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DIY Helmet Pumper Project

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Because I'm cheap I decided to put together my own helmet blower for this offroad season instead of buying a "kit". You can set this up as a single port, dual port or even quad port blower. It is a basically a copy of the PCI Race Air "Big" 150 CFM blower setup they offer in 1, 2 or 4 port. You'll save anywhere from $60-100 on just the pumper depending on what price you find the blower itself, and what accessories and funnel (port count) you choose. This dual outlet pumper I assembled is $250 from PCI. I have less than $150 into my pumper, and it is basically identical.

I found a Jabsco bilge blower on Ebay for $70 shipped. Model number 36740-0000. This is a 150 CFM, 12 volt blower, with 3 inch inlet and 3 inch outlet. There is also a 105 CFM version available. PCI uses that one for their lower end single outlet pumper.

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For the inlet you can use any 3 inch air filter. PCI actually does have a nice filter for $16, so I just used theirs. You can get a filter that has a stud in it that uses the traditional spun aluminium dog dish cover, Or get the same air filter with no stud, and run an outerwear prefilter. I chose the prefilter route as I am not worried about splashing water, and not running the dog dish makes for a lower profile package. The dog dish is only there to protect from water. The PCI branded prefilter is more expensive than a generic "outerwear" one you can find on amazon or wherever. But it fits their filter perfectly so I bought it.

Now you need the outlet or "funnel". These can be fabbed up if you have the materials and the time. The single person funnel is like $15 so just buy it from PCI. The dual outlet funnel I got is $26, I think the quad outlet is $40 or something. All the PCI funnels will slide right onto the blower outlet. You can drill through the funnel and plastic housing and secure your funnel with a screw or rivet after you slide it on the outlet. I would do this in at least 2 places.

My pumper ready to go with the filter, prefilter and black dual outlet funnel. They also have a silver outlet funnels that are a bit cheaper than the black ones.
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For reference, this is the PCI pumper with the SINGLE outlet funnel and dog dish air filter guard if you like the dog dish instead.

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Then you are pretty much ready to mount the pump and go. The pump comes with a mount to bolt the pump to a flat panel, like in the bed of your SXS. If you want to mount it to a roll cage, PCI offers billet mounts for $99. They are nice, but overpriced. Parker Pumper offers a billet roll bar mount for their pumper for $35 that will fit. I have that coming to verify, but their motor is the same size as this one, so it should work perfect.

Link - http://www.parkerpumper.com/shop/parker-pumper-motor-mount-b9xad

You want to choose ORIGINAL for application, and choose the appropriate size roll bar for your machine.

Parker Pumper mount
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Parker Pumper mount in a car. Our pumper here would mount in the exact same way.
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Here is an example of another cheap mounting option. This uses the factory steel panel mount that comes with the pump, and you simply buy some straight light bar mounts for your specific roll bar size on Amazon. These mounts are usually $15-$20 a pair. Add some hardware, and you are ready to go.

PumperMount.jpg


Once you have your pump mounted, you need to measure for the helmet hoses (Kartek has reasonably priced helmet hoses) that will run to your helmet. Remember to add a foot or two of hose slack here so you can get your helmet on and off if needed, and also so the hoses are not pulling on your helmet. Then wire up your pump to 12V with a fuse and a switch to turn the pump on and off, and you are good to go.

All in you should be around the same price as just buying the pumper alone from PCI!
 
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evantwheeler

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If you want to get real DIY, you can build your own pumper helmet too.


and



Not really interested in hearing anyone's opinion on safety of drilling and adding one of these connections to a helmet. Hard to tell, but you can kinda see the hose coming over the back of the seat to the top rear of my helmet. Can't see spending $500+ on a helmet when I'm strapped into a 5 point harness. On a bike, totally different story.

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LargeOrangeFont

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If you want to get real DIY, you can build your own pumper helmet too.


and



Not really interested in hearing anyone's opinion on safety of drilling and adding one of these connections to a helmet. Hard to tell, but you can kinda see the hose coming over the back of the seat to the top rear of my helmet. Can't see spending $500+ on a helmet when I'm strapped into a 5 point harness. On a bike, totally different story.

View attachment 936417

Agreed and I think if you have an existing helmet this is something to look at if done with common sense.

I looked at doing that too. But since I wanted a wired helmet, it just didn't pencil out to buy the helmet, add the air manifold, add the comms kit, and buy the sand skirt. It was actually a savings buying the Bell Qualifier DOT helmet that was wired and air ready with a sand skirt from Rugged Radios.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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I installed the blower with the Parker pumper mount this morning and got most of the wiring completed and the switch installed. Just have to put a weatherpack on the wires to the fan and run the ground wire. Will be trying it all out tomorrow.



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02HoWaRd26

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If you want to get real DIY, you can build your own pumper helmet too.


and



Not really interested in hearing anyone's opinion on safety of drilling and adding one of these connections to a helmet. Hard to tell, but you can kinda see the hose coming over the back of the seat to the top rear of my helmet. Can't see spending $500+ on a helmet when I'm strapped into a 5 point harness. On a bike, totally different story.

View attachment 936417
My old Shoei helmets are both a helmet that PCI added the coms as well the air inlet to, so anyone who worries about that just doesn’t know any better. Their inlets have small threaded portion into the plastic and used three small allens from inside the helmet out to the hose mount.
 

DLC

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That’s a good write up! You must have spent some time looking for the pump. And ideas on how to speed up / slow down the fan? I would think a simple speed control would handle that. You wouldn’t need the speed control all the time.

I was looking at the S&B pump but it’s like $400 smackers plus helmets, all in it’s like $1,000 bucks to ride in Ca ....

Great Job LOF!
 

LargeOrangeFont

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That’s a good write up! You must have spent some time looking for the pump. And ideas on how to speed up / slow down the fan? I would think a simple speed control would handle that. You wouldn’t need the speed control all the time.

I was looking at the S&B pump but it’s like $400 smackers plus helmets, all in it’s like $1,000 bucks to ride in Ca ....

Great Job LOF!


I don’t think S&B even has a speed control option for their $400 helmet pumper. All the other $400 blower options do offer a speed control included. That said, each one does it differently and you may or may not need more accessories ($$$) to make them easy to operate from the driver seat. Cyclone has the smallest, cleanest setup I’ve seen that has power and speed control all in on Carling style switch. Rugged has a remote speed control box PCI has the knob on the unit itself, and the remote mount knob is extra.

I’m gonna try mine as a single speed setup first. I like a lot of airflow, so I may not want to slow it down. I’ve seen 12v motor speed controllers on Amazon for under $20 (see below). Running this in line with my current install would be very easy. I might have to extend the control wires for the knob, but that is no big deal.

Even with the speed control, I’m in for right about $250.
uniquegoods 9V 12V 24V 36V 48V 60VDC 20A PWM DC Motor Speed Controller Stepless Variable Speed Regulator With Metal Shell CCM5S https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018FZ3GIO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_u3sSFbY7AY922?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
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LargeOrangeFont

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I tested it all out this morning, and it seems good without the speed control. But I will test a little more the week of Thanksgiving. I have the Rugged MacX expandable hoses and I noticed that if I put an extra bend in them it slowed down the air output. I might do this when it is really cold out. Or just turn it off completely and vent the visor on my helmet very slightly.
 

Ziggy

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My neighbor has the air pump and intake particle separator...says all the pump noises drives him nuts.
Nice DIY job Ash👍
 

LargeOrangeFont

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My neighbor has the air pump and intake particle separator...says all the pump noises drives him nuts.
Nice DIY job Ash👍

I don’t run the particle separator. This particular blower is not that loud after comparing it to a couple other blowers. With the engine running you don’t really notice it. Plus with it plumbed to the top of my helmet as opposed to the side, that muffled some of the noises. I like airflow so for me there is no reason to add the speed control like I was thinking about.

My wife loved the air to the helmet on our Glamis trip, that was her first time using the air, 2nd time using the full face helmet.

I leave the pumper in the car all the time, (I wired and mounted it to quickly remove it if wanted to) but for AZ use I just remove the hoses and cover the ports with caps like the pics above. For helmet use I just use a couple zip ties to suspend the hoses from the roll bar at the roof. No need to cart those hoses around all the time.

I am happy with everything about this mount and blower setup. I wouldn’t change a thing considering I‘m an infrequent helmet user. I would use the air every time I wear the helmet though.
 
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