I made my own cool shirt using a cooler, Maine bilge pump and some tubing. It even has quick disconnects. Why did I make vs buy? Cost savings. I saved about $200 by doing it myself.

 

Chad - I raced at WGI with TRG and one of their cars had something similar to what you are discussing. Very small (like the size of a pound of butter) cooling unit that you pour water in and hooks up to a normal cool shirt. Fully adjustable in terms of temperature. I didn't get that close a look at it, but i'm guessing it has some sort of electrics hooked up to cool down the water.

 

I think that is the pro system that one of the groups sell for $7K (yeah...$7000.) I am thinking more for the club / amateur racer that wants a lighter weight / more efficient system.

Thanks for the input.

C.

 

$7,000 is silly money for someone like me. Even if it were to sell for $1,000, I would stick with my ice and water system since, however imperfect, it gets the job done 98% of the time.

 

I bought some little square peltier coolers to test keeping our guitar pedals cool in summer (germanium devices don't sound good when they get hot). That could work to keep the cool suit water cool too, some picnic coolers now have built-in AC units in them using this technology.

If it does not draw too much current I think it would be cool.

 

I am VERY interested in your system! Please let me know as soon as it will be available.

 

No comment.

C.

 

And 'FireWear' which is supposedly superior to both.

 

This all elecric a/c liquid cooler is the unit a good number of the New Grand-Am DPs are running I heard.

http://www.coolshirt.net/racing-liquid-cooler.html

I heard they have had zero failures with it however it is $6K....

Also, there is the electric a/c helmet cooler nascars have been running for years now Koolbox IV - $6495

They also have a new club version for $2795..

http://koolboxproducts.com/Shop_Online.php

I would definitely be interested in a high quality reliable and cost effective version...

Norm

 

Is this a swamp cooler (air over water)?

 

Might work to cool you, but wouldn't this raise the temperature inside the car by pumping the heat right back into it?

 

I use the opti-ice and I think it works well. It's a basic bilge pump with a well designed temp control on the front, you can set the temp to cycle on / off and also display the temp of the water. The cooler sucks though.

I think all of these are good designs it just comes down to the cooler. I have seen the gott extreme coolers that keep ice for like a week. That's what you need. This should last for a 90 minutes.

One thing that is missed is keeping your head cool. I have the coolshirt with the hoodie and it makes a huge difference.

Also, the fittings work just fine with the coolshirt.

 

I saw one of those big buck electric helmet air coolers in a cup car like mine at Farnbacher-Loles last week. it has a hot air outlet too, that should be ducted out of the car. The guys said it works GREAT, pumps really cold air.

The peltier device based coolers also need a hot air outlet which should be ducted out of the car or at least towards the back, where the air flows out.

 

If you are coming up with a peltier-based device, I'm all over it. Great solution!!
BTW, given this is not an ice-dependent system the refrigerant could be something far better than water, right?

 

Gents,

Looks like I will have a functional system to test in the next week or so. So far, by all calculations....the new system will:

1. Have a smaller footprint than existing cool systems
2. Have less fluid
3. Have no mess
4. Have more thermal efficiency
5. Have cooling that will last approximately 4 times longer than traditional ice/water systems
6. Cost substantially less.

More to come.

Chad