Intercooler Spray

[TheDrumAndTheBass]

Ok, this may sound kinda strange, but it might just be crazy enough to work. Inspired by the NX N-tercooler system. Me and a buddy of mine thought up the idea of re-routeing the winshield washer tubes around to the front of the intercooler. It should have similar effects, speccially if you knew in advance that you would be racing (either ont he strip or the street) and filled you resivour with ice to make the water nice and cold. Any ideas on if this would/could work at all?Ryan

[Xero]

I dunno if it'd be worth it, or you'd be able to really feel it,

you can do a CO2 injection system pretty easily, well, easier than other things, essentially make you own N-tercooler system,

[SloS13]

Im working on building a $30 special.

Misc Fuel pump2 misc. honda injectors that i'll let sit in some parts cleanerwindshield washer reservoir filled with alcohol or icewater.push button or boost-activated power. not sure on the boost activated stuff yet.

[encasemyheart]

A decent intercooler sprayer can increase I/C efficiency by 5-10%, which would be perfect for hot days and drag races and high speed runs.

I would do one that used the windshield washer fluid as a reservior, a small pump with a switch in the cabin and a couple sprayers mounted in front of the intercooler. That way you just have to keep washer fluid filled. 5-10% efficiency rise is definately worth the money it would cost to build, which wouldn't be much.

Oh yeah, the 5-10% comes from Maximum Boost, Corky Bell's book.

[SloS13]

i think the efficiency would be greatly increased if you have fine atomization of the water/alcohol

[Aceshigh]

Be careful about using the washer system already installed in your car. Some counties require you to have a functioning washer system to pass the yearly inspection. You could, however, go the the junkyard and pick up another washer system from some nameless car and use it for your intercooler-cooler. A system out of a suburban would probly have a larger pump and resivoir... Just a thought.

[SloS13]

i live in alabama no inspectifcationalization

[Aceshigh]

You lucky ***, still a larger more powerful system would be better. That and the fact that when you hit the button to cool your intercooler your wipers will swing around a couple of times, may look a little dorky. I like the overall idea though.

[JESTER]

You could pretty easily rig up a CO2 system with a paint ball CO2 bottle and some steal braded line (and some other odds and ends).

If I ever get a turbo system, I will try to work something up.

[encasemyheart]

Actually what I was saying was use a seperate pump tapped into the bottom of the washer reservoir. The other pump wouldn't go unless you hit a special button. The washers would function normally, only you would run out of washer fluid a bit quicker if also using it as a sprayer...

So everything works like originally, you are just using the water in the washer fluid reservoir for the sprayer and the window washer.

[huguetpj]

I believe a Paintball CO2 bottle would be a bit on the small size. The Cryo system includes a 5/10 lbs bottle while most paintball bottles are in the ounce department. But i do have a link to some company selling 10lbs, but I don't have my favorites with me. But I'll post everything up in my webpage as usual.

I myself are working on a home made Cryo system myself, but I'm more interested in getting my KAT up and running first, although I've already purchased an adjustable pressure switch out of an Isuzu NPR truck form my firing mechanism

[JESTER]

I was thinking more along the lines of the high pressure tanks, but they are more for nitrous and compressed air (havent played in a few years. They are getting high tech on me.)

So I figure that is a no go with CO2. But you could use one of the high pressure Nitrous tanks for this. 45ci 5000psi bottles, but they cost around 300 bucks. Plus what ever you have to get to rig it up like lines and toggles and other stuff. $491 will get you the N tercooloer with a 5 lbs bottle.

I dont think my route is worth it after checking prices. But I am still interested in the water spray. Hope you guys get this worked out.

[TomsMR2]

Im working on building a $30 special.

Misc Fuel pump2 misc. honda injectors that i'll let sit in some parts cleanerwindshield washer reservoir filled with alcohol or icewater.push button or boost-activated power. not sure on the boost activated stuff yet.

let me save you alot of hassle and money..

ditch the FP. overkill. ditch the injectors. overly complicated/too high pressure needed/too low flow.

get a regular washer pump, a cheapass electric sprinkler solonoid, and some mister (like the water fogger) nozzles. very very easy to wire in, and setup!

[Xero]

doode, hook it up with some LED washer nozzles j/k, but I can say that 'cause I have LED nozzles, I admit it, but that's another story,

what I'd like to know is why waste the washer fluid, or am I mis-understanding what's going on? personally, I'd use another bottle, and maybe run alcohol, or something that'll evaporate quicker, not just water,

[gibbo80]

You lucky ***, still a larger more powerful system would be better. That and the fact that when you hit the button to cool your intercooler your wipers will swing around a couple of times, may look a little dorky. I like the overall idea though.

Haha I think the original plan was a good idea, a bigger reservoir would be good tho

[TopStreet240]

you need to use water it will give you way more power, it will cool the intercooler much better. The only reason people dont use water is A. The NX kit and NOS kits are in mags and B. tracks will not allow water to be sprayed. If you set up wash sprayers to the intercooler fill it will water and look for major gains.

[PROJECTRB240SX]

NITROUS IS COLDER THAN WATER AND SO IS CO2. ITS BECAUSE THEY BECOME SUPER COMPRESSED. IF YOU PUT DRY ICE IN THE WATER YOU WOULD LOWER ITS TEMPERATURE BY A CRAP LOAD BUT YOU WOULD NEED A WAY TO VENT THE PRESSURE IT CREATES.

[MarkEmark]

Aceshigh---Where did you hear that disconnecting the windshield washer system will cause you to fail inspection? I live in CT and they're still in the process of transforming the inspection system, but I just took out my windshield washer reserve/bracket/tank/pump etc, because I never use them, it's just unnecessary weight in my front bumper, blocked air flow to my wheel wells/brakes, and looked bad when I removed the fake black plastic covers in my bumper that are in place of real fog lights...With all that space I'm actually thinking of constructing some brake cooling ducts, it seems it would be pretty easy. :thinker Sorry for the OT rant...

[Aceshigh]

Hmmm, I coulda swarn I have heard that some where, maybe I'm losing it. Thats more likely.

[C-Kwik]

I was thinking more along the lines of the high pressure tanks, but they are more for nitrous and compressed air (havent played in a few years. They are getting high tech on me.)

So I figure that is a no go with CO2. But you could use one of the high pressure Nitrous tanks for this. 45ci 5000psi bottles, but they cost around 300 bucks. Plus what ever you have to get to rig it up like lines and toggles and other stuff. $491 will get you the N tercooloer with a 5 lbs bottle.

I dont think my route is worth it after checking prices. But I am still interested in the water spray. Hope you guys get this worked out.

Paintball high pressure tanks will not have nearly the same cooling effects. The reason CO2 gets so cold is because it absorbs so much heat as it converts from a liquid to a gas. HPA's store the medium as a gas. Which is why so many paintballers like it. It is less likely to freeze seals, need expansion chambers and since it uses a regulator instead of the natural atomization point of CO2 to regulate pressure, it is much more consistent. HPA tanks get a little warm when being filled. But considering the 3000-5000 psi they run, if it had anywhere near the effect that CO2 did when changing physical states, then compressing air to such high pressures would be enough to scald me right after a fill. Lastly, my small 3000 psi 47 CI HPA tank gets less shots per fill than my 12 oz CO2 tank did. The biggest HPA I've seen is about 90 CI with a 4500 psi rating. The biggest CO2 tank I've seen is 20 oz. The CO2 is already small for this kind of application, an HPA would not be much better.

That being said, I'd still opt not to run CO2. Consider a higher concentration of CO2 may affect how the car runs, especially if it is being ingested by the motor. More CO2 means less O2 and less O2 means less power. I'd stick with NO2. Large bottles are readily available, and it's relatively cheap to get.

As far as water, it will work. Of course, how well depends on many factors. Like any intercooler, the greater the difference in temperatures, the more effective it will be. Water will cause an even greater effect here since the water will evaporate faster. But you will need more water to keep up with it. Humidity can play a big role here too. If it's very humid, the water will not want to evaporate as quickly since the ambient air is already saturated with water. And if the water isn't evaporating, it is not absorbing nearly as much heat.

[SloS13]

^^ Mr Wizard

[Xero]

doode...Mr Wizard should have been into cars, we'd be driving some crazy isht right now,

[huguetpj]

Quote »That being said, I'd still opt not to run CO2. Consider a higher concentration of CO2 may affect how the car runs, especially if it is being ingested by the motor. More CO2 means less O2 and less O2 means less power. I'd stick with NO2. Large bottles are readily available, and it's relatively cheap to get.[/quote]

Am I missing anything? Cause the CO2 system that is being discussed here doesn't inject it to the motor... it just sprays it on the intercooler and maybe goes through a special sealed bulb inside the intake stream to cool it even further. And I believe you can use an NO2 bottle for CO2, that is most probably what NX does on their kit. Anyway, I can get 10-20lbs CO2 bottles real cheap (hopefully) since there is a bottle factory nearby.

And I agree with the HPA stuff. You need the CO2 to be stored as a liquid (and use no regulator) for a better cooling effect.

Now, I do believe CO2 will work better than water just because the CO2 will exit the system and almost freeze the intercooler.



Which room temp water won't even come close. The white stuff all over the sprayer and cooler is solid water (ice). Water going from solid -> liquid -> gas has a much better cooling effect than just going from liquid -> gas. That's why people use dry ice to cool the water as much as possible when using the water system.

[SloS13]

I dont think there's any debate that C02 would have a greater cooling effect than water, but water is cheaper both in initial cost and refilling. Not to mention water is sold everywhere. There's a whole pond full of it near my apartment so I get it for free

[huguetpj]

Yep, you have a point there. Fortunately for me I can go to the local brewery here and fill up a tank of CO2 for real cheap compare to what I've heard in the US. Sometime it pays to live in a third world country.

[SloS13]

OMG dude, you're totally cooling down your charge with beer! Thats freaking INSANE!!!!!!

[huguetpj]

jeje... not a bad idea, but that would mean I would have to kick away all the drunks licking my sprayer every where I go.... jeje

[C-Kwik]

Am I missing anything? Cause the CO2 system that is being discussed here doesn't inject it to the motor... it just sprays it on the intercooler and maybe goes through a special sealed bulb inside the intake stream to cool it even further.

Not that it injects directly, but it does put a higher concentration of it near the motor. If it starts to make it's way to the filter location, it can cause some havoc. Of course, it will depend on how much of the gas is being dishcharged. But I'd certainly take my chances with N2O than CO2.

[huguetpj]

yep. good point. What I'm planning on doing is having a section of the intercooler piping custom made with an aluminum pipe spiral inside so I can pass the outgoing CO2 through there on its way to the intercooler, just as the Cryo2 system does.

But as you point out, I'm gonna make sure it does not have any leaks

[SloS13]

sounds kinda engineer-ful. Why not just spray it on the intercooler?