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How does intercooler function?

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Old Apr 20, 2004 | 10:18 AM
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777** The Anti-rice
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How does intercooler function?

Does anybody have a source where i can get a diagram or thurough explanation of how an intercooler functions? I coudlnt find anything in the FSM.
Thanks!
Josh
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Old Apr 20, 2004 | 10:38 AM
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link
Hope this helps.
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Old Apr 20, 2004 | 04:44 PM
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777** The Anti-rice
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How does it "cool" the air down, i donet understand, it seems like it would let air out from the piping or whatever
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Old Apr 20, 2004 | 04:51 PM
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Cool air flows over the fins of the intercooler which in turn wick away the heat from the compressed air flowing inside the intercooler. If you understand how a radiator works, it is the same principle except you replace coolant with air.
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Old Apr 20, 2004 | 05:20 PM
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ahh ok, thanks for the response guys.
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Old Apr 21, 2004 | 12:31 AM
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Here is an experiment you can do... I actually did this today.

I had a bottle of soda sitting in the vert as I drove.

As I drove, the sun heated the soda to the point where it was actually hot.

So, I held the bottle over the windshield as I drove for a couple miles. It cooled the soda fast. The air going over the bottle was warm, but still cooler than the soda.

The heat of the soda was transferred to the passing airstream and therefor cooled.
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Old Apr 21, 2004 | 01:28 AM
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Read this article. It explains exactly how intercoolers work. Everyone should read it, because many who think they know how they work actually don't.
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Old Apr 22, 2004 | 01:37 PM
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Good read... I didn't know this. So, my question is...

Why do you need to buy their predictive software/hardware?

Why can't you just put a temp sensor on the body of the heat sink and when it gets hotter than X, spray it?
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Old Apr 22, 2004 | 04:50 PM
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That would work, but not quite as well. You'd be using more water than you needed to because you'd be spraying at times when it wasn't needed.

Did you read the rest of the articles? It's good reading. I'll definitely by one of the controllers if/when I fit an IC spray.
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Old Apr 22, 2004 | 07:53 PM
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No, I'll check the rest of the articles later. As for buying... After learning what I have I would think it would be fairly simple to rig something.

I only have so much cash to devote to the car and I've hit that limit for this year.
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Old Apr 25, 2004 | 05:09 PM
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Obvious throughout nature

Originally posted by NZConvertible
Read this article. It explains exactly how intercoolers work. Everyone should read it, because many who think they know how they work actually don't.
The author has an engineering mind. I've met well-paid engineers that I fear may never understand what some see as obvious throughout Nature.
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