did anyone ever try the wrapping of the AC lines to help cool your AC?

richard i saw you posted a response in there form last year did you ever try it?

form the other place

 

A little off topic but, I was thinking of wrapping some header tape around my down-pipe. Do you think that would help keep the temp down a little?

 

Haven't tried the AC mod on the Scooby. I did the mod on my 'Stang though. Didn't help much, but then again the Ford A/C was already decent...
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

 

personally i don't have any experience in this subject but from what i hear/read wrapping the downpipe will help lower the engine bay temps thus keeping the TMIC cooler.

from there it goes on to the debate of pressure differential across the turbo. greater the differential the faster the spool of the turbo. but the differential drop only will come from a drop in temperature of the gases after the turbo meaning it needs to be cooler inside the pipe thus wraping the pipe will hurt your spool.

in conclusion i don't know. i say don't wrap it and save your self from the risk of the pipe cracking or possible rust from moisture trapped under the wrap.

 

lemme try.

 

I believe in heat wrap. Both my up and down are wrapped and there is quite a bit of difference in underhood temp, even over stock. Any R/C guys out there have a temp gun so we can find out how much? As for pressure differential... I have never heard that but it makes sense. I bet the difference would be hard to measure though, and because the I/C is above the turbo and pipeing the benefit or reduced heat soak would outweigh a potential slower spool. As for the pipe cracking... I suppose it's possible, as for rust, I doubt it would be an issue if you down pipe is stainless steel. Just my .02 dollar.

 

Brent,
There should be some insulation on the lines already. The place that you can increase efficiency along with insulating the lines is getting a higher flow condenser fan. The more heat you can get out of the condenser, the better. A coworker of mine (when I was in Cali) had a Toyota Camry and he put a higher flow fan on it. His a/c blew super cool after that.

 

thanks mark. i was thinking if this $5 mod worked it would be good. I'm okay with the AC as it is so i don't need a new fan for now.

I just checked my car and the return line to the compressor is insulated but only across the engine (the length across the firewall is bare) and from the condenser back to the cabin is bare.

after thinking about this, insulating the lines won't help too much since the R134 is already at a high temp and pressure. the most efficient place for insulation would be after the expansion valve which is already in the cabin before the evaporator. insulating the feed line across the engine bay after the condenser might help depending on the temperature leaving the condenser and the engine bay temp. but i'm guessing the R14 after leaving the condenser will be at a temperature slightly less than the engine bay thus picking up some heat through the aluminum piping. by the time it takes to go through the piping, since it is at a high pressure it will be fast, it won't pick up too much heat.

but like you said i think the most effective way will to put a more efficient fan in front of the condenser to lower the temperatures of the compressed R134. i wonder what the temperature drop across the condenser is b/c thinking of of the pressure vs temperature diagram the temp won't drop too much. also automotive makes keep the R134 above the freezing point of water to keep the evaporator from freezing so it is pretty efficient already.

hmm i think i might be alittle off on all this but hey i'm not an air condition person and just talking out of my butt. but damn i've been out of school too long. forgot all my thermodynamics already.