Thank you Daveb for talking to me about the Starcool. I decided not to resurrect the thing and bought a swamp cooler. I saw the swampy mentioned often but I have put together what I found with pictures in an attempt to contribute something to the group.
Received the Swampy Mighty Kool MW2 well packaged in 3 days Fed Ex.
I filled it half way up the sight glass with water and plugged it in. I set it up in the bathroom doing battle with a propane Mr. Heater on Low. I was able to stabilize at about 100 degrees. Humidity was at 15%. Then I took the temperature at the vent. This is far from perfect lab testing, but I was able to see a 20 degree drop. It was a a couple degrees cooler with the fan on low, rather than high. Jack tells me: "When you get a chance to set your MW2 in the sun at 100 degrees you will find a 30 degree drop in temperature, however your test in the bathroom was quite accurate under those circumstances. You might mention that the output temperature will depend on the location of use, as it performs much better in dry climates than in humid climates."
I saw many posts on the web recommending this swamp cooler as an option, but there were somethings I could not find. Here are some things I figured out after receiving it.
One was where does the air come in? If I wanted to plumb this to the outside air, having one intake would be useful. It has only one intake and Jack confirmed a 4 inch dryer hose could be used, but a 6 inch would be better.
I never found a picture on the web of what the insides looked like. So here is one:
You can not really see the float. It is under the fan and switch. The yellowing on top of the cooling pad happened with one hour of use. Jack writes that this is normal. "This pad is extremely unique, as it filters impurities from the air, so that you breath the freshest air possible, plus we have a Mold Fighting Agent added to cover all the bases. It is amazing what impurities were pulled out of the air with only one hour of run time. I do not believe any other Evaporative Cooler or Furnace/Air Conditioner Filter is capable of doing what our Filter does."
The swampy website shows the height as 7 1/4 inch. I find this dimension does not include the handle. It is about 8 1/2 inches with the handle. In my camper van the cabinets have tiny openings. Below the big cabinet the opening is 8 1/2 inch high and under the gaucho it is 9". Even with the handle it will fit in these two spots. The handle can be removed.
I bought the 2 1/2 gallon external water container to feed the cooler. It is the Reliance container. I have never been happy with their handle on the 5 gallon version, but because this only 2.5 gallons maybe it will hold up better and not cut into my hand as much. The water hose connections are a press fit but they don't leak. However if you try to move them both together they can pull out. It is best to shut the water off and disconnect before relocating.
The float stops the water when the sight level shows something like 1/8th full. I asked about this and it is right. So if the cooler works best with only this amount of water I have to guess using the external water container is a good idea.
So here it is, quick and dirty set by the window for outside air and the hose run to the floor so the dog can enjoy it:
I am trying to resist making a career of installing this permanently blowing out the two bottom vents of the old Starcool. There is so little room in the van, having the entire thing hidden would be very nice. However, having a bread box sized thing that can go anywhere is nice too. Time will tell.
All four hose connectors come with female threads. This is perfect to put the chrome air vent on the end of the hose, but a hose connector with male threads are needed to clamp tightly on the swampy. Jack wrote he hasn't a hose connector with male threads. A quick look at MacMaster Carr did show anything.
It really is not that big of deal. The zip tie that holds the hose on, holds the connector against the swampy. I move it around too much and stuff it under the gaucho. After the hose fell off once I went with hose clamps instead of zip ties. However even well connected, moving it with the hose attached is a challenge.. Kind of like having two slinkies with a mind of their own fighting your every move. I drop both hoses in a bag and move the bag with the swampy. Now I can dig it out from way under the gaucho and the swampy and the hoses come out ready to operate.
I bought the MW2 thinking the medium fan would be the same as the MW1 on high. I may never need the high setting of the MW2 nor want the extra battery drain, but I like having the option. Interestingly, when I spoke with Jack at the company he did not up-sell me to the MW2. It was just my idea. It was a pleasure to speak to him.
nick
their website::
http://www.swampy.net
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