interesting mod idea

[dfiore]

I had an idea, but I don't know if it would help any. make a warm air mod my hooking up a hairdryer on low blow high heat to the air intake. Problem is, where do I get power from so it only runs when the engine is running?

If anyone has tried this or can tell me where to draw power from (specifically), I want to try this.

Dan

Hi Difore:

___Rick Reese has done that … He removed it shortly afterwards so I don’t know of its real world improvement or of its final fate?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:151fs8aw]Waynegerdes@earthlink.net[/email:151fs8aw]

[Aaron Cake]

There's no way a hair dryer would move enough air to feed the engine.

Hi Aaron:

___Quite easily in fact …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email0xrdlhv]Waynegerdes@earthlink.net[/email0xrdlhv]

[Yves M.]

I do not know at what temp you are referring to use this mod. But I remember 20 years ago, I had a frozen gas line. Someone said to try the hair dryer trick

At -20 C, the hair dryer air temp was probably -10 C, it was totally useless for my purpose. A hair dryer is meant to be used at room temperature and it does not warm the air much when outside to my experience

Now if you want to try it out, it is easy just in your hands outside with a plug on the wall of your house.

If you want to try it in a car, it is also easy as all you need is an inverter that makes 120V out of 12V. Last year I bought one for my new motorized home that was 1200 watts continues duty at about $150 cnd.

I am sure the engine can suck the air out of it easily if it is not able to provide enough flow

If it turns out to work and give results, I remember that there where cars with carburators (the 1980 Pontiac Acadian) that had a ceramic type heater between the carb and the intake. It was 12V and was used to better vaporise the gas to start the car at cold temps. Maybe prevent icing of the carb also.
It or something similar could be found in a scrap yard for a low price.

[b1shmu63]

Sounds like an interesting idea if you can get the energy to run the heater for free. I'd use solar and an extra 12 volt battery to provide the power. I certainly suggest that you use a 12 volt heater rather than a 120 volt heater. That way you don't have to worry about converting the voltage. A 120 volt one can be rewound to create a 12 volt one if you are handy and calcullate the resistance using ohms law and the power equation. You won't need the fan motor as the air flow will be controlled by the throttle opening. Your main problem wil be regulating the temperature with varying air flows. That is a bit of a problem as you want almost instantaneous heat when you accellerate and then have to reduce the power to the heater element to prevent the unit burning up when the throttle closes. That would require a thermistor and a solid state controller. If the system fails you run the risk of setting your car on fire. I suspect that is why this is not done.

[Foxpaw]

Hmm, yes, you could use some kind of intake air heater - basically you'd just want the coils and maybe the plastic tube from the blowdryer, you could do away with the fan, motor, and handle parts. You might want to try making your own coil windings if you are going to use 12 volts instead of the 120.

I wouldn't worry about regulating the temperature carefully - coil based heating systems are, in a way, self regulating. As the coil warms up, its resistance will increase, decreasing the current flow. Conversely cooler coils will allow more current flow, creating more heating. As a result, they have an inherent "center seeking" tendancy, as long as your coils can withstand the fluctuations that may occur whenever the airflow changes, before it reaches a new "equilibrium" temperature.

[b1shmu63]

Take care. Although the coils are somewhat self regulating, you really want to control the temperature within a very narrow temperature range.