Crawl Space Cooler Build

[bigslappy]

thought i best make a thread on this build .i have the pump sys figured out . here the build of a subfloor/crawl space cooler usein' 2 GTX 480's each on it's own loop and a squirriel cage blower ,getting the water up/down is whole other topic
A BIG thank you goes to Waterlogged for his suggestions


componets delt with today > 10"wheel X 8" wide squirrel cage blower made by Dayton $15.00 yard sale ( new one about the same size & CFM $129.00)
this puppy pushes near 1000 CFM > 1 each 8 foot X 3/4" pine board . about a 1/3 of a sheet of 1/4' plywood > wood screws > 2 each GTX480's the pix will tell most of the rest

My crawl space is big enuff to situp in & stays 50F all summer winter it's even colder but I have never froze a water pipe down there yet lived here 12 years what every water cooler wants cool moist air
the house heats up into the upper 90's F 5 months of the year or more Ya gotta love California !

[The[R]eaper]

Holy crap 1000CFM

That things gonna swallow those GTX's whole.

cant wait to see what you do with this. Subscribed

[bigslappy]

the last post shows the assy of the box this is important that the box is ennuff volume to create static pressure which will push air evenly thru all part of the rads IE:no dead spots (like when you place a 120mm right on the surface of a rad )
these on this post show pix > fitting blower & rads to holes cut in plywood , tighter the better as that makes sealing them easy & then show fitting & bracing

[bigslappy]

these pix show the 1st test > to see if i was getting an even flow from both rad holes>>> that's it for today The rest of the day spent amassing hardware > gasket materials > finding a way to hold rads from blowing off ! what i got today at the hardware store is amazingly strong & simple way to hold the rads with out damaging them in anyway say tuned more pix tomorrow

[spider_d]

Xtreme

[InfamousChu]

wow thats xtreme!

[SiGfever]

If you have an amp meter you should check the amp draw vs the nameplate on the motor. Most squirrel cage blowers are designed to operate in a box with restriction. Your amp draw could go sky high without the restriction.

If the amp draw is too high put a piece of sheet metal partially across both openings to dial in the "Full Load Amps". ie. if it is rated for 3.5 FLA then set to 3 FLA. just my $.015

Oh, and rigging up a couple of filter tracks would also be a good idea.

[aspire.comptech]

That nucking futs

[Martinm210]

Sweet!

I was thinking of a crawlspace cooler too, but never though of the squirrel cage fan, that's intense!!!!

[skinnee]

you get that fan off of a Commercial VAV box or Fan Coil?

[bigslappy]

you get that fan off of a Commercial VAV box or Fan Coil?

No I think that blower is off a HVAC sys .. they are very easy to find with alot of ppl upgrading forced air furnaces to the more high effecent furnaces . check with furnace installers about older furnaces replaced & get one off them on the cheap as they have to pay to dump the older models ... the indoor pot growers use these also .. google shows alot of hits for the hydroponic shops having these if you want a new one
Grainger is priced way too high stay away from them . Remember to build the box to size that will FIT the access to the crawl space .... more pix later today !

[bigslappy]

If you have an amp meter you should check the amp draw vs the nameplate on the motor. Most squirrel cage blowers are designed to operate in a box with restriction. Your amp draw could go sky high without the restriction.

If the amp draw is too high put a piece of sheet metal partially across both openings to dial in the "Full Load Amps". ie. if it is rated for 3.5 FLA then set to 3 FLA. just my $.015

Oh, and rigging up a couple of filter tracks would also be a good idea.

the restriction will be the rads themselves , the motor is rated 1/5 hp @5 amp max Soo not much of a draw there & the pumps are a/c as well ,soo i'll run a service line with an out let to plug them all in .. i wanted all a/c power with a circit braker off the main house panel down there & not mess with power & voltage converters

[Origin_Unknown]

wow - this is definatly a cool project. cant wait to read more

[bigslappy]

OK this day went SLOW tring to figure out how to hold the rads in place , I wanted a bullet proof way & no way that any damage is done to the rads . tried fabrecating my own steel tabs that would screw into the rads stock hole , had a great way but counld not reproduce them 16 times with any consitantcy Soo it back to the hard ware store & i got some aluminium angle stock that mached up the exact depth of the rad but had to rivet them together . This is gonna work Great as it also helps seal the sides of the rads to the box all this took most of all of the day just to get one side the way i wanted it , But i set up a Jig some the others will only take a very short time
Here the pix

[bigslappy]

here's the rest of the pix these show how i got the the 2 rails together(pop rivets) & show how i tightning them down .. had to be real careful in selecting screw lenths as too long then hole on rad
the rail hold together will look cleaner on the next fabrication as i found some better plates to hold the rails together & be stronger . notice that washer will hold the rail in place with stock hole .. each rad screw hole will have on it

[Unoid]

I hope you're using an iwaki to pump through your 20feet of tubing and all those rads

[mike8913]

when I read the title I really thought you were going to some how fill your crawl space with water.....glad to see that isn't the case. NICE WORK.

[bigslappy]

BigSlappy
you gonna need some screen bug on the intake of the blower to keep out the bugs from plugging rad fins also silicone the holes on blower sides

good catch on the bug screens !!! (I think i'll use some big kitchen strainers the bowl shaped ones that are reinforced with S/S wire ) & what i use on these blowers is that metal duct tape on all the open holes & seams

[bigslappy]

can't work on this till the weekend stay tuned

[skinnee]

No I think that blower is off a HVAC sys .. they are very easy to find with alot of ppl upgrading forced air furnaces to the more high effecent furnaces . check with furnace installers about older furnaces replaced & get one off them on the cheap as they have to pay to dump the older models ... the indoor pot growers use these also .. google shows alot of hits for the hydroponic shops having these if you want a new one
Grainger is priced way too high stay away from them . Remember to build the box to size that will FIT the access to the crawl space .... more pix later today !

Yeah, VAV's and Fan Coil's are part of a commercial HVAC system. I work for Trane, our equipment guys (I'm just an IT guy) have squirrel cage or forward curve fans laying all over the place.

[smee]

Yeah, VAV's and Fan Coil's are part of a commercial HVAC system. I work for Trane, our equipment guys (I'm just an IT guy) have squirrel cage or forward curve fans laying all over the place.

Hey bigslappy, this is lookin great!!
Can't wait for the finished product!

Oh, and I'm sure that when your done building this, that "skinnee" here will install it for you

JK!!!!

[initialised]

Ah, so thats what I can use my spare squirel cage fan for. How about fitting it in a chimney breast?

[Lu523]

Looking good bigslappy. Nice avatar btw.

[NaeKuh]

u win.

even CD's 3 PA120.3 cant top this.

I conceede, you are one extreme whore.

Looking good bigslappy. Nice avatar btw.

LOL i know that model but forgot her name.
She's japanese, and she looks a lot prettier up close.

[bigslappy]

Ah, so thats what I can use my spare squirel cage fan for. How about fitting it in a chimney breast?

that'll work (by chimney breast you mean the space between the sheet rock room walls & the bricks if the chimney tower ) mine is about a foot all the way around the tower = attic to crawl space in other words i can see the dirt floor of the crawl space from the attic by looking down the space where the chimney is


I got a chimney breast behide the wall of the room that the PC will be in
thats where i'll be running the pipe work up/down & the service line for the 30 amp service down as that will come from the service box in the gagrage then up into a run in the attic to the chimney breast an quad outlet at the PC level & an quad outlet at the blower & pumps in the crawl space


planning on a huge resevior on the loops out lines of the PC on that same level as the PC = I'll get a 7 foot drop',,,,
planning on PVC pipe about 10 t0 8 inches wide & then just keep reducing down the size with reducers to 1 1/2 pipe then tee it back into two loops agin reduce agin into the rads that way i'll get water pressure to the rads in the crawlspace by gravity & by reducing the pipe size in incurments that increases the water pressure with no pump , then it's into a pair of pumps straight outaa the rads up & 2 more pumps at the PC into the water block loops for MAX flow