Redneck A/C or Airflow

Ok guys, I don't know how many of You remember my redneck foot warmer, but it was basically a threaded 3in PVC pipe fitting that I put under my dash and then ran a hose to the back of the radiator. The result was warm air that came through the radiator was blowing into the cab on my feet. When the radiator fan came on, it would just blow a little harder and hotter. Worked great and my wife loves it ! The reason for the threaded fitting was so I could screw a plug in it for days when it warmed up during the ride.





Well now it is warming up so I moved the hose from behind the radiator to right behind the middle opening in the grill. What this does is blow clean cool air into the cab. The faster You go, the harder it blows. The main idea behind this is that it adds positive pressure air to the cab side of the windshield preventing some of the dust storm.








Now for part 2......

I installed a Bilge Blower underneath the engine cowl at the very back, right above the CVT exhaust pointing towards the bed. I then cut a hole (about 5x10in) in the front of the bed and then covered the hole with a simple vent cover. What this does is allow for that super hot air in the enginge compartment to be blown out by the blower. I done this because I never did like how hot the engine compartment was. The unseen advantage was that the dust storm that gets caught up in the dead space under the engine cowl is now bown out and is cleaner and cooler. If the fan is not on You get the heat off the center console and hot air blowing in around the shifter and e brake. With the fan on, the engine cover is cool to the touch and no hot air blowing through the cracks.







The bilge blower has been on there for a long time, but what I have just found is that the combination of the two setups has greatly reduced the heat of the engine cowl, the heat inside the cab, the dust under the engine cover (less dust in my 04 style air filter), the dust that comes in under the seats.

This is very redneck, but makes my riding that much more comfy.

Questions, comments, more or better ideas........all welcome

Lookin good Larry!!! That's some pretty good ideas!

Now come up with a way to run a copper line into a cooler full of ice and then to the hose coming into the front of the cab for even cooler air

Maybe use a bilge pump to circulate the water.

Maybe a heater that is converted over to ac in the summer

nice!!!....they are hot!!

Love it! Great ideas, comfy is good.

thats a damn good idea.

that's a good idea

Great idea.

cool ideas larry and great pics

clever indeed

Wile.....E......coyote.....super genius!!!!


GREAT IDEAS!!!!!!!!




Steve

Thanks Guys !

I actually like the airflow so much, I went back and added a bilge blower under the hood behind the grill. Now it blows much more cool air even when I'm sitting still.

Hey larry,

Not wanting to be a dumb a$$ here but exactly what is a bilge blower???
Never was a boat guy.


Steve

4x4ff wrote:

Hey larry,

Not wanting to be a dumb a$$ here but exactly what is a bilge blower???
Never was a boat guy.


Steve

A fire guy needs to know about this sort of thing. A bilge is the bottom of the hull inside of the boat, a place where gasoline vapor tends to collect (along with bilge water :-). The bilge blower prevents that vapor from getting to the concentration where the boat can blow up. A mandated marine fire safety thing for gasoline inboard engines.

Nice!!! Another great explanation SteveS!

Ahhhhh.......now I get it.....duh!!!

My town is on the river but the only boat fires we ever get are motor vessels (eg barges....eg big boats). I told you I wasn't a boat guy....lol


BTW....I assume they blow better than standard fans??? If not what is their advantage?

Larry the vent that you have placed in the bed how did you work around your ryde on dust cover ?

4x4ff wrote:

.......BTW....I assume they blow better than standard fans??? If not what is their advantage?

As I see it, they usally run on 12 VDC, and even more important, they are designed to work in-line with ducting hose. Easy to rig up.

T.Rhino wrote:

Larry the vent that you have placed in the bed how did you work around your ryde on dust cover ?

I need to take a better pic or vid to better explain.

On the very back of the engine cover there is a lip that drops down probably 2 inches. Since the Ryde On dust cover hides that part, I cut it off so that it would not trap heat. On the back piece or flat panel part of the dust cover, I fold the bottom half up to keep it from blocking the vent.

SteveS wrote:

4x4ff wrote:

.......BTW....I assume they blow better than standard fans??? If not what is their advantage?

As I see it, they usally run on 12 VDC, and even more important, they are designed to work in-line with ducting hose. Easy to rig up.

Correct ! And with the shape of the housing and the type of blades on the fan, It seems to flow more volume than say a "flat" style fan.

Couple of neat vids about the heat in a Rhino and then the vent / blower that I added.............

Great videos. Really helpful to.

T.Rhino wrote:

Great videos. Really helpful to.

Teddy were You able to see how I fold up the back part of the dust cover ? When I don't have my back glass on, I fold it the same way and just close the bed on it.

That is very cool. Thanks for sharing and doing that.