Just curious what others have done to help cool their enclosed cockpits. My computer will obviously sit outside my cockpit, so not worried about heat from it, however my main and side monitors that act as my “windows” will put off some heat, and with zero air flow going on inside the cockpit I can only assume it may get toasty.
My initial thought was use some sort of fan that blows into a “duct” that will then run via some sort of hose into the cockpit and provide some airflow, but just curious if anyone else has thought of better options. I also plane to install a couple of small exhaust fans (similar to what’s used in electronics/server cabinets) in the ceiling of the cockpit to help pull the warmer air out. Thanks in advance!
Forgot to include this in the original post…but I have seen some articles where swamp coolers (basically just fans you fill with water to cool the air they blow) have been used so that the air you’re blowing into the cockpit is at least a little bit cooler than the ambient room air. I’d like to avoid having to fill a water bucket each time I fly, but that does sound like one option…
I don’t have any first hand experience with this, but:
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I would assume it’s best to have air coming in somewhere near the bottom, and have it exit (perhaps with a fan also) at the top of the cockpit?
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I saw a photo of a guy who build his cockpit on a raised platform/bed. It had to bathroom-ventilators, one in each corner and then ran some pipes under the platform so I would assume his airflow came in through the floor.
I wouldn’t wanna bother with a bucket of water to be honest. At least I would test how quickly it heats up because once it’s there (or maybe even close to room temp) perhaps the effect would not as cold as expected?
Please share your experiences / result, or photos please 
When you’re further in the building process.
A bucket of water is going to cause some serious humidity pretty quickly. Not good for the electronics. A bucket of ice would cause a similar issue.
Do you have someplace to move the heat to? If so, then all you need is a heat exchanger. It’s a simple, cheap option. 2 radiators, a pump, some hose, and a reservoir.
I have a homemade heat exchanger in my 3D printer enclosure that I built from a couple cast off Corsair CPU AIO coolers. Spent $20 total. My PC is water cooled using a heat exchanger under the house in an encapsulated crawl space that maintains a fairly constant 70F temperature. My PC used to be geothermal cooled. I’ve also built some sub-zero CPU coolers but that’s a little extreme for your needs.
Be happy to give you some guidance if you choose to explore this option.
Here’s a good deal on some exchangers. Water Cooling Radiators (WHITE) 2x 480mm + 1 360mm G1/4 PC WATER COOLING | eBay
I have a small fan sitting on the floor near the entrance attached to a wemo outlet. Then via Spad.NeXt, I have a button on my panel I can press to turn it on and off as I need. I don’t even have a roof or top on my home cockpit and it still gets toasty but this keeps it comfortable.
I bought one of these. Then I took it apart and wired in a Teensy Microcontroller to output a PWM signal that drives the fan speed. This lets me use a 10K Potentiometer mounted in my cockpit panel on the copilot side. This thing pushes a TON of air and is VERY quiet.
The fan output goes through ventilation tubes just like a real aircraft, to a series of eyeball vents.
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Bahaha that’s pretty much EXACTLY what I ended up doing! Got a unit very similar to that, then designed and printed a manifold for the front of it so I could attach 4 hoses to go to each one of my dash vents! And yeah, it moves PLENTY of air, I’ve never had to move it up from low power.
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I use an old dual speed fan assembly from a microwave and bring air in from the cool crawl space under the house. Less than $5 total. 
The dry cool Nevada air is perfect for this.
