Author |
Message |
Cali_Army_Guy Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2015 Posts: 2094 Location: Stockton, CA
|
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 1:14 pm Post subject: My ice chest AC build |
|
|
Was intrigued by the ice chest AC idea. I told my wife about it and she wanted to try it out (she's actually the one that built it) I don't have the receipt in front of me, but I'd say we have about $30 invested in this project.
Only bought three items.
Styrofoam ice chest
PVC pipe elbow
Fan that plugs in to a cigarette lighter
Silicon around the pipe and fan
Finished product
Wife went to go buy a couple bags of ice. I'll report back if it works or not. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
veedubcrazy Samba Member
Joined: February 14, 2005 Posts: 2130 Location: La Porte, Tx.
|
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 2:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Simple and inexpensive. _________________ 1967 Deluxe Sedan |
|
Back to top |
|
|
mark tucker Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2009 Posts: 23937 Location: SHALIMAR ,FLORIDA
|
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 2:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
wonder how dry ice works.... or possiably a mix oh no better not try it might explode. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
KTPhil Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2006 Posts: 33875 Location: Conejo Valley, CA
|
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 11:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
Not a good idea! The expansion ratio (relative increase in volume when evaporating to gas) for dry ice is 845:1. That means an ice chest holding half a cubic foot of dry ice would create over 400 cubic feet of gas. A level of 0.5% CO2 is toxic, so you would need to mix 80000 cubic feet of air to keep it breathable. Not quite that much air in a Bug... |
|
Back to top |
|
|
iowegian Samba Curmudgeon
Joined: February 16, 2005 Posts: 9826 Location: Somewhere between Dubuque and Keokuk
|
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 2:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
KTPhil wrote: |
Not a good idea! The expansion ratio (relative increase in volume when evaporating to gas) for dry ice is 845:1. That means an ice chest holding half a cubic foot of dry ice would create over 400 cubic feet of gas. A level of 0.5% CO2 is toxic, so you would need to mix 80000 cubic feet of air to keep it breathable. Not quite that much air in a Bug... |
They said there wasn't going to be any math. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Jacks Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2006 Posts: 2344 Location: San Clemente, Ca.
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Cali_Army_Guy Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2015 Posts: 2094 Location: Stockton, CA
|
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
We own firearms. I'm not buying an ice chest that costs more than the car did. I'm liable to get pistol whipped lol. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
photogdave Samba Member
Joined: April 05, 2004 Posts: 3039 Location: Vancouver Island, B.C.
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
gt1953 Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2002 Posts: 13842 Location: White Mountains Arizona
|
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 7:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
She may be stuck in that California traffic, ice melted, so she had to go get more. This time she may make if back. _________________ Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.
72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold}) |
|
Back to top |
|
|
mark tucker Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2009 Posts: 23937 Location: SHALIMAR ,FLORIDA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
so.... a sealed bag of dry ice between the ice to keep the fumes down and the ice cool longer......and an aluminum fined tube running through the middle of the ice.....
or add an ac unit Ive seen window units in the back seat of bugs. and that was many years before the new style lightweight low draw units for around $100 were on the market.and also the portable units out now too. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Cali_Army_Guy Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2015 Posts: 2094 Location: Stockton, CA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
photogdave wrote: |
How long does it take to buy ice? I wanna hear the results! |
Mediocre.
I mean it works. It blows cold air out, just not at the velocity that a car with factory AC would. In its current state I couldn't roll up the windows in 100* heat and be cold like I can in our SUV. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
pb_foots Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2010 Posts: 1089 Location: Ben Lomond, CA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 12:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well, that's better than nothing I suppose. I'm not surprised that it doesn't work as well as a real A/C, but if it keeps the monkey butt down to a level that doesn't make me want to kill myself, it's a winner!
I typically don't drive the bug in the high summer but occasionally it would be nice. For 30 bucks, it's worth a shot. Thanks for the info! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
KTPhil Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2006 Posts: 33875 Location: Conejo Valley, CA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
mark tucker wrote: |
so.... a sealed bag of dry ice between the ice to keep the fumes down and the ice cool longer... |
As the dry ice gives up it's cold (okay, physicists, draws heat from the water ice) it will turn to gas even if in a bag, and the expansion will still blow the bag and the gas will kill you.
On the other hand, a heat exchanger approach with the dry ice in a well-ventilated frunk might work...
But then you may as well put in a regular A/C unit. I guess the original poster's idea is the best non-destructive/non-installed solution. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Letterman7 Samba Member
Joined: March 14, 2004 Posts: 3198 Location: Downingtown, PA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Find a 4" ventilator fan from a boat on CL or somewhere. Install that. Then see what you think of the air flow. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Cali_Army_Guy Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2015 Posts: 2094 Location: Stockton, CA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Letterman7 wrote: |
Find a 4" ventilator fan from a boat on CL or somewhere. Install that. Then see what you think of the air flow. |
In another thread I mentioned getting a bigger fan and someone said that while a higher output fan will indeed have more velocity coming out, the air won't be in the cooler as long and therefor won't be as cold coming out. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
KTPhil Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2006 Posts: 33875 Location: Conejo Valley, CA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The trick with this is to balance the cooling power of the melting ice and the evaporative cooling of the melted water. Too much or too little airflow will affect this balance, which will also depend on the relative humidity and temperatures at the time. A variable speed fan will let you maximize cooling on the fly for the longer drives. Aiming the flow towards your face and chest also is effective. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
coad Samba Scapegoat
Joined: September 12, 2002 Posts: 7552
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Your basic 1960's under dash a/c unit was rated at around 15,000 btu's (ballpark numbers) of cooling.
If you convert btu's to refrigeration tons (based on tons of ice), that's approx. equivalent to the cooling power of 1.25 tons of ice. If a ton is 2000 lbs, that means the cooling power of your basic under dash unit equals about 2500 pounds of ice.
Your ice chest probably holds maybe 25 pounds, so you're putting out 1/100th the cooling capacity of an under dash a/c unit.
Of course an a/c unit is taking moisture out of the air in the cabin which makes it feel cooler, and your system is adding moisture so that's working against you.
Better than nothing I guess, but I think you would be cooler if you just ate the ice. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
c21darrel Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2009 Posts: 8206 Location: San Dimas
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
e&m_ghia Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2011 Posts: 418 Location: NoVA
|
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
coad wrote: |
Your basic 1960's under dash a/c unit was rated at around 15,000 btu's (ballpark numbers) of cooling.
If you convert btu's to refrigeration tons (based on tons of ice), that's approx. equivalent to the cooling power of 1.25 tons of ice. If a ton is 2000 lbs, that means the cooling power of your basic under dash unit equals about 2500 pounds of ice.
Your ice chest probably holds maybe 25 pounds, so you're putting out 1/100th the cooling capacity of an under dash a/c unit.
Of course an a/c unit is taking moisture out of the air in the cabin which makes it feel cooler, and your system is adding moisture so that's working against you.
Better than nothing I guess, but I think you would be cooler if you just ate the ice. |
Well… that's 1.25 tons per day… So if they melted the ice in less time, it would improve things. If you could melt the 25 lb of ice in 1 hour, it would only be about a quarter as effective as a typical car A/C… Now all they need to do is design a heat exchanger that will melt ice at that rate, from the air flow...
Hmmm… Maybe it would be better if they just ate the ice… Can you use swamp coolers & misters in Modesto? |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Malokin Martin Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2007 Posts: 3093 Location: E-burg
|
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
e&m_ghia wrote: |
Now all they need to do is design a heat exchanger that will melt ice at that rate, from the air flow... |
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|