anyone electrically savvy?

GoldenRivet · 07-13-09, 12:01 AM

ill try to make a long story short.

as some of you know, im a flight instructor... in one of the hottest climates in the United States.

As a majority of general aviation aircraft are not air conditioned i had an idea...

grab one of these things... http://www.kooleraire.com/

it plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car and they work pretty good, i have a friend who keeps his truck cool on work sites with it when the truck will be parked unattended for long periods of times and he demonstrated it to me - it does make a difference.

mind you its not like having a full fledged air conditioner running, but anyone who has left their car or truck parked at a store for an hour or so in the summer sun knows that their car quickly turns into an oven.

when he demonstrated this thing to me his car had been parked for an hour and he left the kooleraire running the whole time - when we entered the vehicle, the truck seemed as if it had only been parked in the direct summer sunlight for a few minutes... there was a notable temperature difference.

at any rate, i would like to put one of these in the baggage compartment behind the seat on my Cessna 150. there is plenty of room for it and i think it will work great at keeping the relatively small cockpit cool during training flights.

the question is:

my cigarette lighter in the airplane is decommissioned - and even if it worked the unit's plug wouldn't reach the cigarette lighter anyhow.

so.....

would it be possible to take one of these

and somehow wire it to one of these...

and perhaps build some sort of enclosure to contain it so that the KoolerAire unit could plug into the aforementioned homebuilt battery pack?

or does such a device already exist and can be store bought ?

anyone who knows about electrical stuff - help a brother out

Letum · 07-13-09, 02:56 AM

Most cigar lighter receptacles run at 12vDC and so does that battery IIRC.
So yes, you can just cut the wire and hook it up to the battery.

CaptainHaplo · 07-13-09, 06:25 AM

Unfortunately - 12 volts isnt the only concern.

The problem isn't voltage in reality - its amps. A normal aircraft cig plug is rated at 3 amps. I looked on the page and could not find a amperage rating for the device. Before you go ordering one and trying to do a battery pack, check the specs and find out what amperage the cooler requires.

What you want to do is match the amps and volts both to the device, that way your getting maximum life out of the battery and little chance of overamping the device.

Also - you need to look into a charging unit of some type if you go this route.

I assume your having major maintenance done by a A&P licensed mechanic. If so, talk to him about putting an additional plug near what will become the "storage" area so you can just plug it in. If the existing plug is out due to a fault in the plug, no biggie, but if its an electrical problem elsewhere - that really needs to get looked into anyway. Adding a plug wouldnt be that difficult, provided there is room for the modification (wiring under the floor). If regs prohibit an under the floor mod - you can alway correct the problem with the existing plug - and move it (wires under the carpetting) to the rear of the cabin - depending on the plane.

Spoon 11th · 07-13-09, 07:39 AM

I googled it uses only 390 milliamps of power. With that battery shown in your picture (7 Ah). If we assume that 7 Ah is for 10 hours average usage that's 700 milliamps per hour for 10 hours. Since this KoolerAire device only uses 390 milliamps you should get at least 20 hours of continuous usage. Hope this makes sense.

Letum · 07-13-09, 08:17 AM

I wouldn't worry about the amperage too much. Anything the lighter socket
can handle, the battery will be able to take for at least 4 hours and
probably a lot more.
I would imagine that the cooler unit is quite voltage tolerant as well.

SteamWake · 07-13-09, 10:00 AM

That little fan wont draw much currrent and will probably run on that gell cell for a number of hours.

The connection is easy Only two wires if you hook it up backwards the fan will run backwards so jsut flip flop the wires.

The only precation you need is a fuse in the circuit and make sure the battery doesent flop about and short itself out. Ill do a little drawing and post it up here later.

07-13-09, 12:01 AM	#1
GoldenRivet Subsim Aviator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 8,726 Downloads: 146 Uploads: 0	anyone electrically savvy? ill try to make a long story short. as some of you know, im a flight instructor... in one of the hottest climates in the United States. As a majority of general aviation aircraft are not air conditioned i had an idea... grab one of these things... http://www.kooleraire.com/ it plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car and they work pretty good, i have a friend who keeps his truck cool on work sites with it when the truck will be parked unattended for long periods of times and he demonstrated it to me - it does make a difference. mind you its not like having a full fledged air conditioner running, but anyone who has left their car or truck parked at a store for an hour or so in the summer sun knows that their car quickly turns into an oven. when he demonstrated this thing to me his car had been parked for an hour and he left the kooleraire running the whole time - when we entered the vehicle, the truck seemed as if it had only been parked in the direct summer sunlight for a few minutes... there was a notable temperature difference. at any rate, i would like to put one of these in the baggage compartment behind the seat on my Cessna 150. there is plenty of room for it and i think it will work great at keeping the relatively small cockpit cool during training flights. the question is: my cigarette lighter in the airplane is decommissioned - and even if it worked the unit's plug wouldn't reach the cigarette lighter anyhow. so..... would it be possible to take one of these and somehow wire it to one of these... and perhaps build some sort of enclosure to contain it so that the KoolerAire unit could plug into the aforementioned homebuilt battery pack? or does such a device already exist and can be store bought ? anyone who knows about electrical stuff - help a brother out __________________

07-13-09, 02:56 AM	#2
Letum Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: York - UK Posts: 6,079 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	Most cigar lighter receptacles run at 12vDC and so does that battery IIRC. So yes, you can just cut the wire and hook it up to the battery. __________________

07-13-09, 06:25 AM	#3
CaptainHaplo Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 4,404 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	Unfortunately - 12 volts isnt the only concern. The problem isn't voltage in reality - its amps. A normal aircraft cig plug is rated at 3 amps. I looked on the page and could not find a amperage rating for the device. Before you go ordering one and trying to do a battery pack, check the specs and find out what amperage the cooler requires. What you want to do is match the amps and volts both to the device, that way your getting maximum life out of the battery and little chance of overamping the device. Also - you need to look into a charging unit of some type if you go this route. I assume your having major maintenance done by a A&P licensed mechanic. If so, talk to him about putting an additional plug near what will become the "storage" area so you can just plug it in. If the existing plug is out due to a fault in the plug, no biggie, but if its an electrical problem elsewhere - that really needs to get looked into anyway. Adding a plug wouldnt be that difficult, provided there is room for the modification (wiring under the floor). If regs prohibit an under the floor mod - you can alway correct the problem with the existing plug - and move it (wires under the carpetting) to the rear of the cabin - depending on the plane. __________________ Good Hunting! Captain Haplo

07-13-09, 08:17 AM	#5
Letum Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: York - UK Posts: 6,079 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	I wouldn't worry about the amperage too much. Anything the lighter socket can handle, the battery will be able to take for at least 4 hours and probably a lot more. I would imagine that the cooler unit is quite voltage tolerant as well. __________________

07-13-09, 10:00 AM	#6
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	That little fan wont draw much currrent and will probably run on that gell cell for a number of hours. The connection is easy Only two wires if you hook it up backwards the fan will run backwards so jsut flip flop the wires. The only precation you need is a fuse in the circuit and make sure the battery doesent flop about and short itself out. Ill do a little drawing and post it up here later. __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

07-13-09, 07:39 AM	#4
Spoon 11th Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Finland Posts: 689 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I googled it uses only 390 milliamps of power. With that battery shown in your picture (7 Ah). If we assume that 7 Ah is for 10 hours average usage that's 700 milliamps per hour for 10 hours. Since this KoolerAire device only uses 390 milliamps you should get at least 20 hours of continuous usage. Hope this makes sense.