Testing a possible ice in tunnel reducer

[BlueBlood]

This may be a bit premature since I don't have a lot of miles on it yet, but so far seems to work...
I took some Grace Ice and Water Shield and lined the sides of tunnel and the rear tunnel extension, this is the same product that is used on house roofs under the shingles. Very sticky on one side, and very slippery on the other. Applying it is kind of tricky and time consuming but I had to try something to reduce the ice buildup. I applied it in the garage where it was about 50 degrees, so it could place it where I wanted without it completely sticking, then when I was sure it was placed correctly, I took a hairdryer and heated it while smoothing it where needed. Heating the material is what makes it stick, and there's no way I could pull it off after I heated it. I didn't line the top of the tunnel because of the pipes, but did line the sides right to where the pipes enter the tunnel. While I was heating the material I took a small socket and pushed on it where it would go over any rivets, this would let it form over the rivet without making a hole for water to get in between the tunnel and material.
I went for about an hour ride and when I looked in the tunnel there was a lot less snow stuck in there, what there was pretty much just fell off by giving the tunnel a tap with my hand. I think it may be continuously falling off as I'm riding, but I don't know.
I brought the sled back inside a heated shop, let everything thaw and dry and then used some rubber and vinyl cleaner and rubbed it on the liner. Then I took it for another ride and there was almost zero snow in the tunnel. Not sure how long the cleaner will make a difference, but as least it worked for a while.
I couldn't line the area in the tunnel right near the drive axle because of the way it's designed, but I got most of the rest of the tunnel. There was still some ice buildup in the axle area after letting it sit overnight, but it was a lot less than before, and it was a lot easier knocking out snow out of the tunnel before letting it sit.
I have about 300 miles so far, I know it's not much, so time will tell how long the slippery surface will last, but I'm happy so far and glad I did it. All of the material is still and place and isn't peelig off, even near the header pipe area. So for what it's worth, thought I'd share this with all of you.

 

[**sj**]

hope it works...keep us informed and thanks for being a guinea pig!

 

[Mtnviper]

Thanks for sharing Where do you buy this product?

 

[BlueBlood]

I would think that any home building store should have it, I got it from my brother who just built his house, lots of places to get it I'm sure.

 

[Groomer08]

grace

any building supply store should carry it. lowes and home depot both def stock it.

On another note mr. guinea pig....Dont u think over time small rocks and chunks of ice will chip/wear at the product and render its slippery effect rather useless? this product is rather thick, and kinda soft. would catch broken studs nicely tho!!

I dont think i'd ever try it, as like you said, its prob not ever coming off...that stuff sticks unbelievable once heated.
on a side note....I still havent figured out how you can strip a roof that has that product applied. must make a ooey goooey mess. its kinda like roofing tar in a roll.

 

[BlueBlood]

I know that over time the surface of it will wear out, just don't know how long. Actually this is rather thin, maybe a few mm. at most, could never catch a stud or anything like that. What I like about this is that even if the slippery surface wears out some, at least it covers up most of the edges and places that snow and ice would normally be able to grab on and collect. Time will tell, but I had to do something.

 

[Sno-Xr]

Most building suppliers will carry Ice and Water guard, but they are not all constructed the same. Grace brand is as described, but others have a slight textured surface, some even have a fuzzy(peach fuz) surface.

Hope it works for you. But if you notice any edges peelling back, you better get to work on it .Man that would make one crazy mess if it got caught up in the track!!

 

[AKrider]

I was talking to my neighbor this morning and he said there is a guy here in AK over on Dootalk who lined his tunnel with thin plastic. From what he said it was working.

 

[mach9]

I've been testing this theory also.
My tunnel was lined with plastic.
Tried it out yesterday.
It sort of works to a degree for some short rides.
And yes when you bang the tunnel, the ice comes off a little easier.
But the ice build up over a long ride still happens big time.

To sum it up.
It didn't work for me and was a watse of my time.
I'm going to come up with another inexpensive idea soon.

If it won't work, next year I'm going to go with the long under tunnel exchanger kit that Mountian sells.

 

[BlueBlood]

I was originally going to try plastic, this seemed liked it would be a little easier (in some ways) to install. I've been looking for another option also, but I hope you come up with one first, the sooner we get a fix, the better off we'll all be!

 

[AKrider]

I was thinking about this last night when I brought my sled into the garage to thaw out. The tunnel has lots of ice inside it. It gets worse if you ride and leave your sled parked your outside mulitple times since the ices builds up more and more. The solution in my mind is to get the exhaust out from under the tunnel. If you've ridden a fan cooled sled, there is very little under tunnel ice build up. Ride a liquid cooled sled with tunnel mounted heat changers, there is a lot more ice that is formed. Then route an exhaust under there and way more ice. More ice and an already heavy 4-stroke gets even heavier.

The exhaust should be run full length above the tunnel. The gas tank mounting would be a challange but with some heat shielding and air space it could be dealt with. This configuration works just fine for dirt bikes and 4-wheelers.

 

[BlueBlood]

I'd buy that in a heartbeat!

 

[Anonymous]

when I was a carpenter I used Grace on our homes and i need to say be carefull with it because if it is warm when you stick it on something it really is on there for good. If this works great just mess with the stuff first to get a feel for it cause it can be a majore pain to work with.