corax
Explorer
Cross posted from the"Adventure Clothing" section
Personally, I hate walking around in wet shoes, and after they get wet they seem to take forever to dry. I've seen 110V versions of this cheap project to dry ski boots, but never a 12V version. Why do I want a 12V version? because after I dunk my feet because I was too busy walking around looking at the trees to see that creek, I can drive barefoot to the next spot while my shoes dry out a bit. Or I can dry them out back at camp and not worry much about battery drain since the fan I got from RadioShack only draws .16 amps (my cell phone charger is listed at .350 amps max draw). Last time I washed my sneakers it only took 45-60 minutes per shoe to dry them using this fan at room temp.
Assembly is pretty simple. Find a 3" diameter 12V cooling fan and a cigarette lighter power cord at RadioShack or wherever you think appropriate. Verify which way the fan blows air. Attach a short length of PCV to the outlet side to keep the fan out of you shoes and so the blades don't get hung up and stop spinning. Attach the power cord and your done
I used small zip ties and looped them through 2 holes drilled in the PCV for each corner of the fan.
In my sneaker doing its job quite well.
*notes*
- 3" diameter is about as large as you want to go for the fan, otherwise it might be too big to fit in the shoe properly. Also, 3" allows me to dry out the inside of my Camelback.
- buy 2 fans to dry both shoes out at the same time
- it's best to blow air into your shoes
- with cloth or breathable shoes, pull the shoelaces tight against the PVC pipe so less air escapes back out the way it came in - don't do this for waterproof or full leather boots (the air has to go somewhere)
Personally, I hate walking around in wet shoes, and after they get wet they seem to take forever to dry. I've seen 110V versions of this cheap project to dry ski boots, but never a 12V version. Why do I want a 12V version? because after I dunk my feet because I was too busy walking around looking at the trees to see that creek, I can drive barefoot to the next spot while my shoes dry out a bit. Or I can dry them out back at camp and not worry much about battery drain since the fan I got from RadioShack only draws .16 amps (my cell phone charger is listed at .350 amps max draw). Last time I washed my sneakers it only took 45-60 minutes per shoe to dry them using this fan at room temp.
Assembly is pretty simple. Find a 3" diameter 12V cooling fan and a cigarette lighter power cord at RadioShack or wherever you think appropriate. Verify which way the fan blows air. Attach a short length of PCV to the outlet side to keep the fan out of you shoes and so the blades don't get hung up and stop spinning. Attach the power cord and your done
I used small zip ties and looped them through 2 holes drilled in the PCV for each corner of the fan.
In my sneaker doing its job quite well.
*notes*
- 3" diameter is about as large as you want to go for the fan, otherwise it might be too big to fit in the shoe properly. Also, 3" allows me to dry out the inside of my Camelback.
- buy 2 fans to dry both shoes out at the same time
- it's best to blow air into your shoes
- with cloth or breathable shoes, pull the shoelaces tight against the PVC pipe so less air escapes back out the way it came in - don't do this for waterproof or full leather boots (the air has to go somewhere)
