Ice Cooler Air Conditioners

uhley1

Does anyone have information on how well ice cooler air conditioners, like ActicAir or B-Kool, work? There is probably a discussion on this topic but I couldn’t find one. Maybe my search skills are just not up to par. Thank you for all the wisdom shared in this forum.

Scott Sherer

I remember one member writing about his experiences with one a couple of years ago. As I recall, his experiences were positive. That's all I remember.

uhley1

Appreciate the input Scott.

Kentwkalb

Hello. I have read about both on several forums...Cirrus, Cessna etc... What I have gleaned from them, work well to lower temps in the cabin. Only concern is the length of time for cooling. Many seem to utilize on the ramp to “pre-cool” a hot cabin. Help this helps...

Scott Sherer

Thanks Kent, I was struggling there. Seems an appropriate question, though, given that this is August! Stay cool.

c3wilson

I have an IcyBreeze ice chest air conditioner. It does a really good job of cooling down the cabin of my 182 while I preflight in the hangar. Once I pull the plane out of the hangar, it has trouble keeping up with the South Georgia sun beaming through the windows. It's even less impressive in flight because of the outside air invading the cabin. It's not what I had hoped for but it's better than nothing.

patrolpilot

It's a timely discussion for me. I'm going through the first summer in my '77 C337G, and the cabin is brutal on the ground with the upper door-half closed. There is not a lot of airflow in the cabin, to begin with on the later Skymasters.

A fellow C337 owner, has the 58-quart Artic Air Cooler, and he says that it works great on the ground, but he says that the time interval claims don't make it unless block ice is used. He said that he doesn't use it much anymore as it is only suitable for the taxi out. At that point, the run time starts, and just because you shut it down at cruise, doesn't mean the run time has stopped. Anything over a 2-hour flight, the cooler does not have any effort left.

Having looked at the three units;
Arctic Air - Arctic Air, B-Cool, and [The Icebox] (https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/icebox-sb-pilot.php?clickkey=90199)

For my needs, I would go with Arctic Air. My problem with ice coolers, in general, is getting them in the airplane as the '77G has the pressurized-style cabin without the aft baggage door. Given that it seems I'm buying a taxi out cooler for $700 (24V high capacity), that value is bugging the heck out of me.

There is an airconditioning system available for the Skymaster, installed it is $29K. I hate putting that in a 40-year old airframe. So, this research has to lead me back to Artic Air and their Real Air airconditioner.

I'm going to talk with my mechanic about the semi-permanent installation this week.

Scott Sherer

Thanks for your post and information. Good to know.

patrolpilot

I should have added the "why" for my choice of ice coolers. Arctic Air has the bagged, insulated cooler vs. the plain cooler box on the others. I take my Skymaster on hunting trips with coolers. Once they have ice in them, they need to be tarped to contain the moisture. If that moisture is allowed to enter the carpet, corrosion is guaranteed on a future annual.

Both the B-Cool and The Cooler had reviews of water sloshing out of them in turbulence.

Arctic Air uses a bilge pump to vacate the water out of the box. There is no way I could get the others out to dump them without spilling the water.

patrolpilot

I looked at the IcyBreeze cooler that c3wilson mentioned. That probably is an easy, low-cost fix for many, especially in that it is available at most ACE Hardware stores. I still would find a "pan" to fit under it. Living on a ranch, I use Boot Trays to set my boots on. They are made to collect all kinds of slop. One might be available that fits the footprint of the cooler.

For my purpose, I'm going to pursue Arctic Air's Real Air. I just did two low altitude, 5-hour flights in the Gulf behind the hurricane and ended up getting sick yesterday from the heat. I leave the ground about 150 times a year, my landings are not typically within 2½ hours away; business or pleasure. So, I figure the cooler is only good for the taxi and takeoff and deadweight from there. The Real Air covers not only the landing but low-altitude flights. Looking at it from a cost perspective, getting a landing in over the cooler, a breakeven point is about 2¾ years, but there is that low-level flight gain as well, say any time over 2½ hours, and 5 hours is not stretching it for me.

Mom just threw in for the Real Air, my mechanic is on vacation, so I will break the news to him when he gets back. He will understand, he just flew is Comanche to SW CO. I bet he is tired of the heat as well.

uhley1

As the originator of this thread, I appreciate the recent input from c3wilson and patrolpilot. Still not sure which cooler one to put in my C195. One thing I’m going to do is construct cardboard boxes equivalent to the various sizes and test fit them.

Askycobra

I use the Arctic air cooler in my C-337D and block ice does work better. I wouldn't recommend it to cool off a plane that has been sitting in the sun before flight, you will use a lot of ice doing that. It is definitely worth the money in my opinion however. Occasionally water will make it out of the ice chest in turbulence so a catch tray floor mat or towel to keep from any corrosion issues is recommended. I left Telluride, CO for a flight back to Central Texas and at 11,000 ft the temp was 60 degrees so we did not need the AC. Once we began letting down in Texas, we turned the unit on and the ice had lasted the 4-1/2 hour trip and kept us cool from altitude until landing. Coming out of KADS with the plane in the hanger one afternoon with 102 degrees of temp, the unit kept us cool until we got clearance but at the end of the 45 minute trip there was still some ice in the unit but mostly cold water, expect maybe an hour and a half or less of cool air on a hot day.

patrolpilot

Thanks for the info Askycobra. I'm going to call about the Real Air system in just a bit.