smoorenc Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Has anyone forgone the water heated core exchanger for an electric heater/blower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhp123166 Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 Has anyone forgone the water heated core exchanger for an electric heater/blower? I use a little 200w heater/ blower to defrost my windshield. It works but only on the drivers' side of the windshield and it has to be connected right up to the battery otherwise I'll fry my wiring as it draws so much power and needs thick gauge cable to contain it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 I did in my VW Kombi... A catalytic propane heater as well, but it would crap out if the temperature was below -40C, the propane wouldn't go gasseous at that temperature, it would stay liquid. Useless Propane! Then I had to use the gas heater and loose 2mpg on the freeway. But the heat was instant, and volouminous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nizm0Zed Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 (edited) I'll be running an electric heater in mine. i need it for rego requirements, but getting a bit of heat out would be nice too. I got my inspiration from here http://www.evconvert.com/eve/bring-on-the-heat i bought 4 small heater units and stripped the cores out of them. I got them pretty cheap as we supply them through work. I'll fab up a metal box and wire the cores in. Im planning on wiring them up in 2 pairs, so i can have a low and high heat setting. I'll use a couple of PC fans on the backside of the box to force air through the cores. in the end, i should end up with almost 1000W worth of heater under my dash. hopefully nothing catches fire... Edited March 2, 2010 by Nizm0Zed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 I used one of those little 12v dash mounted heaters when I had to plug up my heater core.. living in CO ... my breath and condensation would freeze on the inside of the car. those little heaters would open up a small 10" in diameter circle i could look through. I would not drive the car.. wayyyy too dangerous. So I suppose if you had 4 of them.. in a box.. with PC fans forcing the air out.. I could see it working.. but I dont know how effective it will be. Also.. it pulled quite a draw from the battery on a COLD night with the headlights on and a radio... and that was ONE heater.. not FOUR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nizm0Zed Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 lol, yes there will be a significant power draw. In my setup, my battery (gel cell) is mounted under the dash. There is a distribution block in the centre of the firewall above the tunnel, with a 4 gauge power wire running in. The heater has its own dedicated 8 gauge power connection. It doesnt get cold enough to snow here (well, maybe 1-2 days a year, and only overnight) so it should cope well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 1000 watts at 12 volts is over 80 amps!! You're gonna need a black fusible link sized connection for that! 150 times 4 adds up to over 50 amps, so with air flow more like 60 amps of power, which maxes out the stock charging system; even the most common alternator upgrades (the 90 amp Maxima unit or the 100 amp GM stock one-wire) are hard put to keep up with that kind of demand, in addition to: -150 watts for headlights and tail lights (brakes and turn signals extra..) -about 100 for wipers, that is a guess on my part, could be more could be less -You like listening to music? I hope you don't have a SYSTEM, because that draws as much as your heater. If its a more simple stereo, you're looking at another 80-150 watts. -Is your car fuel injected? I don't have a good idea what amount of power the entire fuel system draws, but unless you are running a stockish SU system with a mechanical pump only, you'll need around 100 watts for a fuel pump as well. -Radiator fan, if electric, is going to draw another 200-300 watts. So all that adds up to around another 650-800 watts, divided by 12 volts asks for 55-67 amps all told... which is around the stock electrical system capacity. So, say you spend the scratch for a 150 amp alternator. 150 amps times 13 volts gives you 1950 watts MAX, and you would need a Completely Re-engineered electrical system in your S30 to achieve that without getting toasted... "8 gauge wire" does not suggest complete re-engineering... I'm not saying it cannot be done, I am just throwing out a rough estimate of the numbers here. None of my figures are anything more than an educated guess, but the fact that I added up right to the power range of the stock factory alternators (50 or 60 amp) gives me confidence I was pretty close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nizm0Zed Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 Stock alternator?!?! On Hybrids???? Dont worry, it is getting upgraded. Stereo will be minimal, and the 1000w is at full load on the heater. I'll be able to adjust the load on it. It'll only need full heat for a short period (2 mins at most) to demist the screen and add a little heat. After that, it'll run just fine at half or quarter power. Thats the main wiring distribution block. the heater will sit pretty much above it. you are right though, it is going to be a big load. I may consider pulling a core or two from the box, i'll have to see how effective it is first though. its getting colder here now, maybe i'll jerry something up for a test run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted March 26, 2010 Share Posted March 26, 2010 (edited) I *want* to see you push the envelope, so I hope I wasn't coming off with the wrong tone. The heater in my CRX is absolutely anemic (I have an oversized radiator so that doesn't help) and I have just finished spending a winter pondering the addition of an electric coil somewhere to boost the BTUs it pumps out. So, take any criticism in the light of, pushing you to know exactly what you are demanding. It might not be a bad idea to make a "turbo heat" button, like a momentary switch that would shut off without your finger on it, to turn on an overload coil. Or possibly something on a 2 minute countdown timer. EDIT The more I think about that, the more I like the idea of a dead-man switch on an overload coil.... Edited March 26, 2010 by Daeron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted March 26, 2010 Share Posted March 26, 2010 (edited) I realize that the stock S30 heater wasn't that great. But keep in mind that the heater core is capable of putting out 10 times what your best electric dreaming can muster. There are a lot of VERY GOOD REASONS why manufacturers do not use electric heat. Considering the amount of waste heat produced by the engine and moved through the water jacket would involve numbers in teh range of 10,000-20,000 watts. Edited March 26, 2010 by bjhines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitaniumZ Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 Scott, What BJ said.Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 What's wrong with the stock heater? Mine works great. With the heat on full, and the fan (original by the way) at max, it's uncomfortable to hold my hands in front of the vents. Like anything else on a 40 year old car, you have to make sure the whole system is in proper working condition. If the flapper doors or the heater valve doesn't open and close properly, or the core is all clogged up, then of course the heat will be inadequate. But there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the design. Nigel '73 240ZT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted March 27, 2010 Share Posted March 27, 2010 (edited) Scott, You are creative and handy enough to make some improvements over the original design. I considered this route myself and ended up rebuilding the orginals. Have you seen the newer car model's with dual flow/zone aluminum cores, even a cheapo Chevy Astro-van core is large and super lightweight and holds very little water. Make the plenum out of fiberglass/epoxy. Use an electric soleniod valve for superior automatic control. Make use of a modern blower housing out of some common Honda model or something with a divorced blower housing. I was poking around in large car and SUV models for the big honking blowers. Some of the newer units are using rare-earth pancake motors(light and powerful). I am sure you could come up with something super lightweight, powerful, and electrically/automatically operated Edited March 27, 2010 by bjhines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoorenc Posted March 28, 2010 Author Share Posted March 28, 2010 Well I ended up taking the whole system apart and rebuilding it. I took the airconditioning core out, it weighed a ton. Replaced the hoses and cleaned everything up. Looks like everything will work with the original heater core. I found some replacement parts from ebay and zman of washington. Scott, You are creative and handy enough to make some improvements over the original design. I considered this route myself and ended up rebuilding the orginals. Have you seen the newer car model's with dual flow/zone aluminum cores, even a cheapo Chevy Astro-van core is large and super lightweight and holds very little water. Make the plenum out of fiberglass/epoxy. Use an electric soleniod valve for superior automatic control. Make use of a modern blower housing out of some common Honda model or something with a divorced blower housing. I was poking around in large car and SUV models for the big honking blowers. Some of the newer units are using rare-earth pancake motors(light and powerful). I am sure you could come up with something super lightweight, powerful, and electrically/automatically operated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 Ryan- Slightly off topic, but I have been following your build thread for a while now and I have to say that I am completely blown away by the amount of effort, time, expense and attention to detail that you're putting into that car. The final result will be simply AMAZING! Can't wait to see it when it's finished (is a resto-mod ever TRULY finished??). Good luck with the rest of the build and keep the updates coming! jhm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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