FAQ: Can I use PVC pipe for intercooler piping

[Guest]

Ok, most people will laugh when they read this but I dont care. I want peoples Ideas of whether this will work and if not why not.

I am thinking of trialling use of plumbing pipe (domestic pvc water pipe) as an alternative to costly intercooler piping for a front mount intercooler installation.

Heres my theory:

Melting point of PVC (plastic used in this piping) is 182 degrees celsius. This means that every day, people are boiling their kettles, and tipping 100+ degrees water down their sink if they put too much in their cup, and its not melting the pipes.

So if I have a turbo, and its sending compressed atmospheric air down a plastic pipe, my guess is, the temperature might rise to lets say 80 degrees. This should be half the heat of the melting point and therefore present no issue for melting. Even if melting was an issue at some point, surely, after being through a front mount intercooler, temperatures should be almost atmospheric, so at least the pipe after the Intercooler should be safe from melting..

Why?? Why use plastic you say??

1. Its cheap

2. Its light

3. It doesnt rust

4. Bends are readily available in many shapes (no welding required)

5. Easy to join

6. Holds constant pressures of upto 70 PSI including bends.

Only negatives I can think of is:

1. you'd look like a punce if you had white pipes on your car (nothing some black paint coundn't fix)

2. If piping to BOV elbow or throttle body, underbonnet temperatures get high on some cars (but from what I have read, extremly high underbonnet temperatures are about 100-150 degrees, still not melting point)

[elbee111]

Gday NJ,

Interesting experiment. I commend your bravery.

My concern is about the melting point. This may be that temperature which sees the PVC as a molten mass forming a puddle.

I wonder whether a somewhat lower temperature would see the PVC "soften". I mean after a while the piping may sag etc.

The proof is in your experiment.

El Bee

[Unscarred711]

Give it a go and tell us if it works, you could be onto an interesting money saver.

Also instead of plumbing why not use PVC electrical conduit, that stuff is twice as thick and i know it doesnt melt to easy but it can be bent if you hold a heat gun onto it so you wouldnt even need the use of elbows and joints??

[66 skyline gt]

i work in the maintence game.... if you could get your hands on abs pipe ( grey in colour) glues easly and is extremely resilient to deformation at high temps and pressure. we use this stuff to plumb water to 500t injection moulding machines and i have yet to see one split....its twice the wall thickness of electrical pvc conduit and a hell of a lot stronger...... only down side is you need to leave it to set properly for 24 hours....

good luck on your experiment.....

[mitchy_]

i work at a plumbing supply store too..

if you mean DWV waste pipe... then i wouldnt use it, it will sag, and get brittle, not to mention its designed for a 2/3 drainage system.. ie, 2/3 of the pipe is the maximum flow that should be run thru it, thus having no pressure.

PVC pressure pipe is alot stronger, and expensive, but still isnt designed for heat...

as 66 skyline gt said, ABS pipe is probably one of the safest bets, or a piping system called dizayn/aquaplast, these are both designed to take a decent amount of pressure and heat, but definte values im not 100% sure on.

let us know how the results go... if you find some kind of plumbing pipe that will do the job fine, i may be able to get some good deals for SAU

[Birnie]

I guess another thing to consider is which is more resilient to cracks/punctures when hit by high speed gravel/pebbles...and i have no idea which by the way, just a point to think about

[Lukas]

Sounds like a pretty interesting idea! Some people use Thermaflex, which is fibre glass / silicone piping... but it is more expensive than SS!

Let us know how it goes and good luck.

[Driver]

even tho it wont melt - if it gets really hot and its under pressure wont it just stretch the pipe?

[always_me]

sorry guys but thats a cheap and nasty way of making intercooler piping, seriously i just wanna kow if your gonna spend 20k to buy a nice gar or even more, why would you wanna use pvc pipe as cooler piping, just dont modify it til you get some cash flow, easy.

[Unscarred711]

sorry guys but thats a cheap and nasty way of making intercooler piping, seriously i just wanna kow if your gonna spend 20k to buy a nice gar or even more, why would you wanna use pvc pipe as cooler piping, just dont modify it til you get some cash flow, easy.

Yeh, i wouldnt do it but it is still interesting to see if it would work and give ppl an alternative.

[boj01]

I've seen this work quite well on a 1GGTE powered Soarer. Along with a Hybrid copy FMIC, it bought the engine temps down drastically, and made the car run like it would on a cold night 24/7. Was easy to do and I think the whole job cost $450 including the purchase of the intercooler.

So it is doable, doesn't look the best, but in my opinion is a good starting point for someone who is doing their first FMIC pipe work job. Once all the PVC pipe is 100% spot on, it can then be made in stainless steel, saving yourself money on wasted metal bends and pipe.

[midnight]

lol ive seen this done on a cordia. its pretty ghetto.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the replies people. I must say most of it has been good. I suppose I have now got the ideas straight, and will be in the market for some ABS pipe and bends. After all replies I still dont see any issue with my theory.

I wont be replying to this thread for a while now until I have actually performed the experiment and tested it. I will post my results, hopefully with some pictures.

Just a quick reply to always_me. This section is marked Tutorials / DIY /FAQ and I would class this as DIY. The point of DIY is that conventional methods are not always cost effective or smart, they are normally there for people to make money.

[1598cc]

old post:

ive seen and personally used PVC piping with no problem.. spray paint it and vola.(sorta ha)

[HRthirtyone]

in one of my old cars i went down to an exhaust shop and got a couple of metres of mild steel tubing for $20, then went to a jap wrecker and sourced intercooler piping bends from stock cars for $20, the dude had a huge box full of cooler bends.

I did the whole setup for $40... how can u beat that. It sure as hell wont melt!

[1598cc]

yeh thats a another way.. i used standard vr4 bends + straight aluminium in my ef9 civic .. costed around the same.. pvc is dam easy tho and itll flow well too.

[philta]

mate used it to make a spud gun, if it can handle the heat and a combustion, im sure it could be used for IC piping, btw it blew up on him after like 3 months. but he waslaunching BIG ASS pototoes.

dude gluck aye, write up a report and who knows il be driving around with one too

ur thinking like a asian egineer.....our moto "Its cheap ....its WORKKS!!!"

[342Four]

like philta said - ive used normal pvc pipe for spud guns, and it handled the compression and heat easily (aerostart and lynx deo cans are dangerous!!! - they fit perfectly down the pipe and we would fire them, and apples, and spuds )

i say give it a go man

[philta]

just a small question what are u using to bend the pvc???

well whats the safest way anyways

[Birnie]

I'd love to see some mandrel bent pvc piping !!

hehe