Snow Orange on Red

[bumperm]

Love it! Thanks for the info. And yes, I have a high-temp heat gun. I was wondering about the bending; thought maybe you used a heated steel rod or something.

So where did you get your material? A quick search revealed that Amazon sells 1/8" UHMW poly, but only in small pieces (12" x 12").

Very nice work, by the looks of it. Sounds like you have access to a machine shop! (Me, too…. in my dreams!!)

Didn't use a heated rod. I did use a press brake to help bend on a straight line, but that's not needed as long as you use felt tip guide lines on the material - - and when you are bending, don't use a lot of force, wait until the heat softens the material. When I laid out the corners, I used 3 lines on each, center, and then a line outboard of that on each side to mark the end of the radius. I also used a length of wood dowl that happened to be close to the corner radius I needed - this helps hold the shape while it cools. A water spray bottle cools things quicker as the UHMW doen't transfer heat fast. Wear gloves.

You probably didn't look far enough down the page on Amazon. The sheets aren't listed according to thickness, so there's larger 1/8" sheets further down - see: UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) Sheet, Opaque White, Standard Tolerance, ASTM D4020, D6712, D4976: Polyethylene Plastic Raw Materials: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

You will find the liner increases throw distance.

I may line my blower impeller housing. Problem is the gap in not consistent, goes from 3/16" at the beginning to less than an 1/8" where it opens to the chute. I do plan on doing something there, but it may involve shifting the impeller shaft so it's more centered. Also, UHMW has a relatively high thermal coefficient of expansion, so fastening a longish length to line the impeller housing my prove to be a bit of a challenge. Making seals for the impeller tips would probably be easier and sort of accomplish the same thing.

I do have a machine shop in my hangar. Convinced wife long ago that tools are off budget and don't count against my toy account.

 

[irvingj]

timbrehse: I have a funnel like that (though it's green, so maybe a different material). It has a thin metal sheet encased by a rubbery plastic. I bet normal sand, small stones, etc would wear that off in no time. I like Bumper's idea.

Bumper: I did look further, and found that even WW Grainger has that material, in 24 x 48. I'll look at Amazon further later. As far as the impeller housing, mine's several years old now (2005 model) and is now "sanded steel" all over the interior. As I live on a dirt road, I do occasionally pick up a large stone, but often small ones.

The outside of the impeller housing shows the results: many small --and some not so small-- dents. I've also had to weld on a patch in one place near an original seam that began to open up. That 1/8" UHMWPE sounds like a good solution. I was intending to leave a small gap somewhere along it, most likely at the bottom, around the drain hole. Guess that's a good idea, considering the thermal expansion. On mine, the gap is also inconsistent, but generally larger all around due to wear (and bending) on the tips of the impeller blades. I think it would support a 1/8" layer in there. (I do have to periodically heat & then pound flat the impeller tips.)


I had also investigated the addition of plastic/rubber tips on the impeller blades --there's a guy that sells kits-- but my impeller blades have that wedge-shaped brace behind them which would make the blade tips' installation a bit tricky. Again, a liner seems like a more workable situation.

ijk

 

[irvingj]

So, I've been working on it for the past couple of weeks, in between clearing snow.

Success!

1. First thing I tried was the impeller housing. I was able to slide a piece of UHMW poly (48" x 5-1/2") down into the outlet hole with the chute removed, around the inner surface under the blades, and secured it with a couple countersunk 8-32 stainless screws into threaded holes in the housing's steel at the "top." I didn't trust the short length of the threads, however, so I added nylon stop nuts onto the outside. Then used wooden wedges to hold it tightly against the inner surface and added two more screws/nuts at the outlet, after heating & bending the poly to (sort of) match the outlet contour.

2. Next, I made some patterns and did the chute deflector, though the way mine's made I only had clearance to add the poly to the back surface and one side only. I also added more screws along the back (curved) edge of that side piece, as I found that grit & ice was getting jammed in there behind it, forcing it to bow outward. Not any more.

3. Now, I'm working on the one-piece bent section for the chute itself. Have a pattern made and the poly cut; just have to figure how to heat and bend it accurately.


It works GREAT!! :cool2::cool2: I was able to throw wet, heavy snow as far as I could throw dry snow when the blower was new, even with only the impeller housing and deflector lined! I feel the impeller housing made the biggest difference, but lining the chute should also help.

So: not only have I reduced the gap between the impeller blades & the housing, but I've made the whole thing slipperier and protected the steel. Win-Win. :thumbsup: I would highly recommend lining that housing to anyone; it made a huge difference and was actually, in my case, very easy to do! Even with the rain, sleet and freezing rain we had on TOP of 10" of wet snow, I had only ONE clog, and that was pretty much my fault for trying to clean up slush with no snow in it.

Here's some pics of the impeller housing's lining: (Sorry, they're not in the right order)

 

[timbrehse]

Impressive Irv !
A bit too ambitious for me - I hope to soon be done w/ winter for good.
This is 'bout the limit to my motivation.

 

[bumperm]

Irv,

UHMW PE, besides all the excellent qualities for this application, has a very high thermal coefficient of expansion. This makes me concerned about fixing the long strip of material, used for the impeller housing liner, with mechanical fasteners (screws) at both ends. I was planning on attaching mine at just the leading edge, after bending that end up and over the spot where the paddle blades "leave" the chute opening and "enter" the housing. The thought was to leave the rest of the strip free floating. And that the snow being rotated against the strip via centrifugal force would hold the strip in place without concern for attaching the distal end.

I'd be really interested in how your attachment works.

bumper

 

[irvingj]

I think I have that covered, Bumper; there is still around 1/8" of "free space" here & there, between the poly and the inner surface of the housing around the circumference. Should allow room for the poly to flex.

When it's at rest and cold, one blade just touches it in one spot, not enough to feel any drag on the impeller, just enough to hear a soft scrape.

If it gets longer as it heats up, it should only take up the slack and press itself more firmly to the inner surface -- at least, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it!:laughing:


Here are some shots of the deflector and the pattern (so far) for the chute piece:

 

[bumperm]

Irv,

My clearances are different (well, fancy that!), about 3/8" at the start, to 1/8" as the paddle blade reaches the chute opening. The blade rubs "firmish" on 1/8" UHMW, but does not have appreciable drag. I may have a look at the impeller shaft rear bearing mount to see if loosening things and giving it a whack with a dead blow hammer will change my lot in life. With my luck, about 40 little ball bearings will go bouncing on the ground :c).



bumper

 

[Pixguy]

Nice work guys, with a good idea bump and Irv adding his.

I haven't had a clogging issue yet but I have silicone sprayed the chute while its dry and in the garage before each use but I love the idea.

Is there any concern about a rock scraping the material if it gets jammed as it sometimes does? If the rock bends the impeller, it may tear the material. Please keep us updated throughout the winter.

Thanks again for sharing.

 

[bumperm]

I don't think so, Pixguy. The gap would be smaller, so smaller particulate could bind up between the blade and lined tunnel, but shouldn't do so more than with steel to steel.

UHMW PE is a remarkable material. Tougher than nails, it's the strongest thermoplastic, and almost as slippery as Teflon. I made 3/4" thick UHMW skid shoes for my front mount blower and they show no thickness wear after a year in service. It's very mechanically strong, a 1" thick or a bit less will stop a .45 at 15 feet. It has up to 15 times more abrasion resistance than carbon steel. So tough and slippery it's used for industrial applications for chutes to move aggregate, abrasive slurries, anti-rub and chafe liners for conveyors, tensioners for drive chains, etc.

If a small rock were to start to get between the blade and liner, the UHMW liner being so slippery, should present less of an opportunity for the foreign object to "catch" on it so it would tend to slide on around. If it did catch, at least to a degree, the UHMW would tend to deform at point of contact. This may allow some "rolling" movement that could clear the rock. After the rock clears, the deformation will "heal" due to plastic memory. If the rock has a very sharp edge, it may scratch the surface of the UHMW, but in my experience this abrading does not remove material, at least nothing I've noticed.

 

[irvingj]

IT'S DONE!! :cool2:

Finally finished the chute liner; it was, probably due to my own ineptness, a lot harder to get to fit well than I had thought -- but it did work. And Bumper was right on: after forming, it can be "folded" somewhat to fit it in from the top, the same way I did with the cardboard pattern above.

A few things I learned on the way:

1) A Sure-Fire trigger-operated propane torch worked well to quickly heat up the poly, then could safely be put aside (only runs while trigger is pulled). MUCH faster than a heat gun; common sense was successfully used to avoid overheating. :thumbsup:

2) The best thing to make small cuts in this material is a coping saw-- much better/quicker/easier/cleaner than a jig saw for cutting the poly, assuming you can rotate the bow out of the way if necessary. Edges are easily smoothed out/trimmed with a razor afterward. I admit I did use a band saw for initial long cuts, however.

3) Have LOTS of clamps available!

4) As the inside corners (of my blower's chute, anyway) are 5/8" radius, a 1" x 12" wooden dowel formed (squished) the material into the corners beautifully after heating up the poly. I used some Sears quick-clamps for that purpose.

So now all I have to do is wait for some snow (not rain, etc.) to see how it works. I was a bit concerned about overhang of the poly at the bottom (entrance) of the chute (pic 3), but then realized that octagonal plastic swiveling ring (UHMWPE ?) in the base covers that up anyway (pic 8), so no worries.