Electric air filter (aftermarket replacement mod)

I don't have any experience with one, but as the husband of a wife that ends up in hospital every year due to pollen allergies I'm going to research these.

If i was going to wire it up, I assume the filter is going to go on the normal cabin filter area behind the glovebox? If so, getting power to it is easy. There's a fusebox literally right next to it (on the side of the car just above where the passenger's shin would be. I'd just run an Add-A-Fuse connector from the fuse for the 12V outlet, and take the ground from the metal screw just at the centre top of the footwell. I've done exactly this for power for a dashcam.

As for making it fit in the filter holder.... Just gotta hope it's smaller than the OEM filter, then 3D print an adaptor.

 

The Gen 3 air cleaner ("micro dust and pollen filter") button simply relied on the ordinary pleated cabin filter behind the glove box. Pressing the button would make the system shift from fresh to recirculated air and run the blower on high for three minutes, then go back to whatever the previous settings were. So its function was just to make sure a lot of the air inside the cabin would get passed through the pleated filter quickly.



Gen 3, in some trim levels, also had an ion generator called "Plasmacluster", which was a separate, unrelated feature. In the trims that have it, it is always on, whenever the HVAC blower is operating. There is a Techstream-accessible option to turn it off, but no control for it on the panel.

 

The Professor lives in the UK - Right hand drive...

 

It almost feels like I said that ....

 

OK, bear in mind that everything I said was prefixed with "If I was going to wire it up", so the whole post is about me doing it, hence the confusion with right/left hand drive and 3D printer availability.

I imagine the fusebox is near the driver's knee where you are. Which would make things very conveniently located for wiring a switch and fit it in any of the spare positions (e.g. if you don't have a HUD, you can use one of the ones down near the driver's knee). However, I'm not sure you'll find an OEM switch that's suitable as I think they're all momentary switches, not toggle switches. You could of course use a latch circuit to make a momentary switch act like a toggle on/off switch, then use any OEM switch you want that fits.

That being said, do you really need a switch? The 12V outlet is switched with the ignition. Surely you would want the air filtered better while driving? Isn't that the point? What would not be healthy about that other than it collecting more particulate matter exactly when you need it?

While it's true that most people don't own a 3D printer, there are tons of companies/friends that will 3D print stuff for you, or just make it out of wood or whatever.

 

the air cleaner button makes a huge difference with dust ups, diesel fmes, fire smoke an etc., and i would pay for it as an option. but they don't offer it, unfortunately.
one of the many reasons i'm reluctant to part with my 10 year old car

 

It is a nice feature, even though it doesn't rely on any kind of electrostatic filter, just the regular pleated filter behind the glove box.

 

right, but it seals out more of the toxic air. what will an electrostatic filter might filter better, but the same amount of outside air will be coming through it.

still, if it does a better job on pollen and etc., it might be worth a go.

i would install it temporarily, snaking the wire out through the gaps in the glovebox, and if it doesn't improve air quality, return it if possible.

 

Looks like it's from China. Won't last 8 months much less 8 years. How do u plan to warranty that

 

It's a Chinese gimmick piece of junk on flebay. Sorry bro someone had to say it