I want to build a liquid cooling shirt

[captainslug]

Part of this week I'm working on a cooling insert that will go on my seat back and seat bottom and will be covered by a slip-on seat cover. I have all the materials to make the inserts using tubing, plastic mesh screen, and string.

Once I get those made I'll have to figure out what fittings I will need for the manifolds. The 480gph pump I have right now does not like the restriction of pumping through a single length of 1/8" ID tubing, so I have to split the cooling loop into a parallel set of four length of tubing.

It takes quite a while for those ice pack to change the temperature of 5 gallons of water, so while they will lengthen the time it take for the water to reach ambient.

I will probably add a drain line off of the pump output so I can use the ambient temperature water to water the plants in my front yard. Then I can refill the cooler with ground temperature water.

[RobertSmalls]

We have a two-day reprieve from the heat in Buffalo. Meanwhile, I'm manufacturing ice cubes. My freezer is set to -19°C, and it takes 36 hours to freeze 1.5kg ice cubes in 2qt plastic totes.

[bestclimb]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

It sounds to me like you want a very complicated, homemade solution.

The most efficient and convenient way is to buy a car with A/C. IMHO it's worth every cent.

AC don't work when the engine is off. I run into the opposite problem in the winter. So I change what I wear.

If efficiency is a concern though the comparison between running the AC vs making and storing ice should be made.

I like the idea of multiple paths of tubing. If only one tube is used it will be cooler at the start of it's run than at the end. Multiple paths means more even distribution of cool.

[captainslug]

Originally Posted by bestclimb

I like the idea of multiple paths of tubing. If only one tube is used it will be cooler at the start of it's run than at the end. Multiple paths means more even distribution of cool.

That's not really true. Unless your flow rate is absolutely terrible, you won't have much of a temperature gradient between different points in the loop.
The reason to run parallel loops is to reduce over-all restriction so that your flow rate is higher, you aren't over-working the pump, and your rate of thermal exchange is improved slightly.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by bestclimb

AC don't work when the engine is off. I run into the opposite problem in the winter. So I change what I wear.

The only other alternative against heat build-up is to do what I do - drive a convertible during the summer months.

Of course, when you are driving but not in motion it can be pretty hot sitting in the sun, but we convertible nuts don't seem to mind.

[NiHaoMike]

Perhaps evaporative cooling is a better option?

[RobertSmalls]

The results are in, and I love my icewater-cooled seat cover! I've driven about 1000mi in hot and humid weather during this long weekend, and it's great. I can drive for eight hours and feel fresh instead of exhausted, and ice consumption is very reasonable.

I cut an old wool blanket so it would slide over the headrest and cover the back of the seat. There's 14' of vinyl tubing sewn on to it, and a washer fluid pump running to a cooler of ice water. The fact that it only modifies the seatback means you can use it in addition to all the other techniques for keeping cool, which gives it a huge efficiency advantage over cabin A/C.

The only pump I could get in time for my trip was a washer fluid pump. It works fine. I run the pump for four seconds to fill the seat cover with cold water, then I let it sit until my back no longer feels cool. That could be anywhere from one minute to ten minutes, depending on sun, wind, and humidity.

The only time it I was uncomfortably hot was in a construction zone near Chicago where traffic was moving 0-20mph, so having the window down was only intermittently helpful. It was 99F and 65% RH in the car, and the ice water wasn't enough to keep me comfortable, so I had to sweat it out until I got back up to speed. I can only imagine how sweltering it would have been without the ice water seat cover.

I used about 25lbs of ice on a very hot day during the 8 hour trip to Indiana, 10lbs on the 6hr trip to Wisconsin (didn't turn the system on until I got to Chicago), and 20lbs on the way back from Wisconsin.

If you don't mind fussing with ice, or if you have a long trip coming up, I highly recommend this mod.

[autoteach]

Google Image Result for http://kontourseat.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/PolarMesh1.jpg

http://common2.csnimages.com/lf/1/ha...+Mesh+Seat.jpg

Maybe you could try making a car seat that is mesh with naca ducting to either draw air out or bring air in. I like the idea of drawing air out. The reason being that you could create a free air circulation system that relies on the high pressure in front of the windshield (where the intake for fresh air is) and use naca ducts to pull air to a low pressure area with minimal aero loss. just throwing the idea out there.

[texanidiot25]

Are you using regular ice or dry-ice? I think having a two-part container, one that's kept dry for the dry ice and one that's for the water would be a longer lasting system.

Or even junkyarding a heater core or a small trans cooler (look at trucks, vans, and a few large RWD or performance cars) and placing it in a much smaller container with dry ice packed around it would probably work even better. Mess free!

[cfg83]

Robert -

Cool cubes! What diameter of vinyl tubing? Pictures?

CarloSW2