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More Cabin Coolers: Swampy Gets Chilly

Our June report on ice-based cabin coolers drew a challenge from one of the manufacturers, Swampy Cooling Systems. Shortly after our report appeared, Swampy fired off an e-mail asking if we had done our tests correctly. Swampys Jack Stich told us the companys own tests and reports from customers revealed that its IM30 cooler was capable of blowing 60-degree air. (Our tests showed about 70 degrees.)

Our

June report on ice-based cabin coolers drew a challenge from one of the manufacturers, Swampy Cooling Systems. Shortly after our report appeared, Swampy fired off an e-mail asking if we had done our tests correctly. Swampys Jack Stich told us the companys own tests and reports from customers revealed

Swampy Cooling Systems

that its IM30 cooler was capable of blowing 60-degree air. (Our tests showed about 70 degrees.)

Stich asked if we would agree to repeat the tests, this time with two Swampy models not tried in the last round. He conceded that the IM30 sent to us wasnt ideally configured for our test and lacked clear instructions on its pump-out feature. We reported that it didnt have the meltwater pump-out feature found in the Arctic Air coolers, but Stich says the IM30 is so equipped. For the second test, Swampy sent two models, the M300 ($627), which is based on a large Igloo picnic cooler and the smaller M200 ($587), which uses a purpose-made ice container and is quite a bit smaller than the Igloo cooler. The M300 measures 25 inches high by 16 inches wide by 15 inches deep and weighs 19.5 pounds empty. It will hold 40 pounds of ice. The M200 is 17 inches high by 15 inches wide and 9 inches deep. It weighs 14 pounds and has room for about 18 pounds of ice. All of these coolers use a small marine bilge pump to circulate chilled water from the ice compartment through heat exchanger coils. A strong fan circulates air past the coil and the chilled air can be directed in the cabin through four adjustable eyeball vents. One design difference in the M200 and 300 not found in the IM30 is that the chilled water inlet and return line are separated. On the IM30, both inlet and return hoses are bundled together in a fiber sock. If you don’t separate them inside the ice chest, cooling is less efficient because the pump will circulate warmer water.

Second Test

Paul Bertorelli

Paul Bertorelli is Aviation Consumer’s Editor at Large. In addition to his valued contributions to Aviation Consumer, his in-depth video productions on sister publication AVweb cover a wide variety of topics that greatly contribute to safety, operation and aircraft ownership. When Paul isn’t writing or filming, he’s out flying his J3 Cub.