Inter cooler and charge cooler question
welderman - 7/7/12 at 05:31 PM
Going to fabricate my own charge cooler.
I've been offered an inter cooler core.
Question is can I use it are they the same in principal ?
RK - 7/7/12 at 11:38 PM
frozenboost ones are so cheap it would be simpler to get from them no?
dexion7 - 8/7/12 at 09:02 AM
they are a different design and for a variety of reasons its not a good idea. loads or proper air / water units on ebay for under £100. the two i
bought are a good design and work well.
welderman - 8/7/12 at 10:28 AM
Any links guys 
RK - 8/7/12 at 01:24 PM
http://www.frozenboost.com/index.php?cPath=218&osCsid=a24ea4afe2fd43a5cc5c333d88714937
welderman - 9/7/12 at 01:39 PM
Cheeres matey for that will have a look
dexion7 - 9/7/12 at 01:56 PM
i've never used one but the design of those barrel shaped air to water intercoolers looks like it has more to do with aesthetics than function!
rdodger - 9/7/12 at 03:44 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dexion7
i've never used one but the design of those barrel shaped air to water intercoolers looks like it has more to do with aesthetics than function!
They work very well. I see intake temps around 20 degrees above ambient with my supercharged engine driven hard. Without it was up to 100 degrees
above.
dexion7 - 9/7/12 at 10:55 PM
quote:
Originally posted by rdodger
quote:
Originally posted by dexion7
i've never used one but the design of those barrel shaped air to water intercoolers looks like it has more to do with aesthetics than function!
They work very well. I see intake temps around 20 degrees above ambient with my supercharged engine driven hard. Without it was up to 100 degrees
above.
good that you have found one that works and doubtless many others will have too.
i was referring specifically to the barrel style offered by frozen boost (they look similar to other vendors offerings). they have 3 sizes which they
rate for greater hp/cfm as the length of the air flow tubes increases. in fact most cooling is done by the end of the tube at the inlet and the
amount of heat extraction diminishes rapidly as the charge air progresses through the tubes (because the charge air is being cooled so the heat
difference between charge air temp and the cooling medium of water is reducing as the the charge air temp is dropping).
those that they rate for higher cfm /hp are are longer with the same cross sectional area. this is the opposite of what is really required because in
order for the charge air to lose heat to the ally tubes a turbulence effect is required and this necessarily introduces air flow restriction: double
the tube length with the same CSA of tubes and you double the flow restriction.
flow restriction means pressure drop between turbo & plenum and although its tempting to 'adjust the wastegate spring' to compensate,
this pressure drop sucks power from the installation, makes huge amounts of heat & you finish up 'chasing your a***'.
from a det suppression / cylinder filling standpoint, flow restriction with charge air temp reduction is certainly better than the other way around
but both could easily be achieved if the CSA of the barrel was increased instead of lengthening the charge air tube length.
like most things in life those barrel intercoolers are built to a cost and in this case it looks like they are made from a standard 4 inch core
diameter size and they simply cut off the length required 6/8/10 inches etc. increasing the core diameter even slightly would be much better and a
major improvement.
the conventional air /water units on ebay (including frozen boost) have generally much better air flow CSA and in the absence of temperature testing
facilities / R&D time etc would give good results to a much higher percentage of DIYers like us.
they come polished to a mirror finish and cost about 2-4 times as much as the more traditional style too, thus my original comment that they are made
for aesthetics over function!