Top Tip for anyone who runs into problems with the manual door locks after inhibiting APS as i did. I inhibited APS then locked myself out of the car and found out the hard way that my key lock wouldn't open the door again. If you open and close the charge port flap 10 times the APS reactivates and the doors will function electronically again. Obviously don't do this with connectors off at the rear.
Even low-maintenance vinyl siding requires a good cleaning at least once a year, more often if you live by a busy road or an open, dusty field. Develop a plan of action using a pressure washer to clean the exterior of your entire home in just one day.
It depends on how dusty the roads you're driving on are, leaves etc. I would say once every two years.
I drive the suburbs of Rochester NY, no country roads or dirt to compromise my paint job. I take it out every other weekend for a coffee run, or dinner, movie, etc. Unless I'm incorrect, it sounds like once a year should suffice.
I'm not a rocket scientist.....but I'm going to give this air filter media a try to keep out leaves and gunk along with annual cleanings. Why didn't they make these water cooled?
I would be more concerned with this media restricting airflow, especially in a dusty environment. Having opened up the PEM, I was surprised to find that the airflow does not actually run through where the electronics reside, just to the heat sinks. The electronics were spotless, not even a hint of dust. If you clean regularly (I do it in the late fall after leaves are down and gone) you should not have any problem. In fact, if you diligently watch your PEM and motor temps you may not have to do it annually.
I used household air filter material (eg from Publix) over the huge holes in the wheel arches (where all the road dirt is sucked up from) ... keeping Fans, PEM and motor clean for nearly 3 years with no temp increases. The aim, apart from keeping cr*p out, was to extend service intervals - as the plugs and sockets on the PEM are a weak point I want tp minimise the risk of multimple PEM lifts / connect+reconnects of fan cables etc: here is the guide: Roadster Rear Blower Maintenance
So many engineers types on here 3M filtrete washable....reduces static pressure by .05IWC at 615CFM. Our fans are 625CFM each. Filter can flow well over 2100CFM.
Ha ha....sounds about right. I'm not so conerned with PEM as I am the motor since the PEM has gravity to keep fins clear. The motor seems to accumulate a lot of junk up top.
Has anyone tried to put a filter at the intake underneath the PEM? Could just change it once a year and would only need to open 6 bolts instead of taking out an cleaning the PEM.
What some have done is put a screen and/or filter around the outside of the blowers, under the rear of the car. The filter material used for "swamp cooler" air conditioners, or similar has been mentioned. Putting the screen / filter there also protects the motor fins, which also like to collect debris, and the blowers themselves. One needs to be careful not to obstruct too much of the air flow, however.
here's my (...unfinished) version of a filter for the blower (my car: 2009 roadster 2.0) behind the grid there'll be filter-sheed for kitchen range hoods - i believe this will allow maximum airflow and be sufficient enough to prevent the worst road-dust in my PEM/ engine. only issue is that to clean the filter you need to dismount the blower :-(
How are these filter attached? I am trying to find a good solutions now and I liked this one. Did you have to take out the fans, and if so. Is it possible to get them out without removing the stabilizing bar ++
Its easy to do both, to be honest you're going to have to take off the stablising bar (at least the mounts you can leave the drop links to the suspension in place), to get the fan unit out - well thats the dual unit but I'd assume similar ? Anyway it's dead simple to get the unit out, inspect it (check for rotation ease, absence of debris, no burn marks on connector etc), and then get it back in. I'd personally mark the shims for the anti roll bar to mitigate any misalignment issues to each side. Adding a filter as many have done seems dead simple also, the biggest two concerns in my view are a) ensuring sufficient airflow for what isn't a particulary effective solution in the first place, and b) using a material which doesn't distintegrate and subsequently blocks the air feed even further! Got plenty of pics when I switched units in my own, and another Roadser local to mine. Probably the easiest maintenance to do on the car.