cooling your tent or van

[Jyman]

If the pump and fan are switched off there won't be anything drawing power from the battery.

Think of it like your sink.

If the tap is turned off are you using any water?

My battery stays connected all week.

Well that's convenient. Since the Fan already has a switch I'm thinking to just install a switch for the pump and connect 2 cigarette lighter inputs to my battery box (or tool box if the battery box doesn't have enough space); 1 for the Fan and 1 for the pump. Guess I could splice them to 1 input but I'd rather leave the Fan and Pump wiring as-is and just plug them into an outlet. Think this would work for the pump switch-ready and all?
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... d=3802148#

Thanks again FIGJAM!

[FIGJAM]

It would be nice if you can keep that switch close to the fan switch.

[bl00zt00n]

So, after getting all caught up with building a CORE project (Boston Cod Piece) and an awesome camp shade structure I didn't have enough time to finish my first bucket cooler. No worries, I thought, I'll just send off the bucket, pump, fan and hose ring on the container with our big fish, I'll cut the duracool here and bring it in my luggage. Fast forward to tonight when I blithely go to cut my 33.5"x13" tube and realize I had bought a 29"x30" piece of duracool. Not very (dura)cool at all I leave for Reno first thing Wednesday so there's zero hope of mail ordering the right size.

So, I was wondering

1) if the pad is significantly off the sides, like 3/4" - 1" could it still work as long as I insure the air had to pass through the pad?

or

2) could I make it the outside tube bigger by using part of the second half which I would use for the inner tube (which only needs to be 23" long) and stitching that to the end of the outer tube piece?

Any thoughts?

[FIGJAM]

Hi Figjam-

I did a little measuring tonight...

Previously I had cut a 33.5 x 13" piece of duracool pad; flat on a table. When joined into a tube it's diameter was too large for the bucket.

So I measured my tube with a piece of wire. Circumference was 37", 3.5" too much. I assume this is 'stretching' of the outside when rolled; as it is a pliable material.

Opened up the tube. re-cut to 30" in length. made into a new tube, fits perfectly!

TA DAAAA!

[kstlfido]

Thanks for posting Figjam, I was just about to!

bl00zt00n- your good to go with 30"!!

We had a mini cooler work party Sunday. Made two- wish we could have made more. Next year!

And for the box cooler, I second an interior switch for the pump. If you got time, add a float switch and Led for an out of water indicator!

[gjenkins]

Wicking Cooler ... I use a siphon/gravity bottle to keep the water about an inch deep. It is a 32oz bottle, but I will use a 1 gal bottle. Instead of messing with fittings, I found some little brackets and I use them to hold down a 6" flexible hvac tube. I will cover the outside of the bucket/filters with some more filter to keep playa dust off the wicking filters.

Probable Failing Points:
1. Dust on the wicking filters.
2. Possible tearing of the flexible duct/bracket interfaces.

Fully Assembled ... 6" x 7' tube is fully contracted.


Underside of the lid, showing the fan.


Inside, siphone water feeder (will be 1 gal), and wicking filters.


Lid with 6" havac tube remove to show brackets.

[bl00zt00n]

Yeah, I cut it and its great. Now off to my next "AWW SHIT!!"

Hope to run into you folks at the M&G on playa!

[Jyman]

And for the box cooler, I second an interior switch for the pump. If you got time, add a float switch and Led for an out of water indicator!

Here's my box. Haven't figured out how to get my pics to display on this thread.

A float switch to indicate you're out of water would be usefull...unless your box is see-thru!
Found this box at petsmart. Because this was an airtight pet food container, there's a rubber gasket sealed lid.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43556843@N04/

To attach the grill I used Duck Brand Mounting Tape / double stick. The obvious concern was how the adhesive would stay under moisture. After doing a 5 day test of having the tape fully submerged stuck in a plastic container it hasn't lost grip at all. And on the actual cooler it won't even be submerged.
I wanted to keep the fan as-is (not cut or splice wires) so I got some strong quality velcro to attach it. It's removable and retains it's warranty. It plugs in to a 12V cig lighter input that's wired to my deep cycle battery.

[ShreddinPB]

So, after getting all caught up with building a CORE project (Boston Cod Piece) and an awesome camp shade structure I didn't have enough time to finish my first bucket cooler. No worries, I thought, I'll just send off the bucket, pump, fan and hose ring on the container with our big fish, I'll cut the duracool here and bring it in my luggage. Fast forward to tonight when I blithely go to cut my 33.5"x13" tube and realize I had bought a 29"x30" piece of duracool. Not very (dura)cool at all I leave for Reno first thing Wednesday so there's zero hope of mail ordering the right size.

So, I was wondering

1) if the pad is significantly off the sides, like 3/4" - 1" could it still work as long as I insure the air had to pass through the pad?

or

2) could I make it the outside tube bigger by using part of the second half which I would use for the inner tube (which only needs to be 23" long) and stitching that to the end of the outer tube piece?

Any thoughts?

I bought a huge roll since I couldnt find just the pads anywhere.. So I have a ton of extra, I will bring some, but am not exactly sure where I am staying yet since I am not in a camp. The plan is to be around 8 and close-ish to the esplanade as we can be.

[Groovy]

Here's a question about power sources. The 115 Amp Hour Costco battery seems to be the favorite (there's one sitting about 10 feet behind me) but why not just use 8 D-Cell batteries? You can get that off Amazon for 12 bucks and in series they'll provide 12 Volts (1.5x8==12). According to the page below, each D cell has 17 Amp Hours in it so we'd have a combined 136 Amp Hours and 55 lbs less we'd need to haul into the playa.

http://www.allaboutbatteries.com/Energy-tables.html

Is there some reason why this configuration wouldn't work?

[kstlfido]

The voltage goes up, but the current would stay the same.

So you would have 12v but still only 17Ah. You would have to have around 7 banks in parallel of 8 series strung D-cells to get up over 115Ah, 12v.

If you have a cheap line on D cells, why not? But not as easily rechargeable (or recyclable) as good ol' lead-acid. Also quite a pain to wire up 56 D cells.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/arti ... igurations

-Kent

[Groovy]

Thanks Kent, appreciated.

[fresh]

Ok last minute decision to make cooler. Was about to go ballistic after typing to lowes and after all summer seeing the big pile of duracool pads, there were none. I bought the other pieces I needed, I got the solar pump from harbor frieght earlier in the week. After borrowing a hole saw kit I did the bucket with only one single row. Fan from one of my old servers in metal casings glued to the lid, 4 inch connector piece thing glued on the other side. I have plastic expandable duct from my emergency a/c unit at work that fits over the connector, will most likely duct tape it to ensure seal. Tubing uncut with t connector until I pick up dura cool that IS in stock at another location... I think I have all bases covered to finish it tomorrow before leaving Thursday.

I originally was going to bring 2 9ah batteries I got from work again (old ups units). I tested running the fan, it lasted for 5 hours before unplugging. I had two, one to run, one charging on camps solar system. Then one of the last things I grabbed today from the office was a 12v a/c power supply that was for some old equipment just to use for wire to connect stuff. Tonight I thought, hey It is a 12v adapter and I got power (bringing two batteries for solar bank, again from work) why not just wire it up to a/c. Sure enough it works like a charm!

So my question. The pumps wires are brown and blue to the solar panel. I know wiring up the pump to the a/c would be more reliable, but i do I have to worry about polarity? If so, what the hell is it? Im gonna get this done.. Maybe I should use google!

[FIGJAM]

If you have the HF solar pump, it's 6 volt.

Then you said the pump has blue and brown wire which is the larger pump that does'nt come with a panel.

Brown+

Blue-

It will pump either way, but 2X as much when connected correctly.

How many cfm does your fan put out?

It's an important factor on the bucket coolers!

[fresh]

Thanks FigJam!!! The pump did come with a panel and says it is 7v. I am attaching picture. (cannot attach on iPad) Got dura cool pad and gonna sew it up now!! Although I could not find the exact model # of my fan online, the almost identical models were all 220cfm. I am cooling a 10 x 10 tent....

is it a smart move to wire pump to ac adapter? Being 7v will 12v cause any issues??? I'm electrically an idiot! Pump is pacific hydropower fountain pump item 66093. 42 gph....

[captain mcguiver]

Wtf with all the spammers all of a sudden.

I tracked one of these down to a phone number, 1-800-299-3434. Calling costs them money. War dialing anyone?

[fresh]

Ok has the home depot bucket changed or do I have thinner duracool pad? I measure exactly and the outer loop was too big trimmed it down an inch, but it is still up against the holes.... There should be a small gap between holes and pad, right? Just want to be sure it is right before I sew it together!

[FIGJAM]

Thanks FigJam!!! The pump did come with a panel and says it is 7v. I am attaching picture. (cannot attach on iPad) Got dura cool pad and gonna sew it up now!! Although I could not find the exact model # of my fan online, the almost identical models were all 220cfm. I am cooling a 10 x 10 tent....

is it a smart move to wire pump to ac adapter? Being 7v will 12v cause any issues??? I'm electrically an idiot! Pump is pacific hydropower fountain pump item 66093. 42 gph....

You guess is as good as mine.

See if there's another adapter that's closer to 7 volts.

That why I made everything 12 volt, to keep my head from exploding.

[FIGJAM]

Make it 30's!

Hi Figjam-

I did a little measuring tonight...

Previously I had cut a 33.5 x 13" piece of duracool pad; flat on a table. When joined into a tube it's diameter was too large for the bucket.

So I measured my tube with a piece of wire. Circumference was 37", 3.5" too much. I assume this is 'stretching' of the outside when rolled; as it is a pliable material.

Opened up the tube. re-cut to 30" in length. made into a new tube, fits perfectly!

TA DAAAA!

[fresh]

30" works like a charm! Time to sew.... Ugh! I found only 5v adapters at home. Is it better to be under than over??? Did my holes in tubing with copper wire, not very accurate, but I'll see. Half hour left for me to finish this then back to packing!!! Where r u camped? Need to visit you and say hi and thanks!!!

[FIGJAM]

5 o'clock spoke by H.

Also plan to be at the cooler con tues, afternoon.

[fresh]

Awesome! I'll look out for your pod!! I'm. Gonna try the 5v first I guess?

[fresh]

Hey FigJam! I sacrificed my IPod dock charger which was 7.5 volts. It works, but the flow of water is not great and is temperamental to position with the opposite end of the connector barely getting a drip. Would hooking to 12v be any better? Is this pump just lame? It is a lot smaller than what I thought it would be. 46 gph. I am using 5/8 tubing, could that be the problem?

Maybe just buy a stronger pump since I have available power??

[FIGJAM]

I'm using 3/8" ID, but your holes may be a little large.

What size wire did you use?

[Yggdrasil]

So. I've read most of this fantastic thread, and have my own bucket cooler prepped for the playa. I've been waiting on my swamp cooler pads in the mail (they don't sell them anywhere I've found in the bay area)... And today, I discover they're listed as having been delivered, and have probably been stolen from my front porch. I've got no time for a second delivery, no local place to find them, and EVERYTHING else is already assembled and ready to go.

Does anyone here live in the bay area and possibly have extra cooler pads? I'd happily buy them from ya, or else barter via bacon bloody Marys out on the playa. Anyone have any other ideas? Can I use a surrogate material? GRRRAHHHH Serenity now, serenity now, serenity now.

[FIGJAM]

Call this store...

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sig=xtX&ie=UTF-8&q=reno,+nv.+home+depot&fb=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,17840417975766833971&ei=BYg1UIy-B7L3yAG5koGQDQ&ved=0CAYQ5xg


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100343463/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=cooler+pads&storeId=10051

[fresh]

Not even sure what size wire it was. Maybe I can flip the tubing, cover original holes with duct tap and drill smaller holes.... Or pick up some more tubing on the road....

[FIGJAM]

I think I used 10 gauge wire, but 12 or 14 will work.

But I'm not using the HF pump.

[Yggdrasil]

Fuck you're good! For some reason Depots along the route escaped my prep-addled mind.

However!

Turns out the tracking service was off by a few days, because I arrived home to find my order on the front step. Thanks for the advice anyway (and for generally ruling this thread)... I'm off to assemble and give it a test-run tomorrow. I'll try to post pics, and to find ya on the playa for proper compensation for the design & advice. Woo!

[captain mcguiver]

Make sure you bring your:



But seriously, what is the "fresh air" cube in these things? Saw one in the Home dumpo off in the wastelands and couldn't tell what it was. Didn't say on the package, only that it was Hecho en Mexico. Some sort of mineral? Baking soda block?