DIY Cool Suit

It gets very hot in the race car wearing three layers of nomex and a helmet and gloves. Some smart guy several years ago invented a system that pumps cool water through a shirt to keep a driver cool. Unfortunately they still charge a lot of money for their nice system.

Being cheap – I decided to build my own. As a chemical engineer, I figured I could build a simple heat exchanger.

For the cooler pump, I used a cooler I got at Goodwill. I installed a boat bilge pump form Walmart. I drilled holes in the cooler for the wires to exit and one for the line off the pump. I got clear vinyl tubing from ace hardware and some fittings to reduce to 1/4″ tubing.

Next came the heat exchanger itself. I added a piece of cloth to a t shirt that had passages sewed vertically in it. Then I looped the tubing through. There is about 20 feet of tubing in the shirt.

I added dry breaks from McMaster Carr to the ends of the tubing to reduce the water splashed in the car. #5012K115

coolshirtdiy

coolsuitcoolerinside

coolsuitcooleroutside

It seems to work in the garage. We will see how it works at Barber this weekend.