Black all the way

 

I got a full race black intercooler. I love being a sleeper.

 

If anyone needs aluminum anodized in the Los Angeles area let me know! I know a shop that does mil-spec work and always have time for small stuff!

 

i just stated seeing the intercooler jus because its nice. i dont seriously forget its boosted. but black sounds like a must where you all are from. so i guess it depends on location with what you want.

 

Sweet. So I'm guessing you had thermocouples on the surface to make sure the temperatures were the same when you started your experiments and also a way to quantify that amount of heat that was lost from convection as opposed to radiation from the can.

 

No, a temperature heat gun no probes.

I am lost you are saying convection which means 1.) the transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas) caused by molecular motion... and 2.) the vertical movement of heat or other properties by massive motion within the atmosphere...

Then you are saying radiation which means 1.) energy that is radiated or transmitted in the form of rays, waves, or particles... and 2.) the act of spreading outward from a central source.

So are you asking if we tested to see if the heat rose or went outward? If not then you are comparing to relative identical words for the comparison used above. That does not make sense to me can you rephrase that?

 

Convection: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co...fer-d_430.html

Radiation: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ra...fer-d_431.html

 

dam... thats too scientific 4 me

 

Again, you are talking about two different things. The previous posts were talking about how black paint accelerated heat dissipation. Well when you look at how a turbo works it pushes air and compresses it. This is convection due to the molecules being smashed into each other and not a form of inferred radiation. I am not sure why you are asking about radiation because probably 95% of the time no heat source would directly cause a heat increase. The sun would probably be the only factor. I was just using the sun as another test factor for ***** and giggles and it did not really have anything to do with the properties of an intercooler being affected by it.

Again we did this test back in high school and it was many moons ago so as far as the specifics of the direct result I am not sure.

BTW thanks for the refresher, LOL I had forgotten that radiation was basically inferred heat transfer...

 

Ughhhhh?..I like black intercoolers? lol

 

Convection is how heat is transferred from the air to the intercooler surface. I was asking if you felt confident that it would be improved by adding paint.

 

let's keep this simple. Does painting all the pipes and intercooler keep it cooler? In any way.

 

kind of seems like bare aluminum would dissipate heat faster because the wind would directly pass over that instead of the heat having to reach through the paint. i get the radiated heat part because the heat would have to get through the paint to get to the intercooler and it seems like the channels that the compressed air flows though would be able to stay cooler if they were painted black. kinda wonder if just painting the tubes that the air from the turbocharger flows though (as well as the complete back of the intercooler to keep of radiated heat) would have a be more effective than painting the whole thing? any thoughts?

we'll im going to get a thermocoupler and test it out soon anyway, ill post the results as i get them.

 

Yes, from my personal tests I feel 100% confident that painting your intercooler FLAT black would improve the cooling properties. If you went gloss the results would probably not even be half as good.

To another person's question I don't believe because of poor air circulation and bad heat soak from the turbine that painting all of your piping and the compressor would have any noticeable gains. The intercooler though would see gains because of the air being forced through it while driving.

Also the reason being is that aluminum has good heat transfer as it is, but you are adding air circulation into the mix. So the paint would heat up as fast, if not faster, as the aluminum. Flat Black paint dissipates heat faster than aluminum so therefore magnifying the effect of the circle of convection. This will continuously happen until the maximum heat dissipation from the Flat Black and the maximum heat transfer from the compressed gas to aluminum equalize. This will be the result that you can actually measure with your thermo coupling. An easier route would be just getting a thermometer gun and shooting the temperature across the intercooler. Given you will not get the exact temperature of the air but a damn close one because of the heat transfer rate that aluminum has.

You would of course have to setup a control so you had something to compare it to. I would have a non-painted intercooler and try to do this all on the same day and same humidity. Run it a specified amount and make sure the engine temperature is at a set point and use the temperature gun to get the temperature off of the compressor and turbine temperatures and log everything. Let it all cool down then paint it black and use the same warm up procedure and then do the same exact thing and you should have the temperatures be the same on the compressor and turbine.

You may want to do the control two or three times to make sure you have a true baseline or worst case scenario, average them out.

All in all, if you don't believe me do your own tests and figure it out for yourself LOL... we are starting to "bench race" over here.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity

Ignoring the fact it is wikipedia, adding thickness to material will in no way help will help something cool down faster. Retain heat? Sure. Shed heat, nope. I wouldn't trust some BS test you did in HS physics class either.

 

thats why no body is sure. he is gonna try to do a test for us so we know.

 

Exactly, and with the sun shining on the IC more likely than not, who's to say the heat isn't being absorbed?


Also, faster flowing air across the fins does not mean better cooling via convection. Thermal transfer is a function of time, and pressure drops across cores that slow down airflow and cause it to dwell against a surface for a longer time period is usually a good thing for a heat exchanger. This applies to both the inside as well as the outside of a heat exchanger.

 

black the bish out

 

Well that may be for you. This is why I said do your own tests for yourself. With my car the sun practically never hits the intercooler. Where you live you must be driving up steep hills all day long... Also the heat will be absorbed if the sun is hitting it through radiation and not convection.

 

First, I haven't done any tests whatsoever, it's just conjecture.

Secondly, if you re-read my post I am well aware of the difference between radiation, convection, and the heretofore undiscussed conduction.

 

Can you explain mathematically(which is really what physics is) why you believe taking an intercooler, spraying it flat black will increase its thermal efficiency? I've never come across such a theory. If you did some test in HS, you must have had to use math to quantify your results. Basic laws of thermal conductivity state if you increase the thickness of a material, you will increase the time it takes between temperature changes.

 

Honestly, I thought I was missing something. His posts were long and included lots of words in them(rather than LOLcat images). I figured he was throwing around some serious knowledge being his reference point was some test he did in HS.

I feel confident that a light coating of black radiator paint on an intercooler will not play a significant role in anything. I also feel fairly confident that if you really tested both scenerios, you would see some minor decrease in efficiency with coating the intercooler.

One last thing, if you remove all the grill plastic and put a flat black intercooler in there, you do not have a sleeper. In fact you just look like an idiot. You aren't tricking anyone by painting it but putting in on display.. I promise.

 

Was that directed to me? If so I only cut out what I had to for it to fit.Hell it still push's the bumper out.There is zero room behind the 88-89 sedan grill..

And yea it fools people.Who is really looking for a stock height/1 inch exhaust/Steelies having 89 sedan to be boosted? No one.

And you might want to calm down on calling people "idiots" We all know your a super smart/tough internet guy lol

 

done and edited.

 

^ i think this one is sleeper status!!!