Primary Clutch Fan

[mountainhorse]

Rick!,

I see where you are coming from for sure.

If you add positive pressure under the hood, does that keep air from coming in the vents?

It all depends on how much air you think is coming IN the openings on a mountain sled that runs with snow on the hood at low speeds.
Click on this thread for my opinion on venting vs ducting on the PRO RMK's.


If you had a vent right next to the inlet of the fan, then yes you would be drawing in cold air and forcing out hot air IMO.

If you did not have a vent next to the inlet (center) of the fan, then you would simply be circulating under hood air and not pressurizing the engine bay(but still moving air past the primary)

Could the clutch sheaves use more (any) cooling? For sure. Not quite sold on a teeny centrifugal fan yet. Clever idea though. One thing it will do and that is spread belt dust to previously clean corners underhood, mebbe even on yer new Klim's.....

I keep my clutches and belts clean and the area around them... sure some will blow around... But since the clutches are the heart of the sled, I keep that area spotless so there would not be a bunch of kevlar and rubber dust to blow around end of the season she gets the motor pulled and everything cleaned back to new (including the injectors)... I like the sled to perform to it's capability and be reliable when I'm places I cant get towed out of with a a Huey on the other end of the line.

At 8200 rpm (clutched rpm), I would imagine That little suckker blows plenty of air. Look at a simple hairdryer and how small the fan is on that thing that is spinning at about 5000 rpm moves plenty of air..

Will it work on a PRO.. or in the Cat for that matter... only one way to find out

BTW.. on that torque link ... who knows...but I think they did use it on their race sleds in the past and stopped when they had the new design.. I believe AC will have it on the new Race sled at Haydays.


https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/e-7cIFvOs9gZw1hWHPlYwA?feat=directlink[/QUOTE]

 

[chunkysoup]

Plastic Fan vs. Shredded belt at 8000rpm. Yikes!

 

[tdorval]

Might shred less belts if the fan actually works though! Time will tell.

 

[NapaMatt]

I would rather have NO Fan..


Less Rotating mass.. HP Robber!

Plus.. This is Polaris Section...

We didn't eat green snow..

AC.. Did.. they have belt temp to worry about...

Ill just ride the Pro like they made them to be ridden..

and past all of you with Fans built in!! lol

 

[diamonddave]

With a new item like this and peoples opinions about said item, you begin to get an understanding of the people posting.

 

[winter brew]

It should not be referred to as a fan, but rather a side panel/clutch guard. Trust me....the only thing this can possibly have any cooling effect on is the outer primary cover, which is already the coolest part of the primary and this will not result in ANY less heat at the sheaves or belt. It will have ZERO effect on performance and will help with clutch and belt life only by helping to prevent damage and impact to the clutch with the new chassis/panel layout. That is the primary reason this piece was made...look at any XP side panel and you'll see what I'm talking about, there is likely a hole rubbed through. If the TRA was the shape of the Cat clutch there would be a potential for catostrophic failure without some sort of guard.

 

[ACMtnCat]

I wouldn't have expected that type of opinion from you Winter Brew.

I have had my hand very very close to this fan while the sled is running and I can tell you this does suck air in! Spray some carb cleaner past it, not at it but past it and see where the mist goes. My opinion is more like mountainhorse's. It will have an effect on clutch temps!

 

[winter brew]

I wouldn't have expected that type of opinion from you Winter Brew.

I have had my hand very very close to this fan while the sled is running and I can tell you this does suck air in! Spray some carb cleaner past it, not at it but past it and see where the mist goes. My opinion is more like mountainhorse's. It will have an effect on clutch temps!

I'm sure it moves air....but it's not like there isn't constant air movement already.....clutch and belt spinning at 8,000 rpm there is HUGE movement of air at all times. The clutch itself is a crude fan. Spray mist in there at 8,000 rpm without the fan and it'll still blow your hair back.
I'm not implying it's a bad thing, just that 99% of the benefit of this piece(and probably the reason it was designed in the first place) is to protect the clutch and sidepanel....not the movement of already moving hot air....that's all I'm saying.
Reading through the posts I can see what will happen. Guys will start pulling this piece of "rotating weight" off their sled thinking it is holding them back, then they will lay the sled over and either grind a hole in the side panel or worse yet lay it into a tree and tweak the clutch or crank with little or no protection like there was in the old chassis. Just hoping to save guys a little trouble.

 

[ACMtnCat]

I should have been more clear. Spray the mist past this intake vent located at the primary fan area. It is sucking in air pretty good! So good it might need a powder screen over it. That is going to be cold air that otherwise would not be moving inside that clutch area if the fan wasn't there! I think your off base with your assumption that it is there for side panel/clutch protection.

 

[ReTodd]

Neat idea but wrong approach.

I'm going to be using a 12v marine blower (for venting engine compartments) that will plug right in to my headlight wires (I am removing headlights). The fan will be mounted on top of the clutch guard in between the two clutches and will be pulling cold air from the headlight screens via ducting. I think this will make a significant decrease in temps and will help your fourth pull feel just as strong as your first. No monkeying with the clutch, rebalancing, etc and no cutting side panels and worrying about warranty. If I have issues, the lights go back in and to the dealer she goes.

Rt

 

[Oregonsledder]

Neat idea but wrong approach.

I'm going to be using a 12v marine blower (for venting engine compartments) that will plug right in to my headlight wires (I am removing headlights). The fan will be mounted on top of the clutch guard in between the two clutches and will be pulling cold air from the headlight screens via ducting. I think this will make a significant decrease in temps and will help your fourth pull feel just as strong as your first. No monkeying with the clutch, rebalancing, etc and no cutting side panels and worrying about warranty. If I have issues, the lights go back in and to the dealer she goes.

Rt

Seems like a good idea you have. Please post pictures when you can, and it would be great to get some before and after temp readings.

 

[volcano buster]

What is causing the heat in the first place?

 

[NapaMatt]

Heat Comes From the Belt.. and Clutches.. and also heat from the Engine..


But i think WAY to many people are looking too deeply in to this..

If Ski Doo has some thing .... Polaris guys want it... if AC got some thing new Polaris Guy want it..

I'll just ride the dang sled lol rant over

 

[ReTodd]

I don't think we're wasting time with this....the Pro is easy on belts but you can't tell me you don't notice a difference between your first climb after a cool down and your third or fourth climb in a row? Wouldn't it be nice to have the clutches pull consistently?

So many people throw so much money at hp and weight savings but truly getting more efficiency out of your clutch will be way more cost effective than those upgrades.

Time will tell.

 

[Oregonsledder]

I don't think we're wasting time with this....the Pro is easy on belts but you can't tell me you don't notice a difference between your first climb after a cool down and your third or fourth climb in a row? Wouldn't it be nice to have the clutches pull consistently?

So many people throw so much money at hp and weight savings but truly getting more efficiency out of your clutch will be way more cost effective than those upgrades.

Time will tell.

I agree, it's worth a look see. I work on a lot of clutches and I can tell you that over time heat is a clutch killer. Sheave cracks form over time from heat and in extreme cases cause the clutch to grenade. SLP won't even balance a clutch that has any visible cracks. It's a liability issue. Good venting/ducting is probably all you need, but at low boondocking tree riding speeds a fan of some type seems like a good possible solution. I'm still not sold on hanging anything on the primary clutch. My 2 cents worth.

 

[Clarke673]

IMO an exturnal fan would work best... Because to make it work you would need to compleatly seal the clutches off from the sled. If you had cool clutches that can't get dirt in them, can't get water or snow mist in them that are also just as cool as stock clutches would be or cooler.... it would be awsome!