Improvements & Upgrades to the FIGJAM bucket evap. cooler

[Captain Goddammit]

If it's gonna be a full-time van, there are other considerations. Evap coolers work only in extremely low humidity areas.
There's a reason you virtually never see them on a camper, it's always A/C. If you go somewhere hot and humid the evap won't work. It'll be fine if you intend to stay in desert climates.
If space is at a premium, also consider that an A/C is up out of the way on the roof, and if powered with a small inverter generator it consumes fewer gallons of fuel per hour than an evap consumes per hour of water. And gas is lighter too.

[BrotherNomad]

If it's gonna be a full-time van, there are other considerations.

Yes,

Evap coolers work only in extremely low humidity areas.

True.

There's a reason you virtually never see them on a camper, it's always A/C.

Conventional RVs are not built for full-time living, so they have poor insulation and slapped in appliances that sometimes warrant 24/7 generator use.

If you go somewhere hot and humid the evap won't work.

Of Course!

An RV roof

A/C is up out of the way on the roof, and if powered with a small inverter generator it consumes fewer gallons of fuel per hour than an evap consumes per hour of water. And gas is lighter too.

Spending dollars to save pennies. Water is cheaper than gasoline gallon for gallon. Plus evaporative cooling can be powered from batteries for hours unlike A/C, because it uses upto 8 times less energy than A/C.

[Captain Goddammit]

Conventional RVs are not built for full-time living, so they have poor insulation and slapped in appliances that sometimes warrant 24/7 generator use.

Not true, the only RV appliance that requires full time gen power is the A/C. The fridge, heat, and hot water are propane.

The only comment you counterpointed was the one about less volume of fuel per hour for A/C vs. water per hour for an evap. Sure fuel is more expensive but sometimes - like when going to Burning Man perhaps - space and load capacity is the bigger issue. I'd rather carry less weight over the mountains even if it's not quite as cheap. Breaking your truck is much more expensive than a few gallons of gas. Perhaps you are saving pennies to lose dollars!

And for that lighter load over the hills, with A/C you actually get a chilly little house. It works a LOT better.

[ranger magnum]

This sounds to me like F1....

Throw a lot of time, energy, and money for minor gains.

[AzJames]

I did a few mods to the FIGJAM bucket cooler before my last burn. I added an evap cooler float (the kind used on house evap coolers) the float valve stuck out the side of the bucket and I could attach a hose to a second bucket that would sit on a stand to be higher, so the force of gravity would send the water to the bucket cooler when the water level got low. I also wanted to make sure that I did not burn up the pump if I ran out of water, so I hot glued a mercury switch to the float in such a way that if the water level dropped too far the pump would shut off. I know its over kill, but the last thing I want to think about is if I have enough water in my FIGJAM cooler or if I'm running the risk of burning up my pump on the Playa.

[EGAZ]

I'll put this here for future reference.
Evap float Valves

Depending on the size of the bucket, trashcan, storage bin etc. You are using, you may need to shorten the arm. Sometimes you can get away with bending the arm too. Level adjustment is screwing the float in and out.

These are designed for water feed that is under pressure, like at your home. To make it simple for playa use I would recommend gravity feed. So the reservoir needs to be higher than the evap section. The feed will be fairly slow put that's ok. This would make it pretty much set and forget. Though depending on what pumps you are using in the evap, running them dry might be an issue.

[AaronPugmire]

Guys I need help! I made the fig jam almost exctly as the instructions told but it just does not work very well. the air is blowing out but it is not cool at all. Maybe a few degrees but not much.

what shall I do?

[LowePro]

Check all the tips in the original Figjam cooler thread, there are dozens. No need to repeat them all in another forum. If you are in a humid climate it simply will not cool very much, period.

[Eric]

Guys I need help! I made the fig jam almost exctly as the instructions told but it just does not work very well. the air is blowing out but it is not cool at all. Maybe a few degrees but not much.

what shall I do?

This is the original thread - it looks incredibly daunting (~124 pages), but the basic cooler is on page one, and a lot of trouble shooting is in the first few pages. You can then skip to the last pages & work back if you haven't found an answer yet.

As asr9754 said, being in a really dry climate is critical. You don't say where you're from, but if it's somewhere humid your cooler won't work (trust me: I grew up in AZ with "swamp coolers", they worked great until it got muggy, then they just made everything muggier). The Figjam cooler is playa tested & works amazingly well - just stick to the original version and you'll be fine.

[FIGJAM]

There are really only 2 things that could be wrong.

Your pads aren't uniformly wet, or ALL of the air isn't being forced to go through the wet pad.

These are critical for a happy cooler!!!

[Meat Hunter]

Aaron,

Where are you located?

You probably already know this. If you are trying to use your cooler down south or another place that has higher humidity than the dry air of the desert, you will not notice much cooling a'tall.

Take a look at the chart on this page and it will give you come idea how well your cooler might work or not work in your area:
http://www.air-n-water.com/common-swamp-mistakes.htm

[AaronPugmire]

Thanks guys. I think I am not getting the pads wet enough. im going to try and make the holes bigger and ensure that there is not a gap between the lid and tubing and cooler pad. il check in with pics soon. oh and I live in Colorado so I think the humidity is low all good!

[EGAZ]

Dew point. Anything below 30-35'F dew point, maybe 40'F is where evap coolers work. Above that and they turn things into a swamp.....

[June Cleaver]

I have purchased most of the supplies for this project.
the pump n fan are next to impossible for me to find. I have checked all the big box and farming, hardware stores.
I'm not an internet shopper
May have to change my ways.

I have NEVER done anything remotely genius like this thing.

Its daunting and Im bout ready to kick the bucket. Love the whole concept..but I its kickin my ass.

[FIGJAM]

When I first started, I tried to buy everything off the shelf.

Couldn't do it and have a good cooler.

I finally bit the bullet and started buying what I NEEDED online.

It's not as bad as you think.

[lucky420]

I have purchased most of the supplies for this project.
the pump n fan are next to impossible for me to find. I have checked all the big box and farming, hardware stores.
I'm not an internet shopper
May have to change my ways.

I have NEVER done anything remotely genius like this thing.

Its daunting and Im bout ready to kick the bucket. Love the whole concept..but I its kickin my ass.

I was in ntimidated too. Took me 5 years to finally build one. It did help that a local burner group here in Reno put on a workshop. You can do It! You seem like a smart cookie.

[FIGJAM]

And just how long did it take you to build it once you got started Lucky???

[June Cleaver]

When I first started, I tried to buy everything off the shelf.

Couldn't do it and have a good cooler.

I finally bit the bullet and started buying what I NEEDED online.

It's not as bad as you think.

Thank you for your support. Will 8 guage copper wire work ok in place of 10? Or no?

[June Cleaver]

I have purchased most of the supplies for this project.
the pump n fan are next to impossible for me to find. I have checked all the big box and farming, hardware stores.
I'm not an internet shopper
May have to change my ways.

I have NEVER done anything remotely genius like this thing.

Its daunting and Im bout ready to kick the bucket. Love the whole concept..but I its kickin my ass.

I was in ntimidated too. Took me 5 years to finally build one. It did help that a local burner group here in Reno put on a workshop. You can do It! You seem like a smart cookie.

I have purchased most of the supplies for this project.
the pump n fan are next to impossible for me to find. I have checked all the big box and farming, hardware stores.
I'm not an internet shopper
May have to change my ways.

I have NEVER done anything remotely genius like this thing.

Its daunting and Im bout ready to kick the bucket. Love the whole concept..but I its kickin my ass.

Thanks Lucky. Lonesomebri put me up to this for an event at Camp Threat. My burgin plate is full. His self reliance is depending on me

I was in ntimidated too. Took me 5 years to finally build one. It did help that a local burner group here in Reno put on a workshop. You can do It! You seem like a smart cookie.

[FIGJAM]

Probably.

[EGAZ]

June Cleaver,

What are you wiring with 8 & 10 AWG wire? The pumps and fans? That's some big wire short of powering Audio Amps...

Buying online is not bad when done from reputable sites. Names you know like Amazon, Newegg, Jet, etc. I have one Credit Card I use online. Its the only one I use online. Never use a debit card unless its for an account you leave a very low balance in, ie: only for online purchases.

Most everything for the figjam cooler can be ordered off Amazon and have it in a week. An Amazon Prime account is worth it 'IF' you order a lot of stuff over the course of a year. Begrudgingly I have found I buy more day to day items from Amazon over the last few years. Their pricing on most everything is very competitive to local, short of a major local sale. And the convenience of next day or two day shipping when on Prime does spoil you. I've had Prime account for two years now. It has paid for itself a few times over. Especially this year divorce & prepping for BM. If they bump the yearly fee again next year I may reconsider as I don't think I will be buying as much.

We'll see....

1. Use a single CC for online purchases only. ---- It also helps keep track of how fast you are burning up the card.... online......
2. Get a different email address for billing. ---- So if your account does get hacked, they don't have you normal email address.

[June Cleaver]

June Cleaver,

What are you wiring with 8 & 10 AWG wire? The pumps and fans? That's some big wire short of powering Audio Amps...

Buying online is not bad when done from reputable sites. Names you know like Amazon, Newegg, Jet, etc. I have one Credit Card I use online. Its the only one I use online. Never use a debit card unless its for an account you leave a very low balance in, ie: only for online purchases.

Most everything for the figjam cooler can be ordered off Amazon and have it in a week. An Amazon Prime account is worth it 'IF' you order a lot of stuff over the course of a year. Begrudgingly I have found I buy more day to day items from Amazon over the last few years. Their pricing on most everything is very competitive to local, short of a major local sale. And the convenience of next day or two day shipping when on Prime does spoil you. I've had Prime account for two years now. It has paid for itself a few times over. Especially this year divorce & prepping for BM. If they bump the yearly fee again next year I may reconsider as I don't think I will be buying as much.

We'll see....

1. Use a single CC for online purchases only. ---- It also helps keep track of how fast you are burning up the card.... online......
2. Get a different email address for billing. ---- So if your account does get hacked, they don't have you normal email address.

The wire? To heat up with the torch and make uniform holes into the tubing. This is my first time messing with fans, and pumps n such, oh my .

Electrical n plumbing are not my forte. Neither is heating and cooling.
I'm just going to keep trying because one day I want to say..hey, i did that.
Thanks to figjam genius

Thank you for the online buying tips.
Another fun adventure ahead

[EGAZ]

Doh, forgot that part. I had fans, pumps wiring on the brain, then I seen 8-10awg wire and saying damn! That will do it but WTF over....

My bad, Carry on......

[unjonharley]

The only improvements for the cooler : Putting in a water level sight gauge .. Also cleaning up the rats nest wiring .. The water pumps run on 5 volts ..This year I will use a phone charger to drop the voltage

[Dr Fish]

Adding a sight tube is easy... You can get a 1/2" rubber grommet and a 1/2" 90* barb fitting at your nearest hydroponic shop.. You'll need a 13/16" spade bit for the hole, and some 1/2" clear tubing... It'll only take a few min. to upgrade the bucket..

[jonyjoe404]

The improvements that I made was use a different container, instead of dura-cool I change to celdek which doesnt get clogged up from constant use, and for improve reliability I put two water pumps (run seperately). There is a divider between water section and fan section, this is so that water doesnt slosh around when moving my van. This one has one 149 cfm fan with speed controller, but another I build has two fans. It holds about 6 liters of water.

swamp2.jpg

swamp inside 1 amp.jpg

[unjonharley]

The improvements that I made was use a different container, instead of dura-cool I change to celdek which doesnt get clogged up from constant use, and for improve reliability I put two water pumps (run seperately). There is a divider between water section and fan section, this is so that water doesnt slosh around when moving my van. This one has one 149 cfm fan with speed controller, but another I build has two fans. It holds about 6 liters of water.

swamp2.jpg

swamp inside 1 amp.jpg

That is not an improvement .. That is a departure from KISS I. e. keep it simple s........

[EGAZ]

That's a lot of gear crammed into a small bin! A larger bin will help with your air flow. The fan is too close to the cell deck. It may get some carry over of water from the cell deck. Or is that why the speed controller was installed?

Love the cell deck, love the ice machine style water header for more even flow over the cell deck, just need to give your self some more room. Especially if you are running two fans. No need for a speed controller on a 150cfm fan. 100% and leave it. You need all the air you can through that pad.

I spent a bunch of time configuring a timer board a couple of relays to 'control' my unit last year. Grey water evap. The goal was to be able to power it up and let it do its thing all week. Turn on when water is in the bin, turn off when its not. After using it last year. It worked, but it took some tweaking through the week. Not a lot, but not completely hands free either.

Unit empty, starts filling with water.
High water level achieved,
Start the pumps and fans.
Unit runs.
Low water level achieved.
Pumps shut down, fans run for another hour drying the pads.
Timer times out, everything off until high water is achieved again.

The problem was with the floats. The small ones are not that accurate and repeatable. (at least not in the tight range I was trying to control) Need to move to ultrasonic sensors and an Arduino board. Not that costly or hard to do but that's not happening on this project. LOL

I still am looking for a small, low pressure float valve to use to control water fill level. Its just a matter of finding the correct float that fits my bin or trash can....... Or finding one that I can dismantle and enlarge the port......

[MaxBruno]

I've finally gotten around to documenting the build of my "deluxe" FIGJAM cooler, deployed on playa last year with great success. My improvements consist primarily of intake air filtration and an industrial-grade in-line fan to pressurize my tent with dust-free air 24/7, even when no evap cooling is desired. (I added internal temperature monitoring along with an automated control system, but that's not covered here.)

Link to complete assembly docs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nTD ... sp=sharing


The completed cooler:

2019-03-22 15.09.17.jpg

Evap cartridge:

20180625_204903.jpg

Fan placement, shown prior to final assembly:

20180625_205423.jpg

[Canoe]

I've finally gotten around to documenting the build of my "deluxe" FIGJAM cooler, deployed on playa last year with great success. My improvements consist primarily of intake air filtration and an industrial-grade in-line fan to pressurize my tent with dust-free air 24/7, even when no evap cooling is desired. (I added internal temperature monitoring along with an automated control system, but that's not covered here.)...

• Great build quality!
• The upper-evap/lower-reservoir bucket (container) layout is known and proven on the playa, providing both a larger reservoir and maximum use of the evap-media area. However:
  • Some miss that the pump needs to push the water high enough (~the height of two buckets instead of one).
  • Also watch for sealing the lower/reservoir bucket so you're not sucking hot dusty air through the lower reservoir, or through any air leaks between the upper bucket sitting on the lower, up into the middle of the upper bucket, where it has bypassed the evap-media and goes into your accommodations. Any leakage limits efficiency while allowing some dust to sneak through.
  • And I can't tell from the photo if the drain fitting sits up high enough in the upper bucket to ensure a minimum water level to keep the bottom of the evap-media submerged to prevent hot air sneaking under. In some setups, the bottom surface can sag, or not entirely level, and there's insufficient water level in the upper/evap bucket.
  • The drain hole looks like it should be a larger diameter, in case something manages to clog it. Particularly as the pump line runs up through it.
  • A second fail-safe drain hole would be a good idea. Intake slightly higher (a half inch?) than the main one, and wide enough to take the entire drain-back. It would only drain water if the first drain somehow clogs or is restricted and the water level in the evap-bucket rises. As such, don't plumb the fail-safe drain with a drain pipe, but let any water that drains through it fall into the reservoir bucket, making noise, to alert you that the first drain has developed an issue.
• Shame you can't get more hole area going into the bucket. That's quite a restriction to pull air through.
• If you got more pre-filter area and more area for air flow into the upper bucket, you wouldn't need such a heavy and power consuming fan.
• Your design does have a thermal short-circuit.
  • Hot air through the pre-filters flows against the metal fan shroud, inside of which is the chilled output air.
    As hot air going one way and chilled going the other, that counter-flow would be optimum for transferring heat from that hot air into the evap output, but it's even worse as the stack of pre-filters is supplying hot air along the full height of the shroud.
  • This thermal short-circuit will limit the chilling capacity.
  • It will be worse the hotter the playa air is, as the heat transfer through the shroud into the chilled air will be greater with a greater temperature difference.
  • Any insulation you can apply to the shroud surface, ideally on both sides, will work towards minimizing that thermal short-circuit.
• A caution that the fan you chose is not for creating air flow, and particularly not for creating static pressure for sucking air through filters, but is for augmenting an already pressured air flow that has a long run. As such, the motor will be working harder than it is designed for, so its life will be reduced from its normal service. BUT, you're only running it for a week at a time on the playa - so how much will that matter...

I've not seen anyone want to fill their playa accommodation full of hot dust-free air. But if anyone wants to do that, and is willing to pay for the air filters and replacing them, it looks like it will work. It would be useful during those times where the ambient air is not too hot.

Nor do the recommended Dura-cool evap media have an issue with fouling, as that is what filters the dust out of the air, with the water flow washing the dust off of the filter. It doesn't become foul. Your pre-filters "solve" a problem that doesn't exist. And if the "grain" of the evap media is respected, there is no need to 'cage' the evap media, at least at the CFMs used in the existing designs.

For cooling their accommodation on the playa, needing air filters, a power taking fan and 120 VAC power to run it, won't be regarded as an improvement by many people. The upper/lower buckets is a great enhancement (I like it), but most people don't want that complexity. If you want a fan upgrade, you can use the Endless Breeze fan, but good luck sucking through those automotive filters. You'd have much better luck with pleated furnace filters.


The bad news

That writeup will not be usable by the majority of people.

What would be very useful is to have the photos surrounded by white space, with all components labelled and with their size given. The layout is so simple that people would easily be able to build one if they had that info and a few pointers added to the white space around the photos.