Why use cockpit blower when you can use alternate blower?
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Using cockpit blower at 100% cools down the instrument panel to about 103 fahrenheit for me, and uses bleed air. On the other hand, the electric alternate air fan, an electric fan that's not powered by bleed air, cools it down to 80 or 90 degrees fahrenheit. I do not see the advantage of using the cockpit blower over the alternate blower to cool down the instruments.
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The cockpit blower fan does not use bleed air, in fact it's usually moving air conditioned air, if your cabin is warm enough. They are both electric fans, but the cockpit blower is meant to be always-on, and has a much longer life expectancy. (The life expectancy is simulated in Black Square aircraft.) The reason you see apparently greater cooling with the alternate blower is because it's working together with the cockpit blower. If you pulled the breaker for the cockpit blower, and only cooled the panel with the alternate blower, it would not be as effective.
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The alternate blower is exactly that - an alternate
mainly intended for ground use or as backup if the main blower fails.According to the AFM (Section II Limitations), the ‘Avionics Alternate Blower’ is listed separately from the primary Ventilation Blower. That classification proves it is alternate, meaning supplemental or backup - not the certified primary system. Using it full time in place of the bleed air blower would make you non-compliant with the aircraft’s equipment limitations.
So it’s a useful supplement, but not the primary cooling system by design.
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The cockpit blower fan does not use bleed air, in fact it's usually moving air conditioned air, if your cabin is warm enough. They are both electric fans, but the cockpit blower is meant to be always-on, and has a much longer life expectancy. (The life expectancy is simulated in Black Square aircraft.) The reason you see apparently greater cooling with the alternate blower is because it's working together with the cockpit blower. If you pulled the breaker for the cockpit blower, and only cooled the panel with the alternate blower, it would not be as effective.
@Black-Square But in cruise, then I always need my cockpit blower to be on... Is it fine if I put my cockpit blower to 50 percent? (cabin temp is 68 fahrenheit/20 celsius) it can get my avionics temp all the way up to 50 celsius/120 fahrenheit
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@Black-Square But in cruise, then I always need my cockpit blower to be on... Is it fine if I put my cockpit blower to 50 percent? (cabin temp is 68 fahrenheit/20 celsius) it can get my avionics temp all the way up to 50 celsius/120 fahrenheit
@slipperfruit said in Why use cockpit blower when you can use alternate blower?:
@Black-Square But in cruise, then I always need my cockpit blower to be on... Is it fine if I put my cockpit blower to 50 percent? (cabin temp is 68 fahrenheit/20 celsius) it can get my avionics temp all the way up to 50 celsius/120 fahrenheit
If you are not getting warnings on the screen or screens blacking out the temperature is fine there is no need to add additional cooling. Granted this is the virtual space so when the Alt fans burns up from overuse there's no charge to you.
