Engine cooling idea

[woodlandfarms]

We are having an ongoing issue with our air conditioning in LA. It has always been anemic, although the system is rated for the house. Finally I had a guy come by and take a look. He said that the problem was not the system, but the installation. That the size of the plenum opening should also be the size of the fresh air intake. On our house (a 50's modern) it is not (standard I guess in CA). So this morning it dawned on me that the oil cooling on the engine of the PT is pretty obstructed.

So, I have two ideas. One is to raise the cover height (up to 8" which is what I think the radiator width is) and second is to extend the top lip out so that it more clearly re-directs the air out of the engine compartment and into the side grill.

Love some opinions on this hairbrained idea. Seems my cooling fins on the oil tank were not warmly received...

I have attached an old picture, before the engine compartment was cleaned up (thank you Ken).

Carl

 

[ponytug]

Carl,

I think the issue for both your house and the PT is air flow. Having the plenum oversized reduces the work required to move the air, or the same motor/fan will move more air.

In the case of the PT for laminar air flow, there is also the effect that you want to wait at least six pipe diameters before turning the air; the good news is that since the grill holes are small, you can do it pretty soon. Now the bad news is that for high air speeds, the plate does induce back pressure, reducing the oil cooling. If you remove the plate, or raise it, you will detour more air through the oil cooler at the expense of air flowing by the cylinders. That plate might set the relative piston/oil cooling ratio for the engine. Then again, it may just be there to protect the cooler, but I would bet that it isn't there by accident. On the other hand, if the plate were a curve redirecting the flow over the exhaust, you would help move more heat out of the engine.

I am not sure that you want to reduce the air flow to your pistons and their cooling.

Two thoughts;
1) Install a remote oil cooler ala the VW bug, using a small plate that installs between the oil filter and the block.
2) Put a larger pulley on the crankshaft for more air everywhere. (I haven't looked and I don't know how hard it would be.)
What engine is that? It looks a little different than the F3L 2011s.

All the best,

Peter

P.S. For the house you might consdier adding a second plenum intake to increase the intake area to minimize the pressure drop. It's what we have.

We are having an ongoing issue with our air conditioning in LA. It has always been anemic, although the system is rated for the house. Finally I had a guy come by and take a look. He said that the problem was not the system, but the installation. That the size of the plenum opening should also be the size of the fresh air intake. On our house (a 50's modern) it is not (standard I guess in CA). So this morning it dawned on me that the oil cooling on the engine of the PT is pretty obstructed.

So, I have two ideas. One is to raise the cover height (up to 8" which is what I think the radiator width is) and second is to extend the top lip out so that it more clearly re-directs the air out of the engine compartment and into the side grill.

Love some opinions on this hairbrained idea. Seems my cooling fins on the oil tank were not warmly received...

I have attached an old picture, before the engine compartment was cleaned up (thank you Ken).

Carl

 

[woodlandfarms]

I will have to see how much this really cools the pistons. And how much real advantage there is. The issue with my version is that the alternator (which is the cooling fan) sucks chaff in and blows it through the cooler. So, even with reducing the back pressure it may not really help with any of the problems.

Yeah, I would think these engines would be well designed, they have been around forever. But there are so many bumblings on this machine (not to speak ill of it but as simple as it is it sure is complicated).

Anyway... Maybe I will run it once with the blower cover off and see what changes....

Carl

 

[ponytug]

Carl,

I checked the Deutz technical website, and it would appear that the cover is not Deutz; it was probably added by PT to keep the engine from heating the hydraulic oil cooler. You could certainly raise it a few inches and have better air flow.

On the chaff issue, I don't really understand why the engine comparment screening isn't fine enough to keep out the chaff. I'll be interested to see how Charlie Iliff's rotary screen works out.

All the best,

Peter

I will have to see how much this really cools the pistons. And how much real advantage there is. The issue with my version is that the alternator (which is the cooling fan) sucks chaff in and blows it through the cooler. So, even with reducing the back pressure it may not really help with any of the problems.

Yeah, I would think these engines would be well designed, they have been around forever. But there are so many bumblings on this machine (not to speak ill of it but as simple as it is it sure is complicated).

Anyway... Maybe I will run it once with the blower cover off and see what changes....

Carl

 

[Bob999]

I have two ideas. One is to raise the cover height (up to 8" which is what I think the radiator width is) and second is to extend the top lip out so that it more clearly re-directs the air out of the engine compartment and into the side grill.

Love some opinions on this hairbrained idea. Seems my cooling fins on the oil tank were not warmly received...

I have attached an old picture, before the engine compartment was cleaned up (thank you Ken).

Carl

I tried running the engine without the PT deflector installed on my 1845. I only did it for a couple of mowings--not enough to draw firm conclusions-- but my impression was that it reduced the engine temperature about 10 degrees--presumably because the air flow was increased. I was concerned that simply running without the deflector would result in an increased temperture in the hydraulic oil so I reinstalled the deflector and put a modification like you are describing on my to do list.