Got/want Coolsuit? In here pls.

[BlueFirePony]

For those of you that have a coolsuit, how much do you fill the container? I think one of them has like 16 quarts and is supposed to last 4 hours so would you just put a 4 quarts in? Others are like 8-12 quarts...so still put around 4qts or do you need more like 6qts to keep it cool for a 45 min race?

So let's say you put 4 quarts in...that's around 8lbs right? (uhmmm 1qt - 2lb weight...cold water ...higher density...never mind) let's go with 8lbs.
I think the container's weight around 3-5lbs.

And the draw is around 2A at 12V yes?

And they run around $350-$600 (not including shirt...shirt is not really part of this equation)

One last ?
Which would you prefer:
$350-$600, 12V/2A, 11-30lb and having to change water/ice
Or
$200-$250, 12V/3-5A, 1.5 lb and fill & forget (no worries about ice)
Oh, and it will drive cold air for your helmet if outfitted as well.
Oh, and it will monitor and keep temperature at predefined setting as well - air and water can be seperate temps.

Thanks for your input.

[ShadowBolt]

Okay you have our attention. My cool shirt filled with ice and just enough water at the start of a 25 minute race will be devoid of ice at the end of said race.

JJ

[Suck fumes]

I build and sell my own cool suit systems that are actually a lot more efficient than cool shirt systems are and I have a helmet cooling attachment to it as well so the air goes through the chest then into my helmet. The momo cool shirt is a LOT better than the cool shirt shirt cause it uses a bladder instead of lines sewn on the fabric.

[BlueFirePony]

I build and sell my own cool suit systems that are actually a lot more efficient than cool shirt systems are and I have a helmet cooling attachment to it as well so the air goes through the chest then into my helmet. The momo cool shirt is a LOT better than the cool shirt shirt cause it uses a bladder instead of lines sewn on the fabric.

As I told Mike and Jim this weekend, I specialize in disrupting industries - it's fun and I'm good at it - but friends and family are generally off limits.

Having said that, if you are interested, let's talk - maybe we can look to the future together :)

[BlueFirePony]

Okay you have our attention. My cool shirt filled with ice and just enough water at the start of a 25 minute race will be devoid of ice at the end of said race.

JJ
What would you figure Jerry? 3 quarts of mixed water ice?

[David Love AI27]

How much water/ice? no comment...

[marshall_mosty]

I built a system out of a 12 quart igloo cooler and $10 bilge pump off of amazon. A few brass fittings and clear line. Only "real" stuff was the shirt and the attachment fittings. I opted for the quick release versions.

[BlueFirePony]

How much water/ice? no comment...
Give me a break Dave...you don't use water or ice. Two fingers down the chute if you are being polite, otherwise it's the bottle.
Remember I drank with JLo...like father like son.

[BlueFirePony]

I built a system out of a 12 quart igloo cooler and $10 bilge pump off of amazon. A few brass fittings and clear line. Only "real" stuff was the shirt and the attachment fittings. I opted for the quick release versions.
Yeah I was going to build a cooler based ....uhmmm ...cooler too... and the water pump. But then I decided to tackle the weight thing. It's funny that I was thinking of weight savings seeing how BFP is still so damn heavy, but once my brain gets tone it just goes.

[kbrewmr2]

When ballast placement is restricted but coolshirt cooler placement isn't, and you need the weight anyway, it it's a big deal.

I'll call you when I'm building a sports racer and my fat ass can't make min weight though :lol:

[BlueFirePony]

When ballast placement is restricted but coolshirt cooler placement isn't, and you need the weight anyway, it it's a big deal.

I'll call you when I'm building a sports racer and my fat ass can't make min weight though
Yeah I don't really see the weight savings being that big a deal in 2900 lb+ cars...the 30lbs weight loss I managed in the last 18 months is dwarfed by the 400lbs that BFP needs to lose.
I'm mainly building this for Kyri and I but wanted to see if anyone was interested and needed to validate my understanding of the use case related to the water/ice.
It'll very likely be a sub $100 cost to build (maybe a lot lower if I can get past a design issue).
$200-$250 retail is a VAR friendly MSRP and I did not want the price point to be the exclusive focus.
I am more about the added value.
Not having to deal with the ice and water regardless of weight is a convenience and if the system costs less than the coolers out there why not?
The comfort system will also include body temp sensors and will be able to accept a heart rate monitor to feed into our DAQ+ system so you can monitor driver as well as the car (including any thresholds/alarms you want to set).
I am also designing in various environment sensors to monitor gas vapor, temp etc. in the cockpit
It's great to know your tires and brakes are cool/hot but I think just as valuable to know how the driver is doing...objectively.

[ShadowBolt]

What would you figure Jerry? 3 quarts of mixed water ice?

I'm guessing two qts. max. We fill with ice as much as possible then just enough water to make the pump work. Crushed ice gets much colder but does not last as long. I don't know if we even have two quarts of water in. Either way several others have large ice chest in the trunk to put weight in the rear and have plenty of ice. I'm not sure how we should look at that since the weight is being added behind the main hoop but the system I have (same as Mitch had and several others) just will last a 25 minute race. I make Jay run the 40 minute race at Hallett and I'm sure there is no ice left after about 25-30 minutes. We have never tried block ice.....not really available at the track and would have to be made to fit the ice chest. I guess we could make our own but I'm guessing it would not be all that cold in a block.

JJ

[BlueFirePony]

I'm guessing two qts. max.
JJ

Thanks Jerry - you pretty much dialed me in on what I was looking for.
What I am building won't require refilling with ice and will stay cool as long as you have juice.

But gotta get other stuff built first. If things work out I'll have this built for July ;)

[Suck fumes]

What do you plan on using freon?

[BlueFirePony]

What do you plan on using freon?
Nah, that's old school. Nanites carrying powdered salts including nitrous ammoniac; better thermal characteristics than freon and the delivery system is very small.


j/k


Though that just gave me another thought.....

[ShadowBolt]

Look what I found!
http://www.thv11.com/news/article/297955/2/Arkansas-man-invents-cooling-system-debuted-in-NASCAR-races-this-week

[Suck fumes]

Does he sell them or just trying to hit it big with NASCAR?

[ShadowBolt]

Does he sell them or just trying to hit it big with NASCAR?

I can't find anything but his Twitter page so far. I do like it and it should not cost that much.

JJ

[BlueFirePony]

Cooool <hehe> (hehe) Good for him. Hope all the NASCAR hot-heads get one ;)
Hmmm...patent...yeah I should probably look into that...

Jerry..see PM.. let me know if you can do it..I'll share the patent with you on that piece :).</hehe>

[Dulaney]

I use most of a 8# bag of ice and a bottle of water. Lasts all day.

[Hood]

I have been putting together a narrative on building your own coolshirt system. I will try to post up the draft (still editing with more pics and part numbers) soon. It is close to being complete and has information based on my experience building it. I've gone through all the online versions that I could find and have utilized the best of most of these along with a little of my own ideas. The only thing that I do suggest is that you buy a shirt to use with the system. It isn't worth the hassle of making your own shirt (costwise and timewise).

[BlueFirePony]

I seem to remember that you and maybe someone else (Gary???) built their own shirt? I've seen several different approaches - not planning to tackle the shirt thing...I'll buy one....what I plan to build will work with any of them from what I can tell.
Look forward to your post!