Battery Vehicle Society

Looking at options for replacing the heater/demister in my mini conversion. I've read about replacing heater cores with elements from ceramic fan heaters, and that seems like a very neat approach. The existing heater system in the mini is pretty antiquated and extremely feeble though, so I would also have to upgrade the motor to get decent performance.

So I've started looking at hairdryers. The better models are quite powerful, in fact I've used my wife's 2kW model to strip paint before...

Looking around on eBay I can get a brand-name 1800W dual-voltage ceramic hair dryer for under £15. I've just tried out a 240V hair dryer on a 108V battery pack and it works fine, producing plenty of heat, although naturally running a fair bit slower than usual. A 120V version should make a big improvement over the existing mini heater when connected to the windscreen vents.

Because it'll be running on DC rather than AC I'll have to wire the hairdryer through a relay/contactor capable of switching the full DC voltage, and I won't be able to use the built in switch on the hairdryer while it is powered on. Since the switch is only rated for AC, the contacts would be likely to weld together if you attempted to switch the power off under load. Apart from this, can anyone see any real drawbacks or safety issues with this approach?

MalcolmB wrote:Apart from this, can anyone see any real drawbacks or safety issues with this approach?

You might have to buy your wife a new hairdryer ?

I could always connect it to the battery pack via a mains socket on the dash and use a bayonet fitting to couple it to the heater duct. That way she can borrow it back when she needs it

Good thinking !!! That's sorted that then

I had another idea, back in the late 60's early 70s they had those hair driers with the head cover things and the long pipes which attached to the dryer which hung by your waist.... You could have used that set up with a plastic pipe fitted to a bin liner

I used an American 115v hair dryer in my van on my 108v set up it worked pretty well. Bought on e-bay in UK from someone who had bought it back here from overseas, cost about £2:00

I'm just loving the title of this thread

ChrisB