Aslan2005. How is the mask fan rig holding up? You have had it in service almost a year now right? I was thinking of doing a smaller version on my mask. Posibly mounting it right on the visor so the whole thing would be removeable. I dono. My mask usualy dosn't fog untill the end of the day when I'm realy hot and not moving much. And even under the foggiest conditons it has gotten, it clears right up if I move a couple hundred feet.
But I hate to have my mask dictate weather or not I have to move. So posebly two small fans and one battery. You aren't going to go through more than one battery a day are you?
How long has the two nine volts lasted?? You probably havn't had to replace them yet have you?
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Originally Posted by snaretan
What I have to say is more important than the crap in my sig, that's why I don't have one. It doesn't matter what upgrades my marker has, it doesn't matter if 98% of people do whatever...
Tan
Apart from getting hit, nothing ticks me off more than a good fog-up. I've thought about fitting a fan and now I think I'm convinced.
One question:
Does the flow of air tend to dry your eyes and make them irritated?
"Why not mount it somewhere other than the visor?"
I wanted it mounted to an area that wouldn't cause me to have to cut the actual mask. Cutting up the mask could make it less protective. I also didn't want the fans where they were likely to take a direct hit. Mounting them vertically to the front means they would take a lot of shots.
"Does it tned to dry out your eyes?"
Absolutely not. Due to the low amount of air that actually makes it's way through the top and the high humidity inside the goggles...nothing like that occurs.
Now...Tom D...
It has worked very well. Much better than the Vortex fan or no fan at all.
Problems I've run into:
One time my glasses fogged up real bad. Why? The fan is so quiet that I thought it was on and it wasn't.
There have been a few times in thick brush where the bundle on top of the mask was vulnerable to branches. It's more the mesh that I have on there than the wires...but it is something in the back of my mind I always have to worry about in thick brush.
The batteries will last a weekend or longer. The only time I've run them down is when I played at the monster game...played all day both days...left them on alot (again, they are so quiet you forget they are on) when I wasn't wearing it.
Other than that, it's worked great. I wish I could get it to provide more airflow...so that it had more of a cooling effect...but I don't want to start cutting into the top of the mask and risk having someone squeeze a paintball in there somehow and take out my eye.
Guys came online with this idea and made it a one piece fan kit called FANZ. I think the website is ezcreation.ca they have a video, pictures and sell them online for decent price.
Halfway through my project I searched the Net for understanding how to wire the batteries. I came across your site. Very cool to see someone else with the same idea, work or play.
I eventually found someone to answer my question but I felt compelled to share this for the beginners like me trying to understand electricity.
By putting batteries in series (positive of one battery to negative of another battery) you increase the voltage. If I put two 9-volt batteries in series I will have 18 volts of electricity. Think of voltage as water pressure in a hose. If you had too much water pressure you could blow out a sprinkler. If you have too much voltage for a fan you can fry the fan.
By putting batteries in parallel (positives of batteries together and negatives of batteries together) you increase the current. If I put two 9-volt Duracell batteries in parallel I will have 580 mA (580 milliAmps = .5 Amps) x 2, because there are two batteries which would equal 1160 mA. This would allow my 12 volt, 1.9 watt, 158 mA fan to run for about 7 hours. That would double the time of one battery. Think of current as the volume of water going through the hose. If you double the size of the hose connecting to the same sprinkler, you'll get double the time because the sprinkler still only uses so much water.
I think that's pretty clear. Please add to it if anyone sees something wrong or misunderstood above.
Note: MSA does NOT approve of altering the hard hats, nor storing ANYTHING in them.
It's the middle of summer and you are up on the roof shingling. The sun is just beating down on you and sweat is just pouring off you like a pregnant nun in confession. You are told you have to wear a hard hat even though nothing but blue sky is above you.
I have access to a bunch of old computers and I removed one of the little 12 volt, 2" x 2" fans that cool the heat sink of the processor. They are only about 1/2" thick so there is plenty of room above the webbing. First I placed the fan in the hard hat and marked the area that I wanted. I took it out and drilled a bunch of 1/4" holes in the area where the fan would be. Using electrical tape I secured and sealed the fan into the hardhat. It is important that a seal is made with the electrical tape for proper airflow to take place.
I purchased a 9-volt battery, a 9-volt battery snap and a small switch. A 9-volt battery will produce around 600 mAh (milliAmp hours) of current. The fan only needs about 7 volts to run and uses about 150 mA of current. This will allow the fan to run for about four hours through the really hot part of the day. I can feel a slight cool flow of air up over my head. I decided to have the fan pull the air up through the hard hat and take the heat of my head up and out. Works great with very little noise and it is also very unnoticeable from the sides and back of the hard hat. I mounted the battery with electrical tape and ran a switch under the bill for quick and easy powering off and on.
so i am thinking if you have the two fans and haveing energy problems with the one 9v or trying to go 9v with AAs i think if you took two 9v hookups and soadered them togeather to add two 9vs i think you could acheive long lasting battery power with good quality running fanns plus zip ties do wonders for that duel 9v placement problem
I have attached what I think is the nicest way to place these into a V-force Shield.
One pushes air in and one pushes air out. I'm thinking of sealing off the top vents of the mask so I get great air current from one to the other.
I'm in progress they aren't wired yet. Still researching the best method for running these guys. 2 9volt or 1 9volt? series or parallel?
I ordered from BGmicro the 1" fans (5) though and a mini switch (2) and a 9 volt connector (2) cost was like 13.38 total. Can't beat that when Radio Shack wanted like $14 for a 1 9/16" fan. I did get a project enclosure that I will glue on some velcro that I will attach to my strap and also place the on/off switch into.
I just completed a fan mod for my V Force Grill.
I installed two 16mm x 4mm 3 volt fans inside(not on top) the mask.
Directly under the vented top section. The only noticable difference from the outside is the very small zip ties used to hold the fans in.
The fans are currently powered by 2 sets of AAA batteries run in parallel inside a remotely located enclosure with an on/off switch. A little modding to the case was needed to change the connections in the case from 4 batteries in series equalling 6volts to 2 sets of two in paralell at 3volts each.
This set-up costs a little more, but it is completely protected, effectively prevents fogging and is nearly silent.
I'll post pictures shortly.
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