Rediculous Underarmor

[pockets]

i got a car mini fridge for $39 on sale one day, 12v peltiers cooling(or heating) throw on a cpu water pump a cheap one would run about 70. use a camelback as a resevoir, some 1/4inch tubing, with some custom made heat exchangers(i was thinking maybe heat sealing a couple thin plastic sheets together to form a series of small diameter tubes that would spread out and encompass the area) on the hotspots, arm pits inner thighs back of the beck front of the chest, sides of the head, w/e you want. run them both off of a lithium ion set up, both are 12v so you can use the same power pack, just make sure to use relays or resistors to limit the current to the correct amount, and you've basically got a refrigerated cooling system.

as a side not peltier's cooling systems have a fan based heat exchanger for the heat generated by the cooling mechanism, i'd mount that up in the top of one of the "shoulder blade" protrusions if it were me.

 

[23Magnum]

i got a car mini fridge for $39 on sale one day, 12v peltiers cooling(or heating) throw on a cpu water pump a cheap one would run about 70. use a camelback as a resevoir, some 1/4inch tubing, with some custom made heat exchangers(i was thinking maybe heat sealing a couple thin plastic sheets together to form a series of small diameter tubes that would spread out and encompass the area) on the hotspots, arm pits inner thighs back of the beck front of the chest, sides of the head, w/e you want. run them both off of a lithium ion set up, both are 12v so you can use the same power pack, just make sure to use relays or resistors to limit the current to the correct amount, and you've basically got a refrigerated cooling system.

as a side not peltier's cooling systems have a fan based heat exchanger for the heat generated by the cooling mechanism, i'd mount that up in the top of one of the "shoulder blade" protrusions if it were me.

Umm...I got a little lost in all the electronics talk there a bit, but as far as tube placement just remember to put them in places you aren't going to find uncomfortable or irritating. Personally, I wouldn't put mine in my armpits or inner thighs, but like you said put them wherever you want them. In my diagram, I tried putting the lines where I thought anyone would get the best relief of heat transfer and still be able to wear it all day long if needed.

The mini fridge cooling system sounds cool, but isn't the coolant toxic or are you going to just use water? I'm just asking cause I don't know much about refridgeration systems and peltiers.

-Magnum

 

[pockets]

a peltiers cooling system cools using convection of a metal plate, the fluid flowing through the tubes would be water.

 

[Vader]

The only question I would have is, is it worth the trouble to make that rather than just buying a cool shirt? Building a reservoir and pump set up, battery pack and all that with insulation seems easier than having to build everything plus lay tubeing from scratch.

Found This. Tubing = 25 feet for $2. These could be stitched into a shirt rather easily. I don't know what you call them, but if you look on the inside of a baseball cap, you see the little 1/2" pieces of fabric they use to cover the stitches. If you make something similar, but don't stitch it closed, you could run the tubing through that.

As for the pump, I think those are pretty noisy aren't they? Are there quiet ones? You could put the pump in the backpack and put some Dynamat (sound deadening material) to help quiet the pump. As for the resivoir, I dunno. To me, this system seems to be pretty heavy. I'm not sure how much coolant you'll need, but water is 8 lbs. per gallon. That doesn't sound like much, but if you don't put the resevoir in a good place, you'll definitely feel it.

 

[dwoo]

If you are going to go with the reservoir idea, I suggest the easiest and prob soundest way is to use a simple hydration backpack - one with the fewest bells and whistles. Check W-mart camping section, my W-mart carries the Outdoor Products brand Wellspring model which looks like a good candidate. Use the drink line as the output and drill a return line into the cap of the bladder and install plastic hose fittings from the hardware store. The pump and battery can be installed inline with the drink tube, if you go with a car type pump. The backpack would also work well as a suspension system to mount the back and chest armor shells.

I will say this about peltier coolers. They are cool but they require alot of power, more than you would want to suppy using batteries. Peltier is a good choice when you need to cool something to below room temp.

@Vader welcome to the party and thanks for brings your food-for-thought to the table.

 

[Vader]

Thanks, I appreciate it.
Ideas I got.
And I may not be able to tell you how to do something, but I sure know how NOT to do it!

 

[pockets]

as far as water pumps being loud that why I suggest a PC one, they build them to be quiet. us OCers dont like noise