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  #1  
Old 06-27-2012, 08:44 AM
NovaBandit's Avatar
NovaBandit NovaBandit is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Hastings, MN
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Default My DIY camping/cockpit Air Conditioner

With the hot weather about to hit us, I thought I'd share the little portable air conditioner I built to keep myself cool for OSH last year.



It's made out of a 48 quart cooler I had laying around, a heater core I picked up at the local discount auto parts store, a boat bilge pump, and a bilge blower. The total investment was about $60. The heater core is held in place with zip ties and sealed with expanding foam. The blower is just held in place with foam. The pump is screwed and siliconed to the bottom of the cooler.

Not pictured is the 20' dryer vent hose that I attach to the blower.



This is how it works:

The cooler is filled with ice, then a few gallons of water. You can add salt to the water to get an even lower temp, but I never did.

The ice water is picked up by the bilge pump and pumped thru the heater core, then just dumped back into the cooler.

I have the bilge blower set to blow OUT from the cooler, so air is sucked INTO the cooler thru the heater core, cooling it down, then blown out the blower thru a 4" dryer vent to wherever I want the cold air directed. The gray box next to the blower on the lid of the cooler is a motor controller I was playing with to control the fan speed. It's not really needed.



Splice the pump and blower motor into a 12v power source and you have a few hours of nice chilly air. It was effective enough to keep me cool in a pop-up camper at OSH, and I'm sure it would cool a cockpit down quite nicely!

I'm going to pull it out of storage and try to keep myself somewhat cool in the garage. It's not going to cool the entire garage, but it'll feel nice to have it blowing directly on me!
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RV-10 N829EC - Flying
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  #2  
Old 06-27-2012, 09:38 AM
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billnaz billnaz is offline
 
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Default Great job of scrounging!

I can see this project in my future. Great cheap cockpit precooler. Have you seen the price of the commercially available products? Big savings, good job!
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  #3  
Old 06-27-2012, 09:51 AM
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larrynew larrynew is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: In New Braunfels, ist das Leben schön!
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Default

Built one too and it works surprisingly well. Being able to seal the intake (3" knockout plug) helps the ice last when it's not in use.



Longer hose on the discharge side helps by allowing you to drain the cooler without taking it out.



Here are more details if you're building one: http://larrys-airplane.blogspot.com/...ditioning.html
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  #4  
Old 06-27-2012, 09:52 AM
Phlyan Pan Phlyan Pan is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
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Default

How much does it weigh full? I need to put this in my W&B spreadsheet.
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  #5  
Old 06-27-2012, 09:56 AM
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NovaBandit NovaBandit is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phlyan Pan View Post
How much does it weigh full? I need to put this in my W&B spreadsheet.
Not sure, but it's just a cooler full of ice and some water. You can even keep your drinks cold in there.
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RV-10 N829EC - Flying
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  #6  
Old 06-27-2012, 09:58 AM
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NovaBandit NovaBandit is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by larrynew View Post
Built one too and it works surprisingly well. Being able to seal the intake (3" knockout plug) helps the ice last when it's not in use.
Good call. I use a piece of 2" pink foam board to plug the heater core when I'm not using it.
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Ed Kranz
RV-10 N829EC - Flying
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KSGS - Fleming Field, South Saint Paul, Minnesota

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  #7  
Old 06-27-2012, 10:30 AM
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longranger longranger is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NovaBandit View Post
...You can add salt to the water to get an even lower temp, but I never did. ...
I don't know for sure, but I'd think salt water would be a bit hard on the heater core (corrosive). Antifreeze would work better, but it's expensive so you'd want to come up with some way of reusing it.
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  #8  
Old 06-27-2012, 11:49 AM
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DCat22 DCat22 is offline
 
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Location: Houston, TX
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I'm building something like this for my office....

Although the radiator is external, and from stuff used in computer watercooling. Same basic concept though. (A http://koolance.com/radiator-4-fan-1...r?path=0_54_93 with four fans on the back.)
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  #9  
Old 06-27-2012, 12:58 PM
JDRhodes JDRhodes is offline
 
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Location: Taylorsville, GA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by longranger View Post
I don't know for sure, but I'd think salt water would be a bit hard on the heater core (corrosive). Antifreeze would work better, but it's expensive so you'd want to come up with some way of reusing it.
The heater core is probably 20 bucks. When it rusts out - get another one.

I have Cub Scout Camp duty coming up next week and will be spending 4 days in a tent in 95 deg heat. This might be a good project for the 4th of July holiday!

Need a solar charger to replenish the battery during the day.
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  #10  
Old 06-27-2012, 01:04 PM
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NovaBandit NovaBandit is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDRhodes View Post
Need a solar charger to replenish the battery during the day.
The deep cycle battery I had in my camper lasted me all week in Oshkosh, although it might not be the most practical thing to bring on a camping trip.
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RV-10 N829EC - Flying
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KSGS - Fleming Field, South Saint Paul, Minnesota

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-- Build Timelapse and Travel Videos . . GoodPlaneLiving.com -- Build and Travel Blog
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