Intake and exhaust cooling fans

[gazmosis[501st]]

Before my AP build, I had read many entries discussing cooling fans but nobody ever mentioned about getting the inevitably hot air that travels to the top of the lid out. Here is what I did. On the back of the lid are simulated vents. With a cutting wheel on my Dremel tool (and a steady hand) I made them functional. This might be challenging if you were using decals but I was painting my details so I didn't need to worry about that. I bought several different micro fans most of them measuring 3/4 inch thick. This turned out to be too thick for the back vents. I found 1/2 inch fans and that was the ticket. I have a small mellon so I have a little room at the top between my head and the fans. I still needed to put some screen over it so my hair doesn't get into the blades and stop them. I mounted them with a little hot glue and made sure they were facing out before doing so. I did the same with the mouth fan except this is pointing inward drawing fresh air in. There are two, 9V battery packs on the back. One pack has a single 9V for the mouth fan, and the other has 2-9V wired together (for 18V) for the back vent fans. All fans turn on and off with the single switch. I was told that I was the first one to do this. With all the brilliance I have read so far I find that hard to believe but this is my 2 cents.--------------

Edited March 25, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[Quebectrooper]

On 8/30/2010 at 11:55 AM, gazmosis said:

Before my AP build, I had read many entries discussing cooling fans but nobody ever mentioned about getting the inevitably hot air that travels to the top of the lid out. Here is what I did. On the back of the lid are simulated vents. With a cutting wheel on my Dremel tool (and a steady hand) I made them functional. This might be challenging if you were using decals but I was painting my details so I didn't need to worry about that. I bought several different micro fans most of them measuring 3/4 inch thick. This turned out to be too thick for the back vents. I found 1/2 inch fans and that was the ticket. I have a small mellon so I have a little room at the top between my head and the fans. I still needed to put some screen over it so my hair doesn't get into the blades and stop them. I mounted them with a little hot glue and made sure they were facing out before doing so. I did the same with the mouth fan except this is pointing inward drawing fresh air in. There are two, 9V battery packs on the back. One pack has a single 9V for the mouth fan, and the other has 2-9V wired together (for 18V) for the back vent fans. All fans turn on and off with the single switch. I was told that I was the first one to do this. With all the brilliance I have read so far I find that hard to believe but this is my 2 cents.-----------

 

Great idea. I looked at the photo first and never noticed the holes in the lines until i read your post!

 

I didn't like those small fans so i got one that shoots sideways and that doesnt need to pull air. It works great.

Edited March 25, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[kiyotei[TK]]

very nice job. I did this over a year ago and love it. Cutting the holes in the back is a great improvement and are barely noticeable when you wear the helmet. I would recommend switching to squirrel cage fans. I use them because the suck the air in and blow it around the sides of your head. I think you get more air circulation with them. Also, I would recommend switching to 8 AA batteries. I use 2 four battery packs to hold them. You can get them at radio shack. The 8 AA batteries (rechargeable) will give you a lot longer battery life, plus you save money by using rechargeable batteries. 9 volts give you a very short life. I find about 2 hours max.

[gazmosis[501st]]

I appreciate the info on the batteries that makes a ton of sense!!

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

you can also find rechargable 9 volts these days.

[TKDUEUNO]

I recommend using 3 of these: ------------

 

Almost 12v, less weight, longer run time, rechargeable

Edited March 25, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[Sgt Steve]

You are going to place a black mesh screan over the new "vent" hole's right?

[gazmosis[501st]]

Once the helmet is on, the vent slots are so thin that it is impossible to tell they are slots at all. Unlike the frown holes which you can fit a pencil through. it is obvious if they are not screened. So the answer is "no" I did not screen them. The electric draw on these fans are close to nothing. I Have tested these to run for several hours before showing signs of petering out. CONFESSION TIME!! I have never been to a trooping event. I am still too heavy to fit into any armor without it looking totally rediculous. I enjoy building and sharing info with others. I don't know how long an actual trooping event goes. How long is one actually in their lids?

[tkrestonva[TK]]

I don't know how long an actual trooping event goes. How long is one actually in their lids?

 

It depends on the event. Some events last a couple of hours at best, other (such as major cons) span over the course of days.

 

As far as actually being in the helmet, it not only depends on the event but also who you're trooping with. Some units are pretty laid back about de-helmeting (as in whenever and wherever you feel the need), other units are very strict about keeping the helmet on at all times unless you are in a "backstage" changing/rest area and well away from public view.

 

If you want to do a field test, you could accompany your local garrison on a troop as a handler and loan your bucket to one of the troopers for him/her to test it out.

[gazmosis[501st]]

This is how things spiral out of sorts. I know I am getting off track from the fan subject....... I don't have a local garrison because I have tried to become a 501st member but cannot because I can't provide a photo of me in my armor. I can't fit in it. Guess I'll just need to put p90X back in the DVD player.

[Axle Gatin]

You said using a dremel on decal-ed vents would be a problem, any solutions?

Otherwise I was going to do this as soon as my bucket came in!

[gazmosis[501st]]

Since you are going to need to cut the "vents" out of the decals anyway, cut the entire decal out but don't peel it off the backing. Carefully cut the vent slots out. Position this over the trap on the back of your lid and lightly tape it in place. with a sharpie, draw in the vent slots onto the lid. Rmove the decal and this will then be your guide for cutting out the slots. Then just position you decal over this for the final application. Hope this helps!

[Axle Gatin]

Since you are going to need to cut the "vents" out of the decals anyway, cut the entire decal out but don't peel it off the backing. Carefully cut the vent slots out. Position this over the trap on the back of your lid and lightly tape it in place. with a sharpie, draw in the vent slots onto the lid. Rmove the decal and this will then be your guide for cutting out the slots. Then just position you decal over this for the final application. Hope this helps!

 

So the decal will still be use-able after being taken off and re-applied?

 

Also I was just assuming you could use the vent line itself as a cut-along-the-lines kind of deal, no?

Edited October 18, 2010 by Axle Gatin

[gazmosis[501st]]

So the decal will still be use-able after being taken off and re-applied?

 

Also I was just assuming you could use the vent line itself as a cut-along-the-lines kind of deal, no?

Two things....There is no way you will be able to cut through the decal AND the helmet at the same time without ruining the decal. #2 You will also probably wreck the decal if you peel it, stick it then try to peel it off the helmet. If you choose this approach, you are going to use the decal as a kind of stencil. Cut out the decal from the main decal sheet but do not peel it off the backing. Choose which decal you want for each side then mark them " left and right". This will assure your decals will end up where you originally chose them to be. Then with an exacto knife or razor type blade, CAREFULLY cut out the vent slots. You still have not removed the decal from its backing at this point!!! Place the decal with the vent slots cut out over the trapezoid you chose and tape into place. Don't over do it, you just want to keep it in place. Then with a pencil or sharpie or other similar fine point marker, trace the vent slots onto the helmet. Repeat for the other side. Remove the decals from the helmet. Don't peel them off the backing yet. You will now have 2 white traps with vent lines on them. Don't forget to keep track of which decal goes on which side. How you cut out the vent slots will be up to you. I chose the Dremmel tool with the large thickness cutting disk. With the disk, I didn't have to worry about how wide I made the slots just the location of the slots and how long they were. You will need to trim the top and bottom of the vent slots to make them square using and Exacto knife. Once you have all the slots cut out, place the decal back over the trap to see if you will need to make any adjustments. If all is good, then go ahead and remove the backing and apply the decal. Good thing about this is the decal will cover any slight mistakes you may have made. You may want to have that shrpie handy or some black paint because the inside of the vent slot cuts will be white. You will want to blacken these to make them less noticable. If you use the rotary disk to cut out your slots, there will probably be a few burrs from cutting through the plastic. You can easily cut or sand these off. Make sure you have a smooth surface BEFORE applying your decal.

[kiyotei[TK]]

I cut right thru my decals. I then pealed them off and hand painted the area. I found that you don't need to paint the cut areas black because they will appear black to the casual onlooker. I still love my setup. Works great. REgarding batteries, its not the voltage that matters, its the milliamp hours (mah) rating on the battery. Most 9 volt batteries are rated I think under 600 which means they will run maybe 2 hours at best. AAA batteries can be found with much higher mAh ratings letting you run your fans upwards of 6 hours or more. They do make long lasting 9 volt batteries for smoke detectors which have really high mAh ratings BUT they cost a ton of money. Also 9 volt batteries will run the fans at a slower speed which may or may not be desirable.

Edited October 25, 2010 by kiyotei