What I’ve learned about Cool Suit Systems...
Staying cool in a race car is important. We have been building the best cooling systems in racing for over a decade. We have been down many paths including dry ice, thermo electric and refrigeration.
Here are some things we learned.
Dry ice
is a pain in the ass.
You'll spend more time trying to preserve it for your race than actually using it. Reminding buddies not to screw around with it will suck up time and energy as well. I would bring out 400 pounds to support 8 teams over a weekend. I would come home with 50 pounds and that would be gone by Tuesday. Sublimation is a bitch.
Thermo Electric Systems
Works great indoors. You'll be amazed seeing the cooling effects of Peltier based systems at a trade show. You may even be tempted to spend $7500 on one based on this great demonstration in a 72° building.
Sucks in a race car. Really sucks. You'll be giving up 40 amps of power. The heat has to go somewhere. In a closed cab, it just gets hotter in the car.
Over about 80° Fahrenheit thermoelectric systems are worthless. They tend to overtemp and pump more heat to the driver. Not good.
Ice and water
It works but weight can become an issue based on time in the car.
Ice chest based systems can become dangerous projectiles in an accident.
I'll show you how to build an ice chest based system, but I truly don't want to build them anymore. Old tech.
My current lineup of Ultra Chiller systems are small, functional and efficient.