cooling your tent or van

[Dr. Brap]

Okay, I figured photo posting out. First off here's the 30 degree evidence.
Before we by figJAMMIN on a nice hot Vegas afternoon:


Now we be figJAMMIN!!
O

Here's how the toilet flange matches the fan size


Overall


Thanks Again!!

[jaybatson]

That company stopped selling the pumps.
Now they are here or on ebay.
https://www.greenlivingforu.com/dc-subm ... or-battery

Sigh - wish this had shown up weeks ago. :-/ I'm stuck with the 7v one from Harbor Freight. (My bucket is in a truck on the way to the Playa; and I'm _done_ spending money for this Burn...).

[jaybatson]

Hey, Figjam -

What page of the thread is the current best-practice on the cooler pads shown? I don't think the front-page post edited & up to date, and I can't remember which thread page has current cooler pad instructions.

If it's not easy to find, here's what I'm assuming.
- Fix the outer pad so it does NOT contact the outside of the bucket, so that air can flow through the holes & be drawn in across the entire pad surface. (I wish I knew how big should this gap be; pad length prior to stitching / bonding would help.)
- The outer pad is also cut shorter than the inner pad, so that it acts as a shelf for the vinyl water ring. (How much shorter? Just a bit more than the tube O.D.?)
- The inner pad is taller, and goes to the top of the bucket, to prevent a gap (where the air would flow with least resistance). A small hole / notch in this allows the water feed tube through to the water ring. (I note that this feels to me like a 1-layer pad, thus less air resistance, thus potentially a place where dust will collect over the week. Experience otherwise?)

I believe sizes for all this are shown on some page somewhere. Figjam, is it possible to edit your first page post so that it has all current data (e.g. revised pump source, alternate vendor I mentioned a few posts ago for the fan (since they're back-ordered at your source), current pad dimensions, and sourcing info)?

RSVP
-jb

[FIGJAM]

Can't edit the first post.

The buckets seem to be different sizes at different home depots, but keep the pad about 1/4" away from the sides of the bucket.

On mine the outer pad is 30"x13 1/2", but some buckets are different.

They are tapered, so I just made the pad tube the size of the bottom of the bucket and the taper kept it away from the sides.

Make the outer pad tall enough so that the halo acts as a seal against the lid.

The inner pad doesn't get seamed, so the gap in the seam holds the T connector and halo in place.

The air draws the moisture toward the inside pad and I've never had a problem with dust clogging anything.

[Bounce530]

As I'm amassing 'the pile' in the garage, I went to set the battery for my cooler on the concrete, but then remembered what my father had told me years and years ago. Don't put a car battery directly on the ground. Now whether its true or not that the ground will drain the battery, I think while packing we all should bring something to set the batteries on and not directly on playa.
I'm going to put my battery up on some 2x4's that are just a bit bigger than the footprint of the battery.

[FIGJAM]

Here's the real deal.

http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechT ... ncrete.htm

[TT120]

Yeah, that hasn't been true for a long time. With plastic technology the way it is, batteries can sit on the concrete, Playa, or anything really.

[Martiansky]

Major bummer!
I hooked up the pump to the battery and......NOTHING!!!
It's my fault for waiting so long to do this....now I need a pump and I don't know if I can get one locally.
The fan worked great which is a bonus, I guess.

[Martiansky]

Just had a thought.....hardware store sells smallish bilge pumps.
I've, looked at them, only thing I would have to deal with is the output which is bigger then 3/8" but I could maybe
get some plastic fittings to downsize it to 3/8"

[Martiansky]

800gph and 3/4" hose outlet

Is that too much?

[FIGJAM]

We're right down the street.

Do you want to use my spare?

[Martiansky]

(((FIGJAM)))

You are a dear! Thank you for your offer!

[doober831]

Finally got the cooler up and running! It's too humid around here to tell how well it's working so I'm just gonna trust that it'll work. It's gotta be better than nothing!
Question: Is there any way to muffle the high pitch noise the fan makes? I' notice if i put my hands over the opening that high pitch noise pretty much disappears and you just hear the rushing air. Any suggestions? I'm thinkin a length of flex tubing may help but I haven't tested that theory yet.

[Canoe]

Question: Is there any way to muffle the high pitch noise the fan makes?

remove any unnecessary grid/grill on intake and output of the fan
duct it so there is no 'line of sight' to the fan
the softer the sides of the duct, the less it will reflect the noise - some will travel through the air to you anyway - you're minimizing not eliminating
you might try (I haven't yet) tapeing a duct together from bubble-wrap

[Aleksey]

Wow, what a thread
Forgive if this was asked on one of the 80 pages, but how big is FIGJAM's tent in cubic feet?
The recommendation was to cycle air every 3 to 5 minutes, but the choice was 150 CFM fan which will translate into 450-750 cubic feet, that's one big tent or van.

I cannot seem to find any 150 CFM fans that I can quickly get my hands on, but I can get 60CFM and my 2 people tent is less than 100 cubic feet. Would that do the job?

I could also connect the fans in series, there are venting systems like that, but I think they are designed for it, like say, shape of rotors and making sure they are moving with a certain shift in the phase, but will these computer fans increase CFM when arranged like that?

[FIGJAM]

Is your tent going to be shaded?

Testing has shown that under 100cfm just doesn't move enough air.

My bucket has a 190cfm fan and is good up to about 600 cubic feet of cooling.

I don't sleep in a tent.



The hatch in this pic is the intake on my cooler.

[strangeloop]

Quick question for anyone that hasn't yet left for the playa with electronics experience.

I bought this pump from Amazon this week:


It has a standard 3-prong wall plug, no transformer or anything. I tried to strip it last night to connect to my deep-cycle battery, but it didn't work. Am I missing a step here?

There's a green, white, and black wire inside. I'm assuming the green is ground, and I have nothing to connect that to.

Please help! and thanks!

[FIGJAM]

That pump runs on house current which is AC.

You need a 12 volt DC pump, or an inverter to use with that pump.

[Aleksey]

Is your tent going to be shaded?
Testing has shown that under 100cfm just doesn't move enough air.
My bucket has a 190cfm fan and is good up to about 600 cubic feet of cooling.

Yes, I'm planning to have a tarp over it, with a foot or so space from the tent on the top and sides.

Proportionally, I'd only need 30cfm to cool 100 cubic feet of space, or will it simply not be able to pull the air through the cooler pads?

[FIGJAM]

Mathmaticly you are correct, but with swamp coolers the rule of thumb is "More is better"!

[strangeloop]

That pump runs on house current which is AC.

You need a 12 volt DC pump, or an inverter to use with that pump.

FAIL!

Luckily I have last year's pump. I'll just have to consolidate back to one swamp cooler from two.

[Dr. Brap]

Wow, what a thread
Forgive if this was asked on one of the 80 pages, but how big is FIGJAM's tent in cubic feet?
The recommendation was to cycle air every 3 to 5 minutes, but the choice was 150 CFM fan which will translate into 450-750 cubic feet, that's one big tent or van.

I cannot seem to find any 150 CFM fans that I can quickly get my hands on, but I can get 60CFM and my 2 people tent is less than 100 cubic feet. Would that do the job?

I could also connect the fans in series, there are venting systems like that, but I think they are designed for it, like say, shape of rotors and making sure they are moving with a certain shift in the phase, but will these computer fans increase CFM when arranged like that?

Two fans in series should double air pressure and two fans in parallel should double flow rate.

[guerrillayogi]

I'm going 100% solar. This was my last shopping spree on Amazon. Unfortunately, the parts are going to meet me in the desert, so I can only test in real conditions!

40w solar panel (for direct power):
12VDC pump:
12VDC case fan:
12VDC vent fan for my dome (repurposed)
Timer switch (to avoid burnout when dry):

Gonna hook up all the parts in parallel (except timer) and cross my fingers! Got the harbour freight pump just as a backup

[Jyman]

I think I got it right this time. will see soon enough. It's almost 70% RH here in El Segundo CA so I can't get cooling results til I reach the playa.
MEGA THANKS TO FIGJAM for everything here!, replying to all the questions etc!

IMG_0162 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0163 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0169 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0117 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0119 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0120 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0123 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0149 by J Hy One, on Flickr

IMG_0150 by J Hy One, on Flickr

I had to chop off the lip on the side that interfaces the yurt wall in order to get a flush seal. I reinforced the flimsy plastic with a couple of metal rulers to stiffen it up and give the lid a better rim to sit on.

IMG_0115 by J Hy One, on Flickr

The grille was a bit tight in this trash bin, so I had to chop off around 1/2", used a dremel. Made the grille flimsy but once attached was solid.

IMG_0066 by J Hy One, on Flickr

Cut my lid from some 1/8" acrylic. Gonna hold it on with a couple small clamps

IMG_0077 by J Hy One, on Flickr

Here's one way I didn't go the recommended route and tried something else. To attach my vents and fan, I used DUCK brand PERMANENT mounting tape. I didn't want to deal with silicone, which definitely wouldn't hold the weight of my vents and fan on my plastic box.
http://duckbrand.com/products/invisible ... nting-tape
It held fine on my cooler last yr and is still holding strong today. Can hold 1/4 lb per 1.5" of tape. Since I sealed the hole edge of every piece (over 2' of tape per mount), the hold is so strong that if I pulled the fan off it would break open my fan before the adhesive gave out. I even tested a piece submerged in water for a week and it held fine after that, even though it's not rated as waterproof. In my cooler it will barely be dampened so I'm pretty confident in it. It's also rated at 150 degrees F, so its temp should be fine. For those that want to try it, make sure you don't accidentally get the removable version of this tape, this one is permanent thus stronger.
Yo can see it here between the box and the vent. It's about 1/16" thick.

IMG_0075 by J Hy One, on Flickr

[FIGJAM]

That's amazeballs!!!!!!!

As long as the pump can keep the pads wet it will work great!

WARNING: DO NOT LET THE COOL AIR CAUSE YOU TO HIBERNATE IN CAMP ALL WEEK!!!!!!!!

Excellent job.

[otakup0pe]

Don't get excited about the bowl on top as we found that connectors worked better for ducting, but the creativity of the bucket still tickles me!

That is quite the pretty swamp cooler.

Got ours working. Took about an hour or so not counting waiting for Goop to dry.

Too balmy to really tell if it's working at home. The pump and fan seem to work so I guess it's coming with us to the playa.

[Jyman]

That's amazeballs!!!!!!!

As long as the pump can keep the pads wet it will work great!

WARNING: DO NOT LET THE COOL AIR CAUSE YOU TO HIBERNATE IN CAMP ALL WEEK!!!!!!!!

Excellent job.

Thanks again FIGR! yeah I put 10 holes per side at 1 & 1/4" apart (7/64" holes). It equally distributed the water to wet the entire pad w/o dry spots. My concern was to not allow too much water flow so the water pressure reaches the end of the line.


On-playa can the dry air still dry it out the pad? Would you suggest more / bigger holes?
It's not too late for me to make another pvc pipe line. It looked to me like one of your boxes had holes 3/4" apart, and another box had em 1&1/4" apart. That correct? Is either ok?

[Jyman]

Oh, FIGJAM...maybe you just meant as long as my pump works properly all week it will be fine? Think I mistook you for questioning the irrigation line

[FIGJAM]

I think it's great!!!

You could still drill some sections of pvc 3/4" and take them with you "just in case".

[doober831]

so i bought the pump that figjam suggests and i'm curious about the size of hole i should drill. the first ring i made i think the holes were to big. the next one i used a 1/16 drill bit and drilled holes every inch. I'm thinking that maybe i'd be better with bigger holes? What size and how far apart from each other have people been doing?