(Real) MCDU forced air cooling

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

At work I will soon have to build a rig with three (A330) MCDUs. I will get the MCDUs, green tagged and all, no problem. But I will have to fumble the rig, including the harnesses (always fun) and the forced air cooling.

Assuming that Airbus MCDUs are 99% the same as Boeing ones, which I still need to confirm, can somebody assist me a bit with the mechanics of the setup? I know that the UK engineering team has done some interesting things with vacuum cleaners and 3D-printed adapters.

I only need to have the three next to each other on a bench, so probably I can get away with rear connections without a holding frame.


Hoppie

[Gary Oliver]

Hoppie,

We used the following :-

1 x Fan - https://www.screwfix.com/p/manrose-mf100-25w-100mm-mixed-flow-fan/26867
1 x 100mm Pipe - https://www.screwfix.com/p/manrose-pvc-flexible-ducting-hose-white-3m-x-100mm/18232
1 x Mark created 3D printed Manifold
3 x 25mm / 1" Green Reinforced Suction Hose - https://tfpumps.com/product/1-green-re-enforced-suction-hose-1m-metre/
3 x Mark Created 3D printed adaptors to attach to the CDU.

We worked out that we would be providing the CDU's with at least four times as much air as minimally required by the spec.  The Boeing spec requires ~14m3/hour and our fan is giving 245m/hr = 81 per CDU per hour.  They stay pleasingly cold.

Remember its a blow not a suck    Also the hose we went for is VERY stiff... You might find it a bit easier to use a less rigid 1 inch hose, and living in the land of freedom units you might be able to find something more suitable.  Likewise the 100mm pipe is probably slightly different in freedom units too.

We are just trying to find where we put the 3D models and will attach them to this post.

Cheers
G

[Gary Oliver]

Hoppie,

Air Manifold and CDU attachments kindly provided by Mark here :-

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dahhitidtdcxrb6/Air%20Manifold%20and%20CDU%20Connector.zip?dl=1

[Mark]

Non-through holes (3 of them) on the manifold should be drilled out to 4mm, and heat-inserted brass threaded inserts installed.

The ones I used:
https://uk.farnell.com/tr-fastenings/m3-uhbrhesf/brass-insert-unheaded-m3/dp/2474921

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Yee!    \o/

Those CDU connectors need a donut or O-ring and are compression-sealed, I presume? Just by the weight of the CDUs in a panel, and by some other way in a horizontal bench setting. There's nothing to mount them against on the CDU, only a flat surface ring.

Is going to be a fun project this.


Hoppie

[Gary Oliver]

If you print the Cdu mounts you can put two mounting screws into the CDU to hold the hose on horizontal on the bench.

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Ah wait I didn't see those two tapped holes yet!

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Gary, do you happen to have source files or .step files? Our resident mech engineer may need to adjust a few details.

I already ordered some other materials, like the 1" air hose and the ducted fan. These things are advertised for home beer brewing & wine making, and for grow tents and hydroponics. Let's see what happens when the invoice hits the administration  :-D


Hoppie

[beat578]

Hoppies Homegrown MCDU?

[Mariano]

Sort of fitting: http://avherald.com/h?article=4e8abf60&opt=0

Regards,

Mariano

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

As usual... what you need isn't there... this model has a 100% flat surface to mate with the cooling outlet. No handy tapped holes like the -400 one.  :-(

Ah well. A friction fitting on the two alignment pins may work.


Hoppie

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

In the end we got creative with two rubber bushings and some 3D printed adapter plates. It works fine, though I would not recommend this construction for an airplane   :-/


Hoppie

[Gary Oliver]

A pleasing solution!

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

The test software also runs.

Hoppie

[Hardy Heinlin]

What's the frame rate?

[Will]

I guess there isn't enough space in the text display to do the old mainframe Star Trek game from 1971...

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

What's the frame rate?

I am already happy that I can make the ball jump about 4 times per second. These things are not really speed monsters and it is a 12500 bits per second interface... keeping it smooth is a challenge.


Hoppie

[andrej]

Looks very nice! And what a lovely feature.
Now that is a good way to pass time over Atlantic!  But it can be a source for arguments...


Best!

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Ok, ok, proud dad showing off, I know.

Carolina in 2003, playing with a sim B747 MCDU


Carolina in 2021, after wiring up a real A330 MCDU

[Hardy Heinlin]

Cool.

These MCDU boxes nowadays are just a quarter of the size 18 years ago ...