Forced intake cooling???

[Pernod]

Hi guys...
Time for a realy strange question...

One thing I have always wanted to do is to make a fridge for my car to keep drinks etc cool on longer trips...

This is going to sound abit random, but it occured to me that when the fridge isn't being used for drinks, that it could be used as a heat pump to cool the air as it flows through the intake???

I know nothing about this at all, and it was only an idea I had in the shower this morning, but thought I'd put it up to get peoples thoughts! (Dont ask, I have all my best ideas in the shower)

Does anyone know if anything like this has ever been done before? Or if it is likley to work/make any difference?

[KittyKatSmack]

Best idea's in the shower........

*claps hand over mouth*

Walk away, walk away while you can..........

*sits on hands and tries to escape from thread before nawty things are said*

:lol:

[Pernod]

Prehaps I should expand on my idea before everyone get stuck on the shower thing... :idea:

You can get small electrical pads that heat up on one side and cold on the other...
Ie. http://www.dpt.co.nz/peltiers.html

If I placed a heat sync with nice large fins on the cold side of this device, I could then stick these fins through the air hose (with the fins running the same direction as the air).
The air would then flow freely through these ice cold fins and in theory would give an instant, very cold air supply...

I'm probably not going to try this, but thought it was an interesting idea! Would love peoples thoughts!

It would have the advantage of in theory being able to cool the air to well below the ambient air temp.

:?: :?: :?: :?:

[JynX]

Probably have condensation issues. They use these as cpu cooling techniques and have the same problem. Condensation on an electrical circuit is worse then in your intake but its still not desirable.

[CityEnd]

hey back to that fridge in the car idea, that's great... u think it'll be simple to do?
maybe u can put the heating side againt the side of the car, and let the air outside cool it off while u're driving.. hehe

[ezin]

Good idea but u fail to realize the amount of air going into the engine to be cooled! ITS a lot! & would take a huge a/c evaporator to cool the air down to a point where u would notice any power gain!

[Rupewrecht]

get an intercooler ;)

[Pernod]

Nice call Rupe.
Ezin - I think you might be right, I just remembered 1st yr science where we measured the heat constant of different things. Air has a really high heat constant which means in laymans terms it takes alot of energy to cool/heat.

Oh well, so much for that shower idea :roll:

I'm not sure on the fridge yet, still plotting.
I cant seem to find out how many 'cooling elements' I would need to keep it cool.

[Cosmo Dude]

The Mazda HC Luce had a fridge in the parcel shelf big enough to chill a six pack. Where to find a wrecked Luce, now that's up to you :lol:

Rod

[Pernod]

After a fair bit of hunting I have found this... http://www.ata.org.au/articles/50esky.htm

I was thinking along the right lines, but its nice to have the confirmation from someone who has done it before!

Not sure if I'll be able to get enough insulation into the glove box though which is where I was hoping to fit it :roll:

[Cosmo Dude]

I'd have done the door pocket. Right shape and very handy for a few fizzy drinks.

Rod

[Pernod]

I was looking at presicely that this morning. The problem is venting the warm air out of the door...
I'm going to do some more hunting, but it looks like the options are try and vent it out the speaker grill, or have a hack at the door and put in a new vent (which I just cant bring myself to do)

[Cosmo Dude]

CPU fan and heatsink, the air will blow out the standard vents in the bottom of the doors. It's also 12V, just right for a car :)

Rod

[Pernod]

What I was worried about though is the build up of hot air in the door as this would drop the efficiency (sp?) of the fridge quite considerably (even if the air in the door only heats up by 5-10 deg...)

[MrShadow]

On the idea of the fridge, check this:

http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/bcorner.html#COOL1
(if it doesn't take you to the right item, search the page for COOL1 or (NEW) MINI-FRIDGE/ COOLER / WARMER )

Might get one to store the milk for my coffee. Yes, I have a jug in the boot.


My friend at work actually built a small compartment from aluminium and insulated it with foam. He then attached a peltier device with a f@#ken huge heatsink and fan, and built a door into the side of the case. Could fit 4 cans in there, didn't work too well though :(