cooling your tent or van

[FIGJAM]

Try to find a chain that sells them then see if your local store can get it, like this.

http://www.acetogo.com/product/duracool-pad-29x30.html

[FIGJAM]

The basic idea for the bucket cooler is just a smaller version of Yellowdog's cooler made from a rubbermade garbage can.

Keep in mind that there is more than one way to skin a cat. (WARNING! DO NOT SKIN A CAT, IT WONT HELP THIS PROJECT AND WILL IRRITATE YOUR PUSSY!!!)

All the ideas that people came up with on this thread are a perfect example of radical self relience! (Bravo!!!)

Get a 5 gallon bucket and lid.

Have your trained mice naw some holes in the bucket, or use a hole saw, or 50 caliber sniper rifle. (Honey badgers wont work, they don't give a shit!)



Find some cooler pad.

I like duracool pads.

http://www.simsupply.com/Items/426741

If your area does'nt have them, find a national chain DIY hardwear store and see if they will order some for you.

This may save you shipping cost. I use home depot.

Cut the first pad 33 1/2x13 inches.

Roll this pad into a tube and silicone or hand stitch the seam.

This will give you a tube 13 inches tall.



Because the bucket tapers out towards the top, you will not need to line the bucket with shade clothe.





Cut a second piece if pad 24x13 inches and roll into a tight tube.

You wont need to seam this one.



Sleeve this inside the first tube.

The reason for the double pad is to have a wide space to set the drip line on and adds more evap surface.



1/2 inch Drip irrigation line works ok to soak your pads, but poly hose is more flexible and you can buy it by the foot.

I like the T connectors that fit inside the line. I cut the ends of the T shorter so I could keep the holes in the line close enough together so there wont be a dry strip on the pads.

This hose is 3/8 inch.






The holes in the line need to be uniform for an even flow on the pad.

Drlling holes works, but I found that heating a piece of wire melts a nice, more uniform hole.

I used a piece of 10 gauge copper wire.

Heat the wire with a torch, or the burner on your stove, then press through the line.

Sliding the wire in and out till it cools will make a happy hole! (Don't even think about it Yggy, this is serious!)







To pump the water through the line, buy a pump.

This is the solar pump.

http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-powe ... 66093.html

I like this pump instead because if it's cloudy, it will still let the cooler work.



http://www.siliconsolar.com/replacement ... p-103.html

The 3/8 inch line fits this pump perfectly.

Nice even flow of water.





When the lid is put on, the line will be pinched between the lid and the pad, so it wont move around and will create a seal that will force all the air through the wet pad.

FANS!

The key to good cooler is a powerful fan.

CFM=cubic feet per minute.

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g36/c43 ... y_CFM.html

I used this one.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12959 ... 6c435s1108

It uses more power, but makes the bucket cooler very effective.

Calculate the cubic footage of the space to be cooled, then get a fan that will replace the air inside the space every 3 to 5 minutes.

I use a single fan cause it suits my design perfectly.

Cut a hole in the lid of the bucket to mount the fan.

I put mine on the bottom of the lid to keep the unit compact and to make ducting easier.



Any 120mm fan will fit inside the top of the pad tube.

I spliced the wires from the fan to the wires from the pump. (both are 12volt)

Then ran the wire out through one of the holes in the side of the bucket.

Now with the lid on the bucket, I used a 4 inch septic line connector gooped to the lid over the fan.







Now you can use 4 inch septic line to duct the air into the space to be cooled. You don't need to glue these piceces together.



These parts are at the hardwear store.

Outside temp!



Air temp coming from the cooler!



Water temp inside the bucket!



This cooler uses 2 gallon of water every 5 hours.

It uses about 1.45amps per hour.

My 105AH deep cycle battery will run this cooler for 47 hours before needing to be recharged.

So running 4 or 5 hours a day, it will let you nap in the hottest part of the day, all week without recharging the battery.

If you need more cooling than this, build the box cooler.

You will need to vent the air out of the space for circulation.

HAPPY NAPPING!!

[andreas97]

That is freakin AWESOME FIGJAM, thanks!!

I had a quick question... the fan you used pulls 1.25a and puts out 190CFM. If you did two of the scythe ultra kaze, that would be 1.2a and 260CFM. I'm just wondering if there's a reason I *shouldn't* go with the two fan setup. I'm guessing the single fan just worked better for your pipe-vent system?

Man, I am psyched to put this thing together.
Since I'm going to run solar anyway, I'm probably going to return the HF solar pump and get the one you suggested, since even with shipping it's $5 cheaper, and puts out more liquid.

[Asherbeez]

I know it's been said many a time, but fuck... you are good!

[FIGJAM]

[FIGJAM]

Oh, don't bother to open the bucket to add water, add it through the holes in the sides.

Maybe bring a funnel.

[andreas97]

The problem in my oppinion is mounting the fans on the bucket.

If I was going to use 2 or more fans, I would'nt have any fan on the bucket at all.

*snip*

Mount the array of fans to the bottom (cause it's flat) , then mount this where you want your air to enter the space.

The only drawback to that, of course, is that you then have the power going to two units, and also have the noise of the fans inside the structure.

I'm futzing around trying to see how I can do two fans mounted on the lid..... I know that kman did mount two of the Scythe fans on a lid, but I'm not sure what he did to funnel down the air.
I'd seen the bowl thing, but I feel like that would create too much dead space and turbulence as a result.
Once the fans are in and installed, I'm going to try snipping down a 10x6 6" floor register to fit over them. Then I can reduce it to 4" for the PVC (I got PVC instead of ABS since it was significantly cheaper... and also white, so it will (hopefully) stay cooler).

I picked up most everything else today, though.
You mentioned you were using 3/8" poly hose... are you talking OD or ID? I'm guessing inner?

[FIGJAM]

I think hose is measured ID.

The fans are not that loud, not even close to what a window air conditioner is.

By doing the "vacume" style I think you would eliminate the turbulance you're talking about.

[andreas97]

Good point.
Alright, I may have to try it both ways once the fans get here....

[mrfunsacramento]

Love this thread, and am busy assembling a box cooler.

Any advice on how to power it would be welcome. I've got the solar replacement pump from silicon solutions, and the 12v endless breeze fan, for power I've got the 115ah battery from Costco and the 45w solar panels from Harbor Freight.

I think I'd like it to work where the battery runs the pump and fan, while the solar panels charge the battery.

1. How do I attach the pump and fan to the battery? The pump plugs into a cigarette lighter, and the pump has little circles at the end...is there some kind of adapter to attach to the battery?

2. Do I need something between the battery and the solar panels to keep from overcharging the battery?

3. Any issues with putting a switch in the pump cord? Seems like it would be handy to be able to turn off the pump without having to unplug it.

Thanks in advance.

[FIGJAM]

Love this thread, and am busy assembling a box cooler.

Any advice on how to power it would be welcome. I've got the solar replacement pump from silicon solutions, and the 12v endless breeze fan, for power I've got the 115ah battery from Costco and the 45w solar panels from Harbor Freight.

I think I'd like it to work where the battery runs the pump and fan, while the solar panels charge the battery.

1. How do I attach the pump and fan to the battery? The pump plugs into a cigarette lighter, and the pump has little circles at the end...is there some kind of adapter to attach to the battery?

2. Do I need something between the battery and the solar panels to keep from overcharging the battery?

3. Any issues with putting a switch in the pump cord? Seems like it would be handy to be able to turn off the pump without having to unplug it.

Thanks in advance.

I cut the cord on the pump and put on a polorized male wall plug (one prong is fatter than the other) and spliced the endlees breeze into the pump cord with a switch leg for the pump.

Make sure you test the pump cause it will work no matter which way the wires go to the battery, but one way pumps twice as much water.

I made sure the fat prong was the positive.

When I was testing, I just used a piece of speaker wire and put a female end on one end and gator clips on the other to clip to the battery.

Not sure about the solar stuff, but that battery should run the cooler all week on low, and if you use the higher speeds on the fan, the panel should make up the extra power.

Hope that helped.

[Gonzobill]

Thanks for the effort and extensive documentation. If you see a cooler in your BRC travels, chances are, you've helped in its creation. Good on you, my friend.

[FIGJAM]

Close to 40,000 views!

If 10% built coolers and each cooler drops the temp 30 degrees, the accumulated temp drop is 12,000 degrees!!!

No wonder it was so cold last year!!!!!!!!!

What have I done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[andreas97]

Love this thread, and am busy assembling a box cooler.

Any advice on how to power it would be welcome. I've got the solar replacement pump from silicon solutions, and the 12v endless breeze fan, for power I've got the 115ah battery from Costco and the 45w solar panels from Harbor Freight.

I think I'd like it to work where the battery runs the pump and fan, while the solar panels charge the battery.

1. How do I attach the pump and fan to the battery? The pump plugs into a cigarette lighter, and the pump has little circles at the end...is there some kind of adapter to attach to the battery?

2. Do I need something between the battery and the solar panels to keep from overcharging the battery?

3. Any issues with putting a switch in the pump cord? Seems like it would be handy to be able to turn off the pump without having to unplug it.

Thanks in advance.

To answer one and two.... do you have the charge controller that came with the HF kit? If so, it's not the greatest, but it will do what you need. Wire the batteries and the panel into that charge controller then, as Fig said, you can splice the pump and endless breeze onto one connector.... with the old-style HF controller, that would be a 1/4" phono plug.... but, with the new controller, it has a cig-lighter on the front, so you can splice them both into the plug you cut off the fan.

You can then put a switch on the + lead to the pump so you can turn that on and off without having to unplug.

If you *don't* have the HF controller, then yes, you'll need a charge controller to connect the panels to the battery.

[mrfunsacramento]

Very helpful.

I'm going to repeat just to check for understanding...

I've got the Harbor Freight solar panel controller, and it's got a cigarette lighter hole...so I can just splice the pump into the fan cord, and then plug the fan into the HF controller. If I splice a switch into the cord, I'll be able to turn the cooler on or off without leaving my yurt.

I attach the solar panels, the battery and the fan/pump all to the HF controller. It'll take care of moving the electrons wherever their most needed.

Thanks again.

[andreas97]

I've got the Harbor Freight solar panel controller, and it's got a cigarette lighter hole...so I can just splice the pump into the fan cord, and then plug the fan into the HF controller. If I splice a switch into the cord, I'll be able to turn the cooler on or off without leaving my yurt.

I attach the solar panels, the battery and the fan/pump all to the HF controller. It'll take care of moving the electrons wherever their most needed.

Yup! Exactly.

[zupermike]

Ok so here is a little update on my cooler.


I scrapped my first bucket and changed the hole pattern. Previously my holes were both too low and too high on the bucket. The low ones didn't allow more than 2 gallons in the bucket at once and the high ones were letting warm air to leak around the top of the pad. This time I went with only 4" holes and three 3" holes. I'm thinking the 4" hole will allow me to push the pad in a bit to grab a cold drink sitting in the cool water but on the outside of the pad without removing the lid.


I also followed along with the new design and removed the shade cloth and doubled the pad. One thing that I am doing a little different is that I've added a ring of tube around the top of the bucket that keeps the pad away from the sides. This helps to both seal the top of the pad and keep drips from running down the side and out the holes. I place the drip line from the pump partway between the two pads with the 'T" aligned the the inner seam which holds everything nicely in place.


Tube cut to size and pressure fit to act as a pad seal and drip guard. This ring is above the top of the holes and below the top of the pad.


I left one of the 3" holes out of the design and plan to stencil the word "cooler" under the word bucket. I orientate the seams and "T" to lineup with the one part that doesn't have a hole. I Also changed out the fan on the end of the duct to a more powerful one. I know I'm kinda doing to wrong with my two fans but I definitely feel a difference as opposed to just one. Can't wait to get out to the high desert soon to test before burningman.

[Packoderm]

[quote="zupermike"]Ok so here is a little update on my cooler.



[img]http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n22/ ... G_3179.jpg[/img]
I left one of the 3" holes out of the design and plan to stencil the word "cooler" under the word bucket. I orientate the seams and "T" to lineup with the one part that doesn't have a hole. I Also changed out the fan on the end of the duct to a more powerful one. I know I'm kinda doing to wrong with my two fans but I definitely feel a difference as opposed to just one. Can't wait to get out to the high desert soon to test before burningman.[/quote]

I don't see why you say that putting two fans inline is wrong in some way. Some air conditioners require an additional fan after x amount of hose. If it were me, I'd just get the 45 watt panel array from Harbor Freight, a jump starter/power source, and get fan/fans that can push some air. I'd make the whole thing out of a full sized plastic garbage can with real, natural swamp cooler matting. Louvers would be good. Other than that, I'd copy Figjam's design verbatim.

[FIGJAM]

Nice job zupermike.

One suggestion.

The T you used is about 3 inches long.

You may have to drill holes in it so you don't wind up with a dry strip of pad.

Any dry strip will allow hot air through your system.

It happens here on coolers when calsium clogs the emiters on big units.

[zupermike]

Thanks

Yes, I did drill a few holes on the underside of the T connector. Also I have the T section over the one part of the bucket that does not have a hole in the side. That way if the pad doesn't get totally soaked it wont matter much since there is no vent right there.

[Janet Planet]

I finished mine a couple of days ago. It works! It's AWESOME!
I am so thrilled I have to keep going out to the studio where I'm keeping it and turning in on and gloating.
I may fine tune it with more holes (I kept the shade cloth and made the cooler pad go all the way to the bucket lid because I didn't want dry airflow in through the top gap).
I used a smaller plastic bowl and dryer vent as ductwork.
My plan: my tent has two zippered doors opposite each other. I can zip one zipper (two zipper heads will hold it in place) around the end of the dryer vent so it stays where I want it, and open a gap in the opposite zipper door so the air can escape.
The only other thing I did was spray paint the Homer bucket blue because I had a spare can of paint lying around and I don't like orange. Now it's purty!
Desert dweller here reminding you all: don't forget you need a place for air to escape! If not it will get all muggy fuggy inside. Evap coolers only work as long as air is leaving the space at the rate it blows in. You can manage this to your advantage if you put the exit vent as far from the entering air as possible so you get optimal cool air circulation.

Anyway: YAY! Thank you Figgie! You're the fig!

[FIGJAM]

Good job!

Glad you brought up the pad going clear to the top.

The drip line needs to be pinched between the pad and lid so that ALL the air is forced to come through the wet pad.

[Janet Planet]

Here's a picture of my swampy. I added a few more holes to the bucket since I took the picture.
(double thanks, Fig)

[FIGJAM]

I've edited all my posts on this thread that could be misleading or confusing to make things easier.

No attempt was made to save face.

Hopefully this will make it easier to build this project.

[wimala1]

ok, i don't think this question has been asked.

do you put the swamp bucket cooler inside your tent, or outside your tent & rigged to blow in your tent?

i am doing the tent in tent this year and was thinking to put my bucket cooler in the outside tent & then direct airflow in to the single man tent for sleeping.

one more caveat that i haven't seen yet; there will be two single man tents in the main tent - so will direct airflow in to two single man, two fans, run parallel, through the dryer duct mounted to the lid as figi suggested - with a fan in each vent line where it enters the tent.

will i get create enough negative pressure to obtain cooling?
will the fans run parallel be twice the cfm?
has anyone every done this variety before?
does the cooler go outside the main tent?

thanks,

continuing on my monkey hut now!

[Janet Planet]

Here's a link to a photo of my swampy. CaveGirl couldn't get it to just show the image here in the post.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1040397704 ... 4903167570

[FIGJAM]

The bucket will have to set in the dry hot air to work properly.

2 fans hooked up side by side will double the cfm if their the same.

So you're doing 2 tents in a tent under a monkey hut?

[waxpraxis]

Has anyone played with the idea of radiator-style coolers?

I helped a buddy make one like this a few years ago and it worked pretty well.



Basically it was a siphon that pulled cool water behind the fan. I'm wondering if a solar powered pump (rather than a siphon) + battery operated fan would have the, to use a technical term, "ooph", to do any real cooling. It seems like the fact that a swamp cooler blows humidified air is one of the big factors in how well it works out on the playa.

Oh - and and suffice it to say, if I thought I could sort out the logistics of a big ass battery combined with flying in and this being my first burn... I would just build figjam's!

[andreas97]

Quick PSA... the fans are called "scythe" for a reason. Don't accidentally stick your pinkie finger into one.

Ow.

(I'm fine)

[wimala1]

[quote="FIGJAM"]The bucket will have to set in the dry hot air to work properly.

2 fans hooked up side by side will double the cfm if their the same.

So you're doing 2 tents in a tent under a monkey hut? [/quote]

i know!! i am such a VIRGIN!!!

i was thinking the tent in a tent for the dust, but then decided i could build a monkey hut cheaper than enough aluminet to cover the outer tent and now i feel like i am just still throwing things up in the air to see what lands first!!

so, do you think the one 5 gal bucket cooler can cool? the outer tent is 12X14 and the small tents are 5x7. i am in south florida and am really trying to do this on my own (don't know any local burners) with help from eplaya. i cannot even test if the cooler will work due to it being about 70% humidity down here. i guess i can at least see if air comes out

anyway, i appreciate any and all of your input and if i am overkilling = please just say so!!!