PMO Gordo Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 I came up with this set up which I called Helmet Integrated Anti-fogging Module (H.I.A.M.) for Ops-core Base Jump helmets. This module solves 99% of goggle fogging issues, allows the user to turn on/off the goggle fan easily using the switch on the back of the ARC rail, and is powered by an 8 AA battery pack housed in a NVG counter weight pouch in the back of the helmet. The large battery pack also has enough juice to power other accessories. In my case, I use it to power my Contour camera.The materials and tools needed are:1.Action Fan's Cyclone Mike Fan Kit x 1 (Action-Fans)2.JST connectors (pairs) x 23. On/off switch from a AA/AAA battery box x 14. Dremel x 15. Soldering tool and solder x 16. Hot glue gun x 1First, cut a hole on the helmet to fit the fan body, or simply secure the fan body underneath a helmet vent if the top of your head doesn't touch the fan body (see the first picture above)Melt a channel for the air hose on the forehead styrofoam using the soldering tool. Thread the air hose through the channel.Cut a hole at the back of one of the ARC rails and shave off some materials using Dremel.Glue the on/off switch on the ARC rail.Cut a hole on the helmet for the wires. Measure and trim the wires of the JST connectors.Solder the wires to the on/off switch, fan, and battery pack. Link to post Share on other sites
AceOfSkulls Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Cool mod, but i just anti fog spray. Also you should lose the intergrated and call it H.A.M. Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted March 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Forgot to mention that because I cannot wear contact lens, I need more powerful anti-fogging method to deal with two layers of lens. Also, I just saw this tragic eye injury story in UK: http://www.shadowstalkers.org/news-page/man-down-skirmish-mansfield. Even though most players in UK don't wear goggles, this incidence might prompt you UK players to reconsider your eye protection. Link to post Share on other sites
Skarclaw Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 very innovative - congratulations. Not sure it is a better anti fogging measure then perforated steel, however not all sites allow their use. Link to post Share on other sites
Brooxy Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Looks good. Just checked out the website for the fan, and it says that 4 AAA batteries are enough to power the fan, which is about 6v. You say that yours is 8 batteries, which also powers other bits, so, would an 7.2v / 8.4v AEG battery do the trick? Would make things easier from a charging perspective... Link to post Share on other sites
j33v3s Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Wouldn't the fan just blowing air into the helmet alleviate fogging? Would negate the need for the tubing anyway...Otherwise, good idea - do you find the fan particularly noisy? I've seen the ESS Turbo Fans, and while not noisy enough to give you away in a normal skirmish generally - it does have a slightly irritating whine close up... Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted March 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 Looks good. Just checked out the website for the fan, and it says that 4 AAA batteries are enough to power the fan, which is about 6v. You say that yours is 8 batteries, which also powers other bits, so, would an 7.2v / 8.4v AEG battery do the trick? Would make things easier from a charging perspective... Thanks. Of course AEG battery will work. You just need to change the connectors between the switch and the battery to Tamiya or dean connectors. Also, the reason I use 8 AA batteries is because the battery pack was originally for powering the Contour camera: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BATTERY-PACK-EXTERNAL-USB-POWER-SOURCE-CONTOURHD-1080P-/380205691529?pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item5886067289 The Contour camera runs on 5V, so the battery pack is also connected to a converter resistor, which adds to the bulk. If you only need power source for the goggle fan, I'd say just stick with the original battery pack that came with the fan. Below was my originally set up with the goggle fan battery pack beside the NVG counter weight pouch for the Contour battery pack. By combing the power source, I reduced the clutter on my helmet. Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted March 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 Wouldn't the fan just blowing air into the helmet alleviate fogging? Would negate the need for the tubing anyway... Otherwise, good idea - do you find the fan particularly noisy? I've seen the ESS Turbo Fans, and while not noisy enough to give you away in a normal skirmish generally - it does have a slightly irritating whine close up... No. I believe the reason goggles fog is because the warm water vapor coming from the mouth and nose, as well as the skin around the eyes, accumulate within the goggles. When the warm water vapor in the goggles meet the cool air at the lens, the vapor condenses to water droplets and produces fog. The way goggle fans alleviates the fogging issues is by equalizing the temperature in and out of the goggles. And for some reasons, blowing air downward into the goggles seems to work better. The noise level of Cyclone Mike goggle fan is very low. I used to wear Revision Desert Locus Fan model, and I did find the slight vibration and noise from the fan noticeable but not irritating. With the Cyclone Mike goggle fan, the noise and vibration are further reduced because the fan is located in the back of my head. In addition, the Cyclone Mike blows a lot more air than any other goggle fans on the market. Link to post Share on other sites
Lone_Bullet Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Nice! I believe G&P made some sort of dummy distress device with the same principle. You seem to have improved on it. Don't stop improving! Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 8-{> Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 No. I believe the reason goggles fog is because the warm water vapor coming from the mouth and nose, as well as the skin around the eyes, accumulate within the goggles. When the warm water vapor in the goggles meet the cool air at the lens, the vapor condenses to water droplets and produces fog. The way goggle fans alleviates the fogging issues is by equalizing the temperature in and out of the goggles. And for some reasons, blowing air downward into the goggles seems to work better. I agree completely with your thoughts on the causes of fogging. I too have been working on forced ventilation using a small low power low noise fan system. I have also found that blowing air in from above works best. I did try a set of the TM fan goggles which suck air in at the bottom and blow it out of the top. They work ok until the temperature drops and then they tended to pull in humid exhaled air and increase the fogging rather than reducing it. I'm on my fourth iteration of fan assisted goggles now and they work a treat. They do have the disadvantage of giving me a "crest" over the top of my head where the air pipes run from the fan pack on the back of my head but being able to see is worth the sartorial intelligence Integrating the system in to a helmet is a meat solution. Well done Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted March 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 A couple changes I made to my Helmet Integrated Anti-fogging Module (H.I.A.M.):I. Simplified Battery Pack: the original battery pack came from a Contour camera external battery pack, which has a hefty voltage converter to decrease voltage from 12V to 5V. I decided that the Contour camera battery pack is too large and heavy, and I needed to find a substitute. The difficult part is finding a simple battery pack that takes AA batteries, works with the Contour camera, and is water proof. There are portable gadget chargers on the market, but none of them fit my criteria. I decided to make my own battery pack, but I ran into problems with Voltage. The 2 X AA battery pack only gives 3V and is not enough to power the camera, while the 4 X AA battery pack provides 6V, which might damage the camera. Fortunately, I learned a trick from Instructables that I can use 4 NIMH AA batteries instead of 4 alkaline AA batteries in the battery pack. A NIMH AA battery only has 1.2V, compared to an alkaline AA battery's 1.5V. So, 4 NIMH AA batteries will give 4.8V instead of 6V from 4 alkaline batteries. I also found this water proof 4 X AA battery pack on Ebay, which fits my need nicely: Battery Holder Waterproof Case 6V Box Hold 4 AA Batteries with Cover 2 Pin Plug | eBay.When I have both goggle fan and camera on, they can run for about 4 hours with 4 2000mah AA batteries. I'm sure you can get longer time if you turn off one device, or run batteries with bigger capacities.The instructions on how to make your own AA battery pack are shown below:1. To power just the goggle fan, simply replace the included plug with a JST connector.2. To power both the goggle fan and Contour camera, complete step #1 first, and lift up the red wire in the battery pack:3. Drill two holes on the sites shown in the picture4. Thread a wire set (red and black) through the holes, and solder the red wire to the red wire, and the black wires to the black wire.5. Cut off the end of your Contour camera usb cable that goes to your computer. It would probably be better to use a spare cable if you have one. In the exposed usb cable, there are four wires: red, black, white, and green. Solder the red wire to the red wire coming out of the battery pack, and the black to the black. Disregard the white and green. Use shrink wrap to prevent the wires from touching each other.6. Use hot glue to fix the wires to the battery pack. This will provide extra strength to the wire.7. The power source of the Helmet Integrated Anti-fogging Module (H.I.A.M.) now looks sleeker.II. Fix the wire connections on the goggle fan switch: the wire connections on the goggle fan switch were wrong in my previous post. I hope no one followed my previous instructions, because I caused a short-circuit and melted my battery pack. The correct connections are shown in the picture below. Keep in mind that the wire connections are relative to the on/off switch. If in doubt, study the connections in a AA battery pack with an on/off switch. Also, keep the terminals covered with shrink wraps to prevent short-circuiting. Link to post Share on other sites
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