Good idea, or just making me feel good?

Post by **Rex** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

I've gotten into this habit and I'm not sure if it helps, what do you guys think?

Realizing that heat is not the aluminum engines best friend, during warmer weather, I turn on a fan sitting in front of the car to blow the warm air from around the motor. My garage is one of the smaller 1 car garages, so as you can imagine the Q fills it up pretty good.

My thinking is blowing the hot air from under the front of the car has got to do more good than bad, your thoughts? Or any other ideas to help increase the life of my great car/motor?

Thanks

Post by **AZhitman** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

Probably not that bad an idea - Ambient heat does more damage to your battery and hoses than your engine, though...

Can't hurt, but it's probably not making any REAl difference.

If it makes you feel any better, I do the same thing - But I do it to get the heat out of the garage so it doesn't heat up the house...

Post by **911/Q45** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

My dad always popped the hood in the garage and the rubber was in amazing shape when I changed it at 12 years.

Post by **maxnix** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

Yep, AZhitman and I are going to have a fajita cook-off on our plenums someday. 911/Q45 can join us.

Post by **Q451990** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

There was a thread on this a year or so ago... Q45Tech is a fan of at least opening the hood to help everything cool off after a summer drive. I think the engine temp. isn't as much of an issue as trying not to bake fuel in the rails and cause more deposit build-up. Someone on the board either built, or was thinking of building a fan operated by a motion sensor (flood light style) that would run on a timer after pulling into the garage. The only issue would be tripping the sensor when you're doing other things. Probably one of those 15 minute dial timers mounted near the entrance to the house would be the best option next to an expensive heat operated (IR?) thermostatically controled system.

Heath

Post by **AZhitman** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

That was me.

Since then, the evaporative cooler (it's an AZ thing, I'll explain later) took a crap.

Motion sensor: $6Wires to evap cooler fan: $1.75Additional water/electric bill last summer: $20Having your garage at 76 degrees 15 minutes after you pull in when it's 120 outside: PRICELESS.

Now I need to figure a way to remotely turn it on 10 minutes BEFORE I get home.... Hmmmmm - Any ideas?

Post by **1qckser** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

Check out this article and then the company homepage, they should be able to help you out, I have been looking at some of the products for my home.

http://www.vantagecontrols.com....html

Beyond just turning the lights on and off in my home, the Vantage system gives me the ability to control and program my lighting control system from any Web-enabled device. WebPoint will allow me to interface with the Vantage system and make programming changes (timed sequences, load settings, etc.) without completely overriding and disrupting the original program. My "host" computer will talk to the Vantage master controller via RS-232, and updates take a matter of seconds. My favorite feature of WebPoint, and one I personally cannot wait to use even if just for the hell of it, is accessing WebPoint from remote locations. Let’s say my wife and I are traveling on business during the winter. When we leave the house we would hit Away (or whatever we labeled this button) from the LCD pad located near the garage. If programmed correctly this would set the alarm, turn the heat down to conserve energy, etc. Now, let’s say I’m on my way home and I don’t want to come home to a cold house. Before I arrive I can log onto my host computer using my ISP address and access the Vantage system. From there I can turn the heat up, turn particular lights on, deactivate the security system, etc. If there was one thing that pushed me over the edge on choosing Vantage, it was WebPoint.

The Vantage system is also a "friendly" system in that it integrates well with other control systems. In my house, the Elan HD System will eventually work hand-in-hand with Vantage to control my whole-house A/V system. Through RS-232 I can "talk" to the Vantage system by accessing menus on the Elan Via! touch screens located throughout the house. To be honest, at this stage of the game I’m not positive what Elan will be controlling and what Vantage will be controlling. That will work itself out in the next few months, so stay tuned.

In the next issue, Joe will take us through the process of planning, designing and installing his new home’s wiring. Remodeling? Building a new home? Stay tuned and you may save some time, money and aggravation!

Post by **Q451990** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

AZhitman wrote:Since then, the evaporative cooler (it's an AZ thing, I'll explain later)

I'm familiar with the concept, I think... is this the same thing my relatives in Denver call a "swamp cooler?" Basically blows air across falling water? Too bad that wouldn't work in SC... we have enough humidity already!

Heath

Post by **Q451990** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

Another thought... would you be able to get enough cooling without opening the hood if you could stratigically duct the air up under the car from a squirrell cage fan? I assume the hot air could escape around the cowl vents?

Heath

Post by **AZhitman** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

Yes - Swamp cooler is correct. Basically, all four sides of the box are louvered. Each side is lined with a "pad" made of wood fibers, polyurethane or whatever. Water is pumped to the top where it sprays on the pads and saturates them. There's a huge fan inside that draws air in through the louvers - as it passes through the wet pads, evaporation cools the air which is then blown out into the room. On a very dry day, the output can be as low as 50 degrees.

Anyway, I think just having it blow onto the nose of the car is sufficient (for those of us who have a grille!):D

Post by **pimpingurz** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

i have one of those small swamp cooler i bought at sharper image last year. saved my life. moved to santa monica where they don't have a/c. swamp cooler brought the temperature down 5-10 degrees maybe more. it really works if it is dry.

Post by **msscomm** » Sat Apr 26, 2003 1:27 pm

pimpingurz wrote:i have one of those small swamp cooler i bought at sharper image last year. saved my life. moved to santa monica where they don't have a/c. swamp cooler brought the temperature down 5-10 degrees maybe more. it really works if it is dry.

Big swamp coolers can be very, very scary in regards to putting rust all over EVERYTHING ! Unless you live in lo humidity like AZ, (AZHitman is perfectly sited for his approach) they cool by evaporative means, which dumps loads and loads of agua into the air - in your car, on your tools, in your house, your garage . . .

I can tell you the tale of a mechanic I know that stopped using his (despite GREAT cooling for really cost-effective $$) after he started getting rust on his crap tools all over the shop - his $200K + good tools were safe and stored with desiccants - and that was here in San Diego which can get pretty dry - along with roughing it at 70 degree year round -

Popping the hood sounds like the easiest, and most benign approach -

Good idea, or just making me feel good?

Good idea, or just making me feel good?

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