues with not getting their swampie to work is with lack of proper airflow. You need a fan that can really move air or there’s no point to any of it. Anyway the black knob on top is a PWM speed control so I can dial in the power draw to the most efficient level.

I also have a float switch and relay installed that will turn off the motor once the water drops too low, but maybe thats for another post.

[ryfi]

Heck yeah. This is perfect! Thanks for sharing it! Was looking for a higher CFM fan, this seems as good as any. And this way, you did all the hard work already

[LowePro]

Cool mod. Question, are you mounting the fan on top of the bucket lid? So the fan unit is on the exterior?
Or mounted internally inside the bucket? Thanks

[burnomatic]

Nice job. More CFM definitely gets better results.

One thing you may want to check on is the diameter and placement of cooler pad material. I had a similar situation and realized two problems. First, reduced airflow since you are primarily drawing through a small part of the cooler pad. And more problematically, water leaking through the pad material out the side of bucket. It wasn't a problem at home, but the water lines shifted a bit on the trip out and slouched a bit after some use.

[LowePro]

(Nevermind I can see the photo now, thanks!)

[BBadger]

Looks good, but you might want to avoid the insulation on the ducting. The insulation can be MOOPy, the fatter pipe can be a pain to position, and generally won't improve the performance much.