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Ice chest air conditioner

The-sky-captain
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The-sky-captain Mentor

The-sky-captain

Posted
Posted

It's 100 degrees here and I'm needing something to cool the Mooney down with as I lost a couple gallons of sweat yesterday on the ramp in Little Rock. A year or so ago someone on Mooneyspace posted about a homemade a/c unit they constructed using an ice chest and said it worked pretty good. I can't find the post, so if anybody here can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

rorythedog Collaborator

rorythedog

Posted
Posted

i had high hopes for a $40 air conditioner that i bought called a kooleraire.  it fits beautifully in the j baggage compartment.  it had great user reviews.....so now i own a $40 styrofoam ice chest(Approx. value $1.49. 


i don't think there's a reasonable solution to relieve the high temps and humidity in g.a. planes other than flying high.    

moodychief Proficient

moodychief

Posted
Posted

Quote: The-sky-captain

It's 100 degrees here and I'm needing something to cool the Mooney down with as I lost a couple gallons of sweat yesterday on the ramp in Little Rock. A year or so ago someone on Mooneyspace posted about a homemade a/c unit they constructed using an ice chest and said it worked pretty good. I can't find the post, so if anybody here can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

robert14 Contributor

robert14

Posted
Posted

I purchased the large unit from Sporty's and installed in my 65 M20E cargo hold. Works great with a large amount of air movement. I purchase 45 lbs of crushed ice from 7/11 (20lbs+20lbs+5lbs for $11.00) on the way to the airport, pour it into the chest, and ready to go. I also use it to store cold drinks. When it is 100 deg+ outside, the cold air blowing over your back and head is very refreshing. The cooling performance is similiar to a car AC. The ice will last about 3.5 hours while the unit is running and about 5 days if the unit is not running. I turn it off at cruise and turn it on when I start my descent. To empty the water, there is a 6 foot plastic hose that you hang over the side of the plane while the water siphons out to the ground.

DaV8or Grand Master

DaV8or

Posted
Posted

Quote: robert14

I purchased the large unit from Sporty's and installed in my 65 M20E cargo hold. Works great with a large amount of air movement. I purchase 45 lbs of crushed ice from 7/11 (20lbs+20lbs+5lbs for $11.00) on the way to the airport, pour it into the chest, and ready to go. I also use it to store cold drinks. When it is 100 deg+ outside, the cold air blowing over your back and head is very refreshing. The cooling performance is similiar to a car AC. The ice will last about 3.5 hours while the unit is running and about 5 days if the unit is not running. I turn it off at cruise and turn it on when I start my descent. To empty the water, there is a 6 foot plastic hose that you hang over the side of the plane while the water siphons out to the ground.

  • 2 months later...
Dale Community Regular

Dale

Posted
Posted

I recently purchased a 38 quart Arctic Air for my Mooney.  I live in south Florida and the heat was getting very intense in the early afternoons, especially for passengers.  I tried a kooleraire but it didn't supply sufficient cooling for the cabin.  The Arctic Air is absolutely perfect for cooling the cabin down to about 75 degrees on a 95 degree day.  I used it by filling it with a couple of bags of crushed ice and it worked very well.  I found that the crushed ice melted a little to fast, especially when I was using it for over an hour or two while I was flying at low altitude.  I have frozen some block ice in some tupperware containers and I believe the block ice will last for a few hours longer than the crushed ice before melting. 


I purchased the 12 volt model and hooked it up to a portable 12 volt battery pack which supplies more than enough power for a few hours of operation.  I turned on the Arctic Air prior to my preflight and shut the cabin door.  By the time I was ready to go the cabin was very cool and in the 75 degree range on a horribly hot 95 degree afternoon.  I was able to do my complete runup with the cabin door shut in a very refreshing cabin temperature.  My passengers were very, very pleased with the interior cabin temperature on such a hot day outside.  I have used the Arctic Air on my flights down to Marathon, Florida, where it is really, really hot.  The Arctic Air was a really welcome relief compared to prior trips I have made to Marathon without it.  I put the cover on the plane when I arrived and the plane sat on the hot tarmac for most of the afternoon.  The FBO at Marathon had an ice maker right there and gave me a few more pounds of ice to add to the Arctic Air prior to my preflight.  Once again by the time I finished my preflight the cabin interior was very comfortable.  It was not quite as cold as turning on the Arctic Air while the plane was in the hangar, but it nevertheless reduced the interior cabin temperature to a comfortable temperature even with the outside temperature at Marathon hitting over a 100 degrees.  It is easy to remove the water from the unit with the pump out line and refill the unit with additional ice.  If anyone is thinking about getting one of these units for their Mooney, the Arctic Air works really well and it operates as advertised. 

jetdriven Grand Master

jetdriven

Posted
Posted

I saw that artic air at OSH and it was pretty impressive. It uses recirculated water through a heater-core like heat exchanger to really blow cold air, and NO humidity from evaporating ice.  Its a nice system.  My neighbor uses one and he freezes ice into blocks in pie pans, then  loads up stackas of them in the ice chest.   According to him it lasts twice as long. He fires it up, and when the preflight is done, its nice and cool in his Bonanza.

David Mazer Mentor

David Mazer

Posted
Posted

I have an older version of the ArcticAir.  I have modified it by increasing the bilge pump from 500 gpm to 800 gpm with a tiny increase in amperage, then I installed a 24 v to 12 v converter in the plane,  installed a 12 v cigarette lighter power outlet under the instrument panel, and strung the power/control cable along the side of the cabin and velcroed it to the cabin just left of my knee.  I took out the supplied, pump driven emptying tubing and fittings and now just siphon out the spent water with a much larger/faster tube that requires no power and allows me to put more ice in because the tubing doesn't stick into the cooler.  Then I bought an old freezer to make blocks of ice that last much longer than cubed ice.  That is when the fun began because the freezing process kept cracking the buckets I was using.  I probably went through a couple dozen.  I finally went out and had a custom aluminum bucket made and reinforced to make just the right size block. Since the blocks are so heavy and unwieldy, I put a small rope handle in the water as it is freezing.  Not only does it give me better control but it keeps my fingers from freezing.


It works great with at least a 20 degree drop in cabin temperature but I'm pretty sure I could have bought an entirely new plane with built in air conditioning for less than I spent on all my tinkering!  Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration.

  • 8 months later...
Txgroup Apprentice

Txgroup

Posted
Posted

We offer the b-kool which is a result of us not liking the previously available solutions. We have a pre season promo of $349.00 for the 12 v and $379. For the 24v units. We offer a no hassle return policy and a one year warranty. So far with well over 100 shipped, not a single one has been returned.


We also offer at no additional charge a wireless remote which allows you to turn off the unit once at cruise altitude which stops the ice melt.


If any one is interested, feel free to contact me at txgroup@aol.com, or by calling me at 928-300-4045 


More info is available at b-kool.net


 


Bob

David Mazer Mentor

David Mazer

Posted
Posted

Bob,


Looks like a nice unit.  Do you go to the air shows like OSH and LAL? I'm not in the market since mine is working well but others might like the option you provide and would appreciate the opportunity to see the product.

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