Some Measurements needed...

[Lwanmtr]

Ok, so I have an idea for a thing to reroute the center vents in a non destructive manner but I need some help from anyone who has a single DIN flip out screen thingy that covers the
vents. Basically, I need to get a measurement of how much room is behind the screen to the vents and along the sides screen to console vinyl.

I dont yet have one of those, which is why I'm askin anyone here if they can get that.

Anyone who helps out will be able to test any prototype I come up with too :)

[Robmac123]

I have one, but it's not yet installed so I can't get the measurements for you unfortunately.
However, I do know from my shopping around and research before I bought one that the amount the screen sticks forward when open does vary a bit (maybe by and inch on the ones I tested), so you may not be able to make a one-size-fits-all solution.
I also found some single Din size spacers in assorted sizes from about 3/8" and 1" that bring the whole unit forward. I plan on using one to try to limit the blocking of the vents to the minimum. It might look a little 'off' but as long as it doesn't look too bad I think the trade off for more airflow would be worth it. Plus the stereo I chose was one of the ones I found that the screen pops forward nicely as it opens.
Hope my ramblings are of some use to you.

I'm really interested to see what you come up with.

[Lwanmtr]

Thanks.

Yeah, I figured there are slight differences in different makes and models..If I got multiple measurements from different folks, It would be easier to make something more universal.

I have the design in my head...which I'm sure is not gonna work when I actually make the thing...lol

[Shep]

Hope my ramblings are of some use to you.You haven't met DMCVegas have you? Verbose and thorough that man, but knowledgeable so it works out. Your post was like 10% of what he normally does though lol



Someone on here reversed the vents and the radio slot by modifying the HVAC unit. Here's (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?4477-Swapping-the-stereo-and-airvents-the-other-way-around-%28maintaining-stock-operation%29&p=63572#post63572) a link to the thread with dead-link pics. OP of that thread posted in April, so it's possible a bump the thread might have him provide fresh pics, but I'm interested to see if archive.org has that page somewhere with active pics. He had to fabricate something inside the HVAC unit itself that sits behind the radio.

I have an old HVAC unit myself that I've been wanting to a different flavor of the mod on, basically screw the center vents entirely and do a double-DIN radio in its place, but that has been on hold pending more pressing projects. Rather than the center vents, I would block off the doors too and simply put one vent per driver's kneepad, two vents in the passenger kneepad. That would be it for the whole car, which would also allow the ducting space within each door to suddenly become available for things (not sure what yet, biggest problem is lack of available wires in the door, we'd need to run a new batch of them to each door before we tried anything like that).

Of course, if you're just worried about the amount of air blocking, you'd probably want to do the foam mods first. Seals up any loose air pockets behind the radio faceplate (and the door vent becomes actually usable too). Don't have links, check the tutorials section but I think @Michael did it (I know the @ thing doesn't work here but you get my point). By that point, many of the HU's on the market have adjustable angles to combat glare, so it's a simple matter of tilting the screen up and down to adjust air clearance. Just avoid cranking on the heat too hard with the screen seated fully up, A/C can help but heat might kill the screen early.

[Lwanmtr]

My idea is to preserve the center vent usability, even if it lessens the amount coming from there, the rest would be pushed to the door vents. Considered the kneepad solution, but dont wanna cut up mine (not really confident in my ability)...shuffling the vents and radio I also thought about but with as much a pain as it was to get the rubber duct around the vent and the box, I dont wanna pull that out again if I dont have to...hehe.

Hehe...yeah DMCVega does tend to write in volume form, but its usually useful information.

[Shep]

My idea is to preserve the center vent usability, even if it lessens the amount coming from there, the rest would be pushed to the door vents. Considered the kneepad solution, but dont wanna cut up mine (not really confident in my ability)...shuffling the vents and radio I also thought about but with as much a pain as it was to get the rubber duct around the vent and the box, I dont wanna pull that out again if I dont have to...hehe.I've been getting more interested in airflow these days, part of the problem becomes the longer the ductwork is, the less output you have. Drag on the ducts, but every curve you make also is a pretty tricky one. If losing a bit of airflow is tolerable, there's good options.

One thought: angle the vents a bit outward. This can be fairly easy, but again depends on the HU. Better to just install one and see what kind of angle you can get. Essentially, the center of each of the two vents gets pushed towards the back of the car further, so the vents face the seats more than straight back. Best example I could find was a sub box I saw recently:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/kG0AAOSw9hdaJdkK/s-l600.jpg

Overhead shot on the right shows my idea best. Simple, elegant, and can be fairly easily made. Heck I'm sure it could be 3D printed for that matter, I have some black PETG that would look great with that guy. Go over with a heat gun and wouldn't even be able to tell it's 3D printed either. But again, measurements WILL vary by HU. Angle plays a large factor in that (3 degrees is like half an inch I think on bigger screens), but so also does mounting depth. You can actually adjust the mounting depth, so if you need some extra clearance, bolt it to the DIN mount so it sticks out a slight bit and that should solve it. Different HU's mount in different depths.

Actually, had a probably way better thought. I have about the cheapest Chinese garbage flip-up HU on the market. Rebranded DVD player that didn't take DVD's, it's worth like a dollar, but gave me a screen for a backup camera. I needed it for my 2014 Impreza to back up properly. The radio below it was single DIN also, but didn't survive the accident (55 MPH into my fully stopped ass, yeah that was fun), but I haven't tested the screen because I didn't think it was needed. That said, it's a fairly simple mechanism, the angle adjusts to fully horizontal to about 18 degrees off vertical leaning back. Do you want it? No charge if you do (PM me your address though!), I'm just glad I finally figured out what I could do with it :) And hey, feel free to throw it out when you're done, I think that's where they took it from in the first place ;)


Hehe...yeah DMCVega does tend to write in volume form, but its usually useful information.Agreed on that! :)

[Lwanmtr]

The design I have in mind is pretty simple and if I have enough room, I can easily get curves right to send the air around a screen...kind of a pain not having one right now to get an idea of hoe much space is there. (i'll send a pm)

Gonna be printing at least the early designs in either pla or abs...should easily handle the heat from the vents.

[Shep]

The design I have in mind is pretty simple and if I have enough room, I can easily get curves right to send the air around a screen...kind of a pain not having one right now to get an idea of hoe much space is there. (i'll send a pm)

Gonna be printing at least the early designs in either pla or abs...should easily handle the heat from the vents.NEVER use PLA inside a car. Glassing temp is low enough for failure within one summer day. Learned that one the hard way on dash cam mounts in my Subaru Impreza (read: colder interior). For test fits, it works great and I abuse the hell out of it, but never the final product.

ABS can be quite brittle, I've had constant failures with them that destroy the entire part. PETG is messy to print (Hatchbox is, at least), and it seems to extrude incredibly thin, so far more is needed to compensate. ABS-R filament sold by the guys at M3D seems to remove most of the issues of PETG, and despite the misleading name, is based on PETG. Haven't tried much else, but there's a lot out there. Still exploring! :)

[Lwanmtr]

Yeah there are alotta different filaments..seems like something new everytime i look..lol. I usually get mine from Matterhackers, only had a couple that were actually bad..and prints I did a few years ago are still intact. Probably going to try some PETG in my next order..just to see what its like.

[Nicholas R]

Shep is right, the heat from the heater is more than enough to break down PLA over time.

[Shep]

Oh my PLA print died just sitting. Granted, it had a roof-mounted window seat (it was, after all, a dash cam mount), but 24 hours later it was bonking me on the head. One day parked in the sunlight was all it needed, it's no small wonder you see countless warnings not to leave pets/kids/elderly/Uber passengers/yourself in a parked car in the summer.


Probably going to try some PETG in my next order..just to see what its like.Stringy. VERY stringy. Best to go over it with a hair dryer after it's done. My Hatchbox PETG is giving me fits, I don't think I'm handling it right. Prints way smaller than expected and inter-layer adhesion (a star quality of PETG) isn't a thing it seems. Probably just need to set the diameter way lower or extrusion multiplier up. And Hatchbox is supposed to be amazing filament too.

colorFabb, Hatchbox, MatterHackers are amazing for "typical" filaments. Exotic ones, Taulman and colorFabb are amazing. There are others in each category, those are the ones I'm most familiar with. eSun is a bit of a crapshoot, Print-Inz should stick to making beds, their filament is horribly tolerant of extreme and quick diameter fluctuations.

(Come to think of it, I should probably just email Hatchbox about my problems, heh)

[Lwanmtr]

I also have some nylon I was using for nozzle cleaning...maybe I otta try printing something with it sometime...lol

[Shep]

I also have some nylon I was using for nozzle cleaning...maybe I otta try printing something with it sometime...lolGlad you mentioned nylon, supposed to be a higher strength filament and keep hearing lots of good things about it. On my shopping list now!

Maker's Muse (YouTube) latest review reminded me of HIPS, haven't tried it, but have some on hand. Saving it now for bigger multi-part prints as it does have an actual solvent like ABS, and I do have it handy. Requires paint though, it's "fresh printer paper" white.

What kind of printer do you have by the way?

[Lwanmtr]

I have a Bukobot2 Duo and a RoboR1. Both are very good...but the R1 has autoleveling which i like alot.

[Shep]

Oh jeez, Bukobot puts my ReliaBuild RB3 to shame, christ. (Well, almost. Cubic 10" build area upgradable to 14" in height, but small stuff. Okay and skip sense). I do have a half-done Prusa i3-style printer by a shady company, been looking for a good variant of it to go for, it's high heat alone is an attractive offering. 3mm filament though, I don't know about that one, my entire collection is 1.75mm sans like three 5 lb rolls.

I saw a Robo R1 at my local library, did I see right that there's no heated bed? Can't find the filament size either.

Got your address, will grab the flip-up screen tomorrow, my parents had to dig it out for me. I'll try to ship it before my mother-in-law swings by, no guarantees though! :)

[Lwanmtr]

for $400 the R1 is a great machine. uses 1.75mm filament, so you'd be safe. Has the heated bed and autoleveling pretty decent sized build area. Havent had any issues with it.

The bukobot2 on the other hand..good printer..the dual extruders is nice..but have to level it nearly every time. I've used the R1 alot more since I got it...hehe.

[Shep]

Good lord it's been snowing like hell. Had two feet to drive through all over town today, lovely. But got the radio, only to discover the harness wasn't present. I think I've figured out the pinout based on visually inspecting the board as well as Google Images, I will confirm with my parents tomorrow, but I wrote the functions with masking tape for now. It's a fairly standard connector I have a few of (the same kind used on computer ATX power supplies for 350W+ video cards actually, made by Molex, I have an entire kit of sizes even)

Apparently the unit can be found by googling the strange Chinglish phrasing on the front of "Automobile TV System":

https://www.chinawholesalegift.com/pic4/2012-3/20/7-inch-tft-lcd-auto-tv-system-1008151387.jpg

Nothing says "worth a dollar" like "China Wholesale" in the domain name. Even they know it's crap! Guess the whole "digital antenna TV" thing caught them off guard, it legitimately was marketed for analog TV and worked before then, so they haven't been for sale since.

Will box it up and ship ASAP, the post office is right up the street, I will give you a tracking number privately! :)

EDIT:
Must have removed this bit and forgotten to re-add it! That pic shows the "screen angle" adjust buttons too, right-most two buttons. Mine works, but occasionally the machine will reboot or freeze up. This is more than fine for a test fit, but annoying as hell for a reliable device.

[Lwanmtr]

Lol..I love that generic 'automobile tv system'. I worry about chinese wholesale items...in movies and cartoons, they usually end causing rifts in space time, then some weird monster comes out and tries to eat too many cashews (or postacios).

And stop braggin' about all the snow yer getting...I think we have rain coming this weekend...we seem to get freezing tempuratures or rain...snow is a rarity..lol

[Shep]

Lol..I love that generic 'automobile tv system'. I worry about chinese wholesale items...in movies and cartoons, they usually end causing rifts in space time, then some weird monster comes out and tries to eat too many cashews (or postacios).I've never seen that one. Did you watch it...

*shades*

on one of these?

YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!

- Horatio Cane, probably



And stop braggin' about all the snow yer getting...I think we have rain coming this weekend...we seem to get freezing tempuratures or rain...snow is a rarity..lolSnow means salt. Salt means hibernation. Those classics you still see driving where you are? Already fattened up and sheltered by now in the snow belt. Mine's always "last to sleep, first to wake" unless she's in the shop, which at this point we're pushing 2.5 years at this rate, so who knows. At least she's got a warm bed, my daily's underneath a tree and parked right where the salt trucks just launch the salt on its ass in a way that scratches the paint and doesn't even melt the snow. At least I'm not in the plow's way (I remember the car that was though, that was a fun one).

[Lwanmtr]

Lol

Around here they dont salt the roads, it takes alot for them to decide even to gravel them. Call me insane (and many prolly will) but im planning to use my car as a daily, year round car when I get it back on the road...hehe.

[Shep]

Lol

Around here they dont salt the roads, it takes alot for them to decide even to gravel them. Call me insane (and many prolly will) but im planning to use my car as a daily, year round car when I get it back on the road...hehe.If they can get away with gravel and have it work, I would too! Salt causes surface-level frame rust, even dry (I tried once. Literally just once. And got a lot of it.)

[Lwanmtr]

Usually they dont even gravel unless its been snowing for a week or more. I think people would scream if they used salt up here...hehe. Still i wouldnt mind having a platform i could drive my car onto, hit a button and it sprays the bottom clean and maybe has some jetsons robots do a lil scrubbing.

[Shep]

Usually they dont even gravel unless its been snowing for a week or more. I think people would scream if they used salt up here...hehe. Still i wouldnt mind having a platform i could drive my car onto, hit a button and it sprays the bottom clean and maybe has some jetsons robots do a lil scrubbing.Or, you know, this guy:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDNLUzjkpg

By the way, Post office went "wait, what?" on the address you sent me, sent you a PM on it. Don't want it to get lost, especially this time of year when half the crap being shipped will be anyways! Like my settlement check for my SiriusXM lawsuit payout...

[Lwanmtr]

Lol..thats pretty cool...they come in delroean size?

Or..someone could xray the box, see that its a chinese wholesale limited edition automobile tv system and decide to pilfer it....lol

[Shep]

Lol..thats pretty cool...they come in delroean size?

Or..someone could xray the box, see that its a chinese wholesale limited edition automobile tv system and decide to pilfer it....lolHave you seen the D-Rex? everything comes in DeLorean size these days LOL (hey, wonder if "DeLorean Tank" is on Rich W's radar???)

[Lwanmtr]

Lol..Delorean Tank....dont give him ideas....though it prolly is already in his head.

[Shep]

Shipped, hopefully nobody notices their box size isn't even listed on the website and I just googled it and paid whatever Google told me (hey, don't offer the boxes as "flat rate" if you can't ship them that way!) I will look tomorrow myself for the harness if I remember. I'm swinging by the house then to make our holiday sugar cookies and will be bingeing on the bastards for a few months. Which reminds me, I need to start a thread on holiday traditions...

[Lwanmtr]

lol They might send the coppers after ya for putting the wrong size

[Shep]

That would be a mistake on their part, especially given they've caused several hundred dollars in damage to packages and documents (some of which are irreplaceable) by not obeying the principle of "big thing not fit in small hole". They don't seem to be inclined to care, at that point they're opening the door for themselves to face serious legal scrutiny.

I digress, it did ship, but no padding. Apparently that box size doesn't need it, you put it diagonally and it fits flawlessly. The harness is on top of it, sitting loose, but I taped the box up well. Probably best to open from the bottom though, less tape there unless you got a good knife!

[Lwanmtr]

No Padding? that dollar radio might get damaged....ok, not that its lifespan is very long...lol

I think only once here they tried to stuff a big thing in the small hole...took alot of work to get the dang box open to get the mail out

[dodint]

Not meaning to hijack, but I remembered this thread and figured this was as good a place as any.

Can someone look and see what the distance is, on the exterior of the windshield, from the bottom of the adhesive mirror mount patch measured straight up to the edge of the glass/trim at the border to the roof?

I'm writing down some specs for a tint/vinyl job on Saturday and I won't get my car back until Friday night. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

[DMC-Ron]

Here is the measurement in my car:
56533

Sorry the caliper readout is upside down. The indicated distance is 4.753 inches. And I hope I understood and this is what you wanted.

Ron

[dodint]

Ron,

That's exactly what I needed. Thanks!

[Lwanmtr]

In other news.....

I got distracted a bit with other things, but gonna be trying to mock up my idea soonish.