HawkingRage Swamp Cooler

[Hawk_]

Here are a few photos of my Swamp cooler I made. Wacabi1 you are awesome!

sorry, photos deleted till I can get rid of the Geo Tagging. Woundering how to do that aside from taking new photos and disabling the feature on my phone.

[HolyBear]

WHOA!!! That's more than I dreamed of, way ta go Hawk!!! I really like the platform idea, that's, a good, stable idea. It would also help ta keep dust and crap outta it. I started using "pool shock" ta help keep.mine clean but dust still gets in. One thing I've found is that my pump kinda sucks, sometimes I have to disconnect my line from the cooling tower for a second, let it drain out any air, then reconnect to the cooling tower. Wish I had a better pump.
Yours looks much better than mine man, way ta go!!!!
btw, what are ye using inside the tower for packing? Can't really tell from me phone what it is. Does it work good?

[Hawk_]

It works great! the tower is filled with a swamp cooler pad. I have had zero pooling issues. this fan is rated at 50cfm as well.

Thanks for the idea!

[HolyBear]

Swamp cooler pad? What is that? Where did ya get it? Pass it along man, maybe thatstuff will work even better than my window screen...

[Hawk_]

Swamp cooler pad? What is that? Where did ya get it? Pass it along man, maybe thatstuff will work even better than my window screen...

I think it will work better. You must be from a place that does not require air conditioning or from a hot humid place. Swamp coolers only work to cool your house in dry hot places like the southwest. I can get you one. Just pm me and we can discuss this.

[Prairiepiss]

They are selling portable swamp coolers all over now. And the pads are more available now then ever.

Come on I'm wanting to see the pics.

Find the thread about geotaging. There is info in it about removing it.

[Hawk_]

They are selling portable swamp coolers all over now. And the pads are more available now then ever.

Come on I'm wanting to see the pics.

Find the thread about geotaging. There is info in it about removing it.

Working on it right now. In Photoshop

[Hawk_]

Ok, Hope I did the pics right this time. No GeoTagging.

[Hawk_]

And one of the whole shindig

[HolyBear]

I think it will work better. You must be from a place that does not require air conditioning or from a hot humid place. Swamp coolers only work to cool your house in dry hot places like the southwest. I can get you one. Just pm me and we can discuss this.[/quote]

We live in a "temporate rain forest" here in the Ozarks. Sometimes very humid. Places in our mountains are very much a jungle. In the winter though, humidity drops alot. I'll do some research on swamp cooler pad to see if some is available around here. Thanks...

[mash rookie]

You guys are taking this to another level. Now, how efficient can you do this. 30 gallon, 20 gallon, 10??

Nice work.

[Hawk_]

You guys are taking this to another level. Now, how efficient can you do this. 30 gallon, 20 gallon, 10??

Nice work.

Thanks! I'll let you know. I can fill it half full to see how it does. Another day though. I've got some cool batches to run.

[Prairiepiss]

Is that a drum boiler and a plastic drain pipe column? You know that's covered under rule #8. Oh wait this is the swamp cooler thread.

Dude that's good stuffs right there.

That mat is different then the stuff I've seen. Is it still a corigated cardboard type material. The portable ones use a honeycomb type cardboardish material. That stuff you have looks like some packing I got in a box the other day?

[Hawk_]

Is that a drum boiler and a plastic drain pipe column? You know that's covered under rule #8. Oh wait this is the swamp cooler thread.

Dude that's good stuffs right there.

That mat is different then the stuff I've seen. Is it still a corigated cardboard type material. The portable ones use a honeycomb type cardboardish material. That stuff you have looks like some packing I got in a box the other day?

Thanks PP! yep its just like the honey comb stuff when its out flat. Well kinda. Anyhow, when I turn off the water pump the water takes a bit to drain before its just wet. So I know that the water will have lots of time to get air contact from the fan.

Im sure there is someone out there that will improve on this beyond what Wacabi1 and I have done. Any one out there use a reservoir or just the hose?

[HolyBear]

You guys are taking this to another level. Now, how efficient can you do this. 30 gallon, 20 gallon, 10??

Nice work.

MR, I know you like the technical aspect of stillin. I don't know the answers to your question, I'm not sure there is a correct answer. I think Hawk pointed in the right direction though when he mentioned how swamp coolers are made for dry/cool air. I think the specific answer to your question depends on the ambient air RH. The cooler/dryer the air, the more efficient the cooler will work, so the less water volumn needed. The opposite is true as well.
Maybe Rad or the fella with (Larry, curly, Moe icon? Can't remember name) could come up with a formula. I don't have the brain cells. Hell, I barely have opposable thumbs. All I know is that it works!!! Hawk did a nice lookin job with his. We should point folks to his build now that he has the Geo tags cleared up...

[Flydenrict]

Awesome job Hawking!! Also thanks to wacabi1 for showing his version. I am absolutely going to steal this idea, but I don't have quite enough open space so I think i'll be using a smaller barrel (closer to 30 gal). Wondering how to make it most efficient and I might go with a swamp cooler/immersion cooler combo. We know that adding ice to your reservoir over a 15 hour run is no good, but what if you had a smaller swamp cooler to knock down the temperature initially, then pumped your water through a 50 ft copper coil submerged in an ice/salt water bath on the way back to your column? It wouldn't be quite hands free but I have to imagine that the number of times you'd have to change water/add ice would decrease dramatically. Any thoughts?

[mash rookie]

I like the barrel concept that HR has done here. It is compact and will serve well in tighter locations. Almost a closed loop system.
I live where water is cheap and plentiful but admire your ingenuity solving this problem. It will be interesting to see how this continues to evolve.

Larger volume is of some help but is not the correct solution. You have to extract the same BTU’s gained from condensing alcohol. Heat transfer is slower with air so you need to increase the amount of time the water has to cool in the tower. Increase air flow to cool the water better or go a little taller / larger on the cooling tower. Once you have enough cooling ratio even a small barrel or bucket will work.

What you guys are building is an air cooled still.

COOL STUFF.
MR

[Flydenrict]

What is the temperature of the air blowing out of the top? Getting that exhaust air as cold as possible would be a indicator of how cold you're cooling your water, right? Would adding a second T and fan about halfway up the tower do anything for you?

[LWTCS]

Getting that exhaust air as cold as possible would be a indicator of how cold you're cooling your water, right?

On the other hand, more measurable heat being discharged via exhaust is a good indicator of how much heat is being displaced/removed from the system..

[Prairiepiss]

I think these coolers being like a swamp cooler. Doesn't make them just like one. A swamp cooler is designed to cool an area. Like a room or shed. But with these coolers you are cooling the water. Not the surrounding area. So we can't really compare them to true swamp coolers. As far as efficiency and job. It doesn't matter what the ambient humidity and temps are. Ok maybe a little on the temps. But passing air through the water as is being done here. Will cool the water no mater what part of the world your in. As long as the air isn't extremely hot. It's pretty much just like a radiator. Except the air cools the water directly. Not through a metal fin. And radiators work just about anywhere. Evaporation does play a role. But it will still work without it. Is this making since?

Basically I think this would work for anybody anywhere. I don't think its only gona work where swamp coolers do.

[Prairiepiss]

Getting that exhaust air as cold as possible would be a indicator of how cold you're cooling your water, right?

On the other hand, more measurable heat being discharged via exhaust is a good indicator of how much heat is being displaced/removed from the system..

Just like anything the best way to gauge it would be. To measure the temp difference in the actual water. Water going in compared to water coming out. To find the temp drop.

I have to do this with radiators all the time. With my trusty ir thermometer I look for a 30 deg drop from inlet to outlet on forklift radiators. If its less there's a problem in the radiator. If more there is a problem somewhere else.

[LWTCS]

Yes eggzackly,

Same thing the A/C guys do all the time....It is about temp splits more than any thing.

[LWTCS]

Unless of course one designs the system to absorb more heat.

[Hawk_]

I think these coolers being like a swamp cooler. Doesn't make them just like one. A swamp cooler is designed to cool an area. Like a room or shed. But with these coolers you are cooling the water. Not the surrounding area. So we can't really compare them to true swamp coolers. As far as efficiency and job. It doesn't matter what the ambient humidity and temps are. Ok maybe a little on the temps. But passing air through the water as is being done here. Will cool the water no mater what part of the world your in. As long as the air isn't extremely hot. It's pretty much just like a radiator. Except the air cools the water directly. Not through a metal fin. And radiators work just about anywhere. Evaporation does play a role. But it will still work without it. Is this making since?

Basically I think this would work for anybody anywhere. I don't think its only gona work where swamp coolers do.

This is true. Swamp coolers are for area and generally only work in dry hot places. Once the humidity in the air reaches a point they are worthless. This setup is similar but miles away. Could work in Alaska when I go back next year.

Sitting here doing my vinigar cleaning run on the new tower. Boring!

[Flydenrict]

A different question that I have been thinking about: All of the cooling is happening as the water falls through the air. Once it gets to the 55 gal reservoir, the water isn't really losing any more heat right? If that is true, would you not really need the full 55 gal of water for your system? Wouldn't 20 gal do the same thing? Are there any advantages to the full 55 gal?

[HolyBear]

Did a 6 hr run today. The ambient air is much cooler than it was during the summer when I first built mine. I don't know the RH, or the actual temp, but it was very nice, ide say lower 70s. And fairly dry, probably around 45% RH. Now, my window screen probably isn't nearly as efficient as the swamp cooler pad hawk used. The air coming from the top of my tower feels alot like the air from a dryer vent, warm and very humid. Now, I don't know the temps, if I would have known there would have been so much interest I could have recorded them, but I do know that my tank water didn't get as hot today as it did back in the summer when it was 105 degrees outside.
Maybe, my system isn't efficient enough? I understand the thought about a car radiator working at all temps, but I know my work truck overheats in the summer easier when I'm running the AC, than it does in the fall. Maybe my truck coolant system isn't running efficiently as well...
I'm sure my swamp cooler could be tweeked. Having longer contact with the air flow makes sence. I can hear mine flowing down and I guess its fairly fast. Hard to tell. Thinking of my still column packing and comparing to my screen packing, the screen would be much looser.
Could it be done with a smaller tank? I think so, but your heat exchange would have to be more efficient than mine.
I have more screen. I might try taking temps on my next run, documenting. Then packing the tower tighter with more screen on the next run, taking temps, then seeing if there is a difference...

[Hawk_]

I learned something interesting from a 4 hour run with the new tower and water cooling system. I think that with a CM mode still that this cooling system can run without really raising the temps at all. My product condensor was running full bore and putting out cool water. The dephlag was putting out pretty warm but not super hot water. Both the outtakes of the water where put in together and I believe that with the cool air rising and the cool water from the product condensor that the warm dephlag water was cooled down before it ever hit the reservoir.

Just a thought. I couldnt tell the water temps raised at all in my tank.

[TheRevDr]

These "cooling towers" are really cool. I will have to make one and give it a go. Mostly cause I like making stuff.

But it seems everyone is using mesh type packing. What about spp, lava rocks, or plates? Maybe I will design and build a reverse bubble cap chiller. Hmm...

[Hawk_]

Here is my Mod for the top of my tower. It is a half ball that screws in from the sides into the tower. I drilled a hole in top and added a pushconnect mount for my return from the still to the tower. The air is allowed through the base of the Ball pointing down towards the barrel. This keeps my ceiling safe. This insures that the water is hitting the center of my Swamp Cooler pad. I have to admit the theory behind that came from PrairiePiss's mod for CM towers. Full circle. LOL

[HolyBear]

OK, OK, M R are you watching this??? What started out as someone else's idea, kinda, I added to. Then Hawk, and this?, Fly is talkin about plates? Mr P has a double tower in the works? Capitalize on this M R, make a dime, it'll work, easy to understand, build, with the added self containment/ going green marketing concept...