The reality of our country is such that winter in it lasts no less than six months. This is especially felt by the owners of classic AvtoVAZ models. Not always a regular interior heater copes with its task. Today on sale you can find a car fan heater from a cigarette lighter. Thanks to this simple device, you can quickly warm up the interior to comfortable temperatures. Also, the device will help with icing the windows.
Additional heating: why is it
For the functioning of the standard heater in most domestic and foreign car brands, the heat that the engine generates is used. In order for the motor to reach the operating temperature, it takes 15 minutes or more. Only then will the stove work. However, in this case, not everything is so simple. What is more important - good visibility through glass or comfortable temperatures in the cabin?
A device such as a car fan heater from a cigarette lighter can solve two problems immediately after launch. The result of this small device will be visible immediately. This heater will last 15 minutes to heat the cabin. You can also place the device in the glass area or in any other necessary place. The heater will also greatly facilitate the lives of passengers who are in the back row of seats.
Varieties of additional heaters
Among the popular types of interior heaters that are used today in cars, the following types are distinguished:
- Additional heaters based on a tubular heating element.
- Devices with ceramic heaters.
- Infrared heating elements.
In devices equipped with heating elements, air flows are heated by passage through a spiral, which is made of highly alloyed alloys. Often these are tungsten or nichrome alloys. Recently, such technology has been used less and less.
In devices where ceramics are used as a heater, the device is slightly different. Ceramic base has high resistance. Such heaters are more economical and more compact. These additional heaters are more popular.
Infrared heaters are used only if it is necessary to warm up some small area in the car elephant. For more, their power will simply not be enough.
The principle of operation and device
Such additional heaters are arranged quite simply. Often, they consist of a heating element and a fan. All this is in a plastic case. Adjustments - electronic and automatic. Their task is to prevent overheating of the device and its combustion. The automobile fan heater is powered from the cigarette lighter of this same car.
As for the principle of action, everyone knows how the heat gun is arranged and works. These devices apply the same principle. That is, the air from the passenger compartment is sucked into the device body and then driven through the heater. TEN or any other element has a ribbed surface, which provides a large area of contact with air.
For mounting on the dashboard on the body of this additional heater may have special legs, suction cups or clothespins. To use the device as a hairdryer, there is a special retractable handle on the case. So that the driver can change the flow of thermal air, there are movable blinds for this.
Operation of additional heating
Car cigarette lighter fan heater is designed for occasional use. If you make any major changes in the design of the heating system of a car, then this can be much more expensive than the purchase of this small device.
There is nothing easier than turning on this heater in the morning and then sitting in an already comfortable lounge. This is the most profitable option for passenger cars. Here the whole point is that a warm interior is a guarantee of safety when driving. When the driver is cold, he cannot fully concentrate on the traffic situation. Cold is stress, and stress is the danger of accidents.
Selection rules
If you need to purchase a car fan heater from a cigarette lighter, you must first know some rules. What is available to most motorists in the modern market has a capacity of 150 to 300 watts. Choosing more powerful devices, you should consider the possibility of wiring a car. But even devices with minimal power should not be purchased. It is believed that such heaters with a power of 150 W are suitable only for weak point heating.
Also, when choosing, you should be guided by safety rules. Often these are devices equipped with a ceramic heater. For example, a ceramic heater is installed in a car fan heater from the Koto cigarette lighter.
When choosing a factory device, many recommend paying attention to the number of adjustments, as well as the presence of automatic shutdown if the set temperature is reached.
For warmth to be in every corner of the cabin, you must have a long cord. If the automobile fan heater from the cigarette lighter does not have this, then it will not work to use it as a hairdryer. Also, it will not be useful for passengers who are settled in the rear seats.
Experts recommend paying attention not only to technical specifications, but also to the brand or brand of the manufacturer. Also, a long-term warranty will not be out of place.
Do-it-yourself car heater from a cigarette lighter
It is not always important to purchase this additional heater, especially if in the garage you can find some old iron. As you can see, the device of these heaters is extremely simple, which means that everyone can assemble it independently.
To build, you will need an old toaster and a broken power supply from an old computer. But you can also make out the old and no longer used, or even completely broken hair dryer.
Why collect if you can buy
When choosing a car fan heater from a cigarette lighter, reviews are the first thing you should pay attention to. So, in these reviews, many write that the possibilities of everything that is sold in stores is enough only to blow out misted glass. And a home-made device can be equal to the power that the battery will pull.
How to make a car fan heater from a cigarette lighter?
The first step is to collect all the materials that will be needed during assembly. For the manufacture of a simple automobile additional heater, working heating elements are needed. You can get them from old toasters or hair dryers. A metal box with a fan and a switch is also useful - the PC power supply is ideal for this.
Next, you should choose two radiators, which can also be removed from the same computer power supply, a relay for 12 V and 30 A, a fuse for 30 A, springs made of steel, wires with a cross section of 1.5 mm, as well as bushings made of plastic.
Heating element assembly
The first step is to screw one of the radiators onto the cover of the power supply. It is best to mount as close to the fan as possible. The second radiator is fixed on the second side of the cover, but in such a way that it is as isolated from the metal surface as possible.
For the final assembly of the heater, the ends of the expanded nichrome wire should be wound on a gys radiator, which is connected to the block cover. The second ends are wound on steel spring rings. The second ends of the springs cling to the pins of the second, insulated radiator.
The device will turn on and off from the standard key, which is located in the power supply.
A few words about the fan
The cooler that is installed in most PC power supplies operates at 12 V. Turnover is sufficient to cool the transformer, but not enough for a home-made heater. In addition, the heater parts will overheat.
If you connect the fan not to 12 V, but to 24 V, then the speed will be enough. But where to get such voltage in a passenger car? A DC voltage converter can be used as a reliable source. It can be either purchased or made independently.
Heater connection
The fan heater assembled in this way can be connected both to the cigarette lighter and to the battery. It is better not to install the fuse in the device body, but to install it separately and almost next to the battery.
That's so simple and inexpensive you can make an automobile fan heater from a cigarette lighter. A photo of him is unpresentable, but his efficiency is several times higher than that of store appliances. With such a heater, you can count on comfortable temperatures in the cabin.