***le just about says it all I guess. My wife has a '61 Corvair wagon as her daily driver, and while she's a great sport, we're having summer that's been hotter than most. She's not real keen on the idea of putting A/C on the car, and I'm not either. Do swamp coolers work? We're not looking for arctic temps here, but something to take the edge off the Flames of Hell (aka "Atlanta in August) would be nice. -Brad
From what I understand the work in very dry climates. Atlanta is really humid, probably not ideal. This is all hearsay from me so take it with a grain of salt. My Dad lives in Atlanta and he bought a couple of those little chrome mailman fans and put them in his 48 ford truck, I drove it over 4th of July. It was nice! They have 'em at Napa.
its true. out here in the high desert they work great but its been strangely humid the last month or so and they don't work worth a damn over about 30% humidity.
I live in Maryland and have a swamp cooler on my 57 Dodge. Since the humidity is so bad here, (and the heat too) it doesn't do much, but at least it look cool. You need to live in an arid climate to get the true benefits of a swamp cooler. I have one of those NAPA trucker fans and it does a better job.
Remember, nothing takes the place of an A/C! Often times those Swamp Coolers make the inside of the car humid so you're worse off with it then without it. Sometimes, people would put ice inside but the ice will only last so long in the summer heat. Plus the cooler is only working when the car is in motion. Another thing, is the person sitting nearest the cooler is going to get the most benefit out of it. Bottom line, it's just for looks.
Chuckbob- I lived off of Klee Mill road as a kid! Would someone please describe how these things are supposed to work? I get the ice concept, but without the cold medium what is the idea? Thanx!
Hi Chevy57dude. I live not too far down the road from Klee Mill road. Small world. The concept for a swamp cooler is that inside the unit you have a horizontal tube that is made of a mesh wire like chicken wire or rabit fence wire. Around that you have a blanket or gauze type material. You pour water into the tank and the material soaks up some of the water. The open end of the cooler (pointed to the front) introduces air into the center of the mesh tube and in turn the air flows through the wet material towards the exit point in the cooler, The exit is the vent that rests inside the cars window. So evaporation of the water cools the air flowing through the unit. When the material starts to dry and the cooling effect starts to drop, you just pull on the cord that is hanging into the car (from the vent) and it spins the mesh tube which causes it to refesh the material with new water from the tank. So, cooling via evaporation is the key to these systems. It's OK for Arizona, but not Georgia or Maryland.
My brother has one. We live in Tucson, Az. They do work well here. But in monsons....forget it, it flat out does not work in the humidity.
How about a couple of pic's For us Dumb ***es in the midwest where the Humity is terrible . If you aint got a/c you'r driving like HELL with you'r winders Down
How bout this gadget: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...viewitem=&_trkparms=clkid=6480656353798058974 ....probably doesn't work worth a damn but it's cool looking. .
They are a novelty as so many are curious to the object hanging from the window?? I always have folks asking and they are incomplete disbelief when told of its function as most these days have never seen let alone heard of a "swamp cooler"
Swamp coolers worked good ( I won't say great because they certainly had their limitations ) in the arid southwest up until the Monsoon season arrived. As pointed out they aren't worth **** in the humidity. Used to use them in our semi's years ago, not many big trucks had a/c before the '80s. Water was the most used form of coolant but some used ice and there were some that used dry ice. They helped alot when crossing those long stretches of desert.
Swamp coolers work on the basis of evaporative cooling. If the air is already saturated with water it makes it hard to evaporate more into it, as others have said.
i have been wanting to know how that worked for years why not put the trucker fans in the swamp cooler forced air ?
Another consideration is how much moisture you are introducing into your cars interior, will it effect the upholstery or metal in any way ? Rust, mildew etc,. ?
The below is from this website http://www.cl***icaire.com/CoolScience.htm for a company that makes new swamp coolers including one with a fan inside for forced air. Not advocating for this company as I know nothing about them just thought the graph was a good one to point out the effects of humidity. Temperature of air coming from the cooler depends on conditions outdoors. The Cl***icAire® car cooler is designed for use in climates with low to moderate humidity. And in fact the lower the humidity - the better the cooler works! You can BE COOL and STAY COOL with a Cl***icAire® car cooler. The chart below shows typical performance in 90 degree weather. Locate the humidity on the horizontal scale, go up to the diagonal line, then go to the left axis and read the typical outlet temperature.
so if they dont work well in humidity, why do they call them SWAMP coolers? I have heard them called cactus coolers too.. just sayin
Because if you don't keep them clean, they will start smelling like a swamp. We just call them evap coolers here. I found one of those in our s**** metal bin about a year ago. Yes I took it.
i know huh!! un-mitigated ******** is what it is. i grew up in the midwest so i've had my fill of humidity! hell, in iowa, you could sweat IN the shower!
Yrs back when I was WORING as an HVAC Guy we sold many of them in Pgh, Pa. We installed them in Restaurant Kitchen Vent systems, and in the summer we would reduce the air temp 12 degrees, the cooks were not concerned with humidity, just getting a little cooler in a very hot enviroment. They worked and they would call if they went out of kilter. Adding water to air always gives the feeling of cooler, and thats what we were after, cause the air was just pumped back out side as exhaust and smoke, making AC impractical and very expensive. Iceman
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