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ISO cool suit system


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You can find low capacity systems on ebay by looking for "cold therapy". I bought a BREG unit recently. Its power supply was rated at 6V, but it ran just fine at 5v and 12V. The hoses fit in my Coolshirt perfectly. The largest cold therapy boxes tend to be around 10qt, which is fine for sprint races, but might be too little for endurance. For longer races, I built my own cold box with a Harbor Freight bilge pump, some tubing, and fittings from McMaster-Carr. Cost for DIY is about the same as an ebay cold therapy box.

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8 minutes ago, ABR-Glen said:

Race Suit Rental will rent you one (and shirts) if it comes to that. 

Id rather have it and get it in the car and working way ahead of time. But that would be an absolute last resort.

 

3 minutes ago, drKorf said:

You can find low capacity systems on ebay by looking for "cold therapy". I bought a BREG unit recently. Its power supply was rated at 6V, but it ran just fine at 5v and 12V. The hoses fit in my Coolshirt perfectly. The largest cold therapy boxes tend to be around 10qt, which is fine for sprint races, but might be too little for endurance. For longer races, I built my own cold box with a Harbor Freight bilge pump, some tubing, and fittings from McMaster-Carr. Cost for DIY is about the same as an ebay cold therapy box.

Ive been looking at building one but time is as short as cash before the glen. Thanks for the lead on cold therapy boxes.

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15 hours ago, curtwill said:

I have an ultra chiller setup just like this....model 416 with a xxl shirt...used once for 1 stint...just doesn't get hot enough for me to use it...$200 shipped

17799387_1036930279771542_6324647374604084032_n.jpg

Never gets hot when you always race in the rain.

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16 hours ago, drKorf said:

For longer races, I built my own cold box with a Harbor Freight bilge pump, some tubing, and fittings from McMaster-Carr. Cost for DIY is about the same as an ebay cold therapy box.

 

The Donjoy Iceman cold therapy box is a lot too small to use for endurance racing.  On a hot day you'll get maybe 1 stint out of it.  Even the UltraChiller cylinder I'm not convinced it will last an 8 hour race.  I too just built one out of a 63L cooler, 12v bilge bump, random Home Depot fittings, and cannibalized the Donjoy for the tubes and shirt fittings.  It's cheap, holds a ridiculous amount of cube ice and will last a full day.  

 

Used these 2 DIYs as inspiration.

http://www.ghidinelli.com/2011/02/28/diy-cool-shirt-system

http://www.eatsleeptinker.com/2015/07/17/diy-homemade-cooling-shirt-system/

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16 hours ago, Agfracing said:

Anyone have an old cool suit setup kicking around? Looking for one before the race at the glen in may.  Finishing the new Car build is sucking all my money and im looking for a decent deal so we dont die in the heat...

Make sure if you buy a shirt that it is SFI rated or that you put Nomex underwear under it.

The shirt that comes standard with most of the systems you buy are for use in hospital environments where fire isn't really a concern.

The SFI rated ones are a lot more expensive. https://www.amazon.com/Cool-Shirt-2CWFR-XL-X-Large-Certified/dp/B006UGWCNG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491403381&sr=8-3&keywords=sfi+cool+shirt

Putting Nomex under it is what a lot of guys do, but that kind of reduces the cooling effect.

We have the large 10 quart system and it lasts for 4.5 hours if we fill it with ice and then fill with water.  Guess who was in it when it started to turn warm 30 minutes into my session.

A friend made a custom bottle tray where he took a piece of plastic, cut 6 holes into it that would fit 1 liter pepsi/mt dew bottles into the plastic. He then froze the bottles of water.  You could just use the frozen bottles, but the piece of plastic kept them from moving around and banging into the sides.

He said it lasts a full 8 hour day with the larger ice blocks. And they are easier to swap out.

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2 minutes ago, miatainium said:

 

The Donjoy Iceman cold therapy box is a lot too small to use for endurance racing.  On a hot day you'll get maybe 1 stint out of it.  Even the UltraChiller cylinder I'm not convinced it will last an 8 hour race.  I too just built one out of a 63L cooler, 12v bilge bump, random Home Depot fittings, and cannibalized the Donjoy for the tubes and shirt fittings.  It's cheap, holds a ridiculous amount of cube ice and will last a full day.  

 

Used these 2 DIYs as inspiration.

http://www.ghidinelli.com/2011/02/28/diy-cool-shirt-system

http://www.eatsleeptinker.com/2015/07/17/diy-homemade-cooling-shirt-system/

My 1 liter Ice bottle suggestion above may solve the issue of it lasting if you can fit a bottle in.  As long as it is quick to open, you can swap a liter bottle pretty quick without mess of draining the water.

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Whatever you go with just plan on adding ice ( blocks are best ) during each pit stop.   Multiple stints without adding anything won't fly.   
 

And FYI you can run without hydrating yourself while wearing the suit, just make sure you are hydrated well enough before getting into the car.   I learned this at COTA last year, day one the suit pump failed on my out lap, and I lost all my drinking water about 10 minutes into my stint when my bite valve failed and stayed open draining all my water.   I only lasted a little over a hour after that before I started seeing butterfly's and had to stop for myself to get 2 bottles of water in me to finish out the rest of the stint.   Day two the suit worked perfectly and I had a full functioning drink bottle and never had to take a sip and was just fine without it, same for Daytona this year. 

 

Ohh, and day one the power steering had quit working too by the time I was getting in the car, which was a PITA without it as the physical exertion level was really high.  Fixed for day two tho.

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