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Forum » Electric Vehicles (EV) Forums » TWIKE

New window heating solution for the TWIKE in planning

Author	Message
Written on: 07. 12. 07 [22:51]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 367	Again and again TWIKE drivers (or pilots) are in wet weather confronted with fogged up windows. Driving can become quite tricky under such conditions. Several TWIKE owners have implemented their own solutions. A wiki (german) about do-it-yourself solutions to the problem can be found here: http://elweb.info/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=twike_scheibenlueftung Interesting point to note here is: FineMobile Gmbh, the TWIKE manufacturer, has started to work on a factory made solution to the problem. ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network Community for sustainable transport
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Written on: 09. 12. 07 [11:18]
Franko30 Moderator registered since: 08.09.2007 Posts: 62	ecoadmin wrote: Interesting point to note here is: FineMobile Gmbh, the TWIKE manufacturer, has started to work on a factory made solution to the problem. According to Martin Feneberg of FineMobile, they will be able to sell the new solution in time for the next winter season in 2008. Link to his announcement (German): http://www.twikeklub.ch/forum/_forum/00000d51.htm Cheers Franko30 TW 808 / 20 AH LiIon-Akkus seit 03/2008 / Höchste Reichweite bisher: 140 km. Verbrauch 6,3 kWh/100 km (372 US-miles per Gallon)
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Written on: 11. 02. 08 [20:40]
childress registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 76	This is very interesting/encouraging. Google's translation tools are better than nothing, but could I persuade someone to translate it to english (rough translation is ok). It seems like they're taking warmed air from around the electric motor and driving it with a fan and tubing up to the front windshield by where the existing hair dryers are at. I'm particularly interested in the effectiveness of how much of the canopy this method clears in an older Twike (less airtight); I've tried antifog spray/cleaner and that doesn't work so well. The built-in defoggers (hair dryers) don't work very well at all, especially once fog has already formed. I've done quite a bit of work recently on that area of the Twike, so I would be quite comfortable implementing this solution... if I knew how effective it would be. I essentially can't pedal at all if there's high humidity/rain or it's really cold -- for fear that my breath from this exercise is more than enough to fog up the interior. Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 11. 02. 08 [22:53]
childress registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 76	Hmmm... any idea from Martin if the factory solution will be the same/simliar to the 'pull the heat/warm air off the motor'? Thank you so much for the pointer -- I will be investigating closing off the bottom half of the 'grid' of the hair dryers to direct more of the flow onto the bottom of the canopy -- I was very happy to see someone get very positive improvements (4-5x) from blocking these off. I noticed that the Twike in the photo the bottom fairing had a grid of holes drilled into it under the motor, then what appeared to be a 'splash guard' constructed between the motor and the grid of holes. Is this standard now? Twike 433 does not have any holes at all in the main fairing that covers the rear axle/motor assembly. I enjoy seeing detailed photos of new Twikes, as it gives me ideas for improvements to make on 10-year-old 433... Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 20. 02. 08 [18:05]
Franko30 Moderator registered since: 08.09.2007 Posts: 62	childress wrote: Twike in the photo the bottom fairing had a grid of holes drilled into it under the motor, then what appeared to be a 'splash guard' constructed between the motor and the grid of holes. Is this standard now? Twike 433 does not have any holes at all in the main fairing that covers the rear axle/motor assembly. Hi again, as it is my TWIKE 808, a few words on the holes and the splash-guard: The holes are not really standard. But my TWIKE dealer uses this feature to get more air to the motor so it doesn't overheat. The newer motors manufactured by Fine Mobile get much hotter than the old Landert or Ruetschi versions. The splash guard is "self made" from old disposable covers of some 12 V batteries used in the Charly scooter Link. The idea is to prevent water and other particles from entering the ventilator in front of the motor. As to "How well does it work?": The newer canopies are very tight and therefore very little air exchange is happening. The older TWIKEs I know are, let's put it that way, much more "airy" - or just plain draughty. So, in my "new" TWIKE the solution is good for one person pedaling in rainy weather - but not for two. With two people pedaling I still have to open the canopy a little bit behind/next to the driver and behind/next to the passenger. Cheers Franko30 [This article was edited 3 times, at last 20.02.2008 at 18:29.] TW 808 / 20 AH LiIon-Akkus seit 03/2008 / Höchste Reichweite bisher: 140 km. Verbrauch 6,3 kWh/100 km (372 US-miles per Gallon)
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Written on: 22. 02. 08 [00:17]
childress registered since: 14.08.2007 Posts: 76	Franko30 wrote: The older TWIKEs I know are, let's put it that way, much more "airy" - or just plain draughty. Airy -- yeah, that's one way of saying it -- here's another: "Daddy, it's snowing in the Twike" -- My 6 year old daughter on the way to school That being said, I am -thrilled- to have Twike 433, as oil hit US$100 a barrel, and they're so hard to get in the US. Time to go Twike home in the fresh (2 inch) snowfall! Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it! http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike
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Written on: 29. 02. 08 [15:02]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 367	Has anybody ever tried to install a small A/C unit to defog the Twike? I use air conditioning mainly for this purpose and not to cool down the car and it really works great! Would an AC unit consume a lot of power, thereby reducing the range? Would it be powerful enough to defog the windows? Just an idea I had the other day. I hope the new factory solution will be able to cure the problem. ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network Community for sustainable transport
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Written on: 18. 10. 08 [16:24]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 367	Hi all I was just informed by my TWIKE dealership that FineMobile will have a new defogging system ready by January 2009. At the moment the first prototypes are being tested. Details to how the system exactly works are not available yet. The system will also be available to retrofit older TWIKEs. ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network Community for sustainable transport
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Written on: 19. 11. 08 [07:04]
webfootguy registered since: 22.07.2008 Posts: 4	I'm in the process of putting a 10 year old twike back on the road and have been giving this problem some thought since I really want to be able to drive 12 months out of the year. I have come up with a highly efficient design using a pelter that will cool the air below the dew point to extract the water, then heat it up on exhaust side to clear the fogging. Once I have my vehicle on the road I'll prototype it up and see how well it works (I'll need it!). It would still be possible to use the motor as a heat source (but not necessary, just will raise the energy efficiency a bit). --phil
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Written on: 19. 11. 08 [11:02]
ecoadmin Administrator Topic creator registered since: 20.07.2007 Posts: 367	Hi Phil, interesting solution...I was trying to find what exactly a 'pelter' is but was unsuccessful. Could you explain it to me? That would be great, thanks. FineMobile released now some basic info on how the new defogging system works. No rocket-science at all. The blower will have two modes. One running with cold air and using only a minimal amount of energy. The second mode is using heat and has therefore a higher energy consumption. Cheers ecocarforum.com - Green Car Network Community for sustainable transport
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