Heat Management Of Turbos Manifolds Pipes Etc .

[Sydneykid]

Not as simple a subject as it first sounds.

I use thermotec wrap for the exhaust manifold and the dump pipe, engine pipe (back to the cat) and the wastegate pipe. Been doing it for decades on all sorts of cars, so its easy, I can almost do it blindfolded. I also have a turbo blanket around the turbine cover. Makes a HUGE difference to under bonnet temperature.

The extra heat (that now isn’t being radiated) goes out the exhaust pipe. I can’t say as the pipework or the turbine cover are any hotter with the wrap/cover. Maybe a few degrees, but in 750 + degrees it’s almost inconsequential.

After a 20 minute race the exhaust gas temperature comes down very quickly on the slow down lap and the idle through the pits. The EGT sensor is in the dump directly after the turbine mount flange, just in front of the lambda sensor. I can’t say that it holds the temperature any more than it used to before the wrap/cover.

My guess is the extra/retained heat gets transferred inwards (since it can’t go outwards), into the exhaust flow and gets carried along with it and out the tail pipe. This happens, not only at full throttle, but while idling down after the race has finished.

The bottom line, I am not really concerned with any extra heat soak caused by the wrap and cover and the benefits are so great it’s a no brainer.

cheers

[Beer Baron]

The Design Engineering Inc (DEI) thermal tape seems to be the most popular because it has a 1/4" guide on the tape to help get the overlap right.

When you talk about "ceramic based coating" under the wrapping, do you just mean the VHT paint with the pigment, or actually getting a ceramic coating applied professionally (or either)? According to the DEI site, one should also apply a layer of their heat paint over the top of the wrapping to protect it.

Finally, does any of this change if we are talking about stainless or mild steel vs. cast iron?

yep my tip is when you are wrapping the pipes. lay it all out on a nice clean workshop floor. wet the wrap as you go, stretch it nice and tight and wrap neatly using the clamps. then let it dry properly. in the sun if you can. then paint it a few coats using the VHT super high temp (1500 degree) flame proof heat paint.

also make sure you wear gloves, and dont stratch your nose or eyes whilst wrapping. i've done it without glove before and if you do you will be farkin itchy for a while.

[discopotato03]

I'm not sure what kind of fleas they put in ThermoTech wrap but the itch spans days . Its like its full of glass fibres and they nip whatever part of you they touch . Don't want to be visitin the loo in the middle of this job .

They do a kit of the wrap , the spray on stuff and stainless clamps to feep it in place . It looks costly but cheap compared to fire risk alternatives .

Gary is your turbine cover blanket the stitched type or the "bag type" ?

Also good to know that the retained heat from the insulation is not a problem for the turbo and within the capabilities of the water cooling system to prevent coked up bearings .

Thanks everyone for the input , cheers Adrian .

[JimX]

Sk, how much longer do you think you need to idle the car before the blanketed turbo is cool enough to shut the engine off? Or do you think it'll be roughly the same temperature with or without blanket after one cool off lap? Has anyone measured the external temperature of a housing after switching the engine off to see what it might be doing to the oil and bearings?

Getting heat out of the engine bay is something I want to do to help preserve the whole left side of the engine bay. The padding under the bonnet was already peeling off above the turbo before I got the car.

[CruiseLiner]

slightly off topic, but does anyone know what size heat bag will fit the hks t04z? im thinkin an XTR bag from gcg but they only have ones for gt30, gt35, gt40, 42, etc etc etc all except mine, so which one will be the correct size? i got a 0.81 housing if that matters

cheers

Brad

[inabox]

A word from a Turbo Blanket manufacturer..... We make these blankets inhouse at horsepowerinabox.com. They have evolved over the years and I believe they are made from the best materials commercially available. The side panels are now polyurethane coated stainless reinforced material, the felt is ceramic material with excellent heat absorbtion properties and the thread is now stainless with kevlar covering... Sounds like an add, which it probably is... but the blankets are a pet project of mine.

I was so impressed several years ago with the performance and principal of these blankets that I nearly bought into the company that originally made them... As things turned out the deal fell through... so horsepowerinabox cam along. I tried to do a deal to onsell the blankets but the guy was uncontactable and unrelaible, so tooled up to manufacture myself.. they have evolved into what we believe to be the market leader in the blanket market.. they are three piece construction of the best materials available.

I've had the theorists and doubters... but had no documented evidence of the product being detremental to the turbo... short or long term. We have consulted metalurgists and regarded turbo engineers alike and concluded that these units have no adverse effect. Only the armchair experts that make statements without supporting fact... its all theory and opinion.

I had one guy claim his dump flange warped because of the blanket.... who is to say that the flange wouldnt have warped withou a blanket fitted.. or it was too thin or warped from welding to start with... like I said there is no documented testing or evidence that these blankets are detrimental in any measurable way. They are commonplace on marine and trucking industries (known as lagging) but the temperatures are less in both cases. There are trucking guys that claim overall improvements in spooling and economy from fitting a blanket.

Bottom line is we beleive in the product as a good deal all round. It contains radiant heat for the cosmetics around the engine bay and keeps the heat in the turbo housing minimising the heat/energy/power loss through heat dissipation.