New plan to keep the ol' tent cool

[C.f.M.]

I haven't the skills, tools know-how to make a swamp cooler, or the means to get one there. (Figjam should totally set up a table in Gerlach and make a killing selling his...)

I think one of these

http://www.homedepot.com/p/SPT-450-CFM- ... ghaG3_AEhk

plugged into one of these



will work, right?

[Elderberry]

Several years ago we tried running a similar swamp cooler in a tent. It didn't seem to work very well and it leaked. (it was a brand new unit) From my experience, I'd say you'd be just as cool with a fan.

[Canoe]

Those components are so far off the mark, this looks like a troll.

Well, the very efficient 12 VDC components in the DIY swamp-cooler can usually be run for the week on a 100 amp hour battery that costs approximately $100. That power source, for which I can't see an amp hour rating at the link given, costs ~$40 including a charger circuit, cables & connectors. Can't be a lot of amp hours for those dollars. I don't see any rating of 120 VAC, so it appears it doesn't have an inverter for producing 120 VDC.

The "cooler" you link to requires 120 VAC.

> this evaporative Air Cooler sucks air through a wick saturated with water.
doesn't use a pump to keep the filter wet with water, so no playa dust washed off of the filter, but it claims a HEPA fitler

> An air stream is then blown out the front of the unit and is considerably cooler than the current room temperature.
But this will last only until the humidity is raised within your shelter, then there will no longer be any evaporative cooling. Then you're just raising temperature from its motor heat while maintaining humidity.

> Note: This unit is best used in dry climates or open spaces. Leave window/door open when temperature or humidity rises in the room.
Because for ongoing effectiveness, a swamp-cooler needs a source of hot dry air for the evaporative cooling to work. As per above, apart from an initial blow of cool, it's just going to heat & humidify the shelter. You need to get rid of that hot humid air from the shelter, so it's filled with hot dry air, before the swamp-cooler will cool again.

> Add as much ice as possible and set unit next to you for best effect.
It's a piece of crap. Use ice and you'll get a little more cool while it lasts.

That "cooler" and a power source would be an expensive way to replace the manual cooling method:

• Use a spray bottle to spray a mist of water up into the air within your shelter when it is hot & dry inside,
• The mist of water will evaporate, providing you with some cool relief,
• Once that most air heats up again, open the doors & window to let hot dry air in to replace the hot humid air
  (when no wind: you'll need a fan (powered or hand), or time for the humidity to migrate out),
• Now close up and spray a mist of water up into the air again,
• Or keep letting the hot dry air blow through and mist yourself on a regular basis for some heat relief.
  same as being outside and spraying the mist into the breeze to blow back on you...

The DIY swamp-cooler is really quite easy to make.
Go for it.

[Captain Goddammit]

No... those two items will not work together, at all! And neither of those two items will work well even for their intended applications separately from each other.
That "power source" is just a 12 volt DC battery, and that cooler needs 120 volts AC, and even if you also bought an inverter to step up the voltage and make it work, it'd work for about a half an hour.

The FIGJAM cooler is SO SIMPLE. Just read his ridiculously simple step by step instructions. It's do or die. Or at least do or fry!

[ygmir]

seems, CFM, you could just get a few of your hottie admirers, to stand in skimpy outfits and fan you.

Just an idea.

[BurnerBunny]

start a campaign to the Hiltons and demand they build a hotel in the middle of the playa.

[C.f.M.]

seems, CFM, you could just get a few of your hottie admirers, to stand in skimpy outfits and fan you.

Just an idea.

I don't think there's enough room in my tent for all of them...I know it's not tall enough for you.


(and I was kidding. I just didn't find a thread with tent-cooling ideas that weren't a swamp cooler.)

[Boijoy]

check this one out.. thoughts??

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06 ... -it-a-try/

[C.f.M.]

Interesting. We'd need a battery-operated fan (we being people who don't have batteries and gennies). I like how they multi-task, with the beer in the cooler, too.

If my schedule works out (as far as flying into Reno and trying to ride into BRC on Friday), and the ride I find has room for it, I might try that one...grocery stores generally have those styrofoam coolers. I could probably figure out something for the venting tube, so that an extra trip to a hardware store wouldn't be necessary. I'll have the fan already...thanks for the idea!!

Would also need to bring extra cash for more ice. But, since I'd only be running it for a few hours a day - oh, and would maybe want to line the cooler with a plastic bag, for water removal?

Hm...

[Drawingablank]

I have a simple method for cooling my sleeping quarters - I don't.

They are cool or cold at night and if I feel a need to doze or need a few extra hours of sleep after the sun rises - I sleep in my shade structure. The shade and breeze makes it pretty comfortable.

[C.f.M.]

If I got up at sunrise, I wouldn't need a cooler tent, either.

I'm old. I need my beauty sleep. My tent is always under shade, still gets unsleepably hot. And outside, there's people. THE PEOPLE. I can't sleep with the ruckus - I'm a dainty lil' flower. Believe me, I've tried!! I'm not a napper, either, which sucks. Hence trying to get a good night's sleep, I've learned after four years, is a priority. I'll wear the same dress all week, go barefoot and eat nothing but Tasty Bites, sleep is just my thing, that keeps me sane out there.

[Boijoy]

found this one..

http://www.kooleraire.com/index.htm

[C.f.M.]

Downside, you'd have to buy one of the three coolers it says it fits - and a portable powering unit to plug it into...

[lemur]

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-bab ... /?ALLSTEPS


i made one of these once.. ran with a 9 volt battery..

computer fan went for 5-6 hours at a good speed with it.



perhaps wont cool an entire tent (it wont) but it certainly does provide cool air.


swamp coolers are an old school tech and theres zillions of designs out there.

[C.f.M.]

Soldering and drilling and heat guns - even if listed as "optional," all things I don't have! The smaller size would be good for a tent, though - easier to try and wrap in something, to prevent the wet outside from making mud. I had been wondering about computer fans, if they're more specialer than regular camping fans - obviously, they're smaller and require a power source that isn't batteries you can buy anywhere. I meant more like if they cool better.

<----not at all mechanically minded/knowledgeable, obviously

[FIGJAM]

02cool fans work very well.

8 D cells suppost to last 72 hours.

Just not enough poop for a swamp cooler.

[lemur]

how about a handheld swamp cooler?



$30 runs on 4 AA's

[Boijoy]

interesting.. you could line the styrofoam cooler with swamp cooler pads to create more humidity. I think the most powerful fan you can use would help too. ( battery operated ) Im thinking this would be a good use for that cold ice chest water.
Also, I know some folks who spritz the inside of their tent & bed sheets with water.

[ygmir]

I spritz, with half water and half rubbing alcohol. Really cools well, and freshens stuff up, too.

[lemur]

i spritz inside of my tent..

and also (awkwardly enough) open up a big umbrella and move it back and forth horizontally to get the airflowing through.. like if i had been away for a while and the air is all hot like the inside of a car

cools things down enough for hanging out during the day, perhaps not to sleep.

[theCryptofishist]

Soldering and drilling and heat guns - even if listed as "optional," all things I don't have! The smaller size would be good for a tent, though - easier to try and wrap in something, to prevent the wet outside from making mud. I had been wondering about computer fans, if they're more specialer than regular camping fans - obviously, they're smaller and require a power source that isn't batteries you can buy anywhere. I meant more like if they cool better.

<----not at all mechanically minded/knowledgeable, obviously

(indeed. As evidenced by actual position of name, face, and random info-------->)

(I know, so many changes. Hardly seems like the same board at all...)

[Eric]

Maybe it would be easier to just put your tent inside an RV?

Just a thought...

[C.f.M.]

Maybe it would be easier to just put your tent inside an RV?

Just a thought...

Teach me how to be a slut, so I don't even need a tent, just some antibiotics and jaw exercises?

[illy dilly]

If I got up at sunrise, I wouldn't need a cooler tent, either.

I'm old. I need my beauty sleep. My tent is always under shade, still gets unsleepably hot. And outside, there's people. THE PEOPLE. I can't sleep with the ruckus - I'm a dainty lil' flower. Believe me, I've tried!! I'm not a napper, either, which sucks. Hence trying to get a good night's sleep, I've learned after four years, is a priority. I'll wear the same dress all week, go barefoot and eat nothing but Tasty Bites, sleep is just my thing, that keeps me sane out there.

Just keep drinking...
until you wake up well rested, a bit hungry, and ready to party.

Or for a very simple self cooling napping system a spray bottle and a battery fan. I'm almost always able to find these fans at Walgreens. They run on D batteries, I think either 6 or 8, but the batteries will last a couple Burns. Spray bottles are a buck.

[Eric]

Maybe it would be easier to just put your tent inside an RV?

Just a thought...

Teach me how to be a slut, so I don't even need a tent, just some antibiotics and jaw exercises?

Sure. Though you don't need the antibiotics if you just get them blackout drunk & convince them in the morning you gave them a great time.

[C.f.M.]

Then I wouldn't get to follow you around, quietly David Attenboroughing everything you do! And I don't know that my roommates REI membership is good towards roofies...

I realized I have one of those styrofoam coolers sitting right outside my bedroom door, mooped at Euphoria. I am going to try this thing anyways, just for fun! It would be incredibly useful for two of my regionals (where it's 90+ and oh, 100% humidity).

[ygmir]

Then I wouldn't get to follow you around, quietly David Attenboroughing everything you do! And I don't know that my roommates REI membership is good towards roofies...

I realized I have one of those styrofoam coolers sitting right outside my bedroom door, mooped at Euphoria. I am going to try this thing anyways, just for fun! It would be incredibly useful for two of my regionals (where it's 90+ and oh, 100% humidity).

you might want to check, but it seems styrofoam ice chests are discouraged or prohibited?

[lemur]

i can change that.

i will call up VOGUE and ROLLING STONE to do a photoshoot featuring styrofoam coolers.

[BoyScoutGirl]

It would be incredibly useful for two of my regionals (where it's 90+ and oh, 100% humidity).

Actually, I think anything that works on the swamp cooler principle (adding water to the air) only effectively cools at very low humidity. That's why you don't use swamp coolers in, say, Louisiana. A swamp cooler would be useless (or worse) in 100% humidity.

[FIGJAM]

That's true, but CFM isn't building a swamp cooler.

That design relies on ice for the cooling, so the humugity won't matter.