380 replies to this topic

[T7Design]

Hey guys,

I am afraid getting one off stuff done at engineering companies is very frustrating, they tend to leave work like this as fill in jobs, the same with small orders with laser cutters. Unfortunately as we do not have the facilities to produce this kind of stuff in house we are the mercy of other people and their time scales.

We are a very small company consisting of 2 people working on lots of new projects and unfortunately there is only so much time and money to go around, what also doesn't help is the fact we sell heater products and its summer, as you can imagine money coming in is not as good as the winter months!

I have got the 2nd prototype unit back from the fabricators and assembled, it will be sending it off to a tester today. This new unit is testing a new 3 speed squirrel cage fan which feels quite a bit more powerful than the standard.

"If the company I work for took over half a year to get a customers requirement to a working saleable proposition we would have been out of business long ago.

We make far more complicated devices, for instance machines for testing the efficiency of nuclear power plants on fighting ships.

Does not mean it will never happen maybe not...

Paul"

I imagine we could do the same if we had a multi-million pound budget, your man power and the facilities. One day we would like to have the room and machines to make everything in house but right now its just not viable.

Edited by T7Design, 11 August 2011 - 01:31 PM.

[2-20]

Do you have a picture of your new prototype. It could help to keep faith. Thank you

[slindborg]

Maybe I should get the 'plans' for my pikey heater box drawn up so someone else can have a crack at it

[KurtVerbose]

I have got the 2nd prototype unit back from the fabricators and assembled, it will be sending it off to a tester today. This new unit is testing a new 3 speed squirrel cage fan which feels quite a bit more powerful than the standard.

Thanks for the feedback Adam, I think that's what most of wanted.

Do you have a picture of your new prototype.
It could help to keep faith.

[moneyhunster]

Hi guys, I've received the 2nd prototype from T7 and will b fitting it this weekend, will put pic up in a bit

[fezzasus]

If i'm honest, i'd rather the development took longer; testing a heater for effectiveness over the summer doesn't make sense to me. after all, these cars are 10 years old and no one's done this yet. If it's taken this long we should really take time to make sure it's done properly.

[moneyhunster]

This one has the squirrel cage type fan, it looks more than capable! End design will look lots different. I'll post up how it performs later tomorrow.

[slindborg]

This one has the squirrel cage type fan, it looks more than capable!
End design will look lots different.

I'll post up how it performs later tomorrow.

Also note the engine temperature and how that behaves along with how hot the air is......

[Muncher]

To be honest I found that the heater is fine if you do the following: 1. Take the top of the dash off and seal the plastic casing with bathroom sealant. 2. Take the heater box out and seal up any gaps in the box with bathroom sealant. 3. Replace the aluminium ducting with some corrugated plastic tubing making sure it fits properly at both ends. Certainly on my car less than a fiver's worth of bits has made it work more than well enough. I'd echo what Techieboy said the fan is fine, the matrix is fine, just too much air leaks out. Seal it up and there's no problem.

Edited by Muncher, 13 August 2011 - 05:12 PM.

[moneyhunster]

Also note the engine temperature and how that behaves along with how hot the air is......

i saw the post noting change in running temps last time round, when i replaced my trashed heater with the smaller one i bought from T7 the temps were the same, when i tried the 1st proto type the heater element was double the size of the small one i bought but the engine temps have been the same. the 2nd prototype has the same larger element but the more powerful cage fan.

To be honest I found that the heater is fine if you do the following:

1. Take the top of the dash off and seal the plastic casing with bathroom sealant.
2. Take the heater box out and seal up any gaps in the box with bathroom sealant.
3. Replace the aluminium ducting with some corrugated plastic tubing making sure it fits properly at both ends.

Certainly on my car less than a fiver's worth of bits has made it work more than well enough.

i did this on mine, definatly helped but a long way off what you would expect from a normal car heater, having a proper heater will improve my enjoyment during the winter months loads, i use mine every day.

here is a pic of the 2nd prototype.


adam said this is just for testing the flow from the new fan as the heat generated seems ample, just need more flow to demist more than 4 tennis ball sized holes on a short trip out!!!

[slindborg]

The normal max temp should be unchanged, but its the oscillating you want to pay attention to particularly with the higher flow fan now.

[moneyhunster]

The normal max temp should be unchanged, but its the oscillating you want to pay attention to

particularly with the higher flow fan now.

do you mean what the temp does once the fan is turned on and off?

sorry havin a blonde day
make that a blonde week!

Edited by moneyhunster, 13 August 2011 - 06:59 PM.

[slindborg]

basically keep a keen eye on the water temp (once its upto running temp), fan on/off when the water is running through the matrix. As I said, even with the OEM matrix and a fairly efficient inline blower it caused 5-10deg oscillations in the running temp as it overcooled the stat

[moneyhunster]

how do i remove the ducting that goes under the windscreen? ive removed the plastic screw under the dash and the one inside the pipe but the wiper bit is in the way. anyone removed it before?

[KurtVerbose]

the flow from the new fan as the heat generated seems ample

Your car's only hot because you leave the engine running all the time.

Getting excited about it again. Really hopes this comes off.

[moneyhunster]

right guys, just got back from a little drive with the new heater fitted. took just over 2 miles to get the car up to temperature, turned the heater on, only got full speed for now but whoooah lovely hot air blowing in my face, had the vents facing me but if its like that in the winter i will be well happy the temperature normally sits around 84-85 under normal driving and still does, turning the heater on it drops to 83-84 but im sure it did that before? might be wrong though, i will test it out tonight again when its cooler. but its definatly not dropping more than 2 degrees, i dont know what happened to yours slindborg? could something else affect it like an air lock?

[Steffe]

Looks good! Keep up the good work. Now we also want a good inlet filter solution, not filling the cabin with even more dust...

[T7Design]

Hi guys,

After speaking with moneyhunster this evening and receiving some great feedback and good news we can sign off the rad and fan as the ones that will be used in the production unit. The next stage is to get hold of a car for a number of weeks to complete a final measure up and fitment of the new heater once it has been fabricated. There are a still a number of issues to resolve which cannot really be done properly without a car at the workshop to work with:

• Hose routing
• Cabling
• Water control valve placement
• Filter design & implementation
• Mounting bracketry
• Inlet to pick up on original cutout

Is there anybody here who could go without their car for a number of week? If anybody uses one as a daily drive I can offer my car as a swap (Jag S-Type) however I would need to use it to commute & I do approx 200 miles a week to and from work and engineering companies etc. I am more than happy to offer a free heater fitted.

Anybody who would like to help pease get in touch.
Cheers!
Adam

[KurtVerbose]

If anybody uses one as a daily drive I can offer my car as a swap (Jag S-Type) however I would need to use it to commute & I do approx 200 miles a week to and from work and engineering companies etc. I am more than happy to offer a free heater fitted.

I would gladly swap mine but unfortunately we're some distance apart.

[KurtVerbose]

Come on guys, need a volunteer here. We all want to be warm don't we?