AC Condenser Protection - A How To

[panamamike]

Did you guys cut the wire mesh to be slightly larger than the hole? How did you manage to slip in the the mesh between the grills?

All of this is discussed in the first few posts of this thread with even the mesh dimensions specified.

Yes, there are partial dimensions provided of the width and height of the center section. Upon visual inspection of the photo, it appears the left and right are longer than 6 inches. The photo you linked in your post isn't working, so if that has dimensions, I can't see it.

Can the mesh be slightly bent to avoid hitting the condenser. Wondering if the stainless would bend and leave a crease.

If you've read the instructions in this thread, you'd know that this isn't a problem.
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I wasn't clear if you cut your mesh or if it was cut into sections. I'm sure you were able to get it in there ok, didn't know if you might have suggestions about how to get it in there, yes there is a description provided in an earlier post, but was a description of the aluminum mesh, don't know if this is more or less flexible easy to work with that the mesh.

What's the best thing to attached the mesh? Wondering if the zip ties will stand the test of time given that they are plastic.

So what if the plastic zip ties fail over time? The mesh protector is inside the grill and won't fall off the car if the zip ties fail. The zip ties would be easy to replace from the front of the grill.
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Yes, true, but don't know if the mesh could cause an issue for the condenser if it comes loose.

Mike

 

[alohart]

Yes, there are partial dimensions provided of the width and height of the center section. Upon visual inspection of the photo, it appears the left and right are longer than 6 inches.

There's nothing special about the measurements. Just measure the height of the grill opening and the width between the 2 vertical supports behind the grill and between each vertical support and the edges of the grill. Then add ½" or so to the measurements so that there won't be any gaps. There's room behind the grill for slightly larger protective mesh pieces.

Also note that the height of the protective mesh must be greater for REx models because the top grill section is open unlike with BEV's in which the top section is closed off.

The photo you linked in your post isn't working, so if that has dimensions, I can't see it.

I was just able to view these Dropbox photos on a laptop, on an ancient iPad, and on an iPhone without logging in to Dropbox, so anyone should be able to view these photos. Dropbox can ask the viewer to create a Dropbox account, but that's unnecessary, so just ignore the request.

When you view the 1st photo, the protective mesh pieces are laid out on 12" x 12" tiles, so their sizes could be estimated quite accurately.

I wasn't clear if you cut your mesh or if it was cut into sections.

I clearly wrote:

"I then cut the woven wire mesh to the sizes of the templates and created the borders."

I'm sure you were able to get it in there ok, didn't know if you might have suggestions about how to get it in there, yes there is a description provided in an earlier post, but was a description of the aluminum mesh, don't know if this is more or less flexible easy to work with that the mesh.

I also wrote:

"Using a right-angle dental pick to help position the woven wire mesh sections, I positioned the mesh sections behind the grill inside V-shaped openings in the grill supports which held the mesh sections in place until I could tie the mesh sections to the vertical grill supports."

The mesh pieces are so short that they needn't be bent to insert them, so flexibility isn't an issue.

Yes, true, but don't know if the mesh could cause an issue for the condenser if it comes loose.

Each mesh piece is attached to the grill by at least 2 zip ties, wire, whatever one chooses, so the risk of all these breaking seems slim. Even if that happened, the mesh isn't going to impact the A/C condenser with much force because it's mostly holes and very light.

My advice is that unless one frequently drives at highway speeds on roads with lots of rocks, installing protective mesh is probably unnecessary and could reduce air flow enough to cause overheating or maybe just a harder working A/C in very hot weather. If I notice this occurring, I could just drill some air holes in the top closed-off section of the grill of our BEV. However, this workaround would not be available for REx drivers.

 

[Ultraligero]

Hi,
I started on a grill as described, then realised there is a FAR simpler method.

Coarse POND FILTER/Air Con' black sheet Material. Its a super lightweight, about 1" / 25mm thick, very free breathing plastic, and cuts to shape with scissors, can simply be deformed though the vent holes, and eased into position. No fixing and it expands to fill the void. Simples. If it need a wash maybe once a year, drag it out, squeeze it in soapy water like a sponge, and put it back.

You're welcome.

 

[alohart]

Coarse POND FILTER/Air Con' black sheet Material. Its a super lightweight, about 1" / 25mm thick, very free breathing plastic, and cuts to shape with scissors, can simply be deformed though the vent holes, and eased into position. No fixing and it expands to fill the void. Simples. If it need a wash maybe once a year, drag it out, squeeze it in soapy water like a sponge, and put it back.

Interesting idea! Living in a warm climate, I would want to know how much this filter material reduces airflow because this could affect A/C efficiency, electronics and propulsion motor cooling, and REx engine cooling. With wire mesh, I know the percentage of 2-dimensional open space. I can see directly through the screen, so air can flow directly through the open spaces in the screen. The percentage of 3-dimensional open space can be specified for pond filter material, but I don't think that's the same as 2-dimensional open space because of the tortuous airflow path air through 25 mm/1" of filter material. When I look at pond filter material, the percentage of straight paths through the material is pretty small, so the resistance to air flow might be significant.

Let us know what you learn.

 

[Anonymous]

Coarse POND FILTER/Air Con' black sheet Material. Its a super lightweight, about 1" / 25mm thick, very free breathing plastic, and cuts to shape with scissors, can simply be deformed though the vent holes, and eased into position. No fixing and it expands to fill the void. Simples. If it need a wash maybe once a year, drag it out, squeeze it in soapy water like a sponge, and put it back.

Wonder how resistant the coarse pond filter would be to a projectile? The idea of the steel or aluminum mesh, is to stop a small rock traveling at high speed from puncturing the (expensive) AC condenser. I can fire a 1/2 inch rock (which would be small enough to fit through an unprotected grill) from a sling-shot at the steel/aluminum mesh, and it will bounce off. A rock that size traveling at speed might go right through one-inch plastic filter, or just push it out of the way. Question would be, would the one-inch filter stop or slow a high-speed projectile down enough to prevent AC condenser damage?

 

[nilknarf]

I did this today. I have big hands so a lot of scratched knuckles, but overall not too bad. Having a wire with a bent hook on the end is huge help to manipulate the mesh and feed the zip ties through. I used black pvc-coated 1/4" galvanized hardware cloth and secured it with 8 black zip ties. The 1/4" holes seem to be the sweet spot as far as decent protection while not significantly reducing airflow. Even though a pebble smaller than 1/4" could fit through, unless it really tiny, it's highly unlikely that it would pass through perfectly without deflecting off one of the four sides of the hole, which should knock it down before it reaches the condenser or at lease slow it down considerably.

I used three pieces and since I have a Rex, I passed them all down through the frunk area, although they could have been inserted in through the front grill. The two end pieces measured roughly 11 1/16" x 3 3/4", while the center piece measured roughly 6" x 3 3/4". As mentioned earlier, the corners of the end pieces don't need to be tapered as they slide in behind the bumper which helps secure the ends. I have enough hardware cloth left over to do two more cars, so if anyone wants pre-cut pieces, send me a PM. Again, this was for a Rex. I think Bevs may be a different size.

 

[wonjuman]

2021 BEV 120Ah owner here: I bought a 304 SS mesh screen off Amazon (Description: Wire Mesh 5 Mesh, 2 Pcs 304 Stainless Steel 12x40 Inch Woven Wire Mesh Screen). It was more than I needed. I tried at first to install the screen from behind the front grill by removing the frunk but found that there is no easy access to the area. I ended up inserting 5 3.2"x6" rectangular pieces of the screen behind the plastic supports and securing them using UV-resistant tie wraps. See photos. The whole job took a few hours, with about half of the time spent trying to get behind the grill. I lay down on the garage floor and inserted the pieces one by one (left to right), loosely tied each section with a short piece of steel wire to prevent it from falling into the bottom of the air intake, and adjusted the mounting location of each piece to ensure that there was no gap between the intake and the mesh inserts. Once all the pieces were placed in their proper place, I used 4" UV-resistant tie wraps to secure them permanently, checking that the ties secured only one strand of the mesh wire. One has to look closely to notice that there are overlapping sections of screen mesh. The screen is rather stiff and should be robust against any debris that may hit the grill openings.

Tools and supplies used: 5 3.2"x6" 304 SS mesh screen (cut from a 12"x40" piece purchased from Amazon), a couple of needle nose pliers, a pair of tin snips (to cut the SS mesh to size), steel wire (~24 AWG) to temporarily secure the mesh before securing it with tie wraps, UV-resistant tie wraps (4" length), a couple of towels to cushion me from the garage floor, a small flashlight to illuminate the work area, and a small toddler step to rest my head against when lying down (saved me from a sore neck). Oh, and a mug of iced coffee.

 

[alohart]

2021 BEV 120Ah owner here: I bought a 304 SS mesh screen off Amazon (Description: Wire Mesh 5 Mesh, 2 Pcs 304 Stainless Steel 12x40 Inch Woven Wire Mesh Screen).

Looks good! I've moved 3 pieces of a similar mesh screen from our former 2014 i3 to our current 2019 i3 that's for sale. I just removed it from our 2019 i3 in preparation for installing in our 2021 i3. I'm going to try to bend the sharp ends of the cut wire back on itself more tightly so that the screen edges aren't so sharp. I've attached them with only 4 zip ties, one on each vertical grill bar. This has worked well for several years.