DIY Cool Shirt

DIY Cool Shirt Cooling System

updated 4/4/09

The following instructions used the ideas from here , combined with my own additions.  I was so excited to finally find somebody that had already done this and provided such great instructions.  I completed the project myself and added in some changes.  The pictures of the red cooler were the from the original instructions.  Feel free to contact me with any suggestions or ideas for improvements.  Andrew -  roocox@gmail.com

Parts

13 Quart Cooler - Ulra Cool Cooler / Dry Box A standard Igloo will leak around the lid.  This one also has slots for an included strap to secure to your car.

Pump - I got a Rule 500 GPH Pump
for $25. I did the research, Rule is the best, 3-year warranty. 

Fittings And Such - All from Home Depot, except for the nuts and washer were from Ace.

- (2) 1/2″ diameter, 2″ long nipples (pipe threaded on both ends).

- (4) Thin nuts, 1/2″ coarse thread. The nuts need to be able to thread onto the nipples.  Nipples are all tapered towards the inside, so don't go crazy trying to tighten the nut down through all the threads.

- (8) washers that can slip over the nipples.

- (2) 1/2″ female to 1/4″ compression fittings with inserts to fit in 0.170″ ID tubing

- (1) 1/2" coupler

- (1) 1/2" barb

- ~ 8" of 1/2" clear vinyl hose

- Roll of teflon tape

- Quick disconnect plug for pump wiring

Tubing

- (25) feet of 1/4″ OD vinyl tubing. This is what goes in the shirt.

- (25) feet of 1/4″ OD polyethylene tubing. Typically used as the cold
water supply for refrigerators. This is what goes from the cooler to
the shirt. It needs to be different tubing because you use a
compression fitting on the cooler end of the tubing.

- (10) feet of foam pipe insulation. 1/2″ inside diameter works fine.

Quick Disconnects

- (4) Sockets - McMaster-Carr part number 5923K31 - $8 each or so

- (4) Inserts - McMaster-Carr part number 5923K61 - $7 each or so

I wanted quick disconnects at both the shirt end and the cooler end.

 

Shirt - Get a TIGHT shirt. If you wear a Large, get a medium. It needs to be skin tight. Kmart has nice shirts made from solid, pre-washed cotton.  I bought two, the extra was for the patch used to attach the tubing to the shirt.

Silicone - A small tube of GE Silicone II works well.

Putting it Together

Cooler

I wanted the pump to be removable  in case of the need to replace or service it.  Using the 1/2" vinyl tube to connect the pump to the lower water port made the most sense.  I had to heat the tube to fit it around the pump's plastic port. The Cooler comes with a plastic tray.  I just zip-tied the pump to the tray, and the tray just sits, unsecured, in the bottom of the cooler.  

Make sure to put the fittings outside of the line where the strap will pass through.

 

Cooler 2

 

Cooler 1 (original)

Shirt

Hopefully you or someone you know has a sewing machine and is not
afraid to use it! The concept here is that you will need to sew two
panels onto the shirt — one on the front and one on the back. You will
only use vertical stitching on the panel since the tubing is going to
thread up and down between the panel and shirt. The tubing enters the
front of the shirt one one side, goes up and down through the
“channels” in the panel, hooks around to the back, does the serpentine
thing again, and ends up next to the inlet tubing.

Here are diagrams of the front and back. The grey shaded area is the
panel you cut out of pillowcase or sheet material. The red lines are
the stitching, and the blue lines are the clear vinyl tubes.

PetSmart sells silicon tube that is much more flexible and soft.  I may use that instead of the vinyl tubing. I've got my friend sewing the shirt panel.  So I'll add some updates once I put the system to the test.  I might just run some tests, and take temperature readings to see which material, vinyl or silicon, transfers the greatest amount of cold.

Start out by putting on the shirt (TIGHT!) and your HANS and sit in
a chair. Mark on the shirt (water soluble markers from my daughter’s
art box worked great) where the HANS lays. Also mark 3″ or so above
where lap belt falls - that’ll be the bottom of the panels.

Cut out the panels. Center them on the shirt horizontally, and line
them up with the line you drew that’s 3″ above the lap belt. Sew up the
sides of the panels, then sew the channels that will guide the tubing.
The channels should be 1.5″ wide or so — but make sure there is an even
number of them so the tubing works out. I used 12 channels on both the
front and back.

Thread the vinyl tubing through the shirt, being careful to not
twist it in the shirt — it’s not a huge deal, but it will not lay flat
if there are twists. Leave 5 feet or so of extra tubing at the
beginning so you can have flexibility in where things go at the end.
The tubing should enter and leave the shirt on the same side, e.g. in
the front on the left, and out the back on the left.

The vinyl on the left goes to the shirt, with McMaster-Carr quick disconnects in the middle.  I added the barbs for an emergency disconnect, in case somebody needed to pull me out of the car without having to push the button on the McMaster disconnect.  In reality, the vinyl tube would probably slip out of the quick disconnect with enough force.  I thought the barbs might make tech a little happier...

Shirt Connections

Finish Up

Wire up the pump, ideally with a fused and switched circuit. You
don’t want it on all the time, and if the pump burns up you don’t want
to take down the car’s electronics. Make a power distribution block
and fuse block that sits in the center console and used a metal toggle
switch for the pump circuit.  You can also use the Cool Shirt switch.  I think it is a digitally controlled rheostat that may reduce the chances of burning out the pump at lower voltages.  My car already had this installed so I'm using it.