Technical Self contained electric air conditioning (tech week)

Very awesome!!! What if you extended the lengths of the hose that lead to the cooler so you could have a large cooler in the trunk and the fans and heater core in the cab?

 

Yes a great idea! I will have to try it next year.

 

A friend of mine is a Locksmith and he works out of a Ford van. He built a rig similar to this about thirty years ago out of a heater core, ice chest and a 12VDC fan from a camper. He had to refresh the ice a few times a day but it lowered the temp to a comfortable level in the Texas Summer.
Never put dry ice in water, the reaction is almost an explosion. Also dry ice evaporates and is heavier than air. In a closed space it will displace the Oxygen and you will go to sleep FOREVER.

 

For the time I will spend inside the cab of my truck, this is far superior to the cost and trouble to install a traditional A/C unit. Winner, winner chicken dinner!

 

I have seen systems like this used at Bonneville to keep drivers cool. The cool air is captured and blown into the firesuit or helmet. Works well.

 

Modern swamp cooler. Great idea

 

I made one of these years ago during a HOT Houston summer. Popular Mechanics plan or something. It used Styrofoam cooler with air intakes on the ends. It made a difference.
So I load the thing up with ice and drive off to pick up my girlfriend. As we pull back in the driveway (15 minutes or so) the melted ice runs out all over the back seat. One bag of ice every 15 minutes.

OP's design looks much better. Just plan on quickly melting ice.

 

Makes me wish we needed A/C around here. Nice job.

 

Very nice. Great write up. This would be great to keep in the trunk, pull it out and buy some ice whenever you need it. I'm definitely going to try this. Time to look for vintage style ice chests

 

On vacation once I tried throwing a bag of ice on the dashboard and turning on the defroster. Not much help.

 

Is anyone else really curious about Squirrel building an underwater robot? I'll bet it's badass. And fast.

 

Genius!

 

Great idea for more intense cooling but would the salt melt the ice faster?

 

I am. Can we get it past the "trad police" if he talks about it here?

 

not likely. Click on my signature, click on the "office" tab, then look for the links to the robots.

 

in the race cars we use this type of set up with a vest that has water lines that run thru it to keep the body core temp down rather than try to cool the area , and the cooler has to be hard mounted to the body of the car per rules . the vest has quick disconects too , we also use the same vests in hazmat suits to keep us from passing out in the summer when loading trucks in the sun . they work great . and the best cooling liquid combo is water with salt as it drops the freezing point and last longer . dry ice only works with alcohol to cool ( and will super cool ) with water it trys to turn back to gas form co2

 

Redneck air! Only on the Hamb.

 

I love it.

 

Clever redneck engineering right there, great post. A very versatile creation. One could use the idea in conjunction with one of those modern 12v coolers that have the aluminum heatsink and fan which would decrease the rate at which the ice melts. Homemade block ice would be the way to go as mentioned already. You have the ability to freeze it to a much lower temperature in a chest freezer than what you can buy at the gas station, that cubed ice is usually kept just below zero so it melts fast and you have to buy more. The salt added to water may not be a good idea due to the corrosion that would occur inside the aluminum heat exchanger.

 

A modern swampy.. Its a great idea, I have an original unit however I very rarely use it because of its size its difficult to get in and out of the car, draining, etc all too hard. That little unit would be great if you on your own, pop it on the passenger floor and away you go..

 

Pro Tip: For long road trips, freeze gallon bags of water or 1 liter water bottles of water rather than using bagged ice. The bigger the blocks of ice you can make, the longer it will all stay cold without replacing it...

 

Thanks for all the great feedback guys.

I thought of making ice blocks, and sometimes use the "blue ice" packs. Though, if traveling to a show and staying a while, the motel ice machine is the only way to freeze. I load it up and shake it a few times until its totally packed before I head out for the day, gets a tank or 2 of gas into the day that way.

I also have a lot of vintage metal coolers, they'd look better, but few of them stay cold very long, the old insulation in them isnt like modern stuff.

I also thought of using one of the 12 volt coolers that has the built in refrigerant, Though all of them that I found were larger, and had less space for ice and water inside, perhaps less ice would be needed, but you'd be all ice, no room for drinks.

Chopping a big cooler and running the core from the trunk into the car may do ya some good, just be sure your lines dont come off, I'd be pissed at myself if I pumped a cooler full of water onto the floor of my 57.

 

Kool idea Jeff...now that we're into Fall here in ColoRODo you won't need it...!!! LOL...

In a truck cab I can see that working fine, but in my big Cadillac, doubt it'd help much...

R-

 

Great idea and you're not using the air-over-ice (or water) principle for cooling..... ergo; doesn't add moisture to ambient air.

 

I've heard that if you set an air conditioner or refrigerator in the middle of a room, with cold air blowing out one side and warm air blowing out the other, into the same room, the room will grow warmer. The same should apply to your cooler idea if you put it in a mini 12 volt refrigerator instead of a cooler.

I like your original idea. Some freezer somewhere has already removed the heat from the ice and blown it away before you put it in your car.

I think it would add more heat to the car's interior than it would take away. Although the ice would last longer, the passenger would ultimately be warmer because of the amount of heat coming out of the aluminum heat sink would be more than the heat removed from the ice, due to it's inefficiencies.

 

Hmmmm..... wonder how it will work in a ROADSTER?

Actually, I say that to be funny but I'm thinking of a t-shirt with cooling lines run through it an a quick disconnect. It's commonly 110* here in the summer, much like Las Vegas and Phoenix temps.

 

I had a PM of a good question. The fans though they are out of a computer that plugs into your 110v wall outlet, if you look at the backs of them they specify that they are 12v dc power actually. Just one of them nifty things that someone planned on us rodders wanting to use them.

Also, if you're like me and use a used trans cooler,,, clean that sucker out first. I intended to but spaced it... the first time I used mine I had nasty frothy trans fluid water running through. Didn't hurt much as it was test run, but it took a LOT to clean it all out. Had that been on a fresh can of pop, what a bummer.

 

This is why I love the hamb... a bunch of broke talented hot roders... thank you!

 

Actually, that's thinking "inside" the box. ha!

 

brilliant!!!!