home made swamp cooler

[Boes]

Some time ago I was watching TV and on discovery there was a show about restore and sell of classic cars.
those guys were restore a 50's car and put a swamp cooler on the window of the car.

I wanted one too!
but in the search on the net I noticed that these swamp coolers are very expensive here.
too expensive...

so I try to build my own,

I'm using a couple of old fire extinguishers a big and a smaller one for the basic shape.









after the top is cut off I flip the top and put in the largest fire extinguisher.

this providing a nice hole where the wind pass through it.









I took some sheet metal for the water tank.
after bending it over a 2,5 inch pipe it looks allright.









time to cut










after some spot welding I made a templet of te front and rear of de tank.
and weld it shut.

in the first picture you can see how it will look like when finist.
although I think the hole needs to be bigger









now that was all i know but I do not know what a swamp cooler should look like on the inside.

I do know there should be a type of fabric material in it on a roll.

but does any one know wat I have to us

[Choppercabra]

Looks killer so far.

[jake1974]

shit ! i was hopeing you had it done . so i could copy it. they are 300 to 400 dollars rite now on ebay.

[bigguy]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/vie...ight=thermador

[bigguy]

It appears to have an inner section that the water wicks up into and once the incoming air passes by it through the venturi differential it cools the air which in tern creates a cool air that enters the cab area. It also appears to have a flap that is able to be moved to shut off the air when wanted. I wonder if some of them had some kind of fan that helped in creating more air flow into the cab.

[PureC4]

that is great, I had an idea of using a marine grade Bazooka speaker tube, but they are impossible to find blown. May have to try and copy your idea down the road. Any how looks great and easy on the budget.

[Pop]

Funny -- I have been around VW's since 1956 and never seen a swamp cooler except at a car show. Wrong part of the U.S. I guess. Pop

[Hapster]

Originally Posted by Pop

Funny -- I have been around VW's since 1956 and never seen a swamp cooler except at a car show. Wrong part of the U.S. I guess. Pop

They only work in dryer climates. They cool by adding humidity to the air.

They don't work where I live now!

[sandfreaks]

Very cool!
Great use of existing materials.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Boes

now that was all i know but I do not know what a swamp cooler should look like on the inside.

I do know there should be a type of fabric material in it on a roll.

but does any one know wat I have to us

I rebuilt one quite a few years back. The material inside was much like the coarse hair orange-ish material found in the stock VW seat bottoms.

I'll see if I can find the pics I took of the guts.

Cool project, man!

[hotrodheb]

Pick your poison... http://www.comfortgurus.com/index.php/cPath/25_116

[btrghia]

The pads are. Well cooler pads. They call them Aspen here in az. They work great here. The pads in the car window coolers mount to a wire cage that can be rotated through the water. Kind a ratchiting deal.
Good luck finding pads where you are. If need be I can ship you some but I imagine the shipping will be far more than the pads.

[Boes]

yes I guess so too..
think I have to google some more for something more out of europe..
the idea is to do it low budget

[rostigbug]

I assume Holland is humid and a swamp cooler would not work.
While I am assuming stuff about a place I have never been to, I assume it does not get hot???

[tattooed_pariah]

Originally Posted by rostigbug

I assume Holland is humid and a swamp cooler would not work.
While I am assuming stuff about a place I have never been to, I assume it does not get hot???

it gets hot there! gets up into like the 40's (F) I think...