{"id":2787,"date":"2012-05-28T12:08:18","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T20:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/plug-bug-blower-install-on-the-motor\/"},"modified":"2012-05-28T12:08:18","modified_gmt":"2012-05-28T20:08:18","slug":"plug-bug-blower-install-on-the-motor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/plug-bug-blower-install-on-the-motor\/","title":{"rendered":"Plug Bug: Blower install on the motor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

The bug’s motor runs pretty hot on hot days. You can’t keep your hand on it for more than a brief instant. I have measured the temperature with an infrared thermometer, but of course, right now I forget the values. I know that it was well below the values for the motor’s casing temperature, but more than one person has told me that running the motor cooler will prolong its life.<\/p>\n

So, I finally decided to install a blower. evsource has this electric motor blower kit<\/a> for $448, which is quite pricey. I figured out they use a rather weak 105 CFM “squirrel cage” motor. I discovered that Jabsco makes quite a few DC blowers. They all suck because they are too loud, but I figured mine would only run when the motor was hot, so it wouldn’t be too big a deal. Most people run them all the time, since it is easier to wire up, but I hate the noise when the car is fresh and cold (and the waste of energy).<\/p>\n

I bought a 150CFM one from on ebay for $80 (plus 15 shipping): Jabsco DC 12V 150 CFM Flexmount 3″ Blower – 36740-0000. I have a feeling it will fail in 3-4 years, since this model (actually, all the ones rated under 250 CFM) aren’t rated for continuous use. Jabsco says you can use them continuously, but they have a lower life span than their “heavy duty” blowers which are made for continuous use.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8024.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had some think steel flat stock laying around, so I took it cut a piece about 3.5″ wide off with the plasma cutter:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7989.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I measured the circumference of the motor and cut it down to length; note, if you are doing this, add an extra 2″ for the tabs that will be bent at the end.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7990.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I scribed a 3″ circle in the center and cut it out with the plasma cutter. Same goes for some holes for the terminals.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7991.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I rolled it on the slip roll to the shape of the motor, and also made a smaller 3″ diameter one for the blower inlet:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7992.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I flattened the bottom; this would have been easier to do before the slip roll:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7993.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TIG welded it all together:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7995.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then I cleaned it up with a dremel and grinder. I used my cheap harbor freight bender to bend the ends:<\/p>\n

\n\"IMG_7999.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I drilled them out for 1\/4″ bolts (using two).<\/p>\n

From Amazon, I ordered some cork gasket<\/a> ($15), 3″ marine hose<\/a> ($10), and clamps<\/a> ($10). (total cost for this project: $130, including about $15 in shipping).<\/p>\n

The gasket I glued onto the back with some hi strength adhesive:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8025.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and then trimmed it to fit. Oh yeah, first I had powder coated the thing sparkly red:<\/p>\n

\n\"IMG_8026.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I drilled and tapped a few mounting locations for the blower, and set it all up:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8027.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The blower comes on in two ways. The first is a switch I have mounted in the cabin so I can turn it on when I want (i.e.: going up highway 17). Second is a 50 C snap switch.<\/p>\n

(digikey.com<\/a>: 317-1512-ND THERMOSTAT 50 DEG C N\/O FASTON). I also bought a 60C and 70C switch, in case it comes on more often than I want.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8028.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve only driven the car a few times with it. In a cool morning, it didn’t come on at all on the way to work (the motor was cool), and on the way home it did come on and seems to vacate a lot of hot air. Awesome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bug’s motor runs pretty hot on hot days. You can’t keep your hand on it for more than a brief instant. I have measured the temperature with an infrared thermometer, but of course, right… [read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electric-bug"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/IMG_8027.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8zn47-IX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.corbinstreehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}