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Heat wrap cooler pipes

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:08 pm
by A2ON
Has anyone used exhaust heat wrap on intercooler pipes ?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:10 pm
by Stuart
Personally no I haven't but I can see the sense. Is this something that you have seen elsewhere mate?

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:14 pm
by Fast Eddy
As long as you are selective about which areas you wrap as you could potentially be stopping heat dissipate from some parts.

Eddy

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:17 pm
by A2ON
Yeh seen some do it .

Just got a new double thickness cooler (racespec) and want to wrap all the pipes before cadwell

The reflecta gold and cool tape type products I have used before worked well but seem a little pricey now adays :(

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:02 pm
by Harry
I have wrapped my Induction pipework in the immediate vicinity of the turbo however the best solution is to insulate the turbo don't know how difficult that is on your car as Eddy states be selective you want to dissipate heat as much as insulate against it
Good under bonnet ventilation is also important

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:09 pm
by A2ON
Intake cooler pipes all need wrapping from TB to cooler exhaust side no wrap

Turbo wrap no good like a jacket or something would be nice but no possible

So I'll give it a go then

Black exhaust wrap wanted :)

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:16 pm
by Harry
If any pipework to the intercooler is located outside of the engine bay then don`t wrap that section, you may want to consider white wrap rather than black generally you would use black on an exhaust to retain heat the white will also reflect some of the heat rather than absorbing it

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 9:17 pm
by A2ON
Will colour really make that much diffrence ?

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:02 am
by warboys
I would not recommend wrapping IC pipework (are you talking about alloy pipes or flexible hoses), especially not in Black as that absorbs heat, and yes it will make that much of a difference. You should be wrapping the ancillaries that generate the heat.

Do you measure your intake temps? Do you know what they are at the throttle body?

The DEI CryO2 kit is good stuff if you want to reduce your temps. I run an IC spray bar and my logging shows up to 50 degree drop in temps at the throttle body. They also do an alloy bulb that goes inside the intake pipe and a fuel rail chiller, all good stuff.

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 7:41 am
by ScoobieWRX
You should be able to buy a beanie for your turbo. Bit like a tea cosy for turbos. Goes wrapped around the turbine housing. If you've wrapped your headers, uppipe, and and downpipe either side of the turbo that should cut down considerably on underbonnet temps.

The other options are ceramic coatings.

I used one particular type of coating from a company called CamCoat. Their coating doesn't have to be applied by plasma so you can DIY by spraying it on. I applied satin black coating on my headers, uppipe and downpipe.

After a good session when everything has been glowing red hot, within less than half a minute or so you can touch exhaust pipework and it's just warm to the touch. Even immediately after switch-off nothing is red hot to the touch.

The only thing with this is that unless you want to pay big bucks you should DIY, and then you'll need to prep everything really well prior to application. The finish though is really good and IMHO better than wrap. Once it's done it should last for years.

I agree with warboys, don't wrap your cooler pipework, just make sure it's all getting plenty of cool air, even if you have to route some cold air ducting somehow into the engine bay. Every little bit helps.

Some pics of the coating after prep (80 Grit Aluminium Oxide shotblast) and application. Bare in mind these were brand spanking new shiny stainless steel items.

- Prepped -
Image

- Downpipe -

Image

- Headers 1 -

Image

- Headers 2 -

Image

Hope this helps :)