Cooling Canopy for Dogs

Hey guys,

I have two weims that are my children for now and I travel with them everywhere. My two year-old female is super alpha (in a playfull way) to my 8 year-old male, it can be a bit too much at times, so I bought a Leer canopy to keep the peace up front. The canopy was also to keep them shaded in the summer if I had to run errands or just general travel.

The canopy works great, and I always try to park under the shade when possible, but I have noticed that it still gets pretty warm. I've been toying with the idea of modifying a cooler to attach to the canopy. I found a cooler that is bit bigger and pricier than I wanted to spend, but I figure if it keeps my dogs hydrated and I can also use it for camping, then it's a good investment. Here is the link to that cooler: http://swampy.net/k2.html

Two questions: (1) Is anyone familiar with adding an extra (smaller) battery this cooler can run on while I'm parked? (2) And is anyone familiar with modifying a cooler or any other type of fan to a canopy? I was just thinking of securing this to the top of the canopy.

Any other ideas are welcomed.
Cheers!
JC

 

Probably the wrong forum to start this thread. You may want to look at the overland group or have this thread moved there. A solar setup with a second battery is common for them folks. They run fridges for days at a time, so you're not too far off.
I can't give you any detailed info since I've never done it, but at least I can point you in the right direction:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/overland-expedition-pics-specs-with-bs-thread.220278/

 

Hey Ghost,

I wasn't sure which forum to post this to, thanks, I'll see if I can have it changed, although not sure how to. Thanks for quick advice, that sounds like a possible route as well.

 

PM a mod to move it.
@sean266 @MTgirl @tcBob

But the solar and second battery sounds like the way to go. There are other, passive ways to lower temps in the camper as well without adding the cooler, although it'll never be as effective as an active cooling method. You can add insulation to the windows (if any):
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-43#post-11371157

Or to the canopy roof itself. This is a mod I did to my cab roof, but there is a lot of good reference there:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/removing-your-headliner-and-insulating-sound-deadening.394469/

@Crom added a vent to the roof of his camper to allow hot air to exhaust out:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-43#post-11369844

Tons of useful information in his thread if you ever feel like reading while you're on the can.

 

Cut a hole in the canopy and put in a sunroof, or some kind of vent. Letting heat out at the apex is ideal.

Added a roof vent to my fiberglass topper shell.

 

All great info! Thanks, the links help a lot.

 

Mtgirl, thanks, that works for me.

 

Very nice setup, I"m going to bookmark this! Thanks!

 

welcome

 

I cool my ARE cap using an Endless Breeze Fan hooked up to a marine battery. I keep my lab crated on a platform so it's in line with the windows. I bungee the fan to the front of the crate so it's constantly pushing air through. If it's especially hot I'll put some frozen water bottles between the fan and the crate door.

I have also recently picked up an aluminet shade cloth to drape over the cap for the days I don't get a shady parking spot and am looking at picking up a second fan to mount over the front sliding window to pull air out of the cap. I train for/run in retriever field trials and hunt tests so my pup is back there usually 3-5 hours a day, 7 days a week in the summer. I typically plug the battery into the trickle charger once or twice a week.

If your dogs are loose in the cap I'd make sure any fans or cables are mounted/secured so they don't knock them over or pull out the connections.

There's lots of good information about cooling truck caps for dogs on a retriever forum I frequent mind you most of the people there will have the dogs in crates and not loose:
http://www.retrievertraining.net/fo...Cooling-Test-Results&highlight=endless+breeze
http://www.retrievertraining.net/fo...207-Dog-in-Car-Crate-HT-FT-Hot-Weather-Advice

The fan and battery are packed away for the winter but if you want any photos of the set up shoot me a PM.