cooling your tent or van

[tattoogoddess]

Ok so I am just going to make the first one posted. Use the same pump and fan ect. My tent is like 6x6 and about 5 feet high.what battery should I get?
The one you posted at Costco seems like over kill, am I right?

[FIGJAM]

The costco battery weill run the cooler for 6hrs. a day for 7 days without a recharge.

If you bring a genny, you can use almost any 12 volt battery and recharge from the genny as needed.

[tattoogoddess]

I wonder if same club would have that one or something like it. No Costco near here really, SAMs is 30 minutes.

[tattoogoddess]

Hey do you have a pic of how you connected the batteries to the wires?

[FIGJAM]

The easiest way is to just use alligator clips on the cooler wires to connect to the battery.

This is how I did it.

When I wired the playapod for 12 volt, I used regular wall outlets.







If you look at most outlets these days, one side has a slightly wider slot than the other.

Now look at the plug.

One prong is slightly wider than the other.

I wired the plug so that the wide prong is the possitive, and the narrow one is the negitive.







This makes it easy to plug or unplug the cooler, and the plug will only go in one way so that it can't be pluged in "wrong".

Some like to use car outlets like a cigarette lighter, but my way was cheaper.

[tattoogoddess]

so i could take the pump cord and the fan cord and splice them together and then gator clip them onto a battery? am i reading you right?

[FIGJAM]

That's how I did it, but you could keep them separate so you could run just the fan for when you don't need the extra cooling, or add switches.

[tattoogoddess]

What is the best way to pump the air into a tent? Get like metal flashing then magnets? Clip it to a screen on a window. Give me some ideas cause that's all I have.

[FIGJAM]

Look at the picture of the finished cooler on page 60.

Most tents have a double zipper on the door.

When you're going to use the cooler, set it just outside the door, and zip the door closed around that top pipe.

Then open one of the windows just enough to vent the hot air out so the cooled air can come in.

[Earthwalker]

Ok, now that I've got the MH figured out (still needs some work), I'm going to try to tackle this thing. Gotta admit I'm a bit scared. I'm going to try and figure out as much as possible on my own so as to not annoy you, Fig, but imma need some help, dig? I guess first question would be (and I already sort of asked this, so sorry):

this is ok for a MH, right? A lot of people are talking about ducting the cool air into their tent or van. I don't plan on doing that. I plan on putting it in the middle of my MH and just have it blow towards the general seating area.

Is that cool? (pun intended hardy har har)

[junglesmacks]

What is the best way to pump the air into a tent? Get like metal flashing then magnets? Clip it to a screen on a window. Give me some ideas cause that's all I have.

Use flexible dryer ducting tube material to blow the air where you need it. Seal around it.

[kstlfido]

[quote="Earthwalker"]

this is ok for a MH, right? A lot of people are talking about ducting the cool air into their tent or van. I don't plan on doing that. I plan on putting it in the middle of my MH and just have it blow towards the general seating area.

Is that cool? (pun intended hardy har har)[/quote]

I'll chime in- is your MH enclosed or open at the ends? The idea is to get dry outside air into the cooler. If your MH is enclosed, then you will need to get outside dry air into the cooler. If not, it might work OK in close vicinity (like lying in front of the fan) but far less effective than an enclosed space.

[BBadger]

kstlfido: Go into your account profile settings and enable BBCode under Board Preferences -> Edit Posting Defaults so that your quotes work.

[kstlfido]

kstlfido: Go into your account profile settings and enable BBCode under Board Preferences -> Edit Posting Defaults so that your quotes work.

Done, thx for the heads up!

[FIGJAM]

Earthwalker, if you're building the bucket cooler, it will do for one person sitting in a chair in the shade.

The output of the fan is'nt enough to do more than that in an open space.

I give demo's in my open shade on the playa and people get chilly sitting in the chair by the time I've discribed how it works, but it's a concentrated flow of air directed at the chair.

Just follow the simple instructions and it will work.

[Earthwalker]

Interesting. So I suppose people could take turns in the chair. Or I could duct it into a tent then people can go pile in the tent to cool down, like getting in a car with the AC on. Maybe I'll set it up so it's tubed out into two directions, so two people can sit next to each other and both be cooled.

or I'll just cool myself and be happy.

thanks fig

[Earthwalker]

And I suppose the thread is called "cooling your tent or van", not your monkey hut, or your entire camp.

[FIGJAM]

It depends on how much you want to cool.

If you can bring the power and water, I can make a design that will blow 30 degree cooler air through the whole monkey hut!

[Earthwalker]

Well, good sir, I am not trying to turn the fine desert into something it isn't (Seattle). What I'm really trying to do is to provide a small space where some members of my camp can go to get a much needed respite from the heat and related exhaustion. Of course I want to cool myself too, but I mainly want to build the cooler as a gift to my camp that is doing so much for me by setting up, DJing, etc. I imagine seeing people crashed out under some silly shade structure, looking like they're considering going home early, and being like "hey, follow me...trust me". I bring them to a chair or two seating area, they sit down, close their eyes, exhale, then just look up with a smile and say "thank you"

(The philosopher would ask...so, are you doing that for them, or for how it makes YOU feel? To that I say, shutup. Quit analyzing things so much. I was a philosphy minor in college and I quit b/c I already way overanalyze things on my own. Circular thinking leads nowhere. Open your third eye....man)

[FIGJAM]

That's the nice thing about the bucket cooler, it's completely portable.

The cord is about 15' long.

Set it next to a tent door and zip the door closed around the vent pipe and you're cooling the whole tent. (up to abot a 10'x10' and open a window to vent the hot air out.)

Wanna set out where you can watch "goings on", move it out by a chair.

[tattoogoddess]

Ok sooooo I think I may have a bit of an issue. The pump I bought. I though it has the same specs but no way with this little of a guy. Help?

[Earthwalker]

Those pumps should be kept away from hot flame, including lighters

[tattoogoddess]

Lol noted.

Also would black or white be a better cooler for the bucket? Not in style..... Effectiveness.

[FIGJAM]

150cm=4ft9in

200L=52 gallons

I think it will work.

[TT120]

Looks like the input voltage is 4.5 to 10 volts. 12 volts might be a little much for the cute little feller.

Unless of course, you're running it off of 4.5 to 10 volts, in which case....Never mind. For some reason I thought you were going to run this from a deep cycle marine battery.

[tattoogoddess]

Nope just solar. The fan will be off the battery though.

[FIGJAM]

I did'nt know you were going to run the pump on solar.

That pump may be marginal if the sun situation is'nt perfect.

[Martiansky]

Figjam, I have a question about batteries.
What is the difference between a Deep Cycle and a Marine battery and which is better?
Something about solid lead plates and corrugated and cold cranking amps and it still didn't explain a difference.
I tried to find the answer online but it was really vague and didnt answer my question.
Oh, and what does the 115AH mean on the battery you have because I havent seen that on any batteries that Ive looked at?
Thanks FJ!

PS The local HD does NOT carry the evap pads.

[FIGJAM]

"Marine deep cycle batteries" are made for starting engines AND running accesseries on boats.

They're 1 step up from a car battery.

A true deep cycle battery has got still thicker plates in it for exactly what we use them for.

They're made for RVs, home solar power systems, and golf carts.

If they're taken care of, they can last 10 years.

115AH is how many hours of power the battery has available, but for long life you never use more than half that before recharging.

That gives you 57.5 hours if what you have plugged in uses 1 amp per hour.

The coolers as designed use just under 1.5 amps per hour, so you could run your cooler for 5hrs a day for 6 days before recharging without shortening the life of the battery.

You will probably have to order your pad online.

http://www.amazon.com/Dial-30X36-Duraco ... B000BODUG6

Always happy to help!

[tattoogoddess]

If your going total solar for the pump, it might be a good idea to add a aaa battery box into the circuit in case of clouds. It should be fairly easy to do.
The busted toys at goodwill will have a ton of the battery boxes.

Taking time to read a lot on here as most of my parts have arrived now....

Like you saw mine is totally solar. Do you have a pic or a step by step on this?