Vortech winter heating
07-28-2010, 12:43 AM
#1
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Vortech winter heating
Going to be installing a 3 inch circular heat pad, smack dab right on the backside of the blower for the purpose of heating it up during the winter. It heats up pretty quick and gets to (claimed) 200 degrees.
Would 10 minutes at 200 degrees be hot enough to heat the blower up??
It's gonna be rigged up to an AUX power source, with an "on/off" switch, in cabin.
Would 10 minutes at 200 degrees be hot enough to heat the blower up??
It's gonna be rigged up to an AUX power source, with an "on/off" switch, in cabin.
07-28-2010, 09:16 AM
#2
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you are going to have to start figuring things out for yourself i'm afraid. things
like:
what weight oil am i going to use during the winter?
how much heat for how long, does it take to reach the flow characteristics i'm looking for?
is the heat pad simply going to try and heat the entire engine, since the compressor mounts are not insulated with rubber?
i think this is the most important question and should be answered first, before getting too carried away.
at this point i'm sorry to say that it doesn't look good, but hopefully i'm wrong and you will be successful.
07-28-2010, 10:24 AM
#3
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it's a reasonable enough question, but really....who can answer this....
you are going to have to start figuring things out for yourself i'm afraid. things
like:
what weight oil am i going to use during the winter?
how much heat for how long, does it take to reach the flow characteristics i'm looking for?
is the heat pad simply going to try and heat the entire engine, since the compressor mounts are not insulated with rubber?
i think this is the most important question and should be answered first, before getting too carried away.
at this point i'm sorry to say that it doesn't look good, but hopefully i'm wrong and you will be successful.
you are going to have to start figuring things out for yourself i'm afraid. things
like:
what weight oil am i going to use during the winter?
how much heat for how long, does it take to reach the flow characteristics i'm looking for?
is the heat pad simply going to try and heat the entire engine, since the compressor mounts are not insulated with rubber?
i think this is the most important question and should be answered first, before getting too carried away.
at this point i'm sorry to say that it doesn't look good, but hopefully i'm wrong and you will be successful.
the main concern is with the supercharger unit itself and it's internal gears expansion during such cold weather, not to mention the compressior wheel on the inlet/intake tube. I have red up on some horror stories where the wheels would break or the bearing would fail INSTANTLY on start up. Granted, those were on the externally lubricated units, but that only doubles the issues ( no oil in the blower!), but the issue of such tight internal clearances still pops up.
I don't need to warm the motor up, as much as that blower itself. Vortech unfortunantly recommends using their brand oil, not sure what viscosity it is, but they pretty much said that it'll fail if not used.
Again, I am only entertaining the thought.. it's more of a reality that I will ultimately skip this headache and get an Roushcharger M90. I am already planning no taking off the Vortech this winter anyways lulz. The good thing about all of this is how ridiculously it is to swap out the supercharger head unit without even breaking a sweat.
I cannot help but entertain the thought of how to overcome this $4k issue rofl
It sucks because it's such less compex system ( compressor unit, intercooler) compared to the even the M90s air/water cooling kit, and thats why I like it. Less parts, less likely for crap to break IMO...
I might end up contacting Vortech themselves to find out what the gears/compressor wheel, housing are made out of and if 200 degrees is in fact enough to heat them up.. before start up.
07-28-2010, 11:28 AM
#5
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Thanks
Sometimes theres more to having a great ride than just sheer numbers...
one of these days, I'll have a 600whp garaged GT, that only sees track time and sunny days.. just not today lulz
07-28-2010, 10:52 PM
#9
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Hmmmm 200 for 10 minutes. . .
Me thinks it should be fine. If you were to get the internal stuff up into the 30 degree range, I would think that would be plenty enough to keep the blower healthy.
Heat travels up, so I would try and put it in a place that the heat would rise around the blower. But I would thin the most efficient place to put the heating pad will be the spot that has the most surface area. Heat travels rather quickly through metal. I think you are going to be good.
So in the winter, how much anitfreeze do you guys run?
Me thinks it should be fine. If you were to get the internal stuff up into the 30 degree range, I would think that would be plenty enough to keep the blower healthy.
Heat travels up, so I would try and put it in a place that the heat would rise around the blower. But I would thin the most efficient place to put the heating pad will be the spot that has the most surface area. Heat travels rather quickly through metal. I think you are going to be good.
So in the winter, how much anitfreeze do you guys run?
07-29-2010, 12:47 AM
#10
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Hmmmm 200 for 10 minutes. . .
Me thinks it should be fine. If you were to get the internal stuff up into the 30 degree range, I would think that would be plenty enough to keep the blower healthy.
Heat travels up, so I would try and put it in a place that the heat would rise around the blower. But I would thin the most efficient place to put the heating pad will be the spot that has the most surface area. Heat travels rather quickly through metal. I think you are going to be good.
So in the winter, how much anitfreeze do you guys run?
Me thinks it should be fine. If you were to get the internal stuff up into the 30 degree range, I would think that would be plenty enough to keep the blower healthy.
Heat travels up, so I would try and put it in a place that the heat would rise around the blower. But I would thin the most efficient place to put the heating pad will be the spot that has the most surface area. Heat travels rather quickly through metal. I think you are going to be good.
So in the winter, how much anitfreeze do you guys run?
here is the place I plan on putting it. I talked to Wolverine heating pads and they said it's not a problem. They make a 3 inch circular sized pad. I lucked out when I looked on back of the blower.. low and behold, there's a big ol' spot, perfect for the pad lulz
Not sure about the anti-freeze but I know we go through head gaskets like crazy, as well as alternators, batteries etc. I am on my 2nd alt in 3 years.