Technical Self contained electric air conditioning (tech week)

Hey all, I sure appreciate any votes.

 

Nice, man! May have to try this one. One observation: it looks like the return line is right next to the suction for the bilge pump. Wouldn't you want them as far apart as possible? Love it man, thanks for the tech post!! I just happen to have a '34 truck I could try it in.

 

The return is actually on the other side, but it may flex over near the pump. When I pack it up with ice I keep it over... Maybe I could attach it a bit, but then you run into issues with opening the lid

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vote-now-tech-week-october-2015.995188/

Short time to vote

 

I had been thinking about building one of these "cooler-con" systems earlier this summer when the ac in my 89 Suburban farted out. We were a good 6 hour drive from home with the five year and nine year old, I just didn't have the time to scrounge used parts in Ouray, Co. before the drive home. Not to mention I would have used one of the really big coolers and a squirrel cage fan with a big heater core. Lots of space to try and cool.
We just suffered on the drive home. Aztec to Albuquerque was brutal.

 

Pack your ass with ice. Its much cheaper and probably more efficient then all these BS posts. Doing anything on the cheap is wasting your time and money. Spend some cash and do things the right way.

 

There's one in every crowd ^

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If you don't like it you don't have to build one. But I assure you it works quite well cooling down the cab of my pickup on road trips to car shows. 10 degrees difference is a big help!

 

I also think it's a great idea. Some cars (like my flathead powered 32) don't lend themselves to a std. AC setup. This idea keeps a person cool, I'm sure, and certainly doesn't detract from a more traditional car. Well done.
JMO
Jim

 

I think it's a great idea.
Quite a bit more intuitive than packing your shorts with ice.

 

It might work in Denver but bring it to Texas in the summer and see if it works. I would like to be proved wrong.
Bring it on

 

I use it on my road trip to KKOA in Salina KS, usually over 100 degrees and super humid. Not saying it will ever freeze a guy out, but a 10 degree drop in cab temp sure is welcomed! Next time I use it (next summer probably) Ill have to take my thermometer along and see what it does in numbers

 

YES! Brilliant! I saw some @ kkoa leadsled in Salina, KS & I love the idea. I don't think my flathead or 4-banger look too good w/A-C I would have to recharge yearly...
So I'm building one out of a cooler & computer that was destined for the dump.
Maybe I'll even convert a more "traditional " cooler on my 2nd attempt.

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For a 10 degree drop in temperature, I couldn't be bothered. Its easier to pack your balls in ice.
I'm more interested in those Vintage Air units that pump out temperatures in the low 30's which makes for great summer time cruising.

Gary

 

I tried this and it worked! for about 20 min then the ice melted. I have an hour comute and figured why not give it a try, used the larger "playmate" cooler bought a bilge pump and plumed up a oil cooler. Filled it with ice and set out. It was a 90 to 95* day and it started to cool the car (A Ford Festiva 1991) off about 10 min in. About 20 Min in it did not seem so cool so I checked the ice and it was all melted. Maybe my oil cooler was too good and took all the cold out of the ice water too fast but if I went to a smaller oil cooler it would never cool the car as the system would just cool the car off a little the way it was. I could get a larger ice chest but I would need a big fishing cooler to last the whole hour drive.
So try it if you want, maybe you will have better results than I did, if so post up what you did and maybe I'll give it another try.

 

A bigger ice chest or fresh ice is the only viable option. A smaller pump or coil is only going to pull the heat from the air slower. Making the ice last longer doesn't mean it's cooling better, it means it's cooling slower.

You're not adding cold, you're pulling heat and sinking it into the ice/water. Once the eater is warm and the ice is melted, you're done and need more ice. A 5lb bag of ice is worth 720 BTU.

So, lemme take a crack at this:

A smaller truck cab, like a Model A to 34, would be probably about 60 cubic feet or less. Assuming that and assuming there isn't much insulation (or room for it) you will need 1,276 BTU/hour or 374 watt to drop 20ºF below outside temps. So, you will need about 2 bags per hour to drop 20º and keep it (or 5/hr to drop 10).

IF you can't melt all that ice in an hour and drop the cab temp, you need a bigger heat exchanger.

 

You are correct about the not adding cold but removing heat, I was just making it easer to understand what I was saying, or tring to.
but following your math, it looks like the same result that I found. That is that I could use a larger heat exchanger, but if I did that I would just go through the ice even faster.
Thanks for your input.

 

Yes, but going through ice faster means you have removed more heat. I don't have any math on how big the exchanger would need to be or how much air flow, etc (which would also have some influence on the rate of consumption).

Insulation makes an enormous difference when you're heating or cooling a space. The less heat in, the less you need to remove! So, good seals and insulation goes a long way.