Homemade AC

[WDD]

Wanting some heat relief in the cockpit and not wanting to pay $800 for an Artic Air, I built my own.

I tried it out this weekend. I thought it might help a bit, but I was more than amazed. It worked so great that while taxing I closed the plane windows to make the cockpit cooler. Made the trip much better for wife as well. A 20'lb bag of ice lasts 2 hours.

Standard Igloo ice chest. Incoming air passes through a PC heat exchanger / radiator.


For wiring I cut the female end off of a heavy and long 12 volt cigarette lighter extension cord. I connect that to a fused cigarette lighter adapter with its own power switch to make turning it on and off easy.


For a fan I used a 12 volt motorcycle radiator fan that provides good velocity as well as good air volume.


The PC heat exchanger is fed by a 12 volt submersible self priming pump that I covered with fish net material to keep debris out of the pump. The return water is allowed to fall through the ice as it makes its way to bottom of ice chest, transferring its heat as it warms the ice as well as giving up heat calories in the process of melting the ice.

 

[Piperonca]

That’s cool!

 

[zayerpaul]

That’s very cool. How much did all of that cost you?

 

[Bill]

Parts list for those of us who want to play at home?

 

[Jeff Oslick]

I like what you've done here. Other homemade units I've seen use pretty low-end components, you've put some good thought into this...

How much water to you use to prime the system?

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

Yup….nice.

 

[WDD]

• 1 PC Heat Exchanger $22.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CFDS3JA/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• 1 Pump - 12 V Self Priming $14.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NKVSLRC/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• 2 Brass elbows $5.00 Lowes
• 1 Plastic Tubing $10.00 Lowes
• 4 Tubing Clamps $2.00 Lowes
• Stainless Steal Nuts and Bolts $10.00 Lowes
• Heat Shrink tubing, solder, etc. $10.00 Lowes
• 1 Aquarium Fish Net $2.00 ?
• 1 12 Volt Extension Chord $12.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G8WLX14/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• 1 12 Volt Plug/Switch $18.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SYJKJS7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• 1 Fan $57.90 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009OBP55G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• 1 Igloo 28 Qt Cooler $25.00 WalMart ?
• 1 90 degree PVC Elbow - $?? - Lowes

Total $191.86

I like what you've done here. Other homemade units I've seen use pretty low-end components, you've put some good thought into this...

How much water to you use to prime the system?

I put in just enough water to start with to have the self priming pump submerged. Maybe a quart?
​

 

[Gary Ward]

Nice job! Way cheaper than buying one!