What thickness aluminum for end tanks?
 

Hey all, I wanted to see what thickness everyone uses for end tanks? I'm putting together a few custom intercoolers and I want what is best.. I was thinking .06" or .08" Is that good?

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (Overblown-Teg)
 

.125"

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (dasher)
 

wow that is freeking thick. is that what the big companies use?

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (Overblown-Teg)
 

something doesn't sound right. | | <---That is pretty freaking thick! I would have thought 1/16" or at max 3/32"

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (Redlineracer)
 

yeah I have some 1/8" that I use to make mounting brackets from. I was thinking 1/16" which is .06".. I'd like some input from Full race and maybe cheapturbo. I know they both are doing custom coolers.

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (Overblown-Teg)
 

14 gauge seems to be what PWR makes their end tanks out of, or at least from eye balling a few cores that have been threw my shop. Basically you want the thinest material to keep the thermal conductivity high, but thick enough its not impossible to weld.

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (boosted hybrid)
 

So what inch thickness is 14g? I would say from looking at some pipes I have it would be around 1/16".

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (Overblown-Teg)
 

.080 or .125 3003 or 5052 https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif no 6061

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (fabman)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fabman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">.080 or .125 3003 or 5052 https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif no 6061</TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly.

todd, we use .125 5052 for our endtanks.

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (CHEAPTURBOdotCOM)
 

hmm interesting. I thought for sure you all would use 6061.. Why do you use the others? What rod would you recomend with the 5052? I normally use a 4043 I think. I also have some 5052, should I match the rod to the material?

Wow so your using 1/8" end tanks? That is really heavy. Can you use a normal sheet metal brake to bend them or are you using a press brake?

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (fabman)
 

14g = .0781 from my cheat sheet.

Re: What thickness aluminum for end tanks? (Overblown-Teg)
 

.125 is also the thickness Bell Intercoolers uses (owner - Corky Bell)....

Aluminum Alloy 6061 has a thermal conductivity of 180 w/m-k
5052 has a thermal conductivity of 137 w/m-k
1100 has a thermal conductivity of 218 w/m-k

6061 and 5052 are both good alloys for this purpose because they are highly corrosion resistant and strong.... using 1100 would scratch too easily despite it having a really good thermoconductivity(its at least 99% aluminum )



Modified by dasher at 11:30 PM 9/23/2003