|
Street Class Unlimited Class
DOHC SOHC Ion Updated 1/05 For the most recent list of the fastest five cars click here. |
D.I.Y. Bottle Warmerby: poc301This is a guide to show you how to make a homemade bottle warmer system to keep the bottle pressure up when it gets cold outside. When the ambient temperature drops the pressure within the nitrous bottle is reduced. In order to get the manufactures specified horsepower from your system the normal nitrous bottle pressure should be around 900psi . If the pressure drops below this number you will not extract the maximum amount of power from your kit. Pressure drop is most common during Fall and Winter in the colder climates if you are not using a bottle warmer. The average cost of a manufacturer-specific (NOS/NX/etc) bottle warmer kit runs approximately $160. This setup will give the same effect for around $50.00. My total cost was $49.00. HARDWAREThis installation requires the following: · Electric Blanket · Power Inverter with proper power output The first thing you will need to do is find yourself a nice cheap electric blanket. I found a twin size one for $24.00 on Ebay, just make sure that you find out how many watts the blanket uses so that you can purchase the correct power inverter. For the install just take the blanket and wrap the bottle securely with it making sure to keep the heating element on the bottle for maximum heat conduction. Then run the electric cord under the car's carpeting until the plug rests beneath the passenger's front seat. The next thing you will need to get is a Power Inverter. Make sure you get one that corresponds to the power draw of the blanket. For example my blanket draws 120w and the inverter puts out 140w RMS (continual) and 300w peak. I paid $24 for this new on Ebay after finding out Best Buy and other places sell the same product for $50. The inverter will simply sit beneath the passenger front seat where it will plug into the blanket making sure the inverter is turned on.
Route the inverter's plug to the cigarette lighter for easy access. I have mine sitting between the center console and the passenger seat. When I want to turn on the bottle heater I simply pull up the inverters plug and plug it in to the cigarette lighter socket. That's it! Make sure to use a pressure gauge to monitor the bottle pressure. My setup has a dial I can turn to set the temperature and an LED so I can see when the bottle warmer is on. I placed the LED down between the passenger seat and console so, it's out of the way, but visible when I look down. This is cheap and effective system that works great. I recommend this project to anyone on a tight budget. My next step is to buy an additional cigarette lighter socket from Autozone and wiring it in with a switch. This way I can have a dash mounted switch to activate the system instead of plugging in the cord. |
|
