Intercooler Piping help/advice

[GGnz]

Hi Guys,

Got a quick question in respect to Intercooler Piping material. I'm eyeing up some Stainless Steel piping on TM at the moment but I've help rumours that they can crack under heat so I'm concerned about the pipe going from the Turbo to the Intercooler (since this is the only one that will generate the bigger heat).

Here is a link to the auction anyhow, opinions and advice would be appreciated.

I'm looking at running 10psi boost on a T3 Skyline turbo to give you an idea of heat etc.

LINK TO TM AUCTION:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts-accessories/Performance/Radiators-cooling-systems/auction-241410068.htm

[gasman]

um 10psi would not generate enough heat to crack intercooler piping. nothing coming out of the compressor side would for that matter. only manifolds seem to crack but only the crappy thin walled chinese ones.

im using stainless and it works fine, and my reasoning behind it is that its less conductive than aluminum so it would transfer less heat from the engine bay to the air going into the engine since the engine bay would be hotter than the cooled air from the intercooler.

[GGnz]

Yeah sounds good, I've heard its common with manifolds especially so was wanting to make sure. Out of curiosity, what sort of boost would you have to be running for it to crack?

[Crampy]

It's the heat that cracks them, not the amount of boost.

[GGnz]

I thought boost (pressurized air) generated more heat? And I was thinking also of the boost and heat combination (i.e. more pressure with the heat cracking the piping easier). Like would it handle up to 20psi? Got bigger plans in the future, thats all.

[tsoob]

stainless is mean!! have a look at my project thread u can see how its done, actually i have some more pics to upload must get on it.

[frost]

um 10psi would not generate enough heat to crack intercooler piping. nothing coming out of the compressor side would for that matter. only manifolds seem to crack but only the crappy thin walled chinese ones.

its not only the crappy Chinese ones that crack, high $ Japanese brands crack too, a lot of D1 cars go though 3 manfolds a season due to cracking/warping mostly using the sponsor made super bling looking stainless. jic blitz rsr bla bla bla

[Bazda]

All stainless manifolds crack over time.

Bracing etc will def help the life.

But the best is steam tube or steam tube in stainless. Only down side is its HEAVY.

For IC piping I like to use alloy, seems to stay really cold in the engine bay on my car.

[GGnz]

Dw, found out the piping from the Turbo to IC is alloy and the rest (from Intercooler to Intake etc.) is Stainless Steel so shouldn't be any heat issues. And yeah gonna get a decent manifold, definitely wouldn't trust stainless steel for that.

Thanks for the advice guys

[strx7]

For IC piping I like to use alloy, seems to stay really cold in the engine bay on my car.

amen

[evil_si]

alloy is the way to go
light weight and doesnt heat soak like stainless. it takes minimal air flow to keep the alloy cool

stainless piping can still be hot an hour later, kinda defeats the purpose when the intercooler has just tryed to cool it

[gasman]

Yeah sounds good, I've heard its common with manifolds especially so was wanting to make sure. Out of curiosity, what sort of boost would you have to be running for it to crack?

say at 450 deg temp rise you would start to see some problems (possibly a bit more in real life) to get that kind of a temperature rise from compressing air you would need to run 312psi of boost pressure using the ideal gas equation and assuming ur compressor is 100% efficient.

stainless piping can still be hot an hour later, kinda defeats the purpose when the intercooler has just tryed to cool it

i would argue that since stainless is less heat conductive it takes longer to cool down.
With alloy it feels cooler because its able to conduct the heat away from your hand faster than it can compared to the stainless. In the engine bay this conducted heat will go towards heating up ur cooled intake air. Since the aluminium can transfer this heat faster than the stainless overall air flowing through the aluminium pipe will have transferred more heat away from your engine bay and into your engine.

[cat007]

say at 450 deg temp rise you would start to see some problems (possibly a bit more in real life) to get that kind of a temperature rise from compressing air you would need to run 312psi of boost pressure using the ideal gas equation and assuming ur compressor is 100% efficient.

Crap - in that case I better change mine. I regularly hit 313psi

[Malcolm]

i would argue that since stainless is less heat conductive it takes longer to cool down.
With alloy it feels cooler because its able to conduct the heat away from your hand faster than it can compared to the stainless. In the engine bay this conducted heat will go towards heating up ur cooled intake air. Since the aluminium can transfer this heat faster than the stainless overall air flowing through the aluminium pipe will have transferred more heat away from your engine bay and into your engine.

stainless takes longer to cool down, partially because it's less conductive but mostly because you're taking about at least twice the mass.

I doubt you would see a difference of any more than a degree or two at the plenum between aluminium and steel, except at very low airflow rates through the piping, you're talking about a surface area that is considerably smaller than the intercooler.

I'd probably go aluminium for the lower weight, but TBH I think it'll make stuff all difference on a road car anyway.

[gasman]

stainless takes longer to cool down, partially because it's less conductive but mostly because you're taking about at least twice the mass.

I doubt you would see a difference of any more than a degree or two at the plenum between aluminium and steel, except at very low airflow rates through the piping, you're talking about a surface area that is considerably smaller than the intercooler.

I'd probably go aluminium for the lower weight, but TBH I think it'll make stuff all difference on a road car anyway.

not when you consider that you can generally use thinner stainless tube compared to aluminum. almost balances out.

[tsoob]

a lot of D1 cars go though 3 manfolds a season due to cracking/warping

3?? seems a bit excessive, ryan's sil has used the same one for the entire season, they do crack but not 3 in a season bro.

[frost]

sorry i missed out the JP part. there season is 3 times longer then D1NZ

[Malcolm]

not when you consider that you can generally use thinner stainless tube compared to aluminum. almost balances out.

That's why I said 2 times, not 3 (which is roughly the different if you're using the same thickness).
I'd think you'd probably be using 0.9-1.2mm thick if you use stainless or 1.6-2mm using aluminium? Aluminium will still be lighter, and easier to work with when you're making up the piping (provided you're not worried about a bit of aluminium welding).

[cat007]

ali FTW

cheaper
lighter
easier to work with
easier to source

no question

[tsoob]

ali FTW

cheaper
lighter
easier to work with
easier to source

no question

except for the finish is no where as nice a stainless

IMO the only + ali has is the price