[Vicegrip]

I have seen the $9 ones pop apart when pulled hard enough. Might not have been designed to but they did.

[smdubovsky]

The true dorki way would be to compare the white & red ones to see how to mod the white ones I have a pair here somewhere that I haven't installed yet. I'll dig them up & take pics.

[Fritz]

So I completed the assembly of the cooler last night and ran a test this morning. Here is a quick write up on how it went.

I went to home depot to get the parts to go through the walls of the cooler. From left to right they are:

• 3/8" MPT to 1/4" barb
• 3/8" FPT Coupler
• 3/8 threaded pipe - 2 inch galvanized (Which is too long)
• 3/8" FPT to 1/2" MPT - Reducer
• 1/2" FPT to 3/4" barb 90 degree elbow
• 5/8" cut washers

Here is a dry fit of the assembled components:


It was then time to drill some holes into a brand new airtight cooler. As you can see, the holes for the wires are very very snug. The holes for the pipe fittings were equally tight and needed to be opened a bit to get the parts through. I measured to ensure there would be enough space for the washers and tried to keep all the connecting points as high as possible.


I then did a test fit with everything.



Once I was sure everything looked good, I then started the final assembly. I removed and roughed up the insulation on the inside of the pipe holes to allow for the adhesive silicone caulk/sealant to have a place to bond to. The main concern is water running between the washers and getting into the innards of the cooler itself.
I then used the thread tape and a pipe wrench and put the 1/2 to 3/8 reducer on the pipe. I installed the 90 degree elbow onto one of them as it would be impossible once it was sealed in place.

Important thing I learned:
Two inch pipe is too long! I had to use my dremel to remove 1/4" off the length in order for it to be tight enough on the cooler. The better solution is probably to put a few extra washers on the outside...

Now I put a bunch of caulk all over the inside of the wholes and the area where the washer would be touching. I also put a little around the pipe before putting the washer on. It was just a matter of wrenching it all down in place. I did not use any caulk on the outside fittings, but did use the pipe thread everywhere. Here is the completed cooler.






And here it is running!


I'm very happy with the final results. The flow is great and this is with the shirt hanging 4 feet above the cooler. I used the 3/8 inch coupler so I can later remove the barb fitting and install one of the threaded CPC connectors.

Here are roughs for the total costs:

• Home Depot fittings and tube $20
• Engel Cooler $41
• CPC Fittings $10
• Silicone adhesive $6
• Rule 360 pump $21
• Total excluding shirt $88

Hopefully this keeps others from running around trying to finding things on their own. Let me know if you have any questions.

[BlackTalon]

Thanks!




...can't wait for you to finish the first batch for exclusive sale to Dorkis...

[Trak Ratt]

Originally Posted by BlackTalon

Thanks!




...can't wait for you to finish the first batch for exclusive sale to Dorkis...

and the full blown article in DVor!

I bought a used, smaller Cool Shirt with the intention of upgrading to the larger cooler.

Fritz how about the timer control unit? You doing that next?

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by Trak Ratt

Fritz how about the timer control unit? You doing that next?

I'll post the stuff about the timer when I pick it up later this week. Plus I also have to make a mount of some sort. I'm leaning towards aluminum strips and a couple of well placed bolts and washers in the passenger floor pan.

[tdatk]

Excuse the ignorance as I have not seen one of these, do you fill the cooler with Ice/ little water before going out? If so would it make sense to put in a baffle around the bilge pump and route the return with a flex poly hose to flow over the ice on the opposite side so hot returns to flow over the ice before it can get picked up by the pump ?

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by tdatk

Excuse the ignorance as I have not seen one of these, do you fill the cooler with Ice/ little water before going out? If so would it make sense to put in a baffle around the bilge pump and route the return with a flex poly hose to flow over the ice on the opposite side so hot returns to flow over the ice before it can get picked up by the pump ?

If the driver is driving it shouldn't be a problem.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Fritz

T
Connectors

You need some of these:

http://quickcouplings.net/osc/produc...0bf45c5000cc67

And some of these:

http://quickcouplings.net/osc/produc...7515af208b575e

They also carry them with other fitting ends, but the main thing is the valved CPC fitting which prevents it from leaking all over the place when disconnected. I bought a few others that are non-valved in order to allow the shirt to air dry inside the lines once cleaned.

Fritz, are these the ones that fit the "official" shirt? I want to order a couple (or whatever the non-valved ones are) so that I can drain my shirt/lines between events.

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by VaSteve

Fritz, are these the ones that fit the "official" shirt? I want to order a couple (or whatever the non-valved ones are) so that I can drain my shirt/lines between events.

Yeah. They fit my shirt which is the fast technologies version. I believe both fast tech and cool shirt use the same connectors.

I'm going to place an order tomorrow morning for some of the 3/8" connectors and we can combine orders if you want to split the shipping. Goal is to get them here by Thursday so I can take them to Porschefest.