Homemade air conditioner

Before I get started, I have to give props to Geoff Milburn, at http://www.gmilburn.ca/ac/ whose plan it was I copied. I'm not smart enough to think up something like this on my own. That being said, one of the places I work has no AC, but I'm allowed to have fans, so this seemed like a good project for me. It's not perfect yet, but it does cool the air better than just a fan.

Step 1 Attach copper tubing to the fan

I took the grate off of my fan, so I could put the heat exchanger on the inside, hopefully making it look better. I'm using copper tubing as the heat exchanger, although you could use something else, as copper is not cheap, and not easy to work with. As you can see in the second photo, it's very easy to kink the tubing, in which case, you stop the flow of water. I grabbed a hole saw to use as a die to wrap the tubing around, and the teeth held nicely against the grate of the fan. As I was going along, I used zip ties to hold the tubing to the grate. Of course, because this will be inside the fan, make sure to clip off the loose ends. Also, make sure that you have both ends of the copper tubing sticking out of the fan, so you can hook up the tubes to the pump.

Comments

[bitter_buddy_boy]

instead of a bent piece of copper pipe, may i sudjest going to a automotive shop and buy a replacement radiator and zip tie it to the back of the fan (or put it of the inside like you have your pipe if you have your pipe). I've seen them at auto zone and their about the size of your fan and only an inch or so thick.

[hagrawal3]

but this model has a problem i.e. the motor of the fan shorts as soon as water enters the motor

[jwhite42]

Hers my idea to fix the condensation, place the fan on top of the cooler and drill a hole through the fan into the top of the cooler and also insulate the lines running from and to the heat exchanger that should reduce if not kill the condensation and keep your water cooler longer

[club81]

Doesnt your ac make alot of condensation???

[monamontgomery]

I am trying to figure out a way to keep the condensation from becoming a lake in my living room. Maybe I'll find a way to drink it.

[monamontgomery]

I'm trying to make my regular air conditioner into a portable air conditioner and I have great hopes that I will do it. So far I have learned that just about any duct will do but the ones I have made out of plastic drop cloth, cloth fabric, and my latest, the top of a styro-foam cooler with a 3"x8' duct going out the bathroom window, all have limitations. Also, when you bring your window air conditioner indoors you have to have something collect the condensate like a plastic rug or a box with a towel in it or something.

It really works great when you have everything right and saves so much energy. All you need is 8000 BTU's blowing right at you to keep you cool on the hottest day. Of course, when you leave your cool place the whole rest of your home is hot but who cares?

So far I am happiest with the styro-foam box top with a hole cut out for the 3"x8' air duct but it doesn't allow the hot air to flow away from the unit freely enough. I haven't yet found that perfect compromise between totally free air flow like you get in the window and some kind of control which I am working on. The fabric worked great but I felt bad knowing that all I had accomplished was slowing the air down to a stop after eight feet. Essentially, the fabric air duct turned into a fabric tail that just sort of held on to the hot air for a while. But it was enough to get the air condition working. If you don't have enough air flow in the back the air condition will not work except as a fan.

The beauty of my plan is that you can use your cheap air conditioner as a heater in the winter and an air conditioner in the summer by just changing the position of the air duct from the front to the back.

Has anyone worked on this and if so, what do I need to do to get the right air duct? I would like air duct that blows up like a balloon. In fact, my next step will be to try one of these 60 foot solar balloons which are 72 inches in diameter. The air condition is 60 inches around the box so the 72 inches will be great. I will attach one end of the solar balloon to the air condition and cut the off the other and throw it out the window and if that works.

If it works, then I can just move the balloon around from the small bathroom window to the defunct ducts from my former central air conditioning system and even up through the vent above the stove. Ideally I would like a very flexible, but strong, material, like the solar balloons. They look good.

Any ideas?

[jampher]

hey dude can ya pls help me out can you tell me what advantages does this A/C have all types of advantages including advantages over normal A/C and other cooling devide pls help me i am making it for a exhibition and i need complete information pls give me sme extra pls :D thank you

[baseball3]

OK, I have a couple of questions.

1. Is there a cheaper alternative to Copper Piping?

2. Would an older pool pump work for the water pump?

Thanks in advance.

[jmeyerson2]

how much tubing do you need? also, would just using plastic tubing for the whole thing work, or does it need to be copper?

[ryandean98]

It Needs to Be Copper Because The Metal Gets Cold then When the air passes, it will be cooled.

[Bilal Bin Siraj]

@ ryandean98 nicely explained

@ jmeyerson2 the longer the better it is but not too long as it may block the airflow and cooling ability will be affected.

[louwhopley]

Imagine one could just reverse the electrical stream in a kettle element to make it go colder instead of hot.... damn...

Haha, I starting to build your instructable now! - just wondering where to get hold of the copper piping? - probably a hardware store?

[Bilal Bin Siraj]

go for the store who sell air conditioners specially those selling split units, ask for the fitting contractors they will have plenty of copper piping.

[james4]

why is there a crime scene do not cross tape? 0_o

[jwad123]

thank you

[yummy69]

hi guys, i am jut wondering........
how cool air does this thing make ?

[Justdoofus]

For my idea, I plan to install about six heater cores on the back of the fan and have them connect in series.. I have high access to these sorts of things, so that's not a problem. I have made one with four heater cores and it brought the temperature down into the twenties.. Also, way back in the past, I have taken the output of the refriderator's compressor line and connected it into the input of the heater core, and the output into the input of the compressor.. .

[PIman]

I am a PI and want to make a rig to cool my van(130 F). I need suggestions (& spelling tips).

[South Texas Connection]

STC here: You want to cool a van, huh... OK, do this -- Get a car or truck heater core from a junk yard, any kind.. Now get a bilge pump (pump for draining water out of a boat). Ice chest & hose to fit. Put the pump in ice chest with hose connected to out put of pump. Run hose to heater core & output of heater core back to ice chest. Now connect a small fan in front of heater core so the fan is pulling air through the heater core, not pushing it. As you know: You can do more work with a vacuum than with pressure. Place crushed ice in chest with one gallon of water. Now as the fan & pump are 12 volt just fix a plug so they can be plugged into the lighter socket. WALA COLD AIR................ If you put the heater core & the fan in a small box it will work much better. I used this setup some time back in my little motorhome when we were camping in the boonies. Had us looking for the covers... Nother though, If you had a solar panel that put out enough current, you could run this thing all day from it and keep that van cool all day, just add some ice as required. will work to keep a tent cool too.. many uses. STC we gone

[Swapnil242khadke]

hey hae u done this project ????
and if yes then does it cools as ac or not

[hshah-1]

yes it cools the as a ac i have tried it......it atleast makes 5-10 degree difference

[eskimojo]

(part 2) So we wanted to tap into that potential for quick cooling while mobile and compact(ish). Luckily professional sports already did the foot work. They made a jersey that has tubing attached to it and then the tubing has cooled water run through it. This was our jerry-rigged version plan. 1 Jersey(of no sentimental value) as much clear tubing as needed(the kind you can get at a pet store) a cheapo electric-water pump(12v) or fuel pump(we work at an auto parts store). some wiring + accoutrements. small 12v battery water(as use would be limited) Cold source(ice packs, ice blocks/cubes, frozen water bottles) a water-tight container. sew the tubing to the jersey, concentrate on the upper back, shoulder, neck area, in zig-zag pattern, coil tubing around cold source, clamp all connections, attach pump to power source and you have yourself a quick and dirty cooling jersey! you can wear it and it will bring your core body temperature down.

[eskimojo]

Why try and cool the whole van when you can just gool personell(sp?)? My friend is fabricating a Big Daddy suit(from Bioshock 2) and we have heard horror stories about the heat generated in large suits so we had a brain storming session. Basically your blood along with being the life-essense in your body(providing nutrients and sugar to your body's components and removing toxins, exchanging oxygen/CO2, etc) is essentially the cooling/warming system of your body.

[brianroesch]

I'm interested in cooling down my car too for Private Investigating. I'll just perhaps get a portable a/c unit and small gas powered generator. (silent generator).

[maxpower49]

i'm working on a mini air conditioner that uses a 12 volt boat pump, a mini fan, and a inverter for cars and stuff.

[PIman]

Let us know how it works out.

[maxpower49]

i'll post it soon

[PIman]

How would you not die from the fumes? My small fan makes a loud noise. I have rigged s cooler with a fan that blows in?downward from the top an fore air over ice blocks and then out vent. Melts in the hot van, but i works for a short time. Any info on ac units would be great.

[brianroesch]

Pop the trunk a little and drag an extension cord around to the inside through the window into you a/c unit. Swamp coolers are cheaper than the a/c units. If you have a van you can mount the generator to the roof and cover it with a plastic box to protect it from the rain. The charging power pack inverters are not good because the watts are not enough. Gas powered generators are the best.

[PIman]

Swamp coolers work well in dry areas mine is humid(very). In the PI biz the box on the roof would be noted and then expose me. I like the concept though. Where are you a PI?

[brianroesch]

A CC license is an intern license. Anyway, I hope you find a device to help cool you off. Running the car while parked all day is not good, especially when the companies only reimburse milage. A friend of mine suggested cutting three holes in the top of a large cooler filled with ice. Next, place three battery charged fans (one in each cut-out). One fan blowing down into the cooler and two blowing up.

[brianroesch]

I'm not a PI yet----just training to be one down in Broward county Florida. Still deciding due to wear-and-tare on the car. I may just stick with my night job.
I'm currently working as an intern to get my CC license and in about two years my C and hopefully go on to my Agency license if all goes well. It's fun work, but very HOT!

[bo88y]

Until you find your more permanent cooling solution, it can help to keep a plastic jug of water in the car to sprinkle generously on the roof when it gets heated up by the sun. First you'll get some evaporative cooling, and then some conductive cooling. When the roof's too hot to touch, even water that's warm (from sitting in the car) can take a lot of the heat out of the metal in the roof and keep it from radiating into the interior. When my AC broke, I'd do this before opening all the windows, and it would make the car much cooler to get into on hot days. If you're sitting on hot days, it may well be worth it to close up your windows to wet down the roof once in a while.

[el Pipo]

For better performance, you could divide your 1/4" copper pipe into 3 separate shorter coils, as 1/2" pipe will easily feed 3 x 1/4" pipes at the same volume of water. You'd have to figure out a way to put a couple of T's at the outlet of your pump and reduce them to 1/4".

[jpnagle59]

poo-poo on u none-believers, and number crunchers...A for effort...A for the thought...A- for not getting the little spring benders at the hardware store to bend the copper tubing without kinks. I would reconnoiter the near by your areas for more copper tubing, bend it tighter to make more surface area for the air to flow over, to cool better. Also, it you have a freezer, get some of the 'gel' pack re-freezable do-hickey's, put them in the boss's freezer, and let him pay for the ice....living here in Texas- which the last 28 days has been over 105f , I would do this in a heart beat....Danka....

[mechno]

I had always heard that salt is best for bending pipes. it is course like sand, but water soluble so you can rinse it clean.

[Power23432432]

Wouldn't this also induce corrosion...

[Power23432432]

Wouldn't it be more efficient if you had the tubing in a closed loop so instead of just sucking up the cold water (which is normally above 32 degrees cause the ice has to compensate for the temp of the water) it would instead give up it's heat to the much cooler ice(32 degree).. not to mention having the lid open messes with heat transfer...so having holes thru the side would make a big diffrence. *sarcasm(not really)* Why not just put the fan in front of the cooler skip the pump skip the tubing and blow the air over you that way...............Or like the simpsons build a tent around you and open the fridge door, winter indoors!

[Davidfromcali]

Try thermosiphoning instead of using a pump. Mount the fan beneath the cooler. Run the 'out' line from the bottom of the cooler to the bottom of the fan. Bend the hose back and forth but do it so that it is always going up. Run the top of the hose to the top of the cooler but BELOW the surface of the water. As the air warms the water it will expand and go up into the cooler and the cooler water will travel down the tube.

[bo88y]

Instead of messing with all that tubing, you might get lucky and find a crapped-out dorm-sized refrigerator and pull the condenser coil off of it. You should take the unit to a refrigerator or AC repair place and have it purged of coolant before disconnecting.