Re: Exhaust &

[dmp@TmedBSD.MCG.EDU]

> From:          "R. Wayne Owens" <wamowens@bellsouth.net>

> on me: since water boils so much better at our cruising altitudes, do
> you use PURE coolant and/or what psi radiator cap are you gambling on ?
> 
> I examined my radiator cap and it appears that spring pressure alone ,
> not spring and atmospheric pressure regulates the system pressure.So

Actually, any radiator cap will only be X PSI above ambient air 
pressure, no matter what that is. So at 18,000 feet, a 22 PSI cap 
would act about like a 15 PSI cap at sea level. Concidering that the 
standard temperature up there is -5.3degF, I wouldn't sweat it much.

Pure water (Plus corrosion inhibitors.) has some nice properties if 
you can get away with it. The normal fifty-fifty coolant mixture is 
almost four times thicker than pure water, increasing the HP needed 
to pump the stuff, which means more fuel used, more heat added to the 
coolant, more radiator area needed, etc. A 50/50 mix also has a lower 
heat capacity, so for every pound you pump through the radiator, it 
can carry less than 80% the heat of pure water.

I don't have numbers for how much antifreeze increases the boiling 
point, but just as important (or more so) is the lowered freezing 
point. Here in Georgia, I could easily get away with pure water for 
most of the year, and go with a 20/80 mixture for the winter. A 20/80 
mix won't freeze till about 18degF, which is fairly rare in my area, 
and it's less than 70% thicker than just water.

Redline(?) has a product called 'Water Wetter' that's a corrosion 
inhibitor and has a wetting agent that's supposed to increase the 
heat transfer from the coolant galleries to the coolant.

---
David Parrish