Painting shouldn't have much of an effect if you keep it thin, if you use some thick **** and it starts clogging and bridging between fins it won't run as cool (as to how much and what effect it has on HP I don't have a clue). Anodizing would be more durable.

 

How much am I looking at to get my intercooler anodized flat black? Turbo d sleeper is in the works .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by coquitlamEG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A buddy of mine has a subaru impreza RS with an STi engine in it, and his shop dyno'd it before and after spraying the intercooler flat black. It had no effect.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not saying that the difference would be huge, but I doubt that it would have "no" effect in everyday use. It's pretty tough to judge intercooler performance on a dyno.

 

yeah from what ive heard, painting an IC black really has no effect on performance. Dyno numbers wont really change and ive read stuff from tuners saying they show no to extremely minimal changes in intake air temps while datalogging. i think you would only run into problems if you used too much paint and clogged the fins. like someone else suggested use thin coats and spray at an angle

any flat or semi-flat black should work. i used BBQ grill paint (hi-temp), it turned out good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Radical_Edward &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can get it annodized, but spray painting it will make it less reliable.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i dont see how spray painting something makes it less reliable

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by built562 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i dont see how spray painting something makes it less reliable</TD></TR></TABLE>

The only conclusion I could draw as to why it would decrease its perfromance is if some ******* just gunked the **** out of it. Might affect flow but you would have to have ZERO skills...**** NEGATIVE skills painting to gunk it that much. I cant paint for **** but I bought one of those turn a spary can into a spray gun nozzle deals and kept the coats light and it didnt looked all gunked up. Rust-O-Leum is light though

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by specv5150 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The only conclusion I could draw as to why it would decrease its perfromance is if some ******* just gunked the **** out of it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Attend college (or advanced highschool) physics classes and learn about thermodynamics. Then draw a new conclusion.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Falqon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Attend college (or advanced highschool) physics classes and learn about thermodynamics. Then draw a new conclusion.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Lets take a look at the defintion of reliable
1 : suitable or fit to be relied on : DEPENDABLE
2 : giving the same result on successive trials

So tell me, how is an intercooler going to be less dependable when its painted black ? Maybe less efficient but I really don't think paint is going to hurt anything.

 

I dont know if this has been said or not already, but i have also heard of people puttin black pantyhose over their intercooler and it has the same effect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Falqon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Attend college (or advanced highschool) physics classes and learn about thermodynamics. Then draw a new conclusion.</TD></TR></TABLE>



A very light coat of paint or anodizing would "maybe" increase the operating temp by something like less then one Kelvin (so not inclined to do the math cause I am suck of doing this **** right now and all the theoretical stuff is never that accurate in real life). This would reslut in a negligable HP difference.

Some else mentioned some tests that a magazine did, I would trust those imperical results.

We designed heat sinks in school a while ago out of aluminium, we all spray painted them black to increase performance........it worked but not by much.

And as for the pantyhose idea, well it's creative but I personally would consider how much airflow it restricts and how do you get panty hose over an intercooler without getting a run in it.....LOL

just my 2 cents.

 

Then again black paint radiates heat from the object better than no paint.
Ever wonder why the SR-71 is black?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flashmn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Then again black paint radiates heat from the object better than no paint.
Ever wonder why the SR-71 is black? </TD></TR></TABLE>


to absorb radar?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbodreamz0385 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

not my car, but props to who's ever it is</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats sick...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ToasterOven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


to absorb radar?</TD></TR></TABLE>

um....no. It's to disipate heat. The SR-71 has to sit on the ground for an hour before the pilots can get out because it gets so hot.

 

If you do some searching, there is a guy who has IAT sensor readout and datalog.
He uses some BBQ grill paint in lowes or in advance auto parts, flat black (this is what I use)

Guess what the difference is? 10 deg F? 5F?

NOPE, the difference in intake temp at the manifold is ZERO, NIL, NADA....
I trust him because the numbers don't lie.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by coquitlamEG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

um....no. It's to disipate heat. The SR-71 has to sit on the ground for an hour before the pilots can get out because it gets so hot.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ROFLOL, you were told the right answer (radar) and you STILL don't get it, amazing. Every wonder why every one of our stealth aircraft are black? B2, SR-71, F117, they're called "black jets" for crying out loud. You don't see flat black F15's, those get hot too you know. The paint is iron ferrite for a reason.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
So tell me, how is an intercooler going to be less dependable when its painted black ? Maybe less efficient but I really don't think paint is going to hurt anything.</TD></TR></TABLE>

When did I mention dependable buddy?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by old man neri &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
A very light coat of paint or anodizing would "maybe" increase the operating temp by something like less then one Kelvin (so not inclined to do the math cause I am suck of doing this **** right now and all the theoretical stuff is never that accurate in real life). This would reslut in a negligable HP difference.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

That answer is just vague enough for me to think you don't know what your talking about. Anodizing and painting should not be mentioned in the same sentance in this argument, the two are too different. Painting the fins will not cause anything to heat up, but rather impair the intercoolers ability to cool down. (don't give me the "that makes it more hot", that just shows your missing the point) Dense materials are used for heat diffusion, paint is not dense, but when you cover the intercooler you no longer have aluminum/air heat transfer you have paint/air heat transfer. Not good, go look in your computer, guarunteed it isn't painted black unless you painted it, anodized probably.

For the last time, it's difficult to test a intercooler on a dyno, it doesn't replicate the driving environment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Falqon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
For the last time, it's difficult to test a intercooler on a dyno, it doesn't replicate the driving environment.</TD></TR></TABLE>

But it is possible to monitor the IAT temp with unpainted intercooler and painted intercooler. There is no difference. If there is, the fulctuation in wind condition matters more than the intercooler paint.

Do this with the same car, same speed. Somebody tried this already and the paint DOES NOT affect IAT

 

in any case guys i think this is moot. just paint at an angle and do it lightly so you only cover the front. you will have affected a very insignificant percent of the surface area of the intercooler's fins, and it will look black. mission accomplished. just don't get any paint between the fins and most of this debate becomes moot.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdm123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont know if this has been said or not already, but i have also heard of people puttin black pantyhose over their intercooler and it has the same effect.</TD></TR></TABLE>

umm, okay . . . anybody know a chick whose legs are anywhere NEAR the size of an intercooler? i don't think they make pantyhose that big. maybe if you have a small i/c you could get away with this, but if you have a large front-mount i just can't imagine you can stretch it that far.

 

I think everyone aggrees that there will be no noticible difference as long as you don't clog the passages and as long as your coating is very thin. So paint if you want to be lazy with something thin or anodize it if you want a good job


Now for the science arguing which plays really no role in this problem:

Denser materials are not used for heat diffusion. First of all what type of heat diffusion are you talking about? radiation, convection, or conduction. All three always play a role. for radiation generally someone black in colour will radiate heat better. For conduction something with the best heat transfer coefficient will conduct heat the best, not the most dense. (Al is used in a lot fo heat sicks cuase it's quite good and light, copper is actually better but is heavier. Gold and platinum are the best but a bit pricy and very heavy) and for convection well, usually we use air cause we don't have a choice, there you are playing with the airflow to maximize the forced convection.

And of course aluminum is anodized as opposed to painted black on a heat sink in my comp. anodizing is much better then painting alumninum. This was my suggestion from the get go. But painting is simpler to do at home that's why it is also another suggestion.

Here is where it all comes in to play. Let us just neglect radiation cause i doubt it really plays that much of a role. Hot air flows through the intercooler, it makes the fins hot. the hot fins transfer heat/energy to the air. We all know this. A measure of performance could either be how cold you get your outlet air to be or how many watts did the intercooler to be. Seeing as the intake air will always be the same temp the two ways of measure are indeed relative to each other. Now if you coat the intercooler/fins with either paint or anodizing (yes i know they are different process and made up of different material but just go with me on this for a sec before you flame) you now have to have conduction between the aluminum and the paint and then convection from the paint to the air.

Let us assume there is no contract thermal resitance. So now the only hinderance is that the paint/anodization layer is not conduction heat as well as the aluminum. But the whole point of it is that the layer is so so small that there is still almost no termperature changer. Then the it convects to the air. The convection is based on a few things. an "h" factor and the temperature difference. the "h" factor depends on air flow, the material (air in this case). The airflow will not really chance (yes it will slightly change because the fin stapcing all of a sudden decreased by a few thousands and the surface texture will slightly altered but it will not significantly change.


Heat disapaited = "h" X (diff in temp between air and surface of intercooler) X area

now, if "h" doesn't change, neither does the area, and the temp difference is ever so slight then the amount of heat dissapaited (in watts, or horespower, or whatever) won't be significantly affected.

This is compounded by the fact that even if there is a huge change in termperature at your outlet (coated vs not coated) such as half a degree it still won't affect. So in conclusion giving it a light coat of paint or anodizing it will make no real difference, just like the tests show.

you will get better perfomance gain if you race naked and save on wieght.


So to answer your comment, yes i do know what i am talking about.......
Positivly worded questions or comments are welcome (i.e. do swear at me)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95lstegman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
umm, okay . . . anybody know a chick whose legs are anywhere NEAR the size of an intercooler? i don't think they make pantyhose that big. maybe if you have a small i/c you could get away with this, but if you have a large front-mount i just can't imagine you can stretch it that far.</TD></TR></TABLE>

just paint it..!!! just paint it and get over it

 

pfft, you guys are funny... fact is my car has paint on the IC (but not on the fins) and it hauls ***. no it wont be faster without the paint.


you only see it cause the sunset is shinning right on it...



lite mist on the fins wont make a difference unless you calculate it on an unrealistic scale, but for IAT's or PWR to the ground it doesnt make a damn difference... end of story.

LOTS of benifits with a black IC, for example, COPS don't bother you... THEIVES don't bother you

BTW, good write up old man neri

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by old man neri &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

So to answer your comment, yes i do know what i am talking about.......
Positivly worded questions or comments are welcome (i.e. do swear at me)</TD></TR></TABLE>

I never said the difference was huge, I just quoted a person who said there was "no" difference and disagreed.

Denser materials are used in heat diffusion, you don't see high temperature plastic heat sinks. Rather copper, aluminum. I agree throw out radiation and increased area, but the fact remains paint is an effective blanket that changes the equation.

Why am I supposed to swear at you?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ToasterOven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


to absorb radar?</TD></TR></TABLE>nope, its designed to fly above radar. my friends dad flew it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Falqon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Why am I supposed to swear at you?</TD></TR></TABLE>

THat was not directed at you, just there are some people out there that would.


And what was saying about the denisity thing is that conduction is not realative to density. That's all. concret and aluminum have silmiar densites yet one is really good at conducting heat and the other is not.

but anyways go to http://www.eng-tips.com and check out forums there if you want to debate this or whatever.

Paint or anodize
[/thread]

edit: i will post this again, yes paint is there as blanket and does change the equation, but it is so so so so negligable.

http://www.coolingzone.com/Gue....html


Modified by old man neri at 10:02 AM 11/3/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95lstegman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

umm, okay . . . anybody know a chick whose legs are anywhere NEAR the size of an intercooler? i don't think they make pantyhose that big. maybe if you have a small i/c you could get away with this, but if you have a large front-mount i just can't imagine you can stretch it that far.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Fat bitches need pantys too. Plus they stretch so u prolly only need a layer over the front.
I've got my IC painted and i noticed no difference whatsover in my track times. Whats even stupider is that when i painted it, the only black paint i had next to me was like valve cover crinkle paint (thick) and i didnt notice till after i sprayed it. I still rock it. It makes no difference. Its not like if i go race a ferrarri i'm gonna do any better with my ic unpainted. The difference is negligibe. The IC may not be cooler, but I sure am