Simple DIY air conditioner

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dextr0

dextr0

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My pops told me about some guy that did this where he worked to cool his station down. Never seen it in person; but I know alot of people would love to get this to work for em. An Idea to work with anyway...from another site:
http://gajitz.com/coolest-hack-ever...googimages&utm_source=images&utm_medium=other
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you an apartment with no air conditioning, you grab some supplies and make your own air conditioner. A clever Flickr user did just that and documented his project with annotated pictures.
diy-air-conditioner.jpg

homemade-air-conditioner.jpg

Starting off with a regular oscillating tabletop fan, he wrapped copper tubing in a spiral around the front and back of the fan. Flexible plastic tubing connects the copper coils to the reservoir below so that the fan can still oscillate.
use-a-fan-as-an-air-conditioner.jpg

Fish tank pumps cycle cold water up, through the coils, and back down. When the fan blows across the cold tubes, it creates a gust of chilly air in the room. There’s no mention of the cost involved, but this looks to be a relatively simple and inexpensive solution for homes that can’t take the electrical load of a window air conditioner. Just be careful if you try this – or any other hack involving electricity (especially electricity near water) at home.
 
fishwhistle

fishwhistle

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Is that a homebuilt swamper fixit?cant say ive ever seen anything like it before,is it built out of a trashcan?
 
mrfixit

mrfixit

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Yeppers - 32g trashcan sitting in a bucket (which handles stray water streams and adds reservoir capacity), small garden pump feeding a drip ring flowing over the blue filter material vented out the top with a fan. Knocks 8-12 degrees out of the room depending on humidity, ambient temp etc. Works pretty well, well worth the under $50 to build.
SW 3 w
 
coloradochem

coloradochem

752
93
Yeppers - 32g trashcan sitting in a bucket (which handles stray water streams and adds reservoir capacity), small garden pump feeding a drip ring flowing over the blue filter material vented out the top with a fan. Knocks 8-12 degrees out of the room depending on humidity, ambient temp etc. Works pretty well, well worth the under $50 to build.
View attachment 230085
dude you just saved me about 200 bucks. thanks! awesome idea
 
mrfixit

mrfixit

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Well, I don't want to hijack the OP's thread; I've seen some interesting variants on his post to do rez cooling etc!

Couple things I'd do differently/"v2"on my design... go one size down on the garbage can to save money on the reservoir/catch basin; that may save you $15-$20 right off the bat. Choose stiffer tubing than the cheap vinyl I used for the spray ring; it aids in keeping the holes you make spraying the direction you want! Lastly shop around/research the paper-esque material used by most evaporative coolers (damned if I can remember the name - Google it). You can find it on the web/eBay in roll form and it is MUCH more effective at transferring moisture, BUT it also needs replacement more often than HVAC filter material (or "extend" it by buying/adding humidifier water treatment).
I will do all of the above before -next- summer.
 
coloradochem

coloradochem

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thanks for the tips bro, swampers are very common in my part of the country, so i should have several choices for pads
 
mrfixit

mrfixit

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anybody wants to post some improved shit..by all means go ahead. I just wanted to put a simple idea into some these new (and old) peeps minds.
I've seen setups similar to what you showed used for small res coolers, cloner coolers, etc. It's a simple heat pipe and it is a good start. Variations include small chillers made the same way using small portable/student size fridges, small chest freezers etc. I may very well add a coil/mini fridge/pump to provide recirculating cold water for my swamp cooler!
 
coloradochem

coloradochem

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hey mrfixit just to get this straight, youre sucking hot air into the barrell and blowing cooled air out the top and into your room via the 8 inch duct. correct?
 
mrfixit

mrfixit

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hey mrfixit just to get this straight, youre sucking hot air into the barrell and blowing cooled air out the top and into your room via the 8 inch duct. correct?

Correct. Although evap coolers have a "optimal" range as far as ambient temp/humidity. They do thier best in desert-like conditions, but I've found that even in my Midwest below-grade basement where it can hit 75-80 @45+ RH, it still throws out a nice flow of cool, not-too-moist air.
Will it take the place of a nice mini-split? Hell no, but if you can find me a decent used mini much under $800, this is $50 well spent :-)
 
therealAries

therealAries

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Correct. Although evap coolers have a "optimal" range as far as ambient temp/humidity. They do thier best in desert-like conditions, but I've found that even in my Midwest below-grade basement where it can hit 75-80 @45+ RH, it still throws out a nice flow of cool, not-too-moist air.
Will it take the place of a nice mini-split? Hell no, but if you can find me a decent used mini much under $800, this is $50 well spent :)


Thanks mrfixit you rock i feel confident going back to high intensity discharge bulbs and ditch this t5 set
 
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