Retro AC thread for AARP folks

[tmcalavy]

If you've ever been West in summer, you may have seen swamp coolers...evaporative coolers, not refrigerated air, that blow cool humidified air by drawing hot, dry air in through damp pads with a fan and a simple water pump to circulate water over the cooling pads. Had time to do a lot of thinking lately, laid-off and looking for work, and work on my truck (69 F250). When it got hot here in Tejas this summer, the wife got to ragging about how my truck didn't have AC and I should sell it and get something that does...sheez! Ain't gonna happen, but after it got hotter...I mean kill a dog hot...and stayed that way until about a week ago, I came up with an idea for retro AC in my bump.
I was surfin' Ebay and searched for swamp cooler, and got several hits for auto swamp coolers...what the?? Took a look and my days as a spud came flooding back...way back in the 60's when I was a kid, we'd spend summers in New Mexico with my grandparents, and they had a big swamp cooler to cool the old farm house. I even remembered the neighbor's car, a big Buick with something that looked like a rocket tube handing off the passenger window...everyone around came and bought eggs from my grandmother.
There were some of those old buck rogers, window-mount swamp coolers for sale on Ebay, and something I have never seen...even though I'm old enough to possess my geezer card...compliments of the good folks at AARP. Also at auction were several "hump-mount" and under the dash auto swamp coolers...imagine a plastic or metal box about 18L X 12W X 12H, set up like the old house-sized swamp coolers. So I pulled the trigger on one...did some plumbing repair on the old water tubes, replaced the cooling pads, replaced the fan/water pump drive belt with a turn-table belt that I found online, and wired a 12V plug from Wallyworld onto the cord (came without the plug).
I got the turn-table belt (remember turntables...45's, 78's, 33's) in the mail today, put the beast on the hump of the 69, filled it with water, primed/wet the pads a little, put the turn-table belt on the pulleys, and took off down the road to see how it cools. It was about 88 degrees so I took a drive around the city on the Loop. With the driver's window cracked about an inch, it kept the cab of the bump at 70 degrees consistently...fan is a little loud, but just turn the radio up. A pix of the cooler on the hump is attached...the gauge hanging over the cooler is my vacuum gauge and not part of the cooler.
So overall, I'm pleased...the whole rig cost me about $125...curious to see how it work in the hotter days of summer, but that'll have to wait until next summer...I hope.

[forrestbump]

Great Idea and execution! But remember all of you old timers (me included) "Old age and treachery prevails over youth and enthusiasm"...so us AARP member (geezers) will always find a way!

[woods]

That is pretty...uh, 'cool'. I like it.

[fomocoguy]

I've never seen one of those. I wonder how it works in a humid environment, like when it's 102 degrees with 95% humidity like it gets here in St. Louis? I'm guessing it's best suited to the south west. Glad it works for you!

[Mancar1]

I've never seen one of those. I wonder how it works in a humid environment, like when it's 102 degrees with 95% humidity like it gets here in St. Louis? I'm guessing it's best suited to the south west. Glad it works for you!

I grew up with Swamp Coolers in the home. I also remember em in the Auto application. (50's).To answer your question... They don't. When it gets humid, like over 40%, they suck. In a dry climate they work great. Not AC, but

tmcalavy, thanks for the stoll down memory lane. Happy cooling Where there is a will there is a way.

[tmcalavy]

Yeah, if you draw a line north-south and split Oklahoma down the middle, that's pretty much the line...east of there, no workee por nada...west of there with lowest humidity they work great. They won't freeze your nads off, but they do the job. I liked this cause it doesn't draw anything but accessory power and doesn't rob the engine of ponies or push the mpg's down. When I was looking online at options, I found an outfit that makes the modern equivalent for about $450 and they also make/sell one that is supposed to work in high humidity areas...don't understand how but wasn't curious enough to find out with my dollars. I'm in the dry country and almost 4K feet above sea level, so humidity isn't a problem. The thing I liked most about it after I got it was the front panel with cup coasters that opens up so you can drop some ice and about 3 cans of tasty beverages for...er, storage...and the bottle opener on the right side. I'll never use the opener while driving, but I'm gonna ice down the storage compartment and drop a couple of Dr. Peppers in there tomorrow...got the smaller jets for my carb by UPS after I posted this thread...so I get to play with the truck again in the morning...woo-hoo!

[forrestbump]

Swamp coolers are what you see in most houses up here in the High Desert of SoCal. In a dry climate and over 4,500' elevation in the middle of the desert, where I live, they work great. Florida it ain't!

[mr_josh]

NICE! We had a huge, ancient swamp cooler in the [censored] window in our house when I was a kid.

[Bumpside Collector]

Man that is awesome! I'm in the swamp as far as humidity is concerned so it isn't an option for me. It sure is cool to see something like that though!

[basketcase0302]

Good post and good work!
We used swamp cooler in South Florida, (as far as I know several still do) where the humidity can't get any worse! In the extreme temps there even the four degrees TD was enough to feel some relief, humid air or not. Especially when you work in a 140 degree attic all day!

[fmartin_gila1]

Used to be lots of them around, along with the window mounted ones. I still cool my house in the summer with a swamp cooler.

Fred

[tmcalavy]

Used the cooler running errands today...you have to adjust the air into the cab with the floor vents and air out of the windows just right to get it cooling best. Kept me comfortable in the cab with the floor vents open about 1/4 way and the driver's window down about 2 inches...basic principles of air exhange I guess.