Temperature and power discussion
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From: Castaic
my 02 shiny newbie cents...
Products like Redline's Water Wetter are surfactants, chemicals which drastically lower the surface tension of water (much like soap will). They work to aid heat transfer by making the water to metal contact more intimate, thus allowing higher levels of heat to be wicked away from the block on a single pass through the system.
Running low amounts of anti-freeze (such as the 15/75 mix mentioned earlier) is generally not a good idea, at least for long term reliability and engine health. Water is lightly corrosive to most metals, over time the lack of corrosion inhibitors present in anti-freeze will allow the water to take it's toll on the engine and cooling system. Water wetter will offset this some with it's own corrosion inhibitors, but there have been discussions before about how effective Redline's additive really is in this regard (possibly a better surfactant would be Neo's Keep Cool... http://www.neosyntheticoil.com/keepcool.htm).
Increasing system pressure not only has the obvious benefit of higher heat transfer levels for a single pas through, the higher boiling temps also lower the possibility of cylinder hot spotting due to vaporization issues in water jackets (where the extreme heat of a single point can cause the contacting water to flash boil and create an air pocket preventing the spot from being cooled). Decreasing thermostat activation temp has long been shown to help with engine cooling too, and yes both can certainly go hand in hand to provide great increases in cooling capacity from the same basic system.
One of the most interesting developments in coolant technology, IMO, is waterless coolants with tailor made properties. Much like synthetic oils, logic dictates that one could engineer a coolant with better properties than mere water/anti-freeze mixes, and from the little bit of information I have found on Evans NPG, this seems to be true. Check out http://www.evanscooling.com/main25.htm for more info.
Products like Redline's Water Wetter are surfactants, chemicals which drastically lower the surface tension of water (much like soap will). They work to aid heat transfer by making the water to metal contact more intimate, thus allowing higher levels of heat to be wicked away from the block on a single pass through the system.
Running low amounts of anti-freeze (such as the 15/75 mix mentioned earlier) is generally not a good idea, at least for long term reliability and engine health. Water is lightly corrosive to most metals, over time the lack of corrosion inhibitors present in anti-freeze will allow the water to take it's toll on the engine and cooling system. Water wetter will offset this some with it's own corrosion inhibitors, but there have been discussions before about how effective Redline's additive really is in this regard (possibly a better surfactant would be Neo's Keep Cool... http://www.neosyntheticoil.com/keepcool.htm).
Increasing system pressure not only has the obvious benefit of higher heat transfer levels for a single pas through, the higher boiling temps also lower the possibility of cylinder hot spotting due to vaporization issues in water jackets (where the extreme heat of a single point can cause the contacting water to flash boil and create an air pocket preventing the spot from being cooled). Decreasing thermostat activation temp has long been shown to help with engine cooling too, and yes both can certainly go hand in hand to provide great increases in cooling capacity from the same basic system.
One of the most interesting developments in coolant technology, IMO, is waterless coolants with tailor made properties. Much like synthetic oils, logic dictates that one could engineer a coolant with better properties than mere water/anti-freeze mixes, and from the little bit of information I have found on Evans NPG, this seems to be true. Check out http://www.evanscooling.com/main25.htm for more info.
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From: Sugar Land
Originally posted by pfb
So we've discussed anti-freezes & thermostats...
Has anybody taken actual temperature measurements to determine what 3 bars really means?
So we've discussed anti-freezes & thermostats...
Has anybody taken actual temperature measurements to determine what 3 bars really means?
-shing
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From: Phoenix
[QUOTE]Originally posted by texan
[B]
Running low amounts of anti-freeze (such as the 15/75 mix mentioned earlier) is generally not a good idea, at least for long term reliability and engine health.
[B]
Running low amounts of anti-freeze (such as the 15/75 mix mentioned earlier) is generally not a good idea, at least for long term reliability and engine health.
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From: Castaic
Conventional wisdom suggests a 50/50 mix is optimal, where reliability, lubrication, corosion resistance and what-not is well balanced. You also have to remember that water is a terrible lubricant, you will likely burn up your water pump bearing pretty quickly with a 15/85 mix.
Joined: Oct 2000
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From: WA
Originally posted by Tanqueray
What do you recommend as a minimum level of antifreeze?
What do you recommend as a minimum level of antifreeze?
Of course the newer Propylene Glycol antifreezes are sometimes used straight without water. Great freeze/boil numbers but I don
