Cooling fans for costuming?

[joeranger]

I am going to start a new project (Hurt Locker EOD Suit) and if I do it the way I want it will be really hot to wear. The actual suits have cooling systems built in. Has anyone had any experience air conditioning a costume? I know the SW guys air condition the helmets. I have also considered on of the little fans from those inflatable costumes.

 

[CB2001]

I can't say I have. But I've heard of other examples of where a cooling system had to be installed into a costume for an actor. One such case I can think of is from "Farscape". Anthony Simcoe's D'argo costume had a cooling system that was water based, and it was similar to the cooling system used in astronaut's space suits used by NASA.

If you're looking at fans, you may want to try considering cooling fans used for CPUs in PCs. They may not be extremely powerful though, but if you have one that's intaking air into the helmet, and one that's outputting air from inside the helmet, you can keep a pretty good circulation of air going.

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Give Sidewinder a shout and ask him about giraffes.... Ask him about his costume, too.

 

[DarthJ]

Look into squirrel cage fans or cooling vests.. I costume as Vader & Clonetrooper in the 501st, and I use the squirrel cage fans in my helmets. They are GREAT!

You can run the fan off of a 9V battery..

Hope that helps..

 

[Anakinos]

You wanna do a search for cooling vests in motocross. That is what I wear under my batman armor and it's nice. Good luck

 

[Jaan]

I play a lot of paintball, and used to wear eyeglasses so I've made a couple of fan kits to fit inside a paintball mask to keep my glasses fog free. Here is a tutorial I made for a couple with a pulse width modulator speed control;

http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/diy-tech/55832-jt-mask-fans-speed-control.html

You can get 20mm computer fans easily and they're small enough to put anywhere. They even make smaller fans these days too.

The pulse width modulator is a speed control for the fans. A couple of 25mm fans with 4x AA batteries will last a very long time.

 

[Tetmatek]

I would recomend this type set up


http://www.coolshirt.net/comfort-cooler.html

 

[jwrjr]

From larger hobby and most industrial electronics suppliers (Digi-Key and Mouser, for example) you can find 5 volt and 12 volt fans as small as 1 inch square. (You will get more air circulation with 2 or 3 inch fans.)

 

[kalkamel]

http://www.glaciertek.com/

 

[TK6294]

These fans are awesome. I use four of them in my TK bucket. during events it is cooler with my helmet on then with it off. And i have know direct blowing on my face!
http://www.newark.com/nmb/bm5115-04w-b30-l00/blower/dp/14C7796

 

[joeranger]

Hey guys, thanks. The cost needs to be in the $20 range. Also, since the suit is big, I am going to use the fan to help inflate the suit a little in addition to keeping cool.
I have a separate thread for the Hurt locker EOD suits I am building.

 

[Skruffy]

I've not used them, but I know a few troopers who really like their Black Ice neck cooling systems: http://www.blackicecooling.com/

 

[joeranger]

OK, the suits are not going to be as hot as expected, but I am going to cool the helmet. Partially for accuracy and mostly for cool factor.
I bought a bunch of these to mount to the back of the helmet to suck air out. It will also give off a creepy blue light.
Those of you with "Bucket fans", how much battery do you need for a fan and a few LED's? Stats below.

• Airflow: 32.5 CFM
• Speed: 2500 RPM
• Noise: 28.8 dBA
• Voltage: 12 V DC
• Current: 0.13 A
• Power: 1.6 w
• Dimensions: 80 x 80 x 25mm

 

[PadawanLearner]

well...your specs call for 12 volts, so however you want to supply that 12 volts is what you need

 

[foxbatkllr]

I power my 12V fans with a single 9V battery.

 

[obiwan2]

I use three computer fans inside my helmet. Two to draw air in and one to draw warm air out the bottom of the helmet. Runs off 9V batteries and allows me to stay suited up for hours....I can't begin to tell you the amount of time I've spent inside that suit! lol I also have a walkie radio system wired in too so it makes trooping more entertaining as well

 

[joeranger]

OK, this will be much easier than I thought.
A simple frame to house the fan made out of plastic or metal cut to fit the contour of the helmet. Cut a few holes in the back of the helmet. Use 9vt batteries.

 

[obiwan2]

Looks good to me :thumbsup

 

[terryr]

There are computer fans that run off 5 volts.

http://www.coolerguys.com/5vf.html

 

[joeranger]

Thanks for the heads up on the 5v's. I ordered the other ones because they were on clearance for $3 and they have blue LED's. I am making 7 of these suits for buddies and an eerie blue light should have a nice effect in a dark bar. The front of the helmet will have white LED's.