Arctic Air Cooler...

dans2992

dans2992

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Dans2992
Cool air on your neck is an important part of the effectiveness. If you frequently travel with another person in the plane, I'd recommend two fans and two ducts.
dans2992 said:
So, I think I want to purchase an Arctic Air ice cooler:

www.arcticaircooler.com

For anyone experienced with them - besides the increase in power draw, what are the pros/cons of the 1 fan vs. 2 fan units? I'm looking for the 52 quart model to cool a Comanche - in AZ.

Anyone with good/bad experiences?

http://www.arcticaircooler.com/inde...category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=78

http://www.arcticaircooler.com/inde...e=flypage.tpl&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=76

--Dan
Click to expand...
 
Good luck getting the ice to last that long...:no:

"This unit will cool for 2 hours 30 minutes on high cool and up to 5 hours on low cool."
 
I've heard results are better with "block ice" no?
 
I use blocks made in letter-size-diminsion target tubs in the hangar fridge, along with a scoop of cubes and some water to provide coolant flow through the bilge pump until the block starts to melt.

My unit is one of the knock-offs but is effective and has never used all the ice. Nor have I ever used more than a small block described above. Supplemental cooling isn't needed at the typical 6-9k' cruise altitudes.

dans2992 said:
I've heard results are better with "block ice" no?
Click to expand...
 
So, is it reasonable to expect this thing to cool the cabin, or just my neck. :)
 
I made one from an old Igloo cooler. Bought two 12v fans and bilge pump. Bought an oil cooler for a Mack truck. I run the cold water thru the oil cooler and have the fans directly behind it. Keep the cabin nice even in 90+ degree.

Spent about $60.
 
When I talked to Arctic Air a few years ago, they said that a great way to improve life was to take gallon jugs and freeze the water in them entirely.

We had a single fan unit that we used for ground cooling in the Navajo. It worked out just fine for keeping the cabin reasonable comfortable (although not cool, and definitely not the cockpit). The size you want will mostly depend on how long you want to fly. What is nice with the ice units is you can hook one to a jump start pack and have it precool your cabin.

We've been talking about AC for the 310. I want a freon unit, partially because I can build one myself and keep it portable, and also because the ice never runs out or needs to be refilled. It won't work as well for pre-cooling, but I might be able to work around that somehow.
 
I used one for several years in my Lance. I would turn it on with the cabin closed up while preflighting. (Yeah, you do have to have the master on then, and it does take some juice from the battery, but no problems from that. It worked great in making the airplane comfortable on the ground. Then it's off the whole flight, and then back on during the approach.
 
If you build your own this might work for you. Sams Club had these ENGEL 30 Qt last week for $43.98. Amazon has them for about $80.00. This pic is not that good. They looked pretty HD at the store.


41PCL2%2B%2B%2BzL._SX342_.jpg
 
dans2992 said:
So, I think I want to purchase an Arctic Air ice cooler:

www.arcticaircooler.com

For anyone experienced with them - besides the increase in power draw, what are the pros/cons of the 1 fan vs. 2 fan units? I'm looking for the 52 quart model to cool a Comanche - in AZ.

Anyone with good/bad experiences?

http://www.arcticaircooler.com/inde...category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=78

http://www.arcticaircooler.com/inde...e=flypage.tpl&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=76

--Dan
Click to expand...
Dan,

There's also b-kool. I've had one for a year or two for our Archer, we're based in Marana. b-kool are located in Sedona. We took a breakfast run there and got a demo. I liked it and it was in our plane when we left.

http://www.b-kool.net/

Jonathan
 
B-kool looks interesting. Has anyone seen both to know how it compares to arctic air?

I also like the fact that I can pop up to Sedona and pick one up....

From the video, it appears that b-kool does not isolate the airflow from the moisture in the compartment, whereas arctic air does. It could add humidity, but it probably also takes advantage of a bit of "swamp cooling" which, in AZ is effective.

I am wondering about their claim that bigger does not always equal longer cooling... I suppose I could bring a styrofoam container with more ice and refill if necessary.

Dan
 
How many amps can the typical cessna/piper cigarette lighter outlet handle? Thinking about building one of these and looking at current draw. Looking like it will draw 5amps at 12v
 
Arctic air claims 5 amps for 1 fan and 10 amps for 2 fans.
 
Will FBOs typically give you a reasonable amount of ice for free?
 
Friend of mine has one is his Bonanza and likes it. I wonder if it would work with dry ice
 
You don't want to use dry ice. While it is likely colder, the heat capacity of CO2 isn't anywhere near what the heat capacity of H2O. Bottom line, it won't cool as well.
 
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Yes. The jets and turboprops use it by the bucket-full, and the FBO's have big ice machines. Most of them have big plastic sacks as well.

dans2992 said:
Will FBOs typically give you a reasonable amount of ice for free?
Click to expand...
 
PPC1052 said:
You don't want to use dry ice. While it is likely colder, the heat capacity of CO2 isn't anywhere near what the heat capacity of H2O. Bottom line, it won't cool as well.
Click to expand...

Not only that, you'll die from CO2 poisoning.

Or not.
 
B-cool folks often run some kind of discount off list, call and ask him.

For any of these units, if there's concerns about power capacity through the cig adapter, you can get a 12v sealed lead acid battery (7 ah fit my needs) and connect a female cig adapter to it. No change to the original equipment, I can use either the battery or aircraft power.
 
wabower said:
First batch yet to be produced, selling them on-the-come?

Guess I'll pass, seeing as how I don't want to own the first hundred serial numbers of anything.
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Angert has been selling these on BeechTalk (first adopters, of a sort), initial reports are good. Price is about to increase.
 
SCCutler said:
Angert has been selling these on BeechTalk (first adopters, of a sort), initial reports are good. Price is about to increase.
Click to expand...

Frankly, it seems like these guys must be making a killing. The cost of parts can't be much. (I'm not really handy enough to want to try and build one, though, so I guess I'm paying.... :)
 
dans2992 said:
If that were the case, what if you used dry ice in a cooler, in a car? Same thing.
Click to expand...

The only times I have dry ice in the car is for short trips, small quantities when I'm doing demonstrations. Never the quantity that would be proposed for cooling in a small airplane for hours.

And when using liquid nitrogen, I get it delivered to where I need it in approved containers.
 
Makes a HUGE difference in our Cirrus during the summer here when it can get up to 115 degrees. Today it was only 107 deg F, but it sure felt nice in the plane with the artic cooler blowing cool air forward. We have the 2 fan version.
 
Picking it up tonight in SEZ. Will let you know how it works...
 
The unit works quite well. It's like sitting in front of your car AC vent.

You definitely need to turn it off in flight at altitude though. It's very efficient at converting ice to cold air, which means it does burn through ice pretty quick.

I think you could use it on an out and back day trip, maybe without adding ice at the other end.
 
Below is a link to a website I created showing how I built my Ice Chest Cooler. It works very well and I love it. It may help give some of you some ideas. I did just make a change to it which increased the air flow by about 30 percent. I increased the depth of the air duct on the underside of the lid by 1/2 inch and it made a big difference. Good luck.

Randy

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzes8y13/n8749n/
 
My wife found this one on Amazon for $269. I bought one and I like it. It fits perfect through the baggage door on a skywagon and holds a lot of ice. There are some tricks you can do to improve the longevity of your ice if you google around. Routing the return flow to come out near the the pump has a big effect. Isolating the pump with blocks of gel ice making a small 'pocket' of cold water for it while keeping the ice away has a big effect.... basically, the less sloshing and movement of the water through the ice will prolong it.

http://www.amazon.com/PORTABLE-AIRC...NER-COMFORT/dp/B00AJFCOO6/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

31LkCa5ZQkL._SY300_.jpg
 
dell30rb said:
So far in for about $40


jygagera.jpg
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Hey Ren, what's that blower from? Have you tried it? Looks like what I was looking at for my freon AC project.
 
Its a rule 3" marine inline blower. 12v. (they might make some 28v models) Draws about 2 amps. I hooked it up to a battery and bench tested it. Seems powerful for the size. You would probably want at least the 4" blower for the 310 though (think rule makes 4 and 5" blowers too)
 
I'll look it up. In my AC thread I had a similar looking device - the intent was multiple blowers.
 
I'm starting year 3 of ice-chest cooler use. I bought one (new close-out) on Ebay for ~$200 and figured the price was close enough to component cost that I didn't need to hurt myself trying to build one or spend several days searching for parts that might or might not work. I wasn't sure how well it would work or how much I would use it, but found to my immense pleasure that it works great and I use it from April through October. I remember being somewhat skeptical when Arctic-Air first advertised their unit as "a $500 solution to a $25,000 problem" but have come to agree with their marketing claim.

My observations are:

1. A contained opening with a closeable lid is handy for pouring ice and water into the unit with the cooler lid closed. Block ice obviously must be added with the cooler lid open, but the cubes and water for the initial batch of coolant can be added through the separate lid. The lid can also serve as the inlet (return) air plenum and can be closed when the unit is unused in order to preserve the ice inside. I carry a large towel and toss it over the cooler while I'm parked and leave the windows open if in a secure area. The lid is also good for running the drain hose out of the plane when the trip is done.

2. The fan and pump switches should be placed on the power cord rather than on the unit. The preferred location is adjacent to the power plug where they are easily accessible to the pilot.
 
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Since adding rock salt to your ice mix works to lower the temp of the ice when churning ice cream, would the same concept work for these coolers?
 
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