Well I want to make my own goggle fan. I'm low on cash, and I've heard about homemade fan systems moving more air than proper brought ones, and being about £20 quid cheaper than fan systems I've seen. I cant even find fans made by Vforce, so it looks the only option i have is to make my own (short of buying a new mask).
Edit: Ollytheosteo has found a link for some, arent made by Vforce but they fit pretty much any goggle system it looks like. I'm still running my own experiments though in search of a cheaper and more effective system
So, how do you guys think I should go about this?
a 9v battery, with a slide switch was my idea. I chose a slide switch over a toggle switch, because a toggle switch would stick out and has a chance of getting hit and turning off/on.
I could use a CPU fan, 80x80mm in size. I tried some testing, I got a chipset fan from work. Hooked up to a 9v battery, and it just didnt push enough air. Tried a 80x80mm case fan and it pushed loads, but perhaps too much. Looks like its going to have to be a 80x80mm fan then. Although 60x60mm fans could also be a possibility, may still push enough air and shouldnt require as much power to run. As a 80x80 it does push through alot of air, I could add a resistor, decreasing the amount of air it pushes, but as long as its still enough, it would maintain a longer battery life. I've been testing the battery life on the 80x80mm fan, using a near new Philips Powerlife battery. 5:15 and its just started dying.. Not bad. With a new duracell battery, and a 60x60 fan, im guesstimating this will make about 6 hours of run time.
EDIT: Have got my 60x60mm fan, it is pushing plenty of air, and it's alot slimmer than my 80x80 one aswell, meaning it is perfect for my fan system
. Will do the tests on sunday.
A CPU fan would be too big to fit on the top of the goggles, so it would have to be mounted on one of the sides, or perhaps on the mouth grill. I've been playing around with it in different positions, and it gives the best cooling feeling when coming from under the goggles and I've devised a little drop down method to get it under your goggles, but not in your neck. It involves a mount + the battery holder being cable tied onto the mouth grill, the fan then attaches and detaches from a clip there, meaning you can detach the fan from the mount before taking your mask off, avoiding unnessecary bending of plastic to put on and remove your mask, while still getting the fan in the best position possible. The kind of clip im talking about is similar to a bike light clip.
I would encase the entire thing in 5mm acrylic plastic, I have access to pretty much every kind of colour of plastic, and a vaccum former. This plastic seems strong enough to take hits from paintballs, i had to either stomp on previous moulds or get the hammer out to break them. I realise I probably couldnt use this at tourneys because of all those goggle rules, but would be great for hot days like this in the summer at training days and rec-ball days.
To sum what im trying to make: A 9v battery powered fan (hopefully going to be 60x60 in size), put into a case to protect from paintballs and paint entering, and to hide up all the ugly wires and resistors and whatnot. A switch protruding slightly out of one side to turn it off and on. The unit will be mounted on using cable ties, with a very small piece of casing on the front grill of the mask (probably about 15x15 or 20x20 in size), and then the fan being attached on so it fits nicely underneath the mask, pushing air up and through.
Anyone have any input about this, anyone else tried it?
What position should it be mounted at to move air properly through the mask, whilst still keeping a decent profile if possible?
And maybe.. If this proves effective, would anyone be interested in getting one off me? For those who cannot buy fans for their goggles, Vforce owners and the like, or someone who just wants the same thing (or better apparently) for less. I'd imagine it would be something like £14, for it all put together, including a 9v battery and cable ties for fitting, paypal fees and shipping. Those who would be interested, mention it Obviously none are going for sale now, and not until wednesday (26th) at LEAST, want to get some proper testing done. I'm going to use the Samurai team that I'm playing with on sunday as test subjects. Hehe.
Cheers.
Edit: Loving all the feedback and criticism guys, keep it coming
Edit: Ollytheosteo has found a link for some, arent made by Vforce but they fit pretty much any goggle system it looks like. I'm still running my own experiments though in search of a cheaper and more effective system
So, how do you guys think I should go about this?
a 9v battery, with a slide switch was my idea. I chose a slide switch over a toggle switch, because a toggle switch would stick out and has a chance of getting hit and turning off/on.
I could use a CPU fan, 80x80mm in size. I tried some testing, I got a chipset fan from work. Hooked up to a 9v battery, and it just didnt push enough air. Tried a 80x80mm case fan and it pushed loads, but perhaps too much. Looks like its going to have to be a 80x80mm fan then. Although 60x60mm fans could also be a possibility, may still push enough air and shouldnt require as much power to run. As a 80x80 it does push through alot of air, I could add a resistor, decreasing the amount of air it pushes, but as long as its still enough, it would maintain a longer battery life. I've been testing the battery life on the 80x80mm fan, using a near new Philips Powerlife battery. 5:15 and its just started dying.. Not bad. With a new duracell battery, and a 60x60 fan, im guesstimating this will make about 6 hours of run time.
EDIT: Have got my 60x60mm fan, it is pushing plenty of air, and it's alot slimmer than my 80x80 one aswell, meaning it is perfect for my fan system
. Will do the tests on sunday.A CPU fan would be too big to fit on the top of the goggles, so it would have to be mounted on one of the sides, or perhaps on the mouth grill. I've been playing around with it in different positions, and it gives the best cooling feeling when coming from under the goggles and I've devised a little drop down method to get it under your goggles, but not in your neck. It involves a mount + the battery holder being cable tied onto the mouth grill, the fan then attaches and detaches from a clip there, meaning you can detach the fan from the mount before taking your mask off, avoiding unnessecary bending of plastic to put on and remove your mask, while still getting the fan in the best position possible. The kind of clip im talking about is similar to a bike light clip.
I would encase the entire thing in 5mm acrylic plastic, I have access to pretty much every kind of colour of plastic, and a vaccum former. This plastic seems strong enough to take hits from paintballs, i had to either stomp on previous moulds or get the hammer out to break them. I realise I probably couldnt use this at tourneys because of all those goggle rules, but would be great for hot days like this in the summer at training days and rec-ball days.
To sum what im trying to make: A 9v battery powered fan (hopefully going to be 60x60 in size), put into a case to protect from paintballs and paint entering, and to hide up all the ugly wires and resistors and whatnot. A switch protruding slightly out of one side to turn it off and on. The unit will be mounted on using cable ties, with a very small piece of casing on the front grill of the mask (probably about 15x15 or 20x20 in size), and then the fan being attached on so it fits nicely underneath the mask, pushing air up and through.
Anyone have any input about this, anyone else tried it?
What position should it be mounted at to move air properly through the mask, whilst still keeping a decent profile if possible?
And maybe.. If this proves effective, would anyone be interested in getting one off me? For those who cannot buy fans for their goggles, Vforce owners and the like, or someone who just wants the same thing (or better apparently) for less. I'd imagine it would be something like £14, for it all put together, including a 9v battery and cable ties for fitting, paypal fees and shipping. Those who would be interested, mention it
Obviously none are going for sale now, and not until wednesday (26th) at LEAST, want to get some proper testing done. I'm going to use the Samurai team that I'm playing with on sunday as test subjects. Hehe. Cheers.
Edit: Loving all the feedback and criticism guys, keep it coming
