Air intake customization idea

SnowRidge · Sep 23, 2008

ponytug said:
I saw a cute hydraulic cooler that alternated directions for a minute every ten or so, specifically to blow trash back out of the cooler. I took it as pointer that we aren't the only ones with this issue.

I've been wanting to do that for a couple of years. I just never found the time to design the circuit and install it. It wouldn't help the air filter clogging issue, though, and might make it worse.

ponytug · Sep 23, 2008

Dear Snowridge,

I think it could be done with two back to back 555 countdown timers switching a DPDT relay. Or you could get fancy and have a small pic that counts to ten minutes one way and to one minute the other. Or a 555 countdown with a one minute watchdog reset on the other loop. Add a Dallas thermostat chip and you are off to the races.

Maybe you could even find it on some kids toy and add a high power relay.

If you are having serious clogging issues, why not add a cyclone prefilter like this one?

which works by having a spinning impeller that knocks the coarse dirt out of the incoming airstream as illustrated here;

It is designed to continuously remove coarse dirt from the incoming air stream.

All the best,

Peter

SnowRidge said:
I've been wanting to do that for a couple of years. I just never found the time to design the circuit and install it. It wouldn't help the air filter clogging issue, though, and might make it worse.

SnowRidge · Sep 23, 2008

ponytug said:
Dear Snowridge,

I think it could be done with two back to back 555 countdown timers switching a DPDT relay. Or you could get fancy and have a small pic that counts to ten minutes one way and to one minute the other. Or a 555 countdown with a one minute watchdog reset on the other loop. Add a Dallas thermostat chip and you are off to the races.

If you are having serious clogging issues, why not add a cyclone prefilter like this one?

A pic or a 556 (dual 555s in one package) will work. The 556 would probably be the quickest and easiest. If you don't develop for pics all the time, the learning or relearning curve takes time. 555/556 are dead simple and work fine running directly off a 12 vdc system. No power supply needed. They work great in a tough environment, especially if you encapsulate everything.

There is no room for anything else under the PT-425's hood, and the standard Kohler air filter doesn't lend itself to piped in air. Kohler offers an optional heavy duty air cleaner, but Power Trac went with the standard unit, probably because they couldn't figure a way to fit the heavy duty unit under there. That and they saved some money.

What would you need the Dallas chip for?