Swamp Cooler OT

[Dennis Hemingway]

Here are some photos of a Swamp Cooler Kathy got for the Plymouth. A friend of ours had this in his garage and when he heard that I was looking for one, he gave it to Kathy to give to me as a surprise, she gave it to me as an early birthday present so I can have it ready for the Big Bear show.

Dennis:D

[Dennis Hemingway]

I don't know what the rocker trim is off of, it was on the car when I bought it. It look as it is a after market item.

Dennis:cool:

[JIPJOBXX]

Looks cool! I have one on my Dodge and I get alot question on just what is it??? One kid thought it was rocket lancher. They really do not work very well up here in the northwest as the air has to much moisture in it. I tried last summer to see if it would cool the old Dodge down with putting Ice inside but it didn't do a thing. Oh well just fun to have something different.. Jon

[Dennis Hemingway]

I drove around with it on Saturday and it seamed to cool the car quite a bit. The outside temp was about 105 with about 5% humidity. On Sunday it didn't work at all, it was about 89 with 90% humidity. You need low humidity for them to work. About 80% of the time we use a swamp cooler in our house.

Dennis:D

[JIPJOBXX]

Cound'nt using dry ice be harmfull for your health?????

[BobT-47P15]

Dennis, is that white color original?

Usually they were more like a hammered grey or brown finish.

Some people even paint them to match the car.

The one I bought a while back was originally a brown color, sold

by Firestone. The finish needs to be re-done.

[Dennis Hemingway]

Mine looks like it was painted white by some previous owner, Where the paint is chiped it looks like it was a hammered grey. I'm going to leave it white for now as a light color reflects heat.

Dennis:cool:

[greg g]

These units depend on evaporative cooling of air through water suspended on a screen or wick. They won't work with ice till the ice melts and the moisture can be suspended as droplets in the air stream form the car's movement. So water is the deal. And yes they don't work real well in humidity much higher tha 35%, no where for the water to evaporate to.

[JIPJOBXX]

Greg thanks for the easy explantion of how these old coolers work. Last summer I tried to stuff ice in mine and yep it didn't work. But I do get alot of questions about how it works and yours is a good short answer. Thanks

[greg g]

Yep except you couldn't see through the fog. Dry Ice is frozen Co2 so you might also increase the co2 level of the air in an enclosed space. and Norm I believe touching dry ice gives you contact frost bite, not a burn. A block of dry ice has a surface temperature of -109.3 degrees Fahrenheit (-78.5 degrees C). So it can not cause a burn, however like a burn, the result is that moisture is removed from the contact area a rapid rate which actually causes the injury. So basically you freeze dry the contact patch.

You want to make sure the area is well-ventilated. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, and it can concentrate in low areas or enclosed spaces (like a car or a room where dry ice is sublimating). Normal air is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and only 0.035% carbon dioxide. If the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air rises above 5%, carbon dioxide can become toxic.

All things considered stick with water in your swampcooler.

[bob_amos]

That is something that I want to get for my '53. Haven't come across one that I can convince the wife is priced reasonable enough to buy. I will some day. One thing to look out for BEFORE you mount it though. The piece that hangs on the door glass. Be doubly sure that there is some stripping covering the rivots found in the track. Tony C. has one and stupid me, I mounted it on my '53 just to see what it looked like and left it over night in the shop. The next morning the glass was broken with a long crack caused by the riviots hitting the glass. After insolating it Tony has mounted it on his car and it looks great. It works well too. I do have a Bon Aire floor mounted unit for my '63 Chevrolet Belair. Found it in Julian, Ca. at an antique store. The lady had no idea what it was and was happy to see it go. Paid $35 for it.

[Don Coatney]

Norm;

You should listen to Greg. Everything he said about dry ice is correct and everything you said about dry ice is incorrect. Dry ice will freeze your skin not burn it. As solidified Co2 evaporates it displaces oxygen. Breathing in an oxygen depleted environment can be deadly. In my past life as an ice cream distributor I used a lot of dry ice so I do know what I am talking about.

As far as using dry ice to maintain frozen food it will work well. However it will also lower the moisture content of the food as the moisture in food will evaporate and go directly from a solid to a gas.

[eric wissing]

While working in the Ofal (awful)Room one day at a packing plant a co-worker tipped over a barrel of dry ice and preceeded to sweep it down the drain. Within minutes we couldn't see a foot in front of us. They made us evacuate because you couldn't breath in the room. They were also worried that a few pounds of the stuff would freeze or break the drains to the plant. The moral, don't work in a packing plant and don't breath co2. Eric

[Ed Griffin]

That should work very well for you Dennis being where your located. Looking at the background in your picture reminds me of 29 Palms. While my wife and I were living there we used the swamp cooler almost always unless it had rained, then you would need the window unit because of the humidity. Those swamp coolers are so simple yet really do cool things off well.

I friend gave me one like that pictured by Bob but knowing how the humidty stays high around here I ened up selling it on ebay. I have to admit though that much like that one kid, I too thought it looked like a bazooka mounted to the car. Either way they are "cool" and a great conversation item if it's what you like. Your car looks great!

[Dennis Hemingway]

Ed.

We live about 1 and 1/2 hour drive from 29 stumps (Palms), we use swamp coolers most of the time to cool our house and garage.

Dennis:D

[Captain Neon]

I work in the packing house myself and Mr. Coatney and Mr. Wissing are both correct. However, we do use the term "burn" when describing the injury one can get by handling dry ice w/ one's bare hands. It is not actually what is happening, it is freezing like using liquid nitrogen to freeze off a wart.

However, I don't think the CO2 could accumulate enough in an old P15 to be really dangerous. I think most CO2 would travel through all of the small openings along the bottom of doors and by the master cylinder. If things are ventilated enough, dry ice is not too much to be concerned about.

Despite CO2 being a tasteless, colourless gas, most of us that have been exposed to high levels of dry ice vapours will tell you that it causes a tingling in one's nose and on one's tongue that closely resemble a smell or a taste. Some have described it as similar to cold Canada Dry gingerale. If you've never experienced it, it is hard to explain.

[laynrubber]

Here is a picture of my swamp cooler, yes it doesn't work very well and i should have saved my money but it is a conversation piece

[Normspeed]

I've never seen one quite like that. Is that 6 volts?

[Don Coatney]

I've never seen one quite like that. Is that 6 volts?

I believe David Maxwell has one. Hopefully he will post a picture.

[laynrubber]

Yes the motor is a 6 volt motor and it blows real well, the cooling effect of the water doesn't work very well but atleast there is air movement from that fan. I used it yesterday for my 7 hour ride home, but I'm thinking i should sell it......doesn't cool in my northern humid summers.

[Powerhouse]

That is something that I want to get for my '53. Haven't come across one that I can convince the wife is priced reasonable enough to buy. I will some day. One thing to look out for BEFORE you mount it though. The piece that hangs on the door glass. Be doubly sure that there is some stripping covering the rivots found in the track. Tony C. has one and stupid me, I mounted it on my '53 just to see what it looked like and left it over night in the shop. The next morning the glass was broken with a long crack caused by the riviots hitting the glass. After insolating it Tony has mounted it on his car and it looks great. It works well too. I do have a Bon Aire floor mounted unit for my '63 Chevrolet Belair. Found it in Julian, Ca. at an antique store. The lady had no idea what it was and was happy to see it go. Paid $35 for it.

ah Julian...I have yet to visit and get some of those amazing pies...and i guess the antique stores should be neat too. You'd need a swamp cooler up there SOOOO DRY I hear...I know it's hot as heck in Ramona.