Sorry still kind of a Noob at this but i am getting a Greddy FMIC and i was wondering about getting it and the tubing copper plated. I have a black R1 and i have always loved the look of gold and black together. I wouldn't think the copper plating would interfer with the cooling compacity of the intercooler and it transfers heat better anyway. Has anyone experimented with this or any other plating. I am just a firm believer that the only place for chrome is on a trailor hitch.

 

copper weighs a lot more than aluminum does, so you'd have all the weight of the IC plus the weight of the copper. Yes it is better at dissipating heat than aluminum, but that would really depend on how you mounted the copper to the IC.

Your best bet might be to go with a powder coating instead of copper plating. Powder coating doesn't weigh as much as copper plating would. I'm not sure if it would affect your heat dissipation, though. That would probably vary on where/how the coating is applied.

 

not sure on the copper plating, but i have seen some people get thr fmic and tubes bronze colored zinc coated.

any1 else?

 

It will hurt heat transfer. While copper and aluminum are good conductors, the bond in between them is not, and anytime you thicken the metal you only insulate the coolant in the radiator further.

I wouldn't touch a heat exchanger with powder coating - it's a ceramic and quite a good insulator.

If you're after color, there are paints out there for aluminum that are designed for radiators. Maybe you can find a copper color.

 

dgeesaman.....are u a science teacher or u a scienctist ? hahaha jk jk


copper plating would look sick but i agree that it WILL effect ur tempts

 

ummm... why not just paint it a copper type color?

why make something very basic more complicated?

 

+1. Trapped air is the main reason why things (such as styrofoam) are good insulators.

 

i think anything on the intercooler especially over the fins can effect the efficiency. Even a thin coat of something will cause decreased flow through the fins, and reduce the thermal exchange from the increased thickness. So the problem would be twofold.

But how much of a reduction in efficiency is the question, as well as how much you're willing to accept.

There are always trade offs to be made, especially when it comes to cosmetics.

 

copper and aluminum are "dislike" metals, they will eat each other.

 

Wow, I think that looks pretty cool.

 

Is that true? A lot of computer heat sinks are copper at the contact area with aluminum fins.

 

Pardon me if I am wrong, but I really think you are thinking ANODIZING the aluminum rather than copper plating, aren't you?
Aluminum looks great in the various anodize colors (gold, green, red, purple, black, blue, etc) and it is a very straightforward and relatively inexpensive process.

I mean, you say you want a GOLD color...the only way to get that is thru anodizing.

Here is a picture of some gold anodized aluminum thumbscrews, for example.

 

copper is better for heat transfer, not necessarily heat dissipation.

 

This would be a better way to go about this. Though anodizing will fade over time with heat and sun exposure. The radiator paint mentioned about sounds interesting although it will probably have minimal effects on the cooling property of the intercooler. Not to mention the more you worsen the airflow of the IC, you also lessen the airflow to your radiator... My vote is for anodizing it. You could really pick exactly what color you want (take them your alt. and they can match it) and it wouldn't have any ill effects on airflow. By the way, I think whatever way you decide to go this will look amazing on a black car.

 

Thanks guys for all your input. i never thought about the anodizing the metal. If it would come out looking like copper plating that may be the way to go. Copper plating can be expensive but it has such a deep shine. Well it will be alittle while before i get this done but i will get pics up when its finished. LOL this car will never be finished.

 

If you care about cosmetics, copper tarnishes fairly quickly. The nice bright pinkish color eventually turns into a yellowish-greenish swirly mix. You could probably clean it occasionally with some Copperbrill. Regarding the copper to aluminum interface, there are at least a couple cookware manufacturers (All-Clad and Calphalon) that lay copper right next to aluminum.

 

In order for aluminum to be copper plated it first has to be zincated. Here is a link to such a process http://www.epi.com/electroplating/al...g-article.html. I would deffinitely recommend against the plating route it will only decrease your intercoolers efficiency. Anodizing is def the way to go in this case. As was mentioned earlier you can annodize to just about any color. Here is a company that does this sort of thing for starters. http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/anodizedye.htm and some examples to give you an idea.