Redneck air-conditioning

yellrhd · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:54 am Post subject: different version

Here is one I've built though instead of the air flowing over the ice or water to cool I use the ice to cool water flowing through an old heater core (swamp coolers and air over ice/ water only work when there is low or no humidity)
This could easily be retrofitted for the cooler to be remote (in the trunk) and the fan heater core to be in the cabin. Uses a small fan and a bilge pump to move the water runs fine off the cigarette lighter.

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Cali_Army_Guy · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 4:20 am Post subject:

I wonder if I could rig the fresh air box in my super to do this. Then it would blow the cold air out the dash vents instead of having a separate box taking up space in the car.

yellrhd · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:00 pm Post subject: a/c

When I still had my Super I was going to rig it to the dealer installed A/C evaporator / fan that was still installed. The rest of the A/C was gone. Never got around to doing it but if you can fit an old heater core into the fresh air box it should work.

Tim Donahoe · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:17 pm Post subject:

Cali, it might work if you have a good stock blower fan, except for the fact that you'd also be blowing the cooled air out the air box intake vent. Also, you don't want to cool hot outside air that is coming into the cabin. You simply want to cool the interior air of the car. With a closed cabin, the longer the cooler fan runs, the cooler the interior of the cabin, although you may have to crack a window or keep a fresh-air vent partially open--if you have flow-through crescents, that is.

I haven't tested yet, but it seems the cooling media (in my case, a row of Blue Ice containers, placed in separating slots in a large insulated cooler) would only last a few hours; but that's okay for driving around town. Still, that's at least one hundred miles--if you don't stop for lunch. If visiting someone at the end of the trip who will let you re-freeze your cooling media, you will have cooled air on the way back home.

And, Mike, where are you going to put your spare tire if you use that spare-tire space for a cooling reservoir? I haven't had a flat tire in years, but it does happen.

I'm going to draw up a design for an insulated box that has a lid where the fan sits on top of the lid. The fan would be located at the middle of the lid, and the two 90 degree vents would flank the fan. Then I'll place some sort of one-inch high elevated grid under a separated row of, say a dozen, upright Blue Ice containers. Doing this last would allow the air to flow all around and under each ice container. The air would be forced through and around each ice container and be expelled out of the upper side vents. Locating the vents at the outermost top sides of the lid would help insure that the ice containers melt evenly, since the fan is located in the middle.

The one issue I'd have to wonder about is if my alternator could handle a constant draw of extra volts to power the fan--and still keep my battery charged and such--especially if I had my lights on. I have a 55 amp Bosch alternator. I'd hate to take a little trip and be 20 degrees cooler--but have a dead battery at the end of the trip Shocked

.

Tim
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sb001 · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:32 pm Post subject:

Bashr52 · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 4:33 am Post subject:

Tim Donahoe · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:04 pm Post subject:

I asked the question about the constant current draw because I seem to remember in my Owners Manual something about turning off the defrost after a while to reduce the load on the battery. Something like that, anyway,

Of course, I don't know how much draw was necessary for my defunct defroster grids, nor do I know how much draw a small fan would consume.

So the question remains, unless Ash or somebody who has installed a defroster fan under their rear window will chime in and let us know the answer to the riddle.

I'm simply going to connect the fan wires to the female end of my rear window wire, and use the male (negative) side on the window for the negative wire off the fan. I've seen this done with a defroster fan set-up that someone had here on The Samba. However, that fan seemed smaller than the one I saw on the Karmann Ghia, that I mentioned in the OP; so I would imagine that a fan the size of the "5 gallon bucket" set-up that was pictured previously in this thread might ask for more than my alternator could provide.

Tim
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talljordan · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:37 pm Post subject:

The rear defroster draws a LOT of power. I can't give exact numbers but I would guess upwards of 10A.

A small fan will draw no where NEAR that amount of power. I have an old xbox360 fan that I mounted to the side of my rear window that clears it up fairly well. It draws 0.2A. That being said it is a low power computer fan and the two fans are only around 2-3" in diameter.
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busdaddy · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:36 pm Post subject:

What a bunch of cheap shits Razz

, just go buy one!
http://www.kooleraire.com/
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Tim Donahoe · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 6:01 pm Post subject:

Thanks, busdaddy.

That Koolaire Unit is not a cooler, but, rather, a top-fitting fan unit, blower, exit pipe arrangement. But that's okay.

I assume I can split the wires and hook up to my 8 amp (fused) defroster wiring, right? I don't think my cigarette lighter receptacle works, anyway. Plus, I it would be nice to use an existing switch.

The KoolAir unit uses 0.39 amps, so I'm also assuming that that is very little. The fused defroster system has an 8 amp safety.

So, Jordan, is 0.39 amps what I think it is: a little over 1/2 amp? I can read wiring diagrams all right, but motor usage is not something I know about.

If the amp usage is low enough, I'm going to buy the unit. It even has a swivel 90 degree outlet. Crap, for thirty-nine bucks, it's worth a try.

Tim
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vamram · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 6:45 pm Post subject:

I'm buying one as well. Weather in the mid-Atlantic sucks for 2/3s of the year, July and August being part of that suckage!
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Tim Donahoe · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:18 pm Post subject:

Well, now I'm not so sure about the KoolerAire unit. I Googled a Review search and came up with some YouTube videos that were rather eye-opening.

The first one showed a guy who was trying to cool down a van. Well, good luck with that. But, he did comment that with his hand--that was less than a foot away from the outlet--he could not feel any air at all. During the test, the interior of his van actually warmed up. The particular unit he was testing was not the same as the one busdaddy pointed out; but it was the same manufacturer. So, I'm guessing that their fans may not push out enough air to do the job. The more air passing through the cooler, the cooler the cabin, right?

Then I watched where some random guy made his own unit. It was quite easy, cutting the holes, piecing together the fan and vent. This particular unit ran off a 12 volt battery, or a solar panel, or 110 volt house current (with an adapter). His fan also produced a lot of air, as witnessed by the streamers he had taped to the swivel 90 degree outlet. His thermometers read anywhere from 42 degrees (using exposed ice) to 52 degrees (using a plastic frozen water bottle. The exposed ice was a rather large block that lasted five hours, by the way.

I wouldn't use ice, even though the humidity is low here in California, because I wouldn't want all that moisture in my bug's interior. However, I think with a better design--like a bank of separated Blue Ice containers--the 52 degree mark could be lowered significantly.

I'll start the project after I get a new shed built in my back yard.

Tim
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johneliot · Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:41 am Post subject:

There might be parts of California that don't have a lot of humidity but Redding isn't one of them! (or Chico Wink

).
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vamram · Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:42 am Post subject:

Thanks for your research Tim. Guess I'll hold off to watch your project develop!
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Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
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Save the Supers!!

talljordan · Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 3:39 pm Post subject:

Tim Donahoe · Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 6:52 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Jordan, I thought so. My math isn't that bad. But I wanted to make sure that was the case. So, 0.39 is really a tiny draw. I suppose that's why the fan on the KoolerAire unit I saw in the video was not blowing much air.

I'll search around the net and see what fans are available.

Tim
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PressY4Pie · Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:06 am Post subject:

Lol i saw that guy at the Show And Shine too. I always wondered about how to get cool air into my bug in the heat around here.
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pb_foots · Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:22 am Post subject:

I saw the things at Sam's club again.

rechargeable, 12VDC, looks pretty good for what it is.

300 clams though, not so much.

http://www.icybreeze.com/

air-h2o-air · Samba Member Joined: January 25, 2015 Posts: 579

most likely poor results of the ice chest coolers...no dehumidification...which is the "KEY" to air conditioning comfort


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