Ram air coolers?
DubbyFan - April 3rd, 2012 at 05:56 PM
Not sure what they are called and I would imagine they are exy ($$$) these days as they are very desirable.
I was wondering if anyone has had a go at making one of these, from what I can remember the air goes through the
unit passing over water inside the thing and the cool air blows into the car cooling the interior.
Fairly simple so would imagine not too hard to replicate, anyone tried to make one?
PS What are they called, thanks.......
Smiley - April 3rd, 2012 at 06:08 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by DubbyFan
What are they called, thanks.......
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Swamp coolers are what they are commonly referred to as.
I'm not sure if that's the correct name for them though.
Haven't seen any of them about for a long while.
Smiley 
vwo60 - April 3rd, 2012 at 06:53 PM
you can see them for sale on the samba
General_Failure - April 7th, 2012 at 09:34 AM
I've been looking for internal shots of these things for ages because surely it can't be too hard to make a work-alike.
IanJ - April 7th, 2012 at 09:57 AM
There are a few how to's on the web.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUhs_1puHk0&feature=youtube_gdata_player
General_Failure - April 7th, 2012 at 10:06 AM
I can make one of those bucket coolers. it's more the old window mount ones and friends that interest me. I often thought that a modified version of
their design would go nicely in behind the roo bar against the front vent on my camper. The only real functional difference would be intake position.
Besides that it's all in the dimensions really.
General_Failure - April 7th, 2012 at 10:14 AM
Hey look! Someone took photos of a resto on one.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintageswampcooler/sets/72157625879332963/
IanJ - April 7th, 2012 at 10:52 AM
Nice find 
bajachris88 - April 7th, 2012 at 11:33 AM
You need a dry heat climate for it to work.
The water evaporates which in turn cools the air. If its hot and humid, the water isn't going to be too keen to evaporate well, and it will just make
the interior more humid.
annosL - April 7th, 2012 at 03:25 PM
Most of the USA ones are for LHD, passenger window, wouldn't be many RHD drive ones about
General_Failure - April 7th, 2012 at 05:53 PM
| Quote: |
Originally
posted by bajachris88
You need a dry heat climate for it to work.
The water evaporates which in turn cools the air. If its hot and humid, the water isn't going to be too keen to evaporate well, and it will just make
the interior more humid.
|
Very true. Makes them perfect for around these parts. To date we haven't really had a day that the evaporative cooler on the house has fallen flat on
so an automotive one wouldn't be too bad.
annosL That's a good point but those things fetch a premium anyway.
Maybe 4 or 5 years back something odd appeared in an ALDI catalog. It was a cylindrical looking car evaporative cooler. It never appeared in the
store. I was really irritated about that.
During the heat waves about 4 years ago the grid collapsed and left everyone in 40+ night with no power. I stole one of the car batteries, connected
it to the 300W inverter and ran a portable evaporative cooler we had. One of those cheapie ones with the material belt in it. It did the job well
enough. Personally I think the ones with the stationery mat work better but it worked. I've also used that cooler in the pop top caravan
successfully, so I think the potential of a more modern / homebrew portable evaporative one would be quite high for people.