Thursday, May 6, 2010

close cooling

Got everything hob knobbed together to try out the new swamp cooler....started testing late in the day around 3:30 - but pulled the inside temp down from 88 to 86 (103 outside). This is a good sign as normally the temp would start rising to above 90 inside by this time - without a constant fresh airflow coming through my house. Just a few more details to attend to and I will do the final wiring.
Had to clean (water and baking soda) the positive terminals on my 6 volt lead acid batteries and give them a drink of distilled water as they were a little low. The two 12 volt sealed AGM's were clean as a whistle and in no need of fluid.
The bottom cooler is the reservoir and includes a 12VDC pump that is timed via the kit I soldered together. Right now it is set to pump for 6 seconds and wait 3 minutes till the next cycle (this will be adjusted to provide optimum cooling). The water moves up to the small container mounted above the top cooler. It drips through 8 holes onto the evaporative medium. Excess water drains back down to the bottom cooler. Four 100cfm muffin fans blow the cool air inside my house through a NW window. Air exhausts through a SE window. 97,109,52,0,C

15 comments:

mike said...

How clever, I want one

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Just Me said...

To keep those coolers bright red and keep the plastic from degrading after a season's exposure to lots of UV I highly recommend 303 Aerospace Protectant. It's what the river guides swear by. MUCH better than Armor All.

ezrablu said...

VERY clever...I want one, too!

Allen Hare said...

Just Me, where can I find that 303 Aerospace Protectant? Sounds like some really good stuff.

John, I love the new Pepino II! It looks great, and I bet it will work great, also. Those evaporative coolers work really well in a dry climate like yours. Way to go!

neil said...

...or wallpaper it with foil for that NASA look

Bob from Athens said...

Have you considered cutting a hole in the wall for pepino and giving it a permament home, and not losing the use of that window for the summer.

Anonymous said...

WWJWD
I find myself thinking that more and more...

Anonymous said...

Ty for the detailed info in the cooler cooler. I was thinking SPF #50 suntan lotion might do ok to keep the cooler from tanning, but I bet Just Mes idea is better!

De La Mancha said...

You're going to put MasterCool (Champion) out of business! I love my evap cooler, but I love your evap's design! I wish I could only have 4 muffin fans pushing to cool my house.... 7000 CFM keeps mine at 72 to 82 for most of the summer in Tucson.

Darin said...

303 Protectant is available at most boat/marine stores. A 16oz bottle will last a long time. It's great for applying to vehicle dashes and other automotive plastic as well.

Pipsqeek said...

Regarding the cooler fading or degrading, I'm only thinking about this from experience with different colour clothes line pegs.... why not just use a different colour cooler?

White seems to stand UV the longest, with red being the worst off. I should know, my car is red and there's a definite fading on the paint there, and my red clothes line pegs are always the first to fade to pink and eventually break.

John Wells said...

not too concerned about UV on the cooler - it is in the shade all day.

dr.dave said...

If you don't mind a little unsolicited advice you should sell detailed plans for your swampy...the commercial ones (kar kool, swampy) are so monstrously overpriced they defy description.

Long live Pepino Deux !!!

Admin said...

I live in Malaysia. We have many models commercially available. They're not too expensive either. Look up "air cooler" pics. You should leave your unit indoors. That way, it can recycle the cooled air instead of pulling in hot air from outside. Also, the water would not be exposed to the sun. On really hot days, add some ice to the water. Although that does somewhat defeat the purpose of trying to save energy, it's still greener than using an A/C.