K&N Intake Heat Soak Test with IR Temperature Gun

1

14SHOCAR

New member
What's up peeps. I finally finished my heat soak test video for everyone to muddle over. I think this video shows some pretty interesting facts around the temperature difference between the plastic and metal parts. It also shows some interesting results around the cooling properties of the plastic vs aluminum.

Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/TyUZPMmCDxw
 
Interesting info, thanks for doing the study! 

The main focus remains on a) improving the intake material for better heat rejection, b) enclosing the air box to improve heat rejection, and c) finding the best practical cold air source possible.  The points made work well for the track, remember the improvements noted were clearly when the Airaid filter was sealed to the hood (closed box basically).  Stock vs Airaid vs K&N had negligible differences (gain or loss) otherwise.  Removing the rear insulation at the hood has also apparently helped decrease heat soak, as has hood vents.  In daily driving though, need more data.  Maybe bpd can chime in on that one re: intakes.

ASIDE:  To improve the data gathering at the surface of the intakes (which we are taking as proxy for the interior of the intakes in absence of intake construction data), maybe re-do this experiment with sensors taped to/embedded in the intake so the same readings can be done with the hood closed, putting a cam on the display(s) as a means of recording the results.  I think Amazon has some offerings.

AEM's reasoning about metal vs plastic:
Q:  Why does AEM use aluminum for its intake piping?
A:  The issue of heat absorption with an intake system has a degree of validity, however we have found that too much emphasis is placed on material selection, instead of the real issue of tuning the system. Our systems feature a unique shape and diameter because this is what we found to make significant useable torque and horsepower in testing.
•We use aluminum to eliminate any chance of the system rusting, and it's lighter than steel
•We limit our use of plastic because this material absorbs some of the sound energy we work to create in the inlet duct
•The rate at which air travels through the inlet path under open throttle, when one is asking the engine for maximum power, minimizes the effect of material heat soak, regardless of the material.

 
SHOdded -- I actually rigged a system to record my engine temperatures during driving with a High Definition web camera. It was working really well until I got up to speed and the wind noise blew the microphone sensor on the camera itself. SMH - I should have known better. I think your suggestion is much better, and I may actually load a bunch of temperature sensors on the intake components themselves. I just need to make sure that the sensors and mounting apparatus doesn't get sucked into the engine.... because THAT will not go over well....

I love these experiments. Do you feel they provide value to people?

Per AEM -- they are dead on for the sound perspective. I love the way the K&N intakes sound when you lay into them. The plastic parts have insulation properties that not only kill noise but retain heat. I wonder if I can get a multi-sensor kit.... and whip up a program to display the values in an easy manner. I have camtasia so I can record my computer... I just need the sensors and the drivers ;)

My inner geek loves these experiments.
 
i find one thread of aem's reply interesting. use aluminum to eliminate rusting. man o man if you got rusting issues up in the cai area you got more important water in engine compartment issues.
anyway i still like the md for the looks, but really think rich's idea of using heat soaking metalized tape on the inside of the cai & using pipe insulation on the top to make it mold to hood design a good way to keep iat's down. i know from my gauge that monitors temps, at the point of max difference. car sitting when engine is hot & then restarting, the iat's are down a good 10 degrees from what they used to be.
 
14SHOCAR said:
I love these experiments. Do you feel they provide value to people?
Click to expand...
I think they do.  Where would be if we didn't have the urge to experiment :D  Great way to learn as long as you can afford it!  I think DROK offers multisensor setups, but by no means are they sophisticated.  Would be nice to have wireless so you could keep the readouts in car, else you just might have to snake things in through the firewall plug!  A fellow member on here has a similar setup for his Vette project, IIRC.  Maybe he'll chime in on his experience vis a vis this matter.

Mike:  It is always good to have a simple resolution to a problem, no fuss no muss!
 
I would like to see this done on a 80 degree day with normal pavement temps.

I was surprised to see the low temp around the filter area but I really want to see real world testing done. I'm also curious of the temp inside the OEM box under the same conditions. Should be easy enough to shoot the beam inside the box hooked up.

Thanks for the data!
 
FoMoCoSHO said:
I would like to see this done on a 80 degree day with normal pavement temps.
Click to expand...

We may have to wait until next year for that test. It seems Wisconsin doesn't want to do anything over 70 degrees this year. LOL

I'm collecting ideas for a subsequent test video. I am going to probably get sensors for the ambient, internal, and surface temperatures of the plastic and metal components. Since I don't need to run the test on a dyno, I am also going to install the stock intake on the car and see what the temperature differences are.  I suspect the differences will be negligible.

The filter element temperature was approximately the same temperature as the post inner cooler temperature. It really doesn't surprise me, as cotton as a high specific heat -- almost as much as plastic. (.04kcal/kgoC different). Since the cotton fibers are porous, they aid in the convection process to remove heat from material itself -- much like a radiator does to water.

I do think, however, I need to do an experiment on a hot day in Wisconsin & see the temperature differences.

 
I did a series of tests with the stock box vs the K&N and my modded Airaid. K&N was horrible at heat soak and then recovery. The stock box was also not fantastic at recovery. The modded Airiad showed the best resistance and recovery. It also showed on my runs at the track. With over 1/10 of a second better with the Modded Airaid vs the Stock. And the stock box was same or slightly better than K&N. The results are posted here somewhere. I nearly had my K&N ceramic coated, but the real issue with it was it was sucking air from the engine bay. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm going to work on a way to log temps with data from torque as an overlay.

Just need to use this.
Vktech 5pcs 2M Waterproof Digital Temperature Temp Sensor Probe DS18b20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EU70ZL8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_iOmtvb01VFG3R

SainSmart UNO R3 ATmega328P Development Board + Free USB Cable Compatible With Arduino https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E5WJSHK/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_rTmtvb10QTMQT
 
How does the K&N suck air from the engine bay and I know the temp difference has to be minimal. Even if it was 100 degrees it would have very little effect especially since airflow is a SQRT function not linear?
 
CL Donttry said:
How does the K&N suck air from the engine bay and I know the temp difference has to be minimal.
Click to expand...
The K&N intake is an open box design and does not seal against intake of engine bay air.  The modified Airaid DOES do that.  Noone to my knowledge has modified the K&N to conform.
 
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