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Easy filter for battery fan

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by srellim234, Sep 7, 2015.

  1. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    Reading about how junk collects in the fan because there is no filter on the fan intake in the back seat, I decided to see if there was a way to make a home made filter simple enough that even I could make and install it.

    Making sure that whatever I used wouldn't restrict air flow I found Home Depot sells a sheet of thin foam filter for an indoor air conditioner for 97 cents. The black narrow grate along the back seat pops off of the intake without even opening the larger hinged part. I cut the foam to fit and installed it easily as the foam is thin enough to fit between the grate and the larger grate that is incorporated into the hinged piece. With the foam held in place between the two grates the entire process took less than 5 minutes from start to finish..

    The 97 cent sheet is large enough to make a ton of these little filters so I'll just pop in a new one every oil change or so. Now I won't ever have to worry about dog and daughter hair jamming the fan.
     
    #1 srellim234, Sep 7, 2015
    j12piprius likes this.
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I was using something like that for a while, vacuum motor filter material in my case. Then I chickened out a bit, and recently switched to bug screen, which is very coarse, by comparison, but will still do something.

    I'm kinda torn between filtering, and fears of air flow restriction. What I'm figuring now, the bug screen will just snag big particulate, and to have a look at the filter every year or so.

    I've done the latter a couple of times now, and the fan blades just had a little fine dust. You don't have to take it right out to clean, just go along the blades with a q-tip. It's a squirrel cage arrangement, with slim, closely spaced blades, q-tip just fits between each.
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Sep 7, 2015
  3. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    I used a piece of cut from a home HVAC filter, the cheap, coarse fiberglass kind. Even "bug screen" material should serve nicely to keep out hair, leaves, lint balls, and such.

    The duct leading to the fan seemed remarkably clean inside, as far as I could see or feel without further disassembly. The fan rarely runs above its lowest speed.
     
    #3 CR94, Sep 8, 2015
  4. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    CR94 - Did it fit between the two grates or did you have to cut it to the odd shape and place it under the hinged piece? If you did, how difficult was it? I originally opened that hinged piece and wasn't sure about getting something cut in a way that it would stay in place. I didn't find that the small black grate snapped off until after that.
     
    #4 srellim234, Sep 8, 2015
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thanks for this, it is so important for people who carry heavily shedding pets and etc., i helped my neighbor pull apart my old 2004 with 140,000 miles, and it was as clean as a whistle.
     
    #5 bisco, Sep 8, 2015
    srellim234 likes this.
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