Vent fan, for dogs!?

[direwolf82]

So I was driving around the other day with my dog in the truck, and it was hot.
I decided to make a vent fan for him and for me when I'm sleeping in there, tired of condensation inside.
I stole the idea from a k9 cop I saw one day.
Got a 12" radiator fan, a speed control, master on off switch, fuse, an old battery kicking around, some 1/2" lexan I had, some aluminum angle I had.
Cut the aluminum to fit in the passenger side rear window opening top and bottom, caulked and screwed them in. Mounted the lexan to the angle, the fan to the lexan and made an exterior guard. The window can roll up and down still.
Got the speed control on the b pillar so I can reach it from the drivers seat and when I'm laying in bed so that worked out just fine. I put a master on off switch in there because I'm not super confident in the speed controller quality and a fuse because... no fuse is asking to burn one day.
The wiring runs down the b pillar and goes under the driver seat frame to my storage area, I crammed my trolling motor battery into a box and installed that between the rear seat footwells. The battery is behind the tool tote and water can, everything fits perfect. Wish i could say it was all planned and measured but...getting lucky for the win!
It works fantastic! With the speed control the fan can be quiet, or turn it to 11 and get a full 750cfm of fresh air pumping through the truck. The dog loves it, I haven't slept in there yet but that's coming soon, after I make one more window screen to keep the bugs out.
All in all I'm happy, cost was around 90 bucks and maybe 2 hours or so. I had a fair amount of stuff from work and other projects to pull from. Much better than the 5 hundred plus to get a pre-made system that I would have to modify to fit my truck.
All for that little guy! You can't tell from the angle but his head is about 7 feet of the ground there.

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[tacobronco]

Nice. Dumb question: Did you wire it so that it blows outward or inward?

 

[direwolf82]

Nice. Dumb question: Did you wire it so that it blows outward or inward?

It's blowing in, I wanted to be able to reverse the fan depending on conditions but I can't with the fan I got unless I reverse the blades and the wiring so a simple forward/reverse switch wouldn't work. I figure blowing in on the dog would be best for him. Blowing out would be better in the rain and snow though when we are camping in it probably.

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[Buddha.]

You might be able to put a louvered cover over it to keep out rain and snow.

 

[direwolf82]

You might be able to put a louvered cover over it to keep out rain and snow.

I had that thought also, just need to figure out a way to keep it water tight on the outside and especially upper lip. Hang it on the door frame from some u channel maybe? I should go and look at for some inspiration.

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[WOODY2]

It's blowing in, I wanted to be able to reverse the fan depending on conditions but I can't with the fan I got unless I reverse the blades and the wiring so a simple forward/reverse switch wouldn't work. I figure blowing in on the dog would be best for him. Blowing out would be better in the rain and snow though when we are camping in it probably.

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If you were to fab up a U shaped bracket out of C channel aluminum you could then slide the fan u out of said bracket and turn fan 180 thereby changing the direction of air flow. Several plastic places make smoked visor pieces that would help keep rain from entering the top of your setup.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

I had that thought also, just need to figure out a way to keep it water tight on the outside and especially upper lip. Hang it on the door frame from some u channel maybe? I should go and look at for some inspiration.

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Neat idea on this build.

In terms of using this in rough weather, could you run the fan with the window up leaving only a small gap at the top, and get something like a Putco or Weathertek rain shield over the gap? That might prevent too much water from being sucked in; it would reduce airflow but when it’s cold out (rain, snow) you likely need less air anyway as it’s less about temperature and more about ventilation.

Rain Guards & Side Window Deflectors for Cars, Trucks, SUVs & Minivans | WeatherTech Canada

Side Window Deflectors keep rain and other debris outside, allowing you to enjoy fresh air without risking your vehicle’s interior during inclement weather.

www.weathertech.ca

It would probably be about $60 USD to try it out based on the price of that weathertek option.

 

[direwolf82]

If you were to fab up a U shaped bracket out of C channel aluminum you could then slide the fan u out of said bracket and turn fan 180 thereby changing the direction of air flow. Several plastic places make smoked visor pieces that would help keep rain from entering the top of your setup.

I thought about making the lexan quick disconnect, I can actually load it into the frame through the open window from the outside but the fan motor would be sticking out the window by several inches and I could only close the window maybe 3 inches like that. I might try my hand at making a louver from plexi, maybe a stainless u channel on top to hang from the door?

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[direwolf82]

Neat idea on this build.

In terms of using this in rough weather, could you run the fan with the window up leaving only a small gap at the top, and get something like a Putco or Weathertek rain shield over the gap? That might prevent too much water from being sucked in; it would reduce airflow but when it’s cold out (rain, snow) you likely need less air anyway as it’s less about temperature and more about ventilation.

Rain Guards & Side Window Deflectors for Cars, Trucks, SUVs & Minivans | WeatherTech Canada

Side Window Deflectors keep rain and other debris outside, allowing you to enjoy fresh air without risking your vehicle’s interior during inclement weather.

www.weathertech.ca

It would probably be about $60 USD to try it out based on the price of that weathertek option.

After you posted that I went outside and tested how open the window has to be for the fan to move enough air around. That would probably work out for me and I could probably use my window screens with it in place still. I'm headed to somewhere that has rain visors today to see what they look like.
Only issue is I can't tell if I'm exchanging any fresh air in or if I'm just blowing air around the inside of the truck, maybe a smoke test with the window mostly closed before I spend money.

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[WOODY2]

Perhaps you could find a friendly K9 officer and ask his opinion as to viability of his fan and get a closer look at it. Key would be the fan unit it's self. There is a plethora of fans out there from radiator to computer size and CFM. You'll get it worked out I'm sure.

 

[direwolf82]

Perhaps you could find a friendly K9 officer and ask his opinion as to viability of his fan and get a closer look at it. Key would be the fan unit it's self. There is a plethora of fans out there from radiator to computer size and CFM. You'll get it worked out I'm sure.

They have some pretty intense systems, pager alarms tied into the ecu, seperate fan controls to automatically turn the fan on and off when demand is called, disconnects when the ac is on high, all sorts of crazy stuff. I priced a replacement fan for that system that can reverse with a switch and it was 200 bucks.
I just went with the fan I had leftover from another project, since I'm trying to be cheap about this I'm all in on the fan I have and just need to concentrate on making a something to keep the water out and air moving.

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[WOODY2]

They have some pretty intense systems, pager alarms tied into the ecu, seperate fan controls to automatically turn the fan on and off when demand is called, disconnects when the ac is on high, all sorts of crazy stuff. I priced a replacement fan for that system that can reverse with a switch and it was 200 bucks.
I just went with the fan I had leftover from another project, since I'm trying to be cheap about this I'm all in on the fan I have and just need to concentrate on making a something to keep the water out and air moving.

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My dog is priceless, Me, Meh? Not so much.

 

[direwolf82]

My dog is priceless, Me, Meh? Not so much.

Yeah, that's why I'm sticking with the fan I have. Only issue I have with it is for my use of it, it's perfect blowing in on him. It's not perfect blowing rain and snow on me as it is set up now.
What kind of venting or cooling have you made for your dog? Would love to see more ideas on how to keep the monster more comfortable.

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[WOODY2]

We have a small 12v fan and a reflective cooling shade tarp ( link below). He's housed in a lockable Trans K9 unit. But in reality we turn rear air on and just keep the vehicle running when it's hot. FWIW he's a retired Military Working Dog with 3 deployments to his credit

https://www.amazon.com/Jesasy-Aluminet-Shade-Panels-Grommets

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[direwolf82]

We have a small 12v fan and a reflective cooling shade tarp ( link below). He's housed in a lockable Trans K9 unit. But in reality we turn rear air on and just keep the vehicle running when it's hot. FWIW he's a retired Military Working Dog with 3 deployments to his credit

https://www.amazon.com/Jesasy-Aluminet-Shade-Panels-Grommets

I don't have rear air that works well enough to keep him cool and leaving the truck running with the ac on would just result in him and truck being stolen as well as him being hot, then they would probably use him to train fighting dogs on so that's not really an option that would work where I currently am.
It can hit 115 with the heat index and 90 percent humidity around here so the ac can struggle. I don't take him with me on days like that unless we are going on a real trip but I do bring him running errands around town weather permitting.
I tried some reflective stuff but it ended up not really being worth it, it just didn't cut out as much heat as I thought it would. Maybe if i blocked half the windows it could work enough. The fan can drop the air temp inside the truck pretty fast to ambient temp, maybe 20 seconds at most to exchange all the air inside the cab plus he likes sitting and having it blow in his face. When the fan is running it just stays ambient air temp in the truck.

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