TheSamba.com :: View topic - Anyone tried the evaporative cooling unit by Blaux- almost AC?

Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:38 am

I've been staying home some warm (80+)nights this month when I could have gone to a nearby campsite for a change of pace. Well into the 80s when I'm ready to bd down is no fun, even if it's going to drop into the mid-780s by dawn. I've recently been getting promo links online to a small battery-powered evaporative cooler. It's advertised as AC, but not quite- just passes air over/through a my van has 'only' on battery) is the question here. (I'v now encountered it on late-night-- 1to5 am-- TV, too. It's small (about 8x11x5), very portable, and will run 6 hours+ on a recharge. iF the ad's claims are not over-inflated it should make our little 'bedroom' space comfy while the great outdoors is cooling toward its 24-hour low point. The ads mention a 200mAh power requirement, but don't say that it can recharge off a 12v bettery, although they claim it can run off your computer, which sounds like it's the same-- 12v.
SO, has ANYONE encountered one to give an assesmant? [And since it runs off the van's generator system while the motor is on, it sounds like it could augment (or maybe substitute for) factory VW AC (which I just had rebuilt for about $1500).] Is this the summer equivalent of the Chinese faux-propix heaters- the last step to making our rigs a year-round vacation-mobile?

Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:41 am

Oops- forgot the Blaux AC link- it 's long, but I've used it and it's a real link:
https://dailylivingtech.com/blaux-portable/v5/a/bl...eid=641749

Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:55 am

The numbers you've quoted are preposterous, so unless you've grossly misquoted, all you need to know is you can't get blood from a turnip (that's what the 2nd Law says, it's the Law of Laws if you weren't already aware).

And, evaporative cooling will be from minimally effective-to-totally useless in your part of the country. It works great here with RH usually well under 40% except during the monsoon (when we don't need cooling because it so nice and cool and cloudy, oh and did I say raining? yes! it rains every day!!). On a summer night in the East? Don't bother putting water in it, it won't go anywhere, a swamp cooler will just blow air around and grow mildew.

Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:57 am

Certainly can be handy in a hot dry environment, but little to no use in heat with humidity...

<shrug>

- Dave

EDIT: 10¢ beat me to it...d@mn, he's quick! :wink:

Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:02 am

Here is some info from a company that sells evaporative coolers so they may be biased But it seems like a rational explanation on the effects of humidity on evaporative cooling.

https://portacool.com/2020/03/24/how-humidity-effects-evaporative-cooling/

Give yours a try and let us know how it does!

Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:10 am

Caveat emptor...

https://www.onlinethreatalerts.com/article/2020/6/25/blaux-portable-ac-scam-or-is-it-legit/

Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:13 am

^^^ FYI: The smallest Portacool unit is rated for spaces 4 to 5x larger than any Vanagon.
Do NOT expect similar results from the cute little Blaux gizmo... :?

- Dave

Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:54 am

Thanks to Dave O'B for the link to the industrial-sized version. That suggests that the physics of the system is valid. The fact that one customer got charged for two Blaux (pronounced in the French language as "blow") but received no product may not reflect well on the office of the sales company, but I'd still like to know if anyone has had experience with the unit in any setting- office, home, etc. And if the Blauz is sized fro something bigger than our vans, - fine, it has 3 settings, so turning it down would mean a longer life cycle till its battery is drained. And to be clear: no, I haven't ordered one yet.

Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:03 pm

pinetreeporsche wrote: Thanks to Dave O'B for the link to the industrial-sized version. That suggests that the physics of the system is valid. The fact that one customer got charged for two Blaux (pronounced in the French language as "blow") but received no product may not reflect well on the office of the sales company, but I'd still like to know if anyone has had experience with the unit in any setting- office, home, etc. And if the Blauz is sized fro something bigger than our vans, - fine, it has 3 settings, so turning it down would mean a longer life cycle till its battery is drained. And to be clear: no, I haven't ordered one yet.

Also note that you need to provide *fresh* air to an evap just like you do with A/C and a vent to outside the van. These work by evaporating water, and if you just recirculate the same air it will just continue adding humidity until there's no more cooling effect. Having lived for many decades with nothing but evap, I can tell you this from experience!

Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:58 pm

Yeah, a little swap cooler 8). Might be a conversation starter at your next Burning Man, Coachella, desert rave, etc.

Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:08 pm

you'd be far better off investing your money in driver/passenger window screens, a top vent fan, and a sun awning. add to that EXTERIOR magnetic windshield sun blockers.

Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:12 pm

We need a sticky to dump this thread rehash each summer

Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:24 pm

Abscate wrote: We need a sticky to dump this thread rehash each summer

the physics are bound to change sooner or later....

Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:24 pm

As stated above

The lower the humidity the more effective evaporative cooling can be.
The higher the humidity the less effective it will be

Some claim it is effective even in high humidity. The marketers of any such product, need this to be 'true'

One can test this for theselves.

Aim a fan at a damp towel, does it feel cooler than surrounding air?

Place this towel on your body with fan aimed at it, does it feel like it is sucking heat from your body, or just an uncomfortable damp towel.

Do this in low humidity and you will quickly be shivering.

Exchanging inside air for outside air is second best to actual compressor based air conditioning, in high humidity, but if outside air is still uncomfortable hot and humid, little potential improvement exists.