![]() 12V plug- free, chopped off a car accessory Cut one off an old phone charger or other device, or $5 at Radio Shack, or $3.75 at All Electronics. Hose- free, had it in stock Ours came from an auto-parts store, but it can be found at hardware and auto-parts stores for a dollar or so for a few feet. ![]() Bilge Pump- $10.44 for a 500GPH unit at Wal-Mart The Attwood V500 was at our Wal-Mart for $10.44-you can get a similar pump for under $10 on eBay. Box Fans and Blade Guards- free, from stock in basement They're sold out of $5 120mm 12VDC fans at All Electronics, but Jameco carries these for $12.95 each. Also, I haven't tried it, but Ufixitautoparts sells heater cores for under 5 bucks apiece. Heater Core- free, salvaged from a '77 VW Rabbit we're parting out You can find these on eBay for 99 cents to $20, or from an auto store for around 20 bucks, or at an auto salvage yard. We used an old 12 quart cooler, and it fit a 7 pound bag of ice. Or, the Igloo Ice Cube 14 looks like it would work,well, as do the Cool 16 and the MaxCold 24. Materials: Ice Chest- free, had it on hand If at all possible, get one with a hinged lid. You can't very well build this without materials to build it with, can you? I have included the prices we paid for them in italics, as well as prices you might pay and places to get them. The third image on this step shows the operation. However, it was built for an EV, so we are only ever out for an hour or two maximum, and the ice lasts longer when it's not running. The only disadvantage is that it the ice will melt after 30-60 minutes of operation, depending on the size of your cooler. It looks almost identical to ours, and we built this without ever seeing a picture of the inside! The basic concept is to use a boating bilge pump to circulate iced water through a heater core, then use 12V fans to blow air through that core, which cools the air and pulls out water through condensation.Īdvantages: Very compact and portable, lightweight without the ice, no environmentally not-so-friendly chlorofluorocarbons, hydrogenated chlorofluorocarbons, or hydrofluorocarbons, very quiet, and operates off 12VDC, AKA a cigarette lighter. In fact, I attached two pictures of it I took at AirVenture this past summer. This project is very similar to the ArcticAir Package Unit. Update, 5-12-08: 100,003 views! Yay! I'm no Kipkay, but I'm still proud. All you need is materials, basic construction/assembly and wiring skills, and a bag of ice. I saw the ArcticAir display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this summer, and our unit is more compact and puts out cooler air. They sell air conditioners built into ice chests for prices ranging from $475 for a basic model to $625 for a 24V, dual fan model.There is also an ArcticAir unit for $4750 with a full compressor unit. It is very simple, but we found what we were looking for at Sporty's Pilot Shop. It pumps ice water through an evaporator core, which has fans that blow air through it. Finally, my dad came up with part of the concept for this system. Some have used a compressor driven by the motor shaft anyway, while others have turned a compressor using a separate motor. However, air conditioning is trickier because the shaft of an electric motor doesn't always spin. It works great, although not quite as fast, and doesn't use gas.) Last fall the gas tank and heater were removed, and a ceramic heater was built in. (Update from 4-22-08: I'd forgotten that I mentioned the gas heater on here. Many EVs use hair dryer elements and fans for heat, and some, ours included, feature a powerful gasoline-burning heater. In a gas car, heat is provided by the 80% of the gas that is wasted as heat, and air conditioning is provided by a crankshaft-driven compressor system. We absolutely love it, and wouldn't trade it for a Tesla Roadster, but one of the few problems with electric cars is heating and cooling. As I have previously mentioned around the site, my Dad owns an electric 1979 Ford Courier pickup, and is cool enough to let me drive it around. ![]() ![]() This project is my dad's $10 solution to a $500 solution to a $25,000 problem.
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