Air Conditioned Helmet?
- Thread starter Jim "Hoofer" MCCRAIN
- Start date
I've never used one of those helmets, so keep that in mind. I watched the video on their website and dug around it a bit. I'm not impressed. Lots of buzzwords, and jargon, and name dropping, and they even admit that you won't feel a cooling effect from the helmet. (He says so near the end of the video)
Here is a quote from the website, "The Feher ACH-1 utilizes a patented and field-proven technology that is used to cool the seats in vehicles built by Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Infiniti, Lexus, and GM, just to name a few. It applies thermoelectric technology in combination with Feher’s patented Tubular Spacer Fabric to evenly distribute filtered, cooled air freely throughout the interior of the helmet."
Cooled air freely distributed throughout the interior of the helmet, but you won't feel a cooling effect from the helmet? Hmmmm, something isn't right here. Time to do some digging.
They are using patented technology from someone else. Do they have a license to use that patent, or did they steal it? Why name Rolls-Royce, Bnetley, & Ferrari if not to try and make it sound like something exotic and special? GM, Ford, Fiat, VW, and Chrysler use the same thing in their cars. "Field-proven technology used to cool the seats in vehicles" is a real fancy pants way of saying "there's a fan in it". 12 volt fans are definitely field proven technology, and there's a fan in there to circulate the air. "Thermoelectric technology" sounds really fancy, but it's quite literally decades old technology. I had a CPU cooler back in the late 90's or early 00's that used the same technology to keep the CPU cooler than with the standard heatsink and fan. I never noticed a difference in the temps. "Feher's patented Tubular Spacer Fabric" looks like corrugated plastic. You can see an example of it in the video if you look closely. Corrugations are wider than normal, but I could glue some McDonalds straws together and get the same effect. Just because something has a patent doesn't mean it's special or effective or anything like that. I'm all for putting old technology to use in new innovative ways, but there's just too much reliance on sounding fancy here.
Then I looked at the power draw for it. A 3,000 mah battery should power it for two hours, which means it's pulling ~1.5 amps at 12 volts. That's 20 watts if you are generous with your wattage. That's about how much power the light inside your microwave pulls. (Only the light bulb, not the whole microwave.) That's not much power for air circulation and cooling. I'd bet most of that power is required for running that fan for air flow.
Safety is another aspect to consider. "The Feher ACH-1 meets or exceeds US DOT FMVSS218 and ECE 22.05 helmet standards. The ECE certification is a highly respected global helmet standard and is recognized by the top racing series in the world such as MotoGP." Meh, ECE 22.05 isn't the bee's knees. In fact, ECE 22.06 has already supplanted 22.05. Even the ECE doesn't bother with 22.05 anymore. They've moved on to 22.06. But ECE is only marginally better than DOT (an absolute trash rating BTW. A 5 gallon bucket can probably meet it). What actual racers are interested in is Snell and FIM, not old ECE 22.05 ratings. MIPS is another safety feature to look for. This helmet has none of the actually good ratings, but touts the outdated ECE 22.05 rating as if it was blessed by Rossi himself. (Or Marquez, or whoever. You know what I'm saying.)
It's currently in a closeout sale of 30% off, and is still $400. Normally, they are $600. For that kind of change, I'd get a helmet with real ratings, and real vents in case my power port stops working, or I blow the fuse, or forget the power cord, etc. That helmet will be really hot if you can't power it for whatever reason. This helmet looks like a gimmick to me. I'd suggest steering clear of it and getting a nice modular instead. I like my Neotech 2.
Here is a quote from the website, "The Feher ACH-1 utilizes a patented and field-proven technology that is used to cool the seats in vehicles built by Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Infiniti, Lexus, and GM, just to name a few. It applies thermoelectric technology in combination with Feher’s patented Tubular Spacer Fabric to evenly distribute filtered, cooled air freely throughout the interior of the helmet."
Cooled air freely distributed throughout the interior of the helmet, but you won't feel a cooling effect from the helmet? Hmmmm, something isn't right here. Time to do some digging.
They are using patented technology from someone else. Do they have a license to use that patent, or did they steal it? Why name Rolls-Royce, Bnetley, & Ferrari if not to try and make it sound like something exotic and special? GM, Ford, Fiat, VW, and Chrysler use the same thing in their cars. "Field-proven technology used to cool the seats in vehicles" is a real fancy pants way of saying "there's a fan in it". 12 volt fans are definitely field proven technology, and there's a fan in there to circulate the air. "Thermoelectric technology" sounds really fancy, but it's quite literally decades old technology. I had a CPU cooler back in the late 90's or early 00's that used the same technology to keep the CPU cooler than with the standard heatsink and fan. I never noticed a difference in the temps. "Feher's patented Tubular Spacer Fabric" looks like corrugated plastic. You can see an example of it in the video if you look closely. Corrugations are wider than normal, but I could glue some McDonalds straws together and get the same effect. Just because something has a patent doesn't mean it's special or effective or anything like that. I'm all for putting old technology to use in new innovative ways, but there's just too much reliance on sounding fancy here.
Then I looked at the power draw for it. A 3,000 mah battery should power it for two hours, which means it's pulling ~1.5 amps at 12 volts. That's 20 watts if you are generous with your wattage. That's about how much power the light inside your microwave pulls. (Only the light bulb, not the whole microwave.) That's not much power for air circulation and cooling. I'd bet most of that power is required for running that fan for air flow.
Safety is another aspect to consider. "The Feher ACH-1 meets or exceeds US DOT FMVSS218 and ECE 22.05 helmet standards. The ECE certification is a highly respected global helmet standard and is recognized by the top racing series in the world such as MotoGP." Meh, ECE 22.05 isn't the bee's knees. In fact, ECE 22.06 has already supplanted 22.05. Even the ECE doesn't bother with 22.05 anymore. They've moved on to 22.06. But ECE is only marginally better than DOT (an absolute trash rating BTW. A 5 gallon bucket can probably meet it). What actual racers are interested in is Snell and FIM, not old ECE 22.05 ratings. MIPS is another safety feature to look for. This helmet has none of the actually good ratings, but touts the outdated ECE 22.05 rating as if it was blessed by Rossi himself. (Or Marquez, or whoever. You know what I'm saying.)
It's currently in a closeout sale of 30% off, and is still $400. Normally, they are $600. For that kind of change, I'd get a helmet with real ratings, and real vents in case my power port stops working, or I blow the fuse, or forget the power cord, etc. That helmet will be really hot if you can't power it for whatever reason. This helmet looks like a gimmick to me. I'd suggest steering clear of it and getting a nice modular instead. I like my Neotech 2.
I hear you on the Neotech 2, I run the Neotech, and was sure I'd go Neotec 2. However - I'm running a SENA 30K. The Neotech 2 would push it back if I wanted to run it. So - I'm looking elsewhere. I've tried on the Simpson Mod Bandit - cool looking, but bad on my forehead. Would like to try on an AGV SportModular...
Helmet shopping for my big mug is difficult...
Helmet shopping for my big mug is difficult...
@Jim "Hoofer" MCCRAIN - Its good practice to include a link when you are asking about a specific product, especially one new to the market.
Feher ACH-1 Helmet
Sorry, no experience with it. And I never will have any. Here's the problem; It has a fan in the helmet. If the fan was large or powerful enough to do real cooling, it would be insanely loud with conductive noise inside the helmet. It's not loud, by all reports... so it's not powerful enough to be useful. It's a gimmick to separate fools from their money. Real cooling products put the power, pump and fan, etc outside the helmet on the bike somewhere and run coolant or cooled air through line/hoses into the helmet. This has been done for years by race car driving teams. In their case, the common method is to run the hose thru a cooler full of ice. Most motorcyclists don't want to take up that much room.
Besides, it's a product offered for people that don't wear helmets. Why do I say that? Because it comes with a backpack to carry it in. And it's not a modular helmet, so that removes it from any useful category for this forum.
Feher ACH-1 Helmet
Sorry, no experience with it. And I never will have any. Here's the problem; It has a fan in the helmet. If the fan was large or powerful enough to do real cooling, it would be insanely loud with conductive noise inside the helmet. It's not loud, by all reports... so it's not powerful enough to be useful. It's a gimmick to separate fools from their money. Real cooling products put the power, pump and fan, etc outside the helmet on the bike somewhere and run coolant or cooled air through line/hoses into the helmet. This has been done for years by race car driving teams. In their case, the common method is to run the hose thru a cooler full of ice. Most motorcyclists don't want to take up that much room.
Besides, it's a product offered for people that don't wear helmets. Why do I say that? Because it comes with a backpack to carry it in. And it's not a modular helmet, so that removes it from any useful category for this forum.
In my opinion, rule number one when purchasing a helmet is white.
It is a fact that dark helmets will attract heat in the sun.
I live in NM where we see a lot of sun and temp's running in the 100°'s is common before, during and after summer times most see.
As to cooling yer pumpkin in the summer heat with any helmet - start with a helmet liner from our great friends at LDComfort.
Using a helmet liner allows you to wet the liner, put the helmet back on - and ride on.
Adding wires, tubes or other "connections" to external sources is not something I would consider.
It is a fact that dark helmets will attract heat in the sun.
I live in NM where we see a lot of sun and temp's running in the 100°'s is common before, during and after summer times most see.
As to cooling yer pumpkin in the summer heat with any helmet - start with a helmet liner from our great friends at LDComfort.
Using a helmet liner allows you to wet the liner, put the helmet back on - and ride on.
Adding wires, tubes or other "connections" to external sources is not something I would consider.
The problem with wearing a wet helmet liner is air flow. If you do not have enough air flow or venting, then you are sitting with a hot wet rag on your head acting as insulation and providing no benefits.
It can work, but you need to ensure your vents are sufficient and actually work while on your bike and at speed.
It can work, but you need to ensure your vents are sufficient and actually work while on your bike and at speed.
I hear you on the Neotech 2, I run the Neotech, and was sure I'd go Neotec 2. However - I'm running a SENA 30K. The Neotech 2 would push it back if I wanted to run it. So - I'm looking elsewhere. I've tried on the Simpson Mod Bandit - cool looking, but bad on my forehead. Would like to try on an AGV SportModular...
Helmet shopping for my big mug is difficult...
Helmet shopping for my big mug is difficult...