cooling your tent or van

[Asherbeez]

Oh another solution (if you're feeling more creative than consumer) is to put together some louvers for the container you're using to direct the flow to the duct. The goal is to eliminate most if not all of the dead space and corners where the moving air can go, start to spin and throw off the rest of the flow.

[FIGJAM]

40,000 views recap and review bump!!!

Last year people tried to make the bucket cooler do more than it was ment to do, with moderate success.

The main problems seemed to be a powerful enough fan and how to duct the air into the space.

My box cooler worked great and I never use anything but the low speed on the fan.






NOW INTRODUCING THE UNICOOLER!!!!!!!


No duct work needed!!!

Build a box 17wx30hx9d.



If you cant build a simple box, try to find something waterproof with roughly the same dementions or this.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... ce2010a-20

If you can find something that does'nt have tapered sides it will work better.

Cut a hole for the vent cover. ($11.00)





Cut a hole for the fan. (Endless breeze fan $60-$80)



I used 100% clear silicone caulk to stick these to the box.



The vent louvers are facing down and into the box to keep the water channeled toward the inside.

I got some angle trim and siliconed pieces to the inside of the box to act as a pad retainer.





This is the pump.

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





I had to cut the 90s shorter to get the straight pieces closer together, but you can stagger the holes in a single piece to get the same effect.

The pvc just lays on the top edge of the pads.

Then I went to the bin (16489-j "junk" subheading A "awsume") and found some handles.





Then make an air tight lid.(figure it out)

Finished cooler looks like this.





I call it the universal cooler cause you just shove the pad side against any opening in a tent, bus, travel trailer, yurt, or playpod and it will cool up to 3000 cubic feet of space. You can even set it on a table outside for use.

Add some foam stickon wheather stripping for a good seal around a window.

Fill it with 7gals. of water for 8hrs. of cooling. So once a day depending on how much you use it.

105ah battery will run this all week on low.

You may have to recharge if you use medium or high speed on the fan.

I'm confident that this will cool even a school bus without useing a genny and its a lot quieter than an air conditioner.

As always I'll try to answer any questios you may have.


HERE'S TO A MORE COMFORTABLE BURN!!!

[FIGJAM]

It was hot here today, so I did a test with the unicooler.

I like this flow!



This was the air temp.



The water was setting in the cooler all day, so it was pretty warm also.

I switched on the pump to soak the pad, then turned on the fan.



If I had left the cooler running for another 20min., the water temp would have been much cooler, and probably dropped the temp another 5 to 10 degrees.

Humidity was 8%.

[FIGJAM]

[FIGJAM]

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

An evaporative cooler will reduce the tempature by 20 to 30 degrees.

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.

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!!

[sjs]

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!)

Surprise Dubstep!



In swamp cooler news, I will finally be putting together my 2-scythe, 2-hose bucket cooler this weekend. I'll post pics.

FIGJAM, I see that you have moved from a single evap pad with plastic holder to a double evap pad configuration. Is there no concern that this increases air resistance and therefore sucking/blowing power?

[andreas97]

What's with all the moved/deleted pictures?

[FIGJAM]

What's with all the moved/deleted pictures?

I wanted to put all the instructions for the 2 cooolers on one page for the 40,000 view and when I did, everything came out all fucked up.

They're all back now, at least I see them.

I went back and put the pics back in, or are you refuring to the edit I did after the change to reduce the confusion factor?

[FIGJAM]

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!)

Surprise Dubstep!



In swamp cooler news, I will finally be putting together my 2-scythe, 2-hose bucket cooler this weekend. I'll post pics.

FIGJAM, I see that you have moved from a single evap pad with plastic holder to a double evap pad configuration. Is there no concern that this increases air resistance and therefore sucking/blowing power?

Still sounds like my last MRI.


The pad is porse enough that I did'nt notice any difference in air flow.

[andreas97]

I wanted to put all the instructions for the 2 cooolers on one page for the 40,000 view and when I did, everything came out all fucked up.

They're all back now, at least I see them.

All but one or two of the unicooler ones are showing up as a picturetrail "Image was deleted or was moved" graphic.

So, I found some ducting yesterday at the store that may work with the dual 120mm fan setup... 10"x4" register duct with a 4" outlet... but now I'm starting to wonder if I should just say "screw it" and go with the unicooler design.
Since we're going to be doing an H13 yurt, I'm thinking the bucket cooler might not cut it.... plus, it would get rid of all this duct nonsense.
(plus I already have an endless breeze for other camping purposes)

On the other hand, the damned thing is only going to get used once a year... so...

I'll have to noodle that while I'm down at the beach over the weekend.

[FIGJAM]

YURT ALERT!!!!! Ok you dont have to have a yurt, but I liked saying it. Swamp cooler 2.0.



I made the box out of some left over material from my tube surround. I dont remember what its called, but its water proof and light. Fiber glass or plastic panels will work if their thick enough, but if you are patient, look in the thrift stores for a plastic or lexan display case with roughly the same dementions. 15x15x24in. Then you wont have to build a box.



The endless breeze fan is awsome. I thought I had a problem with it, but it turns out that I reversed the connection which made the fan run backwards, so it wasnt pushing much air. Now I can feel the breeze from 10ft away when its on low(1.18 amps 250cfm) medium 500cfm 1.68 amps, and high is 900cfm at 2.50 amps. Great for a 12 volt fan. The cheepest price new that I found was $60. Mine was a display and I got it for $25.



1/2in. pvc and three 90s and a cap.



The feed line was a little small till I put a short piece of pvc in the 90. with a little sillycone, its perfect. No need to glue the other pvc parts together.





By folding the pad instead of cutting individual pieces, It gets a snugger fit. The piece of strap keeps the pad snug at the front of the cooler. This is needed because if your fan is real strong, it will try to vacume your pad away from the sides. The pad retains its shape real well, so folding the inside corners is perfect.
The black tape is there because I got a little high on the sides with my holes and you want all the air to be drawn through damp pad.




Im waiting for the little bit stronger pump so I can test, but it should work fine...........FIGJAM........Oh .....check rv places to locate this fan. I sillyconed all the joints on the box exept the lid and this unit holds 6 gal. of water. Theres room for a case of pbr in the bottom. I have to check, but I think the water temp when running is close to 40 degrees. Unite dry wieght 13 pounds.

Almost forgot this one!

[andreas97]

So, which did you end up liking the most? The "unicooler" or the "2.0"?

[FIGJAM]

The unicooler needs no ducting and it's not critical for it to sit level.

The other works great, but it has to sit outside the space.

[andreas97]

Oh, I thought you had done two different box-based ones (un-ducted)

[Puckmaster]

My entire camp is building one of your bucket coolers this weekend THANKS FIGJAM! If I run into you in brc I'm totally feeding you booz as a reward.

[FIGJAM]

Oh, I thought you had done two different box-based ones (un-ducted)

Neither of the box coolers are ducted.

My playapod from last year was thrown together on my brothers utility trailer that left me with a 3ft porch.

The plywood was thin enough to push the cooler against from the outside so that just the fan was inside the pod.

The unicooler sits inside with the intake against an opening.

The 2.0 sits outside with just the fan inside the space. If you have walls like a hexiyurt you would need an extension where the fan mounts for it to reach through the wall.

[FIGJAM]

Your very welcome Puckmaster!

[mrfunsacramento]

If I have a box cooler with an endless breeze fan (900 cfm on high), how big an exhaust hole do I need to put in my hexayurt? The smallest furnace filters I can find at my hardware store are 10 x 20, if I cut a 9 x 18 inch hole, and tape a furnace filter over it, will that be big enough to vent, or do I need something larger (or different?) Anyone know if cutting holes in a hexayurt roof panel hurts its structural integrity?

Thanks in advance.

[FIGJAM]

That should give plenty of venting.

I can't speak to the integrity issue.

[wimala1]

figjam, did you build the two fan version of the bucket yet? I think that was you - could have been sjs; can't quite tell which one of you was working on that.

are there any engineer types out there that would have any insight on the venturi properties of the bowl upside down on top of the bucket? would you get a greater venturi effect with the fan being inline with the duct vs in the top of the bucket lid?

i tried the pump out today, but not until around 530pm - and it is sucking air through the first set of holes and not filling the whole tube. any insight on why would be appreciated.

will try it again tomorrow in full sun.

[FIGJAM]

If you're using the HF solar pump, you may need smaller holes in the feed line to get even water distribution.

That pump pushes 42gph.

The one I'm using pushes 80gph.

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

[HandJamMasterC]

By the way, the material you are making the box cooler out of looks like FRP ( fiberglass reinforced panels ) - standard stuff in the construction industry for tub surrounds and for commercial kitchen and bathroom wall coverings. One should be able to find it anywhere !! Comes in 4' x 8' sheets.

[FIGJAM]

By the way, the material you are making the box cooler out of looks like FRP ( fiberglass reinforced panels ) - standard stuff in the construction industry for tub surrounds and for commercial kitchen and bathroom wall coverings. One should be able to find it anywhere !! Comes in 4' x 8' sheets.

It could be, but it does'nt remind me of any fiberglass I've encountered.

Hows your cooler coming along?

[HandJamMasterC]

I'm still in the design stage, trying to figure out if I want to build a box like yours or use a large 20" x 30" x 10" waste basket. The solar powered fan works great !!

[FIGJAM]

I would double the width to enable enough exposed double pad to accomidate that much air.

[sjs]

figjam, did you build the two fan version of the bucket yet? I think that was you - could have been sjs; can't quite tell which one of you was working on that.

I'm working on it. I believe somebody else is too. I made some progress today, but I've scrapped a couple of designs so far. Currently I'm putting two 4-inch pvc tubes coming out of the top, with two Scythe fans mounted under the lid blowing into them. Then, I'm putting 3-inch dryer vent onto a 3"-to-4" pvc adapter which sits on the tubes. In my preliminary tests however, the dryer vent seemed to slow the air considerably, so I may go for a 4" pvc 90-degree joint and then just pipe the pvc right into my tent... similar to Figjam's truck setup. Will post more soon.

Also, +1 to whoever mentioned not to stick your finger in the Scythe fans. I did some major damage to my finger today.

[sjs]

I feel like this is a dumb question, but I don't know the answer so here goes.

What's the best way to recharge the 12v deep-cycle batteries that most folks are using? Can you just hook it up to a 12v DC source for awhile? When do you stop? Do you need a charger like this:



Will anything that advertises itself as a car battery charger be fine?

[ConnieH]

[quote="mrfunsacramento"]Anyone know if cutting holes in a hexayurt roof panel hurts its structural integrity?

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

I don't think small holes would do much structural damage, the panels are pretty tough. I'd keep the any holes in the roof lower and in the middle of a triangle. Or you could leave a hole in the very top where all the corners come together, but then of course you'd get dust blowing in. I've thought about rigging an exhaust fan at the top with some kind of filter for dust, but haven't done it yet.

[FIGJAM]

I can't find the article right now, but it said that you can charge a good deep cycle battery at 25 to 50 amps.

I'm going to recharge by hooking jumper cables from the battery I want to charge to my truck and just let it idle for an hour.

The regulator in the alternator won't let it overcharge and it will do in an hour what it would take 6 hours for 2/6/10 amp charger to do.

Look on the net under fast charging batteries for more info.

[FIGJAM]

Everyone has been telling me about missing pix.

I can see them all on my puter, but I just checked on another machine and there are a bunch missing.

I have no idea why this is.but I'll try to fix it in the morning.

Sorry for the fuckup!