Aircon pipe insulation

[Wolverine]

if you do all these with the ALU and all it will make ur engine bay look damn ghetto sia .....make's it look chepo ......better not do that lah

[Yokomo]

http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/messag...=463.1&search=y

 

refer to the fifth post with the jpg link from one of the forum user there.

[Zepil99]

ok thanks, will head to owen road to take a look, the website never says their operating hour, do u know if they open on Sat? or week day what time they close?

 

my air-intake tube has a bend, so i not sure if use the pipe type can fit nicely for the air intake pipe or not. maybe it can work for the aircon pipe, that 1 have not try to find where is it, ops. tonight go open bonnet. but roughly should know i guess.

 

I think the theory of wrapping it with the aluminium foil (shinny surface outside) is to reflect heat away to enchance the effect. black (as the material is in this color) is suppose to abosrb heat better than bright shinny surface. Ok this is a thermal shield product, but i guess further reflecting the heat away before it reaches the material helps.

 

according to the site

"Superlon also retards heat loss for hot water plumbing and heating, dual temperature piping and solar systems. It protects pipes against corrosion and acts as a vibration damper."

 

so i guess placing it under the bonnet should have 2 effect

1. heat shield the bonnet surface/paint from heat damage cause by engine bay

2. dampering sounds from engine bay. (but of course i do not expect great result, but nice for it to come as an additional bonus i guess). note sounds travel through a form of vibration, either through air, solid mater or liquid.

 

by the way, do they sell fire proof cable tie? if not go where and buy? those normal type will melt/deform under the heat of engine bay right?

[Yokomo]

I went on on a week day. you can call them to make enquires.

 

UL 94V-2 flammability ratings cable tie, not sure if they sell them, can do a search on google.com.sg. Didnt get any of those cos not using them.

 

Cheers :)

[Terapin]

Off topic abit, but still on aircon I new so can't post new topic Sorry!

 

Can ask, how long does it take to top-up air con gas? I'm driving a 4yrs 11mths 1.6A Mazda. 1st time top up as air con slowly became not cold over last month. Now air not so cold. A bit warm & feels stuffy. Chked wif an aircon mechanic, he says mb air con coil leak. Mus chk. Then if confirm, chg 1 aro $280 I not sure if his price is good so ask him to top up gas 1st instead. $19.

 

He took abt 1min to top up. Say meter reached 200+ means full alrdy. Is it true?

 

Bros in MCF know wat can possibly be my ride's problem?

[Fcw75]

They have a lot of sub-divisions in the company but I think this is the one:

 

Asiatic Refrigeration Pte Ltd Category : Refrigerators & Freezers-Parts & Supplies-Retail

Address : 150 Owen Rd Singapore 218945

Telephone : 6293 1958

Fax : 6292 6066

[Fcw75]

Go to another aircon shop to check. I have read a lot of good review on this shop:

 

Mark-Cool Auto Air-Conditioning Service Category : Car Air Conditioning Equipment

Address : 106 Woodlands Ind Pk E Singapore 757840

Telephone : 6367 7666

Fax : 6363 4275

 

I have never try them yet but will go there if got problem with air-con next time.

[Apollo]

you ask mechanic and ask me same reply also. becos the coolant R22 is delivered as a hot liquid to your fan coil. it will disperse into a mist after passing thru the expansion valve and thereafter do a heat exchange with the outside air

 

http://home.howstuffworks.com/ac2.htm

 

 

unless the insulation material has deteriorated, it should sufficiently maintain minimum heat loss in the delivery pipe. notwithstanding, the engine bay is hot and therefore the loss if any, will not b substantial.

 

if it is not cold, it may b contaminants in the pipe resulting in defficiency or a choke filter.

[Incubate]

gotten my also at Asiatic, but in tube form. 2 tubes of i think 2m cost only $2.40.

[Incubate]

shiny foil has to effect of preventing heat transfer by radiation.

[Incubate]

Before using Superlon from Asiatic, I tried Armaflex. Don't use that, cos its easily torn and experience from others is it'll become powedery very fast. True enough, when I was taking out, noticed it's degraded already.

 

btw, all these regular foam only withstand up to 105 deg. not advisable if near engine. Before install, I touched metal at side of coil to make sure its less than 100deg already.

 

Effect so call proven by few driving latio and focus. This makes sense since the cold vapour was rob of its coldness (by the engine) before reaching the cabin, then compressor work harder to ensure higher flow rate. Theoretically sould reduce FC, I hope.

[Fcw75]

Thanks! Can U know what is the inner diameter of the Superlon tube? My aircon pipe size is between 1.5-2.5 inches.

[Incubate]

wah, you a/c pipe so big?

 

I use 5/8" inner diameter and 1/4" thick tube. You may wanna consider Yokomo's method of using adhesive type. Reason is, I'm not sure how long cable tie can last. I one day brittle and breaks and get into the moving part, would cause lots of damage. Unless you consider wrapping over with Alu foil.

 

Check out asiatic website, i think they got the sizes posted.

 

Cable tie can get the falmmability control one from Homefix, its rated UL94V...

[Requiemdk]

I wanted my aircon to be colder,

ask the aircon mechanic, he told me makes no difference

wrapped ur not wrapped

 

It seems like few people listen to this aircon mechanic.

 

Personally, I wrapped my aircon pipes and thought that there was a difference. Well, no. I unwrapped it and it was still the same. There's always this thing called the placebo effect. Any perceived temperature drop shouldn't be measured by feeling alone but by a thermometer and putting one in my cabin measured absolutely zero difference.

 

You see, the coolant the hot high pressure pipe is really really hot. Insulating that pipe kinda defeats its purpose. As for the pipe carrying the cold coolant, the coolant isn't static in it. The coolant doesn't remain in the pipe long enough for engine bay temperature to affect it noticeably. If it does, you have far far bigger worries than a rise in cabin temperature - your aircon is choked and is going to uplorry. The principle is the same as turning on an iron to max temperature, then tapping the hot surface with your hand. The iron is freakin' hot, but your hand doesn't get burnt because there's not enough time for heat transfer. So wrapping this cold coolant pipe does nothing measurable either.**

 

In fact, if your aircon isn't cold anymore, the last thing you ought to think about is aircon pipe insulation. You ought to be checking for aircon gas leaks first.

 

**Having said that, there's still a possibility that the design of certain cars' aircon system is so retarded as to run a huge length of the cold coolant pipe exposed and right next to the engine (mine is relatively short and as far away from the engine as possible). In extreme cases, maybe insulation MIGHT help, but I still doubt it'll have any real measurable effect simply because the amount of heat that the coolant has to absorb in the cabin is far greater than the amount of heat it'll absorb while running through the low pressure pipe.

[Fcw75]

Haha, got the size wrong. Should be 15mm-25mm. Thanks!

[Adawang]

So wrapping is important after all

summarising fm your experience, mechanic

is oso right

[Apollo]

ok lah, since u so adamant, dun go for cheapo CMI neoprene insulation, i teach you, go for the best, pipe jacking. confirm nap nap one.

[Conservative]

HI bros

 

can I also ask, what materials can I use for insulation, taping up things etc in the engine bay, does it have to be heatproof ? for eg. can i just use any normal foam tubing for insulation or normal electrical tape to hold things together ? Will catch fire ?