Swamp Cooler

[23crate]

hey guys,

we dont really have these downunder ,, but thinking of making one from this old airfilter housing .. dimensions are 6" x 22"

body is steel is that useable or too heavy ?

thoughts advice re mounting etc all gratefully recieved

Thanks

 

[smallfoot]

Just to get on the same page as you guys. I've heard several here speak of swamp coolers. We have swamp coolers down here but I'm not sure if what we call them are the same as you. Down here as far as I have seen in my life, swamp coolers are just a backwoods way of using nature to cool your surroundings. To give an example, one of the ways I've seen them used to most is in the plant nursery business. Frequently, nurserymen use buildings shaped like Quonset huts to raise seedlings. They get extremely hot inside even tho most are white to reflect heat. One way to handle that is placement of a large fan at one end of the greenhouse and vents at the other end. The draft created really does work well. The swamp cooler effect comes in when a filter material is covering the vent end with water steadily running across it. The forced air then brings atomized moisture thru the greenhouse too.
Are you talking about a device like Lowbudget uses on his AD?

 

[Old Iron]

I understand if you're in a high humidity area, the swamp cooler will not work as well as a dry climate.

 

[PA41]

I've considered similar stuff for my A coupe, but I live in a high humidity swamp world. Too hot to run in the summer for old fat guys.

Was considering making a similar looking window mound gadget I could just pour a bag of crushed ice in.

 

[smallfoot]

For years I lugged around a device I took out of an old jalopy in Georgia. A small box shaped arrangement. It had a fan in the top like a hamster wheel and a trough across the bottom front that formed a container to hold ice. It was a pretty simple rig and looked like it was made to just fasten to he underside of the dash. One of those things you wish you still had...

 

[Neto]

I grew up in Oklahoma, but in the humid north east part (north of Tulsa). These deals down work there - just makes it than much more humid. But out in central-west Oklahoma (like Enid area, on west) they work very well.

On a trip out to California in around 1960, my Dad bought one for the 53 DeSoto. It was not the window mount type, but sat on the hump in the front seat area, and was powered through the cigarette lighter plug. I don't think it was ever necessary to put ice in it, just water work fine, going through the desert on west.

(In the old days in Western OK, they would hang wet sheets in the windows - same effect, and it also caught a lot of the dust that was in the wind.)

 

[23crate]

Thanks Guys !.

yep Small thats exactly the thing _ by description , can be used with ice or water,

theres a bit of info all over the place , wanting to know from more from user experience .. and there seems to be more models out there

they do look fairly simple to construct , NZ summers can be hot but also muggy , and cool to look at !

when done my 56 Stude should be more of a sled, and looking at chucking this idea in - has no heater assembly at all - could retro fit but love the idea of these too

 

[lowbudget50]

I run one on my 50. Packed with ice water it takes a 100° (dry heat) day and makes it comfortable to run down the highway with all the windows and vents closed. It works well enough that my pregnant wife rode in the truck to my dad's back when we had our first kid at 8 and 1/2 months pregnant and it was very enjoyable hahahah

 

[05snopro440]

I have one too but I haven't used it yet other than for display purposes. Mine is a Thermador, and the body of it is made from sheet metal. I can take measurements for you if that would help.

You don't want it to be heavy as in most designs a portion of the weight is on the window glass.

This article has a lot of good cutaway photos and information that may help you.

Here's The Science Behind How Cars Stayed Cool Before 'Real' Air Conditioning - The Autopian

 

[user 13565]

...

 

[23crate]

I have one too but I haven't used it yet other than for display purposes. Mine is a Thermador, and the body of it is made from sheet metal. I can take measurements for you if that would help.

You don't want it to be heavy as in most designs a portion of the weight is on the window glass.

This article has a lot of good cutaway photos and information that may help you.

Here's The Science Behind How Cars Stayed Cool Before 'Real' Air Conditioning - The Autopian

05" thank you - great article and pretty much what im looking for !..

if you could find a few minutes to measure your Thermador i would really appreicate that , my build wont be a Thermador to look at - basic dimensions brilliant, as i have little to go on other than an approximate 6" x 22" tube.

Steel is good to hear , i can work with that , and hope to use window frame as opposed to glass to support the unit..

Also what is the 'filter core" made from most commonly ?

thanks all

 

[05snopro440]

Sorry for the delay, @23crate. I braved the "polar vortex" at -33°C this afternoon and finally got you some photos with rough measurements. Hope these work for you!

 

[05snopro440]

 

[smallfoot]

Thanks for the pix and the article snopro!

 

[23crate]

wow thats cold !! and difficult to comprehend not having experienced it

thanks 05 ! Great Information !! and more than i had expected !! makes the replica job easy !!

will keep you guys posted on the build

 

[05snopro440]

If you need more let me know. It's not hard to get to and our polar vortex is coming to an end!