[Transfer]

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I have leaves and fall debris starting to get stuck in the different coolers up front. I garage park but daily drive. I'm concerned this debris will continue to build up unless I extract it with some tool frequently. Should I care about this?

[Parnishka]

regular vacuum to your hands and let's go!2mins of time.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by Transfer

I have leaves and fall debris starting to get stuck in the different coolers up front. I garage park but daily drive. I'm concerned this debris will continue to build up unless I extract it with some tool frequently. Should I care about this?

Suspect the design takes into account that debris may collect in some spots, but my Type A personality feels better when I use my M-vacuum attachment to keep clean (especially by the hood hinges where the leaves can be inches deep in the Fall when having to park under trees).

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by Max Well

Suspect the design takes into account that debris may collect in some spots, but my Type A personality feels better when I use my M-vacuum attachment to keep clean (especially by the hood hinges where the leaves can be inches deep in the Fall when having to park under trees).

there isn't anything duct tape and PVC can't solve

[spta97]

Originally Posted by Transfer

I have leaves and fall debris starting to get stuck in the different coolers up front. I garage park but daily drive. I'm concerned this debris will continue to build up unless I extract it with some tool frequently. Should I care about this?

It's so funny you mention this as when I got the car the first thing I thought was "that's gonna be a leaf trap"!

Originally Posted by Max Well

Suspect the design takes into account that debris may collect in some spots, but my Type A personality feels better when I use my M-vacuum attachment to keep clean (especially by the hood hinges where the leaves can be inches deep in the Fall when having to park under trees).

Parts list please!

[Transfer]

I'll get busy ordering M stripes so my shop-vac is forum and ///M approved! Wouldn't want to void my warranty.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by spta97

Parts list please!

You might just be kidding, but in case you're not, I used a 24" piece of 1" PVC bonded to a 45 deg elbow. 3/4" was too narrow to suck larger debris easily, and 1-1/2" didn't fit as easily into the deep wells by the hood hinges/windshield. I have a heavy-duty Contractor's ShopVac (5HP), and since the hose fitting is too wide for the elbow I usually just wrap some cloth around to seal it. I used the painter's tape to show for the images this morning. [Note the edit regarding the PVC pipe diameter. I thought I had used 1-1/4", but after checking with some scrap pieces which still have the sizes imprinted, it appears I actually used 1". Although the 1-1/2" PVC does fit down into the bottom of the hood recess, it is a much tighter fit and more difficult to handle, and barely clears the front area Transfer was worried about. TBH, the 1-1/4" size I mistakenly wrote might actually work great, but I didn't want to mislead anyone.]

And I stained the PVC rather than wrap or paint it. Not as exacting, but it's now dyed so the PVC won't scratch to show white PVC beneath. You can search online how to stain PVC, but basically you just use PVC clear cleaner and mix in some oil-soluble dye colors to produce any color you want. If you've worked with PVC in the past you know how PVC Purple Primer stains the joint, so here you're just using the colors you want added to the clear.

Not perfect by any means, but it was interesting to learn something new and finally be able to get the debris out of the deep hood pockets.

[TX3M]

Originally Posted by Max Well

You might just be kidding, but in case you're not, I used a 24" piece of 1-1/4" PVC bonded to a 45 deg elbow. 1" was too narrow to suck larger debris easily, and 1-1/2" didn't fit into the deep wells by the hood hinges/windshield. I have a heavy-duty Contractor's ShopVac (5HP), and since the hose fitting is too wide for the elbow I usually just wrap some cloth around to seal it. I used the painter's tape to show for the images this morning.

And I stained the PVC rather than wrap or paint it. Not as exacting, but it's now dyed so the PVC won't scratch to show white PVC beneath. You can search online how to stain PVC, but basically you just use PVC clear cleaner and mix in some oil-soluble dye colors to produce any color you want. If you've worked with PVC in the past you know how PVC Purple Primer stains the joint, so here you're just using the colors you want added to the clear.

Not perfect by any means, but it was interesting to learn something new and finally be able to get the debris out of the deep hood pockets.

That's awesome, thanks for sharing!

[spta97]

Originally Posted by Max Well

You might just be kidding, but in case you're not, I used a 24" piece of 1-1/4" PVC bonded to a 45 deg elbow. 1" was too narrow to suck larger debris easily, and 1-1/2" didn't fit into the deep wells by the hood hinges/windshield. I have a heavy-duty Contractor's ShopVac (5HP), and since the hose fitting is too wide for the elbow I usually just wrap some cloth around to seal it. I used the painter's tape to show for the images this morning.

And I stained the PVC rather than wrap or paint it. Not as exacting, but it's now dyed so the PVC won't scratch to show white PVC beneath. You can search online how to stain PVC, but basically you just use PVC clear cleaner and mix in some oil-soluble dye colors to produce any color you want. If you've worked with PVC in the past you know how PVC Purple Primer stains the joint, so here you're just using the colors you want added to the clear.

Not perfect by any means, but it was interesting to learn something new and finally be able to get the debris out of the deep hood pockets.

No, not kidding - this is awesome thank you!

I'm very interested in the staining PVC. I'm doing raised flower beds in the front of my house and am going to use drip irrigation (3/4" white PVC). Although I hope to bury in rock mulch, it would be awesome if I could stain the pipe to be less noticeable.

I'm also interesting in making a vacuum extension

[floating.spirit]

Originally Posted by Transfer

I'll get busy ordering M stripes so my shop-vac is forum and ///M approved! Wouldn't want to void my warranty.

Let me know what vac u got, I got a tune for most major brands.

[ILLMATIC23]

I ordered both from Amazon and they work great with my Dyson V series cordless!!

[Max Well]

To simplify for those wishing to try dying PVC, here's a composite image showing my estimation of the RGB ratios for the M Badge, the 1" PVC as I clarified in my edit (not 1-1/4" which I originally wrote), the Firefly lamp oil dye I used from Amazon for $19 to mix the RGB ratios, and showing how tight the 1-1/2" PVC fits making it much more difficult to use. I'll pick up a 2' piece of 1-1/4" PVC sometime to try it out as well.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by Max Well

... I'll pick up a 2' piece of 1-1/4" PVC sometime to try it out as well.

So here's the 1-1/4" PVC attachment I made. It sucks up larger leaves easier than the 1", and fits nicely in the right hood recess area where most of our leaves collect, but it doesn't fit very well into the more narrow Driver's side recess, and is bulkier to use up front where Transfer was most concerned. So if making only one, the 1" would be better all-around I think.

I paused for a second while vacuuming my wife's X3MC to show where the leaves collect (the drain cover is now visible - it was completely covered by debris before I started). Also, for the non-M portion of the attachment I stained with landscape colors to show spta97 the wide range of options for his irrigation drip lines.

[spta97]

Originally Posted by Max Well

So here's the 1-1/4" PVC attachment I made. It sucks up larger leaves easier than the 1", and fits nicely in the right hood recess area where most of our leaves collect, but it doesn't fit very well into the more narrow Driver's side recess, and is bulkier to use up front where Transfer was most concerned. So if making only one, the 1" would be better all-around I think.

I paused for a second while vacuuming my wife's X3MC to show where the leaves collect (the drain cover is now visible - it was completely covered by debris before I started). Also, for the non-M portion of the attachment I stained with landscape colors to show spta97 the wide range of options for his irrigation drip lines.

Ha! Love it!

I've got some Rekoil on order from Ebay (just black) - hoping it comes in this week so I can bang out my drip irrigation and burry it in 3/4" bluestone which is gonna act as my mulch.

[Transfer]

This thread has really turned down an unexpected and satisfying side road.
Bravo!

[spta97]

I finally got around to doing my other raised flower bed with drip irrigation and stained the PVC with rekhaoil dye I got from ebay.

It came in a tiny container and I only used about half to add to the 8 oz PVC cleaner.

Happy with the results so just wanted to say thanks Max Well!

Edited to add: The last PVC line in the pic (with the holes drilled for the drip irrigation) is not primed or glued to allow flexibility of removing/replacing. Water pressure is low so no need).

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

This an interesting thread & we obviously have a little too much extra time on our hands. LOL

[Transfer]

haha well Fall is on the way so the leaves will be back in no time! Shop vac worked well for me.

[Ilyam5]

Originally Posted by Max Well

Suspect the design takes into account that debris may collect in some spots, but my Type A personality feels better when I use my M-vacuum attachment to keep clean (especially by the hood hinges where the leaves can be inches deep in the Fall when having to park under trees).

Max, Do you see more debris stuck in 2022 LCI vs 2020? the design shows more exposed radiators on the sides with no plastic cover. Concerned about stones punctions? that is on top of the underneath exposed oil cooler that is wide open for rocks and other road stuff.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by Ilyam5

Max, Do you see more debris stuck in 2022 LCI vs 2020? the design shows more exposed radiators on the sides with no plastic cover. Concerned about stones punctions? that is on top of the underneath exposed oil cooler that is wide open for rocks and other road stuff.

Haven't had her long enough to get much chance for debris, but actually the center area where most of the issues arise on the pre-LCI no longer has the open slat at the bottom (where I was inserting the cleaning PVC pipe in the above images). It has the grating covering it completely so that may be less of a concern, but with the downside being pipes won't be able to fit to vacuum debris if it does get in... The outer areas without grates should actually be easier to clean, except for the large intakes as they go in deep, and honestly I don't know where they end! Attaching an image pre-delivery so apologies for the dirt, but it shows that tunnel pretty well.

And no, not worried about punctures. Guess that's a possibility but would be rare and not something that concerns me.

[MetaX]

Brake cooling perhaps?

[LeopardM3]

Originally Posted by ILLMATIC23

I ordered both from Amazon and they work great with my Dyson V series cordless!!

This is a great reco, I'm going to buy it for my Dyson.