Cheap A/C

Here's what I did a few years ago when Wing Ding was in Huntsville, AL. It was very hot that year, so hot in fact that my wife drove the car down with A/C while I rode the bike. She was concerned about being able to go for a ride on the bike because of the heat so the night before we left I put a little AC together to take on the bike.

Here's what I had:

1 - Styrofoam Omaha Steak container 16w x 13 d x 9 1/2 high.

1 - Old Volkswagen Beetle 12v heater booster fan.

2 -3.5' pieces of clear plastic 7/8 od tubing. (This was all I had at the time and something

lighter would be much better.)

Some wire, a switch to turn it on and off and 2 alligator clips to attach to the battery (this

was a quick job).

I cut a hole in the center of the lid of the box and silicone sealed the fan to it so that air

would be blown into the box. I then made 2 holes in front of the box. One on each side

and towards the top. In these holes I siliconed the tubes that would carry the cool air to the passenger and possibly to me.

I wired the motor to the battery using the alligator clips and installed a switch where my wife could control the on-off function.

We placed a bag of ice in the box, put the lid on and attached the whole thing to my trunk

rack with straps. Ran the wires down to the battery and taped the wire with the switch

where my wife could reach it easily.

I would recommend a small drain hose to take away the melted ice water but not too big as it would drain it off too quickly. Cold water is almost as good as ice.

Wearing a light jacket the tubes can be inserted under the waist band and nice cool air will cool your body when the fan is turned on.

A bag of ice lasted all day.