Fridge Center Console

[Chris and Liza]

g'day rusty

when you say the centre console is designed to allow liquids to drain out - where does it drain to? is there a hole in the body somewhere or does it just dribble all over the carpet?

cheers

chris

[Banned1]

the one in my pajero filled up after I put a can in on top of a screw nail ! but then preceded to drain out the bottom and down the sides of my carpet !

I'd be interested in this mod though, sounds a nice idea ! when I tested the holden, I am sure the salesman told me you can redirect your aircon in there to chill it ! wonder if this is an option also on the falcon ?

Edited 22/09/10 07:59 AM by rab

[Rusty XR6T]

The center console of the FG has 2 plastic lugs that clip into the floor pan, there is a cavity here that goes under the floor pan, the condensation will drain out through there.

Currently I'm having a few heat issues because I haven't acquired the right fan yet. To get a bit scientific there is no such thing as cold... only absence of heat, therefore to cool the center console the Peltier cooler will generate heat on the other side... heat that needs to be channeled away from the console.

I should have this fixed tonight, I'll be changing the normal fan to a blower fan that will direct the hot air directly away from the console

In the mean time here are some pics of what things look like.

The pics in order are the heatsink under the cup holder that gets hot (with fan attached, the heat sink in the console that gets cold and the actual Peltier module ready to be wedged between the 2 heatsinks.

Once I get it all sorted tonight I will finish the write up and post

[bjc]

that's a fcking great idea and once the heat issue is resolved wow

[Dagabond]

Cant get this image out of my head....

(Side note:....Fire Hydrant...hehehe..)

[Rusty XR6T]

Ok ladies and gents, here is the write up... if there is anything you don't understand or need help with just let me know.

Although the way this actually works is quite complex the install process is easy.

You will need

1 x 4.0A Peltier Device - Oatley Electronics

2 x Heatsinks (Copper preferred but Aluminum is ok too)I just used 2 slimline (1RU) Core 2 Duo CPU heatsinks

Heatsink compountd to make sure the Peltier device has a good connection to both heatsinks

1 x normal fan for inside box

1 x blower fan for outside box - both fans can be bought from Jaycar

Some wiring and soldering knowledge

About 2-3 hours spare because the console is a ass to get out

Before you start I thought I would mention the crash sensor computer, pictured below, PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING ON THIS MODULE!!! IT IS EXTREMELY BAD IF YOU F'UP ANYTHING ON THIS MODULE

This is just a simple diagram of what we are going to do

Step 1. Ok so you need to start by pulling your dash apart, there are already topics about this but if you can't find them its pretty easy, if you have troubles with this first step let me know.

The fun part will be trying to get the side trims off the center console past the handbrake.

Step 2. Now the console is out of the car we can get to work cutting a hole in the center console to fit the cooler through. The position and size of the hole will depend on what heatsinks you get.

I know my hole isn't the best, I'm crap at that stuff

Step 3. Getting the Peltier device ready for install... the Peltier device needs to be wedged between the 2 heatsinks with adequate heatsink compound on each side (this is very important!) Then clamp it all together by screwing the 2 heatsinks together, make sure you don't over tighten, the sides of the Peltier device are ceramic and can crack. Before you install in the car connect the wires of the Peltier device quickly to a 12V battery, obviously red to + and black to -. this is so we can double check which side will get hot and which side will get cold... make sure you only do this for max 30 seconds just so you can tell the hot side and the cold side, running the Peltier module like this without a fan may cause it to fail.

Step 4. Now just fit the clamped heatsinks into the cutout you made in the console, should look something like the below, but please note when I took that pic the hot side had a normal fan and not a blower fan. you can now fit your fans ready to be wired up... the fans simply screw in straight to the heatsink

Step 5. Insulation... below is some pics of how I insulated the center console, again I am not the best at this sort of stuff so it doesn't look the neatest, the main point here is to make sure all faces of the console are insulated, this will keep the cold in and the heat out. Make sure you insulate the lid as well. The lid is easy to do, undo all the screws, pull apart and then put insulation into each bit of honeycomb.

The hardest part of the insulation is cutting it to make sure your not going to hit anything when the console goes back in the car.

An important note, do not place insulation too tightly around the hot side heatsink, otherwise the heatsink wont be able to get enough air and will overheat

Step 6. The test... now that you have everything fitted, connect both fans and the Peltier device to your battery for testing, let it run for 20 mins and periodically check it to make sure you cold side is getting nice and cold and your hot side is not getting too hot, if you physically cannot touch the heatsink for at least 5 seconds on the hot side or you can smell an electrical burn then you haven't mounted the heatsinks to the Peltier device properly or the fans are not mounted properly.

Step 7. Getting everything back in the car... now that everything is tested and working to your satisfaction it is time to mount everything back in the car, the console goes in the exact same way it came out.

On each side of the console box I cut 2 very small holes into the aircon vents going past it, this is just so we can create a positive pressure inside the center console, so effectively air comes in the console area near the hot heatsink, the hot heatsink fan sucks the air past the hot heatsink and blows it straight down between the console trim and the carpet and under the seats. This will create a very efficient air flow. of course the cooler we can get the hot heatsink the colder out console box will get

Step 8. Wiring... this can be done as many ways as you like, I have mine connected to a temperature control module with a few switches and things (This is mainly so its ready for later when I make it do hot and cold)

The best place to get power is from the wires going into the cigarette lighter port (AUX Power). Its up to you if you choose to fuse the connection, I put a 10A fuse in line with mine.

Step 9. Fit the last piece of the console... once the final top piece of the console is fitted you cant see anything, the noise from the fans is lower than your engine noise.

Your car battery will be able to keep this up and running for about 10 hours before going flat without the car running.

The console can take around 10-15 mins to cool completely.

This is designed to keep things cold that are already cold, if you put something warm in there and want to cool it down expect it to take around 2 hours.

I think that's about everything, if I have missed anything or you don't understand something just let me know.

And as usual please be careful, everything is at your own risk

Edited 24/09/10 01:09 AM by Rusty XR6T

[RHR]

Mc Pinned. Awesome write up

[GR8XR6]

Nice work. When do I book mine in??

[bjc]

Do you have a temp gun at all to show us the temps it can get down or up to in certain time periods and temps in the car at the time also?

Dick smith, Jaycar sell them. My temp gun is a Dick Smiths Q1371 that iv'e used for years with my RC cars so take a battering with fuel or whatever and still accurate to within the degree.

[Henz]

Nice work. When do I book mine in??

+1