Mist cooling

[preburnkentucky]

Any have any good paractical comparisons of
mist systems vs swamp coolers. Coming from the east
size is an issue. I was thinking about a low pressure mist
cooling system run by one of those RV size water pumps inside a
12 ft radius dome. Air exchange via cheap in-line bilge blowers to move air through filters prior to it entering.
Sounds like good engineering but any practical advice?

[Chai Guy]

My experience has been some what limited in this area however, I have found that the nozzles often tend to fail and need replacement (they appear to get gunked up with playa dust which becomes a sticky mud preventing the mist from coming through the nozzle). I would bring many extras and plan on replacing them as needed.

[Vego]

I was thinking of trying nozzles from the grocery store produce sprinkler systems. I think that's what my uncle used for his orchids and it put out a nice mist.
I'd really like to pedal power a fan and mister pump. I haven't figured out the pump though. I'm toying with modifying a Super Soaker pump gun but don't think the casing is going to stand up to what I intend to do with it.

[robotland]

Let me know what revelations you have regarding pedal power, and I'll do likewise...I'm trying to figure out how to rig a PTO (power take-off, for you non-farmboys) to run a Dremel and polishing rig for various artistic pursuits.
For the pump you might want to try making cylinders from 4" PVC and gasketed pistons of wood or plastic, linked to the wheel with a reciprocal action like a locomotive. If there's not TOO much resistance on the pistons you could probably run two, one on each 180 degrees of the wheel's rotation, so that you're always putting out pressure. This can be done with two BELLOWS pumps, too.
Advertise it as FREE WORKOUT, and offer the choice of stationary bike (fan) or stairmaster (bellows pump)....Or construct an array of prayer wheels with drive belts running to your cooling system.

[Tafkah]

I've used a 3 gallon Lawn & Garden sprayer for my mist system and it works great. The only problem I've had is that the nozzles plug up and start to drip. Then you have puddles of water under each dripping nozzle.

Water filters don't seem to help much because the playa dust is so tiny it just goes thru the filter. Best bet is to bring plenty of extra nozzles and figure out a way to clean them out there.

[sputnik]

I suspect the dust isn't in the water but is being accumulated at the nozzle tip itself. Filtering the water won't help. Keeping dust down in the shade structure will help.

[falk]

How much water do you expect to consume for a fair-sized structure when you use mist cooling?

[AntiM]

We use a garden sprayer hooked up to a patio umbrella misting system, six nozzles. The tips do clog, and need to be checked and cleaned daily. A straight pin works well if yu're careful. The mister is only on when we hold the sprayer handle, giving us shorter bursts of mist, which works with our mobile application.

We can run it continuously by wrapping a bungee around the handle and pumping up the sprayer periodically. We use three to five gallons of water for two to four hours with six nozzles.

[Vego]

The pistons are the biggest challenge, robotland. I'm trying to figure on how to keep the gaskets on the plastic pistons. I have a CNC router at work but it can only rout the actual discs. Flat milling only. I'd want to put gooves in the edges of the plastic to retain the gasket but would have to do it by hand and that will take some trial and error to get right.
I like Tafka and Antiim's garden sprayer systems as it would take less work to get in action and truth be told I'm a pretty lazy bastard outside of work :-) I just thought about the little mister nozzles I use in my drip irriagation system in my garden. They're only a buck apiece and could be changed daily but it's not a very fine mist.
I do have a defunct Stairmaster among my wife's collection of used and useless exercise equipment (in her defense she uses the hell out of the working stuff) for the bellows pump...it IS heavy as hell though.
To the drafting board and ACME catalog!...hope it works out better than the rocket powered roller skates :-O

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

I recently got one of these to play with:

http://shop1.laservers.com/merchant.mv? ... e=PoolToys

and I like that you can just fill it with water and pop in little CO2 cartridges (I have a box of left over.)

Now that I read here about clogging, I may re-think it and get some of the nozzles you guys are talking about. This is for mist out of one of the arms of MiniMan. More at www.MutantVehicle.com/miniman.htm

Any suggestions appreciated.

[frenchblue1]

I had a 40 foot dome last year that I cooled with an evaporative cooler. I kept the unit inside the structure and actually installed flex ducting to get the cool air up to the top of the dome (allowing the cool air to fall). My dome was covered with a shrinkwrap material so the cooler air stayed in the dome.
I looked at a mister system but the water that would be on the ground turns to a messy clay. If you do go for an evap system I suggest ducting it a little bit to spread your flow. Keep your filters clean by taping normal furnace air filters to the outside of the unit. We didn't go through as much water as we thought last year. I had caculated 6 gallons a day so we brought 2 50 gallon drums..went through about 25 gallons actually for 5 days.
I used a mid sized garage version on wheels. It was worth the effort too.
Good Luck!~

[zoeypants]

So - what about those fountain pumps used in ponds to power a small misting system? Has anyone tried anything like this? What's the result?

something like this: [url]http://www.solarfamily.com/product_details.asp?cid=13&mid=118[/url]
Always thinkin - I'd love to give it a shot this year.

-Zoey

[unjonharley]

Nozzels? I have a bunch. My son was given the job of removing a grow system after a raid. Go to Home Depot. Nozzles and small tubing off a garden sprayer. Or co powered.

[Chai Guy]

another tip worth repeating:

Remember that wherever the nozzle(s) are located they will drip and the water will form a playa mud puddle. To avoid this you may want to create some kind of catch basin or place carpeting or sea grass down inside your tent/dome.

Also: a few drops of essential oils make any mister smell great. (I like lavendar myself).

[dragonfly Jafe]

I was thinking of trying nozzles from the grocery store produce sprinkler systems. I think that's what my uncle used for his orchids and it put out a nice mist.
I'd really like to pedal power a fan and mister pump. I haven't figured out the pump though....

I have used one of those garden pump sprayers hooked up to several misters successfully. The pump holds 2-3 gallons of water, and several full-stroke pumps are good for a few minutes of misting. We set ours up over our hang-out chairs with the pump in the middle where anyone could reach it.

But we did have issues with the nozzles clogging (and then dripping and making a huge muddy mess). We eventually got sick of cleaning them out. I now just use a hand mister for those hot afternoons...

[Wakawaka]

I used one of these last year riding around on my bike, just hooked it on the handle bars. In camp I just hung it from the structure over my chair. Worked very well. Definitely bringing it again. Never clogged.

http://www.mistymate.com/mmp16.html

[unjonharley]

I used one of these last year riding around on my bike, just hooked it on the handle bars. In camp I just hung it from the structure over my chair. Worked very well. Definitely bringing it again. Never clogged.

http://www.mistymate.com/mmp16.html

~
Better bring spares. The pumps like to quit just when you ned them.

[mamagrrl]

Ooooh, please don't add oils to your misting water! Somebody sprayed me with oil'd water last year, got it in my eyes (rubbed my face with the back of my hand) and Buuuuuurrrrrrnnnnnning eyes for a good long while. Ow!!! Just plain water, please!

There are nozzles that turn off when twisted. Install those so when/if they start to drip, you can just shut 'em off and be done with it. Poke a new mister in nearby. I ran 10 misters last year, two dripped on the third day, the rest did fine all week. (now that I've said that, they'll all probably drip on the first day this year...)

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Ooooh, please don't add oils to your misting water! Somebody sprayed me with oil'd water last year, got it in my eyes (rubbed my face with the back of my hand) and Buuuuuurrrrrrnnnnnning eyes for a good long while. Ow!!! Just plain water, please!

There are nozzles that turn off when twisted. Install those so when/if they start to drip, you can just shut 'em off and be done with it. Poke a new mister in nearby. I ran 10 misters last year, two dripped on the third day, the rest did fine all week. (now that I've said that, they'll all probably drip on the first day this year...)

What about something refreshing, like peppermint? Very low dosage so you barely know it's there.

[DoctorIknow]

Those little nozzels (by themselves) are very expensive,,, cheapest way to buy them is to get them pre-attached on a "system" which is at Orchard, Lowe's, etc. Various lengths available.

Old timer told me to take my nozzels that were jammed and stick 'em in vinegar overnight. Next day 6 out of 8 were working. (Just another reason to bring vinegar to the playa!)

I tried using an acupuncture needle to clean mine out, but was told it doesn't do much as there is a tiny ball bearing right in the "flow path" of the water, and of course, the needle stops there.

[Bling]

We use a garden sprayer hooked up to a patio umbrella misting system, six nozzles. The tips do clog, and need to be checked and cleaned daily. A straight pin works well if yu're careful. The mister is only on when we hold the sprayer handle, giving us shorter bursts of mist, which works with our mobile application.

We can run it continuously by wrapping a bungee around the handle and pumping up the sprayer periodically. We use three to five gallons of water for two to four hours with six nozzles.

I love this idea, AntiM, and found a misting system that gets good ratings (http://www.amazon.com/Orbit-20066-Portable-Outdoor-Cooling/dp/B000P0KSXO?tag=topsiteonsale-20), and it connects to "any garden hose." Okay, fine. But I'm not having any luck finding a garden sprayer that attaches to a garden hose. Do you use a hose for this? If not, how do you connect the sprayer to the mister?

[AntiM]

Larry jury-rigged it somehow with a piece of hose. I'll ask him when gets home.

[Bling]

Thanks! I'm interested to hear. Misting sounds soooo nice...

[DoctorIknow]

Those little nozzels (by themselves) are very expensive,,, cheapest way to buy them is to get them pre-attached on a "system" which is at Orchard, Lowe's, etc. Various lengths available.

Old timer told me to take my nozzels that were jammed and stick 'em in vinegar overnight. Next day 6 out of 8 were working. (Just another reason to bring vinegar to the playa!)

I tried using an acupuncture needle to clean mine out, but was told it doesn't do much as there is a tiny ball bearing right in the "flow path" of the water, and of course, the needle stops there.

A vinegar soak is really the only thing that works. As said above, even an acupuncture needle won't work because there is the smallest ball bearing in the world directly at the bottom of the hole you're sticking in the pin. Because "replacement" nozells are so expensive, perhaps you can find a better price if you buy a pre-made length of ready to install mister hose. Also, try Big Lots.

Those damn nozzels screw up even OFF the playa. POS, they are...
How many ways can I misspell nozells....

[Bling]

Nozzle.

[FIGJAM]

Home depot had that same setup that clips to an umberella for $10. Easy to make an adapter for the hose. I went the cooler route because of the water consumtion and pumping the sprayer. I did put a tire valve on my garden sprayer so I could just give it a shot of air with the compressor instead of pumping. Did the research while I was contemplating the cooler thing.

[AntiM]

We use our mister out and about on the bike, not in camp. We're probably going to make a small cooler for in camp, not for the tents, just to cool the general area near the nap cotl.

And yes, the nozzles clog up, Larry keeps a needle to clean them with.

[Bling]

Home depot had that same setup that clips to an umberella for $10. Easy to make an adapter for the hose.

HOW?

[FIGJAM]

Just called my home depot and its the 10ft extention kit for $9.98 in stock. It has 5 emiters and looks like the line would be small enough to slide over the wand on a garden sprayer once you remove the tip from the sprayer. If its not big enough, auto vacume line would sleeve over each end then add a couple of hose clamps,:D

[FIGJAM]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=mist+system&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053