Fan Blower three way switch..should I have one ?

[Hendrixevo147]

Hi,
As I am still new to this scene and only recently purchaced my 1982 2L Air Cooled T25, I am confused as to how I turn my fan blower on, my mates 1982 water cooled engine has a three possition fan blower switch and he was amazed that I never had one. Is this something that is missing from mine or am I just being dopey ? how do I increase the blower speed to get more air flow to clear my screen etc. ? also my three sliding controls are a really hard to slide around, so I think some of the cables may be not as they should...
cheers
Pete

[Footprint]

No, the Aircooled van has no electric blower to need a switch. The three levers on the dash operate the heater:

Top one is distribution.
Middle one is the heat control.
Lower one operates the vent at the front of the van to allow fresh air in.

The heat lever needs to all the way to the right to allow hot air from the heat exchangers into the heating system.

[Hendrixevo147]

Thanks for the reply mate. Never mind eh. Guess I'll just have to keep wiping it. Lol all part of the fun
Cheers
Pete

[Footprint]

The blower is mounted on the rear of the alternator and thus runs at a proportion of engine speed - more air flow needs more engine speed. That said with the engine hot, push the heat control all the way to the left and then looking sideways through the van just in front of the rear wheel put your hand close to the control outlet - even with a few rusty bits around the exchangers and the engine just ticking over there'll be a useful volume of nice hot air blowing out of there, the problem is getting that hot air to the front of the van, and not losing too much heat from it along the way.
Despite what many people have said, If everything is working OK the heater is adequate, (but no better it's true), it's just it doesn't take much to stop it doing its job properly.

Check:
Heat exchangers for leaks and corrosion.
Cable connected and adjusted - finding no cables and the control pods wedged either open or shut is not unusual.
Heater control pods and riser pipes from exchangers to the control pods for corrosion.
All the ducting for leaks.

Many vans have all of the above to some degree, and it only takes a little lost in each spot to make the output reduce to an asthmatic breath of lukewarm air coming out the heater vents and demister.

For ideas on fixes and improvement see here: A link

[Hendrixevo147]

That's great information, thanks. I'll start to work my way though the items you've mentioned.
Cheers
Pete

[Hasis]

Bumping this one back up, I've just read the linked page (thanks Footprint) and decided that it must be a good idea to add some insulation to my ducting but ... does anyone know where I can get hold of the suggested:

"A 25’ box of 4" Inside Diameter R-4.3 or R-6 (if you can get it) insulated Mylar®-cased flexible household ducting."

I may be missing something, but I can't seem to find anything like this anywhere. Any pointers greatly appreciated

[billy739]

late Aircooled t25's did have a fan fitted, they used the same airbox as the same era diesel just without the matrix.

this box is completely different from the later watercooled heater box tho

[Trunkster]

I too have a 1981 air cooled. I insulated the big air pipe that runs from the heat exchangers to the dash. I used aluminium foil bubble rap that I got from the plumbing section in B&Q. The pipe is already insulated internaly which I found out later so realy it is a wast of time. It is an aluminium outer case with insulation sandwiched between a layer of carboard. What I did was to cut the pipe under the front grill and installed an electric builge fan from a boat suplies shop on Ebay so it helped with air flow. It helped but not brilliant. The best hing that I found was a 12v heater/demister from ebay. They too are not brilliant but they do stop the screen misting up but dont expect it to defrost the screen of warm the cab. After about 15 mins there is plenty of heat coming from the engine just not much air movement.

[mike the van]

Try checking the big pipe underneath if it is full of flakes of paper /card that form part of the tube ally/card sandwich, hoover it out did wonders for mine

Mike

[toolsntat]

late Aircooled t25's did have a fan fitted, they used the same airbox as the same era diesel just without the matrix.

this box is completely different from the later watercooled heater box tho

Yep they are around, bought mine at Vanfest about 8 year ago and still not got around to fitting it

By the way just drove to Cromer with temp probe in air vent , 60'c -70'c all the way

Andy