|
|
Post by richard on Jul 19, 2008 21:11:08 GMT -5
First I had to satisfy myself that the aluminum rod in ice water was the way to go, hence the Igloo cooler. Well, now I built a cooler specifically for cooling the rod!  I started out with the purchase of a 24" piece of 4" diameter PVC pipe at Lowe's for $4 + change and a $0.68 plastic cover. I could have bought a $5 pvc cap to plug the base, but was too cheap! ;D I scribed the inside circumfrence on a piece of 3/4" pine board and cut it with a jigsaw. Belt sanded it for a interference fit into one end of the tube. Next, cut a square of plywood (maybe 10x10", the size does not matter), drilled a hole in the center, applied some epoxy to one side of the circle and screwed the plywood base to the 3/4" pine "plug" Next I sanded the inside edge of the tube (for adhesion) applied epoxy to the sides of the circle and also on the top surface (to water proof it) and inserted it in the tube. Drilled a couple of small holes in the side of the tube and put a couple of wire brads in for a little extra holding power. Then I took a sheet of 1/2" foam insulation I happen to have laying around, put contact cement on the tube and warpped it around two times. Actually if you could get a nice piece of 4" pipe insullation would be ideal. Then I took the plastic cap and drilled a 1/2" hole and contact cemented another piece of insullation into the top. Basically I built a cylindrical cooler. Just fill with ice and water and you are good to go shooting in hot weather! Richard   |
|
|
|
Post by E.T. on Jul 19, 2008 21:43:09 GMT -5
What can I say but that's a 1st class rod cooler.
Looks neat compared to sticking out of a regular cooler that now can hold other refreshments.
Ed
|
|
|
|
Post by CraigF on Jul 19, 2008 21:47:39 GMT -5
But where do you put the sodas?  |
|
|
|
Post by Kevin B. on Jul 19, 2008 22:16:44 GMT -5
Incredible!! Great idear Richard! |
|
mikec
Six pointer
Posts: 75
|
Post by mikec on Jul 20, 2008 6:25:38 GMT -5
Good Looking,
I wonder if one step further would be worthwhile....
If you put a copper tube inside the PVC tube and sealed it so water could not get in the copper tube, would it cool the rod via convection AND keep the rod dry? Or is a wet rod not an issue?
Mike
|
|
|
|
Post by wilmsmeyer on Jul 20, 2008 6:59:09 GMT -5
Wow. The things we go through......
Cool....pun intended ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by wicket on Jul 20, 2008 7:00:40 GMT -5
one other thing that might be worth while doing is adding a bunch of salt to your ice water combo.....it will drop the temp down and i figure if an aluminum rod that is 34-35 degrees...(2-4 degrees canadian  is good then a rod that is 27-29 degrees must be better. just throwin that out there .... |
|
|
|
Post by DW on Jul 20, 2008 7:39:33 GMT -5
Rich, I like it, I may have to try one of these coolers out since you have come up with a compact version. Nice job.
|
|
|
|
Post by Buckrub on Jul 20, 2008 9:52:39 GMT -5
Well, Richard, that just may be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. For gosh sakes, Man, there's no tap on the bottom anywhere!!!!!!!! You're gonna break your back lifting that thing with both hands every time you want a drink!  (You amaze me. I thought I sat around a lot just thinking up stuff. You are the Zen Master, dude!!!) Seriously, I need to go the range soon and was thinking this morning of all I'd need to carry. It's miserable hot summer. I have 4 rifles I need to sight in and shoot. I have 2 double cases but that alone is two hands full. Then a range bag with 4 kinds of ammo, one kind being all the M/L paraphanelia. Then the cooling rod and an ice chest. Then a regular ice chest full of Gatorade. Targets. I need a wheelbarrow now. If I built this thing, I'd need a forklift to get from truck to shooting bench. Plus, it's a public range and there's only so much room. I'd probably have to pay for two bench sites, sort of like fat men having to pay for 2 airline tickets. I thought I needed a Gun Safe. What I really need is a "Muzzleloader Room" in this house. |
|
|
|
Post by herman on Jul 20, 2008 10:14:40 GMT -5
When I find a piece of 1/2 in solid alum rod Richard is going to turn it down for me and I will probably make the ice holder like richards.
This is how I made a cheap verison last week:I took a 2 liter pepsi bottle and a piece of white pvc pipe,cut it off so that the neck in the bottle held the rod straight,covered one end with 200 mi hour tape,then filled the bottle with some salt water put the cap on and froze it.
It worked good enough last tuesday evening,the rod was still wet when I took it out but just wiped it off and stuck it in the barrel.I let it stand for 2 minutes and stuck my air pump in the barrel for 5 minutes.I don't patch between shots so some times I would just remove the rod and load up didn't have any misfires.
I think I could have shot faster but I wasn't in a hurry and had all evening to shoot what loads I was going to shoot.Some times I would get to talking to other fellows at the range and it was probably at least 30 minutes between shots.
The rod I used was a 3/8 in rod when I took it out of the ice bottle it was very cold to the touch and when I took it out of the rifle barrel it was very warm to the touch.
I used to just throw a cold wet rag over the barrel but I like this a lot better.
|
|
|
|
Post by richard on Jul 20, 2008 15:39:51 GMT -5
mikec: I was thinking about that since Herman did something similar with pvc in a 2 liter Pepsi bottle. In my way of thinking, it would take longer than I want to wait to cool the rod! Did you ever run out of beer at a party but had a big cooler filled with lots of ice and water? Drop in a case of warm beer and in no time flat, the beer is cold. Take that same case of beer and put in the refigerator and see how long it takes to get cold ;D As far as the salt in the water.......hmmmmmm. How cold is ice water? Can't be colder than 32*F or it would freeze right? So, tell me how salt is going to make that water colder than it is? Now don't get me wrong, if you were to put the water with salt in a freezer, I can see where it would get down below 32*. (kind of like anti-freeze) I don't however buy into the idea that salt will "drop" the temperature on its own. Maybe someone with a science backround could comment! And why induce a rod with salt residue into your rifle? Believe me, that cold rod will suck the heat right out of it. You have to remember, you are only firing one shot and cooling. Not some submaching gun where the barrel is so hot you could fry an egg! I would bet one shot only brings a barrel that is 85 degrees (summer temps) up to no more than 100*  ? The cold rod is working for me and evidentially Edge had used it when he was shooting generic sabots. Richard |
|
|
|
Post by smokeeter on Jul 20, 2008 15:48:54 GMT -5
I think that adding the salt will get the ice colder than without it, if I remember correctly the homemade icecream makers say to add salt to the ice it helps the icecream get colder. It might help with your application.  |
|
|
|
Post by richard on Jul 20, 2008 16:09:44 GMT -5
OK, so what you are saying is to add the salt to the water and then freeze it! In other words, make salt ice cubes. That I can buy, but not using regular ice and then tossing in some salt.
Thanks
Richard
(I doubt however, that I would go to the trouble of making salt icecubes ;D. My gun club always has large bags of ice in the freezer so it easy for me to just put some ice and some water in when I get there)
|
|
|
|
Post by CraigF on Jul 20, 2008 16:16:24 GMT -5
What happens with salt is this. In normal water plus ice the liquid just above the freezing point and the solid (ice) is below 32 degrees. The rod, which is mostly in contact with the liquid water, is brought down to 32 degrees, but not colder. With salt added the freezing point of water is lowered to something in the 20s. The liquid is now at that temp and the solid is below that. Any water that is at lets say 26 degrees will now be a liquid insead of a solid before. You end up with more liquid than solid and since it is water in its liquid state that does the majority of the heat transfer thats why salt is added to ice cream makers.
HOWEVER, I completely agree with Richard that any salt solution, or residue of, has no place even close to a barrel! A rod 32 degrees should be more than enough.
|
|
|
|
Post by rrbou on Jul 20, 2008 16:19:55 GMT -5
Richard adding salt to the water will lower the temperature of the mix to below freezing. The salt is what keeps it from freezing. The higher the concentration of salt in the solution the lower the temp before it will freeze. It will also make the Ice last longer in the solution by lowering the temp.
|
|
|
|
Post by richard on Jul 20, 2008 16:42:09 GMT -5
Dang, I hate being a doubting Thomas  See, thats why we need scientists AND mechanics ;D OK, you sold me.....but, I will not be using salt in my rifle. Straight ice water is cold enough to take that miniscule amount of heat out of the barrel. When you can actually feel the outside of the barrel cold to the touch after a minute with the rod inside? Thats cold enough for me. Hmmmmmm, that reminds me, today is National Ice Cream day. Really, I heard it on TV this morning. But I'm not churning mine ;D Vanilla #1, Choclate #2 and Butter Pecan #3 with Strawberry filling the fourth spot according to the news caster. Richard |
|
|
|
Post by herman on Jul 20, 2008 19:13:57 GMT -5
I wouldn't put salt in where it could touch the barrel either.The reason I sprinkle in a little salt (my rod does not touch the water anyhow)I had read years ago that if you sprinkle in a little salt the ice would last longer,and I keep the drink bottles and freeze them for deer camp each year.I haven't timed one to see but I have been doing it for years,When the ice melts we use the water for washing things in camp.or washing out a deer if we field dress it there.
Friday morning I put 4 of the 2 liter bottles in the ice chest with 12 drinks and when I got home yesterday evening I still had a little ice in a couple of the bottles and 2 very cold drinks.Does it really help by putting in a little salt ? I really don't know but will probably keep doing it.
|
|
|
|
Post by rossman40 on Jul 20, 2008 22:09:26 GMT -5
If you have a block of dry ice or just crush some and put in the bottom of your cooler that should cool the rod down to -100 F. At least the chamber end and that is the part you want to cool the most.
I should have an answer on getting access to a thermal camera here in the next week. It's a $35,000 set-up and hopefully will answer some questions on thermal propagation.
|
|
|
|
Post by jurassic on Jul 21, 2008 0:52:49 GMT -5
I didn't have the smarts to design such a nifty cooler, so I just cut the rod into 3 equal lengths of 7.5 inches, then cleaned up the ends with a slight radius. Now any 6 pack cooler will work, with room left over for a few sodas. I hope to test it out Thursday.
Jurassic
|
|
|
|
Post by youp50 on Jul 21, 2008 3:07:29 GMT -5
FYI sometime ago some scientist fellow decided to measure temperature. He understood the concept of a mercury filled tube and the mercury contracted and expanded as temperature changed. He needed a standard scale so all scientist and mechanics could speak the same language. He decided that 0 on his scale would be as cold as he could get a ice water solution by adding salt. His last name was Fahrenheit. He ran a fever, for 100 degrees on his scale was his body temperature. Some mechanic probably figured it out and convinced him to boil water at sea level and on his scale that was 212 degrees.
Yesterday afternoon it was 66 degrees on the range. I admire your ingenuity, but happen to live where heat is usually not that big of a deal.
|
|
|
|
Post by richard on Jul 21, 2008 16:19:23 GMT -5
Youp50: At 66* I agree its not a big deal, provided you wait five minutes or so between shots. However if you want to make the most of your time, than it is a big deal. The cold rod lets you just move right along without skipping a beat! Richard |
|
|
|
Post by DannoBoone on Jul 21, 2008 20:28:52 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing that idea, Richard........that's one GREAT idea! Now, anyone know where a person can get a 3/8" aluminum rod for us future .45'ers? |
|
|
|
Post by DW on Jul 21, 2008 20:47:38 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by edge on Jul 21, 2008 21:51:02 GMT -5
DannoBoone, 3/8 may be a bit too sloppy. 7/16 would probably be a better choice.
edge.
|
|
|
|
Post by sincyrman on Jul 23, 2008 20:06:18 GMT -5
Jurassic,
I like your idea of segmented rods. You could fill a small cooler with several rods (lets say nine) and cycle them through three shots which would allow time for the first ones used to cool off before they were needed again.
Bill
|
|
|
|
Post by youp50 on Jul 23, 2008 21:02:16 GMT -5
You are right, Richard, about the beat skipping. Mid 40's tonight, I'll go early before it warms up. There is usually several folks wanting to know about the ML and I usually have a couple of center fires with me. You do have me thinking about copper tubing. I won't be able to segment it, but I will fill it with water and freeze it. It should be able to absorb more heat than aluminum... Got a salmon fishing trip getting in the way right now. It sucks to be me:) |
|
|
|
Post by onecardchuck on Sept 25, 2008 9:14:01 GMT -5
I made a barrel cooler but the first time I went to the range with it I had filled it as far as I could with ice and then filled in with water and more ice. I wanted to keep as much ice in there as I could so it would last the entire range session. I only had one problem the ice and water became more of a block and I had to break it up and each time I put the rod in I would really have to shove it in and was afraid I might damage the end of my cooling rod. Hence the birth of my upgrade, and the best part is it was just a few bucks for the parts. I took a piece of PVC with a 3/4 inch inner diameter and drilled holes in it all the way up and down and all around. At the end I screwed together two pipe holders and cut to fit in the bottom of the barrel cooler.  Drop new insert in the barrel cooler with the cut pipe holders at the base. The pipe holders keep base of the insert centered in the barrel cooler.  Add ice, then water, then more ice to fill to the max with ice while holding the top of the insert in the center of the barrel cooler.  One thing to note if you choose the cheaper cooling rod (1/2 solid aluminum) like I did. You can find these at any Home Depot or Lowes they are very slack on the tolerances. I had to measure eight of them before finding one that would fit in my barrel. |
|
|
|
Post by 12ptdroptine on Dec 26, 2008 10:22:50 GMT -5
Just wondering though... Is there any problem with condensation with these thing's? And if so do ya just run a dry patch down the barrel to make sure its dry? Thanks Drop
|
|
|
|
Post by Buckrub on Dec 26, 2008 13:40:39 GMT -5
Droptine, Richard has the skills to make something neat out of a handful of old oak leaves, a paper clip, and a picture of a rainbow. Trust me. This is one cool (pardon the pun) rod cooler. I gotta tell you. He put me onto the idea of cooling the barrel after shots in summer, and man does it work. But you don't need all his fancy-schmancy show-off blue cool cooler thingies!! (Do ya sense some jealousy here? you should.....) Honestly, I take a small igloo 12-pack cooler and stick some ice in it from the refrigerator (well I did before the dang icemaker broke yesterday, another story......), and stick one end of the rod down in it. It won't even close. I leave it there, it gets cold, I stick it down the barrel, wait 1 minute TOPS, and pull it out and stick it back in the ice. I run one dry patch down the barrel. I load up and fire. I did this 28 consecutive times last summer.....I forget the date but it was a Sunday and Hurricane Gustav was headed for me from the South and it was very hot and very humid.....and all 28 fired right off, no problems. Condensation might occur, but water won't hurt Betsy that much, and there was NO problem with touching off her torch 28 times in a row. And don't ask me why I had to fire 28 times, that's another post. But I did, and all I used was a $4.00 rod from Lowe's and a small ice cooler, and a few dry patches. Which reminds me, I really need to go clean this gun from when I shot it last October...............maybe next week! |
|
|
|
Post by richard on Dec 26, 2008 17:20:22 GMT -5
Drop........I use the cool rod all summer and winter (I shoot from inside a room we heat with small electric heaters- Not hot but pleasant) I have fired probably in excess of 600 or more rounds using the cool rod with NO, I mean NO problem with moisture. I wipe the rod "basically dry" with an old t-shirt prior to inserting it in the barrel. Leave in for 15 to 30 sec. EVERY shot. Run a patch just slightly damp (four drops of Rem. Clean) in and out then a dry patch in and out, load and shoot. By doing the cool rod and the cleaning regiment, I believe it keeps the barrel a constant temperature and degree of cleanliness from shot to shot.
Richard
|
|
is good then a rod that is 27-29 degrees must be better. just throwin that out there ....
?
See, thats why we need scientists AND mechanics ;D OK, you sold me.....but, I will not be using salt in my rifle. Straight ice water is cold enough to take that miniscule amount of heat out of the barrel. When you can actually feel the outside of the barrel cold to the touch after a minute with the rod inside? Thats cold enough for me. Hmmmmmm, that reminds me, today is National Ice Cream day. Really, I heard it on TV this morning. But I'm not churning mine ;D Vanilla #1, Choclate #2 and Butter Pecan #3 with Strawberry filling the fourth spot according to the news caster.
