No more taxiing in the heat!

[PTK]

I always wanted to do this and I finally did! I couldn't see going another summer in the heat.

Here's my portable cooler on its maiden test run.

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Can you provide a parts list?

Clarence

[Jerry 5TJ]

Nice work.  Let us know how it works.

I suspect it takes a lot of ice to cool a hot Mooney cabin.  

The factory AC is rated 25,000 btu/hour.  That cooling is about equal to melting 4,000 pounds of ice in an hour.  (A "two ton" air conditioner)

[Bob_Belville]

Just now, Jerry 5TJ said:

The factory AC is rated 25,000 btu/hour.  That cooling is about equal to melting 4,000 pounds of ice in an hour.  (A "two ton" air conditioner)

I think a small car is about 12,000 btu. In both cases I suppose the unit is sized to deal with initial temps well over 100 F for a car or plane parked on the ramp in the sun. Maintaining temps below ~80 F would surely take a fraction of that capacity.

[Piloto]

I took a simpler approach. I carry frozen water bottles that I drink while taxing. It is very effective. Then when times comes to dispose of the water I use my relief tube. It works very well with no worries of mess.

José

Edited July 1, 2016 by Piloto

[N601RX]

23 minutes ago, Jerry 5TJ said:

Nice work.  Let us know how it works.

I suspect it takes a lot of ice to cool a hot Mooney cabin.  

The factory AC is rated 25,000 btu/hour.  That cooling is about equal to melting 4,000 pounds of ice in an hour.  (A "two ton" air conditioner)

4000 lbs would for 24 hrs if you only considered the Latent Heat of fusion being 144BTU per pound. In reality you get closer to 200 btu/lb if using freezer ice.

I have the unit that Phill sells and if I fill it up with 40lls of ice and run it on high on a very hot day it will very quickly cool the cabin down and keep it there for about 1hr.  In reality I usually run it on high for 5-10 minutes or so and then cut it back considerably.  Doing this it normally keeps things comfortable for a little over 2 hrs.  In really not weather ice packs don't work that well, the plastic shell doesn't let them melt fast enough.

[PTK]

I plan on using this primarily for ground ops takeoff and descent shutting it off in cruise. Also I will use blocks of ice. I just happened to have an ice pack in the freezer and used it to test it.

My goal is to have 50 to 60 deg F air for a solid two hours utilizing two 10 lbs of solid block ice. 20 lbs ice. I sized the cooler and components with this goal in mind.

I will experiment and report back.

[carusoam]

More applied thermodynamics! 

You guys are good!

Best regards,

-a-

[Htwjr]

I think that you may want to put a sheet of insulation between the ice water and the fan so you get the cooling without additional moisture in the air.  Not an engineer but I do own a portable cooler ac that looks similar and mine has the insulation.  I find that it is kind of a pain to carry the ice packs back and forth to the plane but it does help a good bit when it is very hot out.  I find it hard to believe the factory air is 25,000 btu 2500 sounds closer.   A motorhome only has two 15,000 btu units.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, PTK said:

I plan on using this primarily for ground ops takeoff and decent shutting it off in cruise. Also I will use blocks of ice. I just happened to have an ice pack in the freezer and used it to test it.

My goal is to have 50 to 60 deg F air for a solid two hours utilizing two 10 lbs of solid block ice. 20 lbs ice. I sized the cooler and components with this goal in mind.

I will experiment and report back.

Frozen cans of beer would be double purposes, cool the plane and refresh the pilot after landing.

Clarence

[Jerry 5TJ]

13 hours ago, N601RX said:

4000 lbs would for 24 hrs if you only considered the Latent Heat of fusion being 144BTU per pound. In reality you get closer to 200 btu/lb if using freezer ice.

I have the unit that Phill sells and if I fill it up with 40lls of ice and run it on high on a very hot day it will very quickly cool the cabin down and keep it there for about 1hr.  In reality I usually run it on high for 5-10 minutes or so and then cut it back considerably.  Doing this it normally keeps things comfortable for a little over 2 hrs.  In really not weather ice packs don't work that well, the plastic shell doesn't let them melt fast enough.

You're right - 4,000 pounds in 24, not 1 hour as I wrote.  Thanks for correction.

Even at 200 BTU/pound of ice 40 pounds seems somewhat low to get AC like cooling for an hour.  But if you say it works I will try it. 

Factory AC draws 70 amps at 28 volts, claims 25,000 BTU/hour.  The smaller portable unit from Arctic Air is rated 7,000 BTU/hour and uses 27 amps at 28 volts.  

 

[Andy95W]

4 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Frozen cans of beer would be double purposes, cool the plane and refresh the pilot after landing.

Clarence

Hey, grab another Molson from the air conditioner, eh?

[carusoam]

IF you want to get more cold released in less time, a healthy dose of salt will depress the freezing point of ice on it's surface.

more surface (crushed ice) and salt will help melt the ice faster.  The forced reversal of the heat of fusion (?) absorbs a lot of energy in a shorter amount of time...

Caution: Do not spill the salt water mixture anywhere in or on the plane.  Increased rates of oxidation may occur...

Best regards,

-a-

[rbridges]

I bought one of the coolers on this site, and I usually use ice packs. I get air in the 70's. 

[mike_elliott]

On ‎7‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 5:50 PM, M20Doc said:

Frozen cans of beer would be double purposes, cool the plane and refresh the pilot after landing.

Clarence

Labatts Blue cools better than Molson's IMO.

[Yetti]

On 7/1/2016 at 5:38 AM, M20Doc said:

Can you provide a parts list?

Clarence

Heater core

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C7RZEK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bilge fan

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003EX02DA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The bilge pump is from harbor Freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-gph-bilge-pump-66095.html

 

Homedepot

tubing

Soffet vent for the top

I have since sealed the gap in the fan and top with copious amounts of Goop

The flexible conduit was from the duct work section of homer dan

The top of the cooler was cut so the tubing kind of screwed in then Gooped in place.

[wishboneash]

What do you all think of this? Not as cold or less airflow compared to the one with the radiator version you have designed? The one this guy did seems to get the air down to 8C or so. 

 

[FlyboyKC]

So just curious, why couldn't a person take a 2000 watt voltage inverter, connected to the battery and run a small 5000btu AC unit. Have the vent blow out the rear of the airplane and put the unit in the cargo area. The weight would be the same as the ICE bucket more or less, and the AC unit would only draw up to 15amps (AC). Get the one with remote control and you are all set.

[Piloto]

1 minute ago, FlyboyKC said:

So just curious, why couldn't a person take a 2000 watt voltage inverter, connected to the battery and run a small 5000btu AC unit. Have the vent blow out the rear of the airplane and put the unit in the cargo area. The weight would be the same as the ICE bucket more or less, and the AC unit would only draw up to 15amps (AC). Get the one with remote control and you are all set.

The AC draws 15 amps at 120VAC but at 12VDC the draw will be 150 amps. This would be beyond the alternator max capacity of 60 amps. That is why the AC compressor on cars and planes is directly coupled to the engine.

If you leave your plane out on the ramp in the summer the heat build up inside is intolerable. But if you keep the plane in a hangar and taxi with the door open then is not too bad. Drinking cold water helps substantially but make sure you have means to dispose of it inflight.

José 

[Yetti]

on a hot afternoon (104 on sat)   it is usually um ya the checklist, not, I know how to start the big fan.   Then go back to the check list.

[par]

This is what I made last summer:

After having used my CB A/C now for a couple of summers, I would change the following about my design when I build another one.

1) Use 2 fans instead of 1 or a splitter to direct airflow as needed

2) Avoid using any sort of corrugated/flexible hose to minimize losses

3) Make it large enough to handle about 30lbs of ice, which will last for over an over even on the hottest days

4) You do not need a massive pump to circulate the water. The one I use now is actually made for a fish tank and does very well

Overall, it works very well and if I were to fly with my baby girl, she would stay nice and comfy, which would minimize and possible complaining.

[peevee]

now all I need is a small freezer device that I can leave in the hangar and freeze ice blocks one at a time.