Window Cooler needed

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 14:13:20 -0700, vwluvrs scribbled this interesting note:

Hey! Get your hands off my swamp cooler! I found it fair and square...paid for it too!

Seriously, I need to get off my lazy butt and take apart and fix the one I have. Here in Texas we are known to have some rather warm days as well and I sure could use some relief when I hop into the '59 to take a spin (which has been far too long as of late, between working insane hours and then being sick for the past several days!:~)

-- John Willis

I have a swamp cooler. It's in great shape, in primer ready for paint. What are these things worth?

oh yes. I'm down in the Pee Dee area of SC and I'd really like to be able to use one of those evaporative cooler devices from Sharper Image, but I somehow suspect it wouldn't be very effective in the humidity we suffer through around here. However, I do suggest that vwluvrs may want to look into one - I've been told (here in RAMVA, IIRC) that they are indeed effective in less humid areas. I may buy one before I take the Westie out West.

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 00:03:56 GMT, mez , who was sitting in a corner eating his Xmas pie stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum and began to run off at the mouth like so:

Exactly. That's why I made sure to include the humidity reading in my post. :-) One of those things would be worthless around here.

-- Travis (Shaggie) '63 VW Camo Baja...

corrodes the vessel that carries it.

Well, your right we DO get awfully humid around here!

I would venture to say, that with our average yearly rainfall, that a lot of your guys volkswagens have seen more rain this year (2003) , than our 1971 has seen its whole life?! Did I mention that both our cars (1958 and 1971 bugs) are 100% rust free California cars..? Just thought I might rub that in,,, WE average 5-7 inches per year of rainfall,,, no more..

Still need a swamp cooler........................<

All BS aside, RMMW has them for around $400-$580, depending on which option you want.

For that price I'd consider AC for around $1,100.

I lived in the high-plains desert and a swamp cooler was my friend. It was super cool, very efficient. The price of water on the road was a disadvantage until I found that beer was as cheap in some places. A sixpack for me and one for my cooler and we were okay - a bit much in the nasal regime for company, but okay. Believe me, you drive across a high desert and if the swamp cooler doesn't do you, you must be some kind of alien.

Sure, AC in a newer 1600dp. but not in our stock 1958 !

"SmegHead" wrote

It's an evaporative cooler that hangs off the side of the vehicle. Here's a modern version:

This page explains how they work: Present conditions where I am:

75°F Mostly Cloudy Feels Like 78°F UV Index: 1 Minimal Dew Point: 71°F

Wow! Never seen anything like it Down-Under so simple and yet so sensible. I doubt if our police would allow you to drive around with it hanging off the side though.

The fan powered one could be usefull when overnighting up north in Western Australia where it's 35-40C (95-100F) in the shade in summer.

The inexpensive possum launcher of ~30 years ago is no longer inexpensive. You could take a look at the 12 volt systems offered by swampy (dot net). I have seen one of their 12vt upright unit in use in a '71 Bus. And it worked pretty well in keeping the front part of the bus comfortable in

95f temps. (Driver used a separate 12vt car battery to run the cooler, although the cooler did have the standard lighter plug-in.)

Another option would be to join together several 3lb coffee cans, and work in your own pump arrangement and cooler pads. Also saw one of these on a VW beater. Cooler was not all that attractive, but the Bug driver said it worked for him.

And any evaporator cooler will be worth squat when the humidity starts to get up over ~25 percent. The lower the humidity the more effective the cooler.