more air flow for condenser and radiator....

tempforce

Member

Equipment
B2650HSDC
Jun 23, 2012
389
2
18
bastrop, tx
the b2650's with a cab have a issue of low air flow for the condenser and radiator, due to the oem battery blocking most of the air flow.. the battery is mounted such to make it a challenge cleaning off the condenser and radiator.
during mid and late summer, the a/c was barely keeping the cab cool...
most lithium batteries with the same cranking amps are less than half the size. allowing more air flow....
also with the smaller battery, it is now easier to blow off the condenser and radiator, when they get clogged with debris.
not sure if it's worth the expense yet..... time will tell.
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
546
83
USA
I added 12 volt electric fans to both my M's to improve AC efficiency Mine are wired through an automotive relay that gets it's signal power from the AC compressor so when the magnetic clutch on the compressor is energized, the fans run as well.

One other issue that crops up with cab tractors with climate control is, the evaporator in the roof gets dirty and looses the heat exchange efficiency. I remove my cab roof every other year and blow out the components and I added Refletix to the underside of the cab roof to reflect the sun beating down on it. All with the premise of making the climate control more efficient... and it works.

The roof is easy to get off (takes 2 people to handle it though). Just remove all the screws in the insider headliner around the edge and it comes right off.

First time I removed mine, I was amazed at the amount of crud up there the blower had sucked in, despite the M's having pre-filters.
 

fruitcakesa

Well-known member

Equipment
M 6040
Oct 26, 2010
852
265
63
Cavendish Vermont
I added 12 volt electric fans to both my M's to improve AC efficiency Mine are wired through an automotive relay that gets it's signal power from the AC compressor so when the magnetic clutch on the compressor is energized, the fans run as well.

One other issue that crops up with cab tractors with climate control is, the evaporator in the roof gets dirty and looses the heat exchange efficiency. I remove my cab roof every other year and blow out the components and I added Refletix to the underside of the cab roof to reflect the sun beating down on it. All with the premise of making the climate control more efficient... and it works.

The roof is easy to get off (takes 2 people to handle it though). Just remove all the screws in the insider headliner around the edge and it comes right off.

First time I removed mine, I was amazed at the amount of crud up there the blower had sucked in, despite the M's having pre-filters.
'Flip, thanks for the reminder to pop the roof off and check things out.
Since I bought my M used, I, now mistakenly, thought I had covered all the maintenance items that needed to be checked and changed.
I never looked under the lid although I did change the external cabin filter with the other services.
I will now, since I did notice when I tried the AC back in the fall, it did not seem very cold.
 

Newlyme

Active member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
M4900 w/loader, finish mower, tiller, auger, rake. BX24 w/loader, backhoe
May 27, 2015
632
62
28
Nelson Ohio USA
Fruitcakesa, let us know what you find up there. I been thinking about doing the same thing after reading how easy it is.
 

lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
4,808
1,575
113
Mid, South, USA
There's more to it.

Kubota knows that air flow is partially restricted by the battery, but it's not like there's enough restriction to cause issues. If there were, they'd have moved the battery elsewhere. That "issue" is mostly due to snow getting to the cores than anything. Chaff in some cases in this area but we don't hardly ever see one of them overheat.

On the reflectix, yes it works. So does tinting the windows with GOOD tint (most tint shops sell the cheap stuff). You have to specifically state what you want and you want tint that reflects as much IR and UV as possible. That in itself helps a ton-and there are tints that are not dark at all yet still block 95% of UV, and look great.

And on the M's, they're not all the same. An M9000's A/C is in the cab roof where the M40's are under the seat with basically nothing up top but the headliner and radio/speakers/wires. BUT on the M's, they are notorious for plugging the evaporator. I know of one in particular, the man lets the dog ride with him everywhere including in the tractor, and we get the tractor once a year with poor a/c performance. Pull the evap from the box under the seat, clean it, reinstall, a/c works normal again. Not much fun to get either, but I've done much worse jobs. I consider cleaning the evaporator a pre-summer-season maintenance item in addition to cleaning the condenser, radiator, and/or intercooler cores externally. Also check/adjust the fan belt and the a/c compressor belt.