DIY Cool Shirt System
 

I was cooking at the last track day at Miami in my multilayer firesuit. Even though it was incredibly uncomfortable, I couldn't see spending $400-600 on a store-bought system. After some research on some DIY suit systems I decided to make my own. I used this article as a model.

I took a tight fitting t-shirt and cut another shirt up to have panels to sew into it. I used the basic vertical lines stitching pattern shown below on the front and back panels. Then I wove the 1/4 OD vinyl tubing through the shirt panels.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

I solved the slow flow problem the other guy was having by using a couple of tees to cut the distance the water had to flow and lowering the resistance.

My shirt:
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

I also used a larger diameter tubing from the pump up to the driver's seat and back to reduce resistance to flow. Then I used a short section of the smaller "ice-maker" 1/4 OD polyethylene tubing where it was to be connected to the shirt. I used push lock fittings from Lowe's to connect the big tubes to the little ones.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

I like the dry break quick couplers from McMaster Carr. Be sure to use one male and one female on the car side and on the shirt side so you can circulate the water without the shirt connected to get the air out of the system.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

I bought a $12 Igloo cooler from Dollar General, a $23 800GPM boat bilge pump, some 3/4in ID vinyl tubing, a toggle switch, and some marine sealant to keep the cooler from leaking. I stole power from the fused power location for the rear window defroster (the fuse for it and the power antenna circuit are mounted right next to the power antenna).

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

The other guy was complaining about his cooler leaking out of the top during hard cornering and braking, so I purposefully chose one that seals when the lid screws on.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

I oriented the "drinking outlet" of the cooler where it would drain out of one of the drain plugs in the trunk floor when it needed to be emptied.

AWESOME! and does it work?

It flows water. I'll be taking it to Sebring this coming weekend. I damn sure hope it works. I almost got heat stroke last Saturday cutting the grass in the middle of the afternoon. Seriously, it took a few days before I was feeling right again.

Thats cool as hell man.... if that thing is full of Cold ass water, how long do you think it will last after transferring your body heat? any trial runs yet???

I'll get a few of bags of ice in the morning and keep them in a separate cooler. I'll add ice as needed throughout the day. It won't be cold water. It will start off being some water and mostly ice. I've got the toggle switch in the center console until I work out a permanent location for it, so I'll be able to turn the water off and on as necessary to moderate it if it is too cold. Imagine that, too cold. That is such a welcome thought. Wait! The Chateau Elan has ice machines in the hallways of the hotel, right? lol.

I used to work for a company that manufactured these for helo crews in the Gulf. Your comment about being too cold is valid, we were easily able to drop core temperatures by 4 degrees, i.e. hypothermia.

I did the same thing 3 weeks ago, but with my seat. I ran plastic tubes up and down the aluminium seat under the foam. Works good on the hot days.

Very nice work. One of the MSM guys did a similar project last summer but he decided to use an off the shelf cool shirt and just fabricate up the tank/pump and lines. In Seattle I can't pretend to need one of these like you guys that live where it is actually hot but an 80* ambient can still leave you dripping in sweat after a session and there is no harm in being a little more comfortable, right? :2cents:

Cool Shirt DIY

very cool, I love the idea of building it into the seat. for de or time trial it would be awesome. Ive not felt the need for something like this but alot of friends run them and swear by them.

the other thing I would say is that I would make something out of aluminum to mount around the sides, like a massive exhaust pipe clamp.


what the heck happened to the bottom of your trunk? looks like a swamp

Not as neat as DIY, but as I started to look into this last night, I checked ebay and found a 2 Cool next gen cool shirt display for $60 OBO. I offered $40 (shipped) and won the damn thing. If I paid myself $3/hr, I couldn't make one for that. :party: Now I guess I need to build the DIY cooler box and pump. :rofl:

How about a pump for a fish tank?

U sure those wont leak because of the threads?

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1370823572

I have a couple of short sheet metal screws through the brackets into the exterior of the cooler as well.


Oak leaves, factory tar paper, some water from draining the cooler (and a passing thunderstorm), and probably some dirt mingle together in the trunk. When I run out of other things to do I might vacuum it out. Nah, probably not.

That is really cheap for the shirt.

Now, I'm no seven year old Malaysian boy but I did make pretty quick work of sewing up the shirt and routing the hose. It wasn't exactly difficult.
The fish tank pump will not generate the volume or pressure needed because of the length of hose. The longer and smaller the hose, the more effort it requires. One of the threads I read was a guy with a 400GPM pump who said he turned it on before he went to grid and didn't feel anything until turn 1 of the out lap. I used more large diameter hose than he, as well as parallel instead of series water paths within the shirt, and an 800GPM pump. I predict adequate flow either through the shirt or onto the floor.

Ah, yes! the threaded fittings stuffed into the pipe with sealant. Not the best solution at all. That will likely be reworked but it was late on Sunday and I had few remaining options. I'll be hunting better fitting options for the transition.

I like it :) - wouldn't an old fuel pump work, or is it not enough flow? What's amp draw on that bilge pump?

I toyed with making one with an external pump using a proportioning/mixing valve controlled by a PID temp controller to recycle some of the incoming coolant so as not to freeze your ass off - of course that was using dry ice and a glycol coolant.

The concept of being too cold on track in the summer while sitting next to the tunnel radiating heat like it does is very exciting. I plan to use the shirt on the drive home too since my truck doesn't have AC. That stint is sometimes worse than 30 minutes on track. :vash:

i'll need this shit just for summer! i start sweating at like 65 degrees

5 amps, 800GPM, $23, and it is made to be in water.

Wow! You made some serious progress on that project. Can't wait to see how well it works.

A+ Thread

Nice work!

One question: will the connectors on the shirt pull free with straight pull?

If not, I wouldn't feel comfortable having to un-do those connections in an emergency.

This was a consideration for me so I used some precautions. I left plenty of slack between the big hoses and the shirt so that I could climb out of the window of the car with a couple of feet to spare if the car was upside down. Additionally, where the big hoses meet the little polyethylene hoses those are push lock fittings with plastic retaining clips. I think a good forceful tug would separate them without much issue. They are far from burly.

Not as cheap but I bought something similar for $100 used for my knee surgery 2 years ago. When you open up the knee wrap thing it'll cover your whole front torso or back. I think adding some kind of pump speed control would make it better:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1371567952

Will a 986 shirt work with FAST fittings?

OH

MAH

GAWD!


This is the best single modification I have ever made to the car for trackdays. That includes the turbo.



That is all.

This makes me want to make my own shirt system. How was the controllability of it? for lack of a better word.

I might just make this for normal driving.... 112 degrees today.

I had it on and didn't ever want to turn it off. I would never think of turning it down. It has been 82 degrees at night and 96-97 degrees in the shade during the day with dew points in the mid 70s, so the humidity is ridiculous.

In the covered garage area in the middle of the day I actually put my folding lawn chair next to the driver's door and hooked up the system because I missed it when it wasn't connected.

A side benefit is the moisture condensing on the tubes in the shirt makes the shirt damp and that makes it even cooler, even when you unhook it and get out of the car.

And that feeling when you first turn it on .... my friend described it as "like peeing yourself, but in reverse"

I also found one of those home therapy units - got mine at a goodwill for $7 dollars. I picked it up just for the fittings actually, but I keep it now for the paddock, since it's got an ac adapter. I haven't tried to use it in the car - I think the pump might be a little weak for that. I don't think it will flow enough to keep you cool.

It's like pouring a cool bottle of water down the back of your neck and down your shirt but it doesn't ever warm up like pouring actual water does. It just stays cool all over your back. And front.

My $40 shipped 2cool shirt arrived in mint condition. It is a vest so I won't have any extra material on my arms retaining heat. My various parts are on order but I will have a DIY system with a real shirt for ~$100. I going to the track on the 28th and now hope for hot weather instead of the cool weather I usually want. :party:

I can't describe the total and complete awesomeness of this system. It feels like running a cold garden hose down your shirt without the mess and wetness. It was in the mid/upper 80s Friday which translated to a lot more on the track and with apologies to the Texas, SoCal and Florida crew, that is HOT for this pudgy white guy from Seattle.

One session got red flagged after one car had an unfortunate disagreement with his wheel studs at triple digits and I sat idling in the sun for 10 - 15 minutes in glorious coolness while the other guys were probably ready to pass out.

I don't care where you live - if you get out of your car after 20 or 30 minutes dripping in sweat and miserably hot (everyone at times?), you need to consider this. My only advice is to build two coolers/pumps. When you finish the session and get out of the car, you will want one to hook up to in the shade. I kept going over to the car between groups to hook back up to the pump.

My truck doesn't have AC so I took the cooler out of the car for the drive home also. It was just as awesome feeling on the ~2hour commute from the track. I've already ordered enough fittings to make a second cooler. Please make this awesomeness part of your track routine! :party:

It really is difficult to express how amazing it feels to someone who never tried it, isn't it?

Cool shirts are the new xidas?

We made DIY coolshirts for Lemons. The only skill required is basic sewing machine operation. The coolshirt makes all the difference in any kind of heat, especially since our Miata's radiator & enclosure is where the passenger seat used to be.

To speed up our pit stops, we put a diverter valve in the return hose to the reservoir. During driver changes, you turn the valve and the bilge pump dumps the water out while someone pours in fresh ice. Multi-tasking!

My track buddy was with me and he saw the look of pleasure every time I hooked up. He heard me rave about it all day and show everyone who would come near the car how easy it was to put together. Guess who called the next day asking about a parts list? :giggle:

He has a track day this weekend at ORP with forecast ambient in the 90s. He's already ordered all the bits to put together what I had and will be all set for Saturday. He even took my advice and bought enough connectors to make a second tank for the lawnchair in the shade. :dealwithit:

I would have liked to have carried a portable one around like an astronaut all day!

Radio Flyer wagon with cooler and car battery for pump!

Amazing on a 100+ day at VIR two years ago in the Chumpcar simply amazing. We just left water in the cooler and swapped out three one gallon bags of ice into the cooler at ever stop (1.5 hrs). Worked great until my $120 cool shirt sprung a leak and I had a shower on my left side for an hour. Still was a cool shower.

I'm Mr Hydes track buddy and I am building a setup for this weekend where it is supposed to be in the mid 90's at ORP. I got the cooler and found these fittings. They are the same as the Motion ones, made for them and sold as their store brand. They are identical to the motions as far as I can tell and cheaper. Both halves have a shut off valve when pulled apart. and you can call and talk to them and get them overnite if you want.
Tusk Fuel Line Quick Connect | ATV | Rocky Mountain ATV/MC

We confirmed today that the tusk fittings fit the cool shirt. These are about half the cost of the other couplers discussed previously. I'm sure John will chime back in Sunday confirming what some of us know already: Best track day mod EVER!

I have one of these made by William. Still working after many hours and much abuse. I use a cotton coolshirt. The box was later modified by John by making a water tight seal for the power harness through the wall of the cooler so the lid seals better. TrackHQ /DIY Cool Suit ice box

Also look into used Polar Cool Flow systems. Folks use these for a while, paid for by medical insurance, then dump them on ebay/CL. I have heard of at least one person that scored a complete system dirt cheap.
Cool Flow® Circulating Water System - Polar Products, Inc.

What about an HVAC fan switch on the motor to regulate it?

To regulate the time that the pump is on/off use a live well timer from the local Bass Pro shops or somewhere similar. You can set it to run in different cycle modes. Continuous, 1min on/1min off, 1min on/3min off, 1min on/7min off.


http://assets.academy.com/mgen/30/10...jpg?is=500,500

Like you said, it will freeze you to run it continuously. Also look at the smaller engel marine ice chests that have a sealing lid. they are great for this.

I have made numerous versions for Lemons, Chump, DE days, etc... The best place to mount it seems to be in the passenger floor board. Putting it in the trunk is too much weight back there.

I just bought this Breg "Polar Care Cube" unit and a 12v to 6v step down power supply. I am going to get a cool shirt and figure ut how to hook it to the cube.

Will keep y'all updated.

-Raj

Hey Raj, are you ever going to put that thing on Road Atlanta? I'm doing the NASA event in September up there. It will be a good chance to use the coolshirt, haha.

I am going to a track day at Roebling road on Monday. Yeah!!

Here are pics of the one we built for Lemons. It is an Engel chest with a sealed and latching lid, a cheap Rule bilge pump, some small cpvc fittings, some vinyl tubing and quick disconnects. It works like a champ!!! We have raced in Texas in July for 7 hours straight when it was 105 outside and 130 in the car!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373925714

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373925714

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373925714
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1373925714

We got the insulation for the tubing out of one of those medical cooler kits like EB Ice or Polar coolers.

You can also just take some armorflex copper pipe insulation and put the vinyl tubes in it. just wrap one in real tight and put the other one in the flap that's left and seal it up.

RARE Military Liquid Cooling Shirt Personal Water Cooled Garment System Large | eBay

I ran across these on ebay and decided to give them a shot. Just got them in today and they're super nice shirts. The connectors look exactly like the Tusk ones on page 2 of this thread (which I already bought with plans to make my own shirt), but the ones on this shirt are a size smaller. I'm not yet sure where to buy the male ends.

Military stuff I've bought in the past has been oversized and required buying a size smaller than I usually wear (typically between L and XL), so I ordered 2 mediums and one large just in case. The mediums fit like a compression shirt like I was hoping, but they also fit me like a Corky Romano belly shirt, which I wasn't hoping for. If anyone wants them, PM me. I have 14 days to return them, so I'll just send them back if a racer doesn't want them.

I think I'll make my own but thanks for bumping this. I've never seen this before but you can be sure I'll be installing one in my track car this summer!

Wow thats cool, never seen those before and for such a cheap price. How tall are you?

I'm 6'1" with (according to Kirkey, plus the fact that I can't wear a H&NR in most race seats) a long torso. I'm a little worried that the tubing in the arms won't last long while driving, but we'll see. It's definitely worth $50.

we built a pad that has the piping running through it that attaches to our seat. it is easier with multiple drivers in a chump car race to have this system. use a little switch to turn it on when you get hot. easy as pie.

I ordered one of the above mentioned shirts as well. Looks like it will work good. As for the smaller connectors check out McMaster McMaster-Carr I measured the ID of the connectors and it is 5/16. The male end you need is McMaster-Carr , I think.

-Raj

Nice. I hadn't started looking yet. Did you order one of those? If so, I'll wait and see how it works for you.

Yeah, I ordered it yesterday. I will report after testing the connections.

-Raj

Yep, the plug I linked above works. Make sure you get the one with the shut-off valve (McMaster-Carr).

-Raj

Thanks!