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Intercooler Sprayer Mod

6K views 51 replies 21 participants last post by  Quantum-Racing.com 
#1 ·
My newest mod.

STI Auto Switch
STI Nozzles (in the STI RA Spec S Splitter/Hoodscoop).

TAAP 3-900 pump

My own circuitry to trigger the pump (555/relay at 10% duty cycle).






jb
 
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#5 ·
pace said:
Hmm... I have my OE fuel pump lying around. Any thoughts on how well it would function in an IC spray application?

Very nice switch install! I assume those are from the STi..

-Pace
Fuel pumps deliver volume and pressure. Sprayer is only volume. To give you some idea, my pump is only 3" tall by 1" in diameter and is the same one our washer nozzles use. A fuel pump might actually burn up because it's not pushing on anything. It might free spin too much and over heat. A fuel pump is WAY OVERKILL anyway. Now if you wanted to spray your whole car, it would be a good way to go. :D

-Jim
 
#11 ·
The TAAP pump is very small, about the size of an RC car motor, sounds about the same size as Jim's pump. Any decent STI supplier should be able to get the nozzles and switch for around $50.

On the road? Ok I guess, after thinking about how to come up with a truely automatic system (based on temps, manifold pressure, etc). I realized that it was impossible, the system would need to anticipate my actions well before I went about them. So, I just decided to run it in an on/off mode. However, you need to respect the fact that the pump can't be run at 100% without burning out. So, I figured a 10% duty cycle would give me good life as well as keep the IC 'moist'. I just turn it on when I'm driving spiritedly (did I just make that word up?), or if I've been sitting in traffic and think the IC is heat soaked. (On when I'm moving, not stopped).

Other than that, it's mostly just something for me to screw around with in the car.

jb
 
#12 ·
So you've got the auto switch but you don't have an auto mode?

While it doesn't anticipate your actions, this little circuit board attempts to be intelligent some extent:

http://www.autospeed.com/A_0574/page1.html

Of course, you'd probably want a bypass switch when you're just cruising anyway.

Chris
 
#13 ·
Call me stupid, but what does that do. I know it sprays the ic to keep it cool, but are there any gains? I guess it would lengthen the life of the turbo. Also if you are in a very hot area you would be able to run the car with the ac and not worry about overheating.

So whats it do?

Mike
 
#14 ·
my setup

this is how i rigged my setup up. I got 2 washer fluid pumps(12 bucks a piece) and some rubber tubing that fit on the pump nozzles. I picked up 4 generic spray nozzles at pep boys, i cut 4 slots in the rubber trim stuff around the bottom of the scoop.(2 on each side) i have one pump powering one side, and one pump powering the other side. The washer fluid resivoir now serves as my pump resivoir. Believe me, those pumps can move some seroius water...not at any kinda pressure really, but i can easily drain that tank in 1 min of continious spraying. This thing sprays down the ic like virtually 100 percent, and with the car in motion im sure the wind causes the whole thing to get soaked. ...oh yeah the pumps are wired to 2 rocker switches in the little "coin holder" u know that little indentation right under the power outlet. Yea but it looks sweet, works so well, and cost me under 100 bucks
 
#15 ·
My 'Auto' mode runs at 10% duty cycle. I turn it on when I think I need to have it on, otherwise not. Sorry, but I don't buy into any of those fancy pants 'smart' sprayer boards. Why? First price, second, I don't care how 'smart' they think they are, because there is still no way they anticipate anything. Besides, I'm running the a solenoid to switch from the fbc to mbc, I find it easier to just switch them both on at the same time (i.e. fun mode). I don't want to sit around yelling at a 'smart' sprayer board because it doesn't think it's time to be spraying. Sure, you can rig a temperature probe on the IC and run a low temp cutoff to save fluid, or, a pressure switch on the manifold that switches the sprayer from the normal low duty cycle to a higher duty cycle at positive manifold pressure (say 10% to 20%). Will there be any gains over a fixed duty cycle? Probably not. Hell, people will argue a sprayer doesn't do anything at all. This is definately useless in a drag situation. I'll tell you when I used it last, cruising up a really long incline at about 85mph, I had 3 people in the car, two bikes on the thule on the roof, and a trunk full of stuff. I was pretty much at 5 psi to just maintain my speed, 7 to accelerate a bit. I noticed I was spending alot of time in the positive area, so I flipped on the sprayer to keep things cool. Did it do anything? I don't know, maybe it's just for peace of mind. I'm sure I can rig a temp probe up to get quantitative proof that it does something, but I'm lazy, and I have faith. :)

jb


jb
 
#16 ·
pace said:
On a more serious note, the fuel pumps can run at various duty cycles. I could rig it up to run at 33%, but it may still be too powerful for this application as you say.

-Pace
pace,

just go to your local auto parts store and buy an anco washer pump. it should be perfect, and small enough to conveniently locate in the bay. plus, it's cheap $$

dR
 
#18 ·
Home Made Water Spray

Looks nice. I just hooked up mine this weekend too!!!! I've been putting it off.

I did my whole setup for only $15!!! I used all the gardening 'dripper' supplies from the hardware store, it works perfectly. I Tee'd off the main supply line and put a open/close valve on each of the new lines (so I can shut off my windsheild nozzles or the water sprayer), Then I got 4 adjustable 1/4 circle pattern spray nozzles and drilled into the metal 'liner' of the hood scoop. 2 are tapped on the front side of the scoop, and 2 on the rear side. Each of the nozzles are adjustable and aimable so that I can play with the spray pattern/volume of water.

The switch? Well since I Tee'd off of my main washer line, the stock window washer button is my activation switch. In the hot summer months, I can turn off my windshield sprayers and turn on the IC sprayer and vice/versa for the winter.

It works perfect, and DAMN that intercooler is COLD after you spray with it. It almost gets ice cold. But it does use up the water fast! The only thing left to do, is put a cut-off switch to the windshield wipers because right now, even though the widow doesn't get sprayed when I activate it, the wipers still go off, so I want to get a bypass switch so that they won't start wiping while I'm spraying. Looks kinda gay driving around on a hot day with the windshield wipers going off during acceleration!

I took SOME pictures, but not very good ones. Let me know if anyone is interested, I WAS NOT going to spend more than $15-20 bucks for something as simple as this. Forget those $150 kits.

Under the hood, besides for the two extra shut-off valves that I have in the tubing, it looks VERY close to the STI setup that jimb just did.
 
#22 ·
It's effective enough for Subaru to include it on the STi. I think the biggest thing it does is keep things consistent in the heat. The loss in power on a hot day is very noticeable. The way the WRX is set up, the IC is key to making power - otherwise people wouldn't go to the trouble of mounting a FMIC which has a lot of negative attributes that only partially offset the gains from the extra cooling. The sprayer works on evaporation so your location will really determine how effective it is. Here in Colorado, and especially places like Arizona and Nevada where the humidity is very low it'll be very effective. In Florida it'll probably just pump hot water on to the IC. Think of a swamp cooler - mine absolutely chills my house. In Florida, all it would do is increase the humidity inside from 95% to 100%.

We'll have to agree to disagree on computerized control. The AutoSpeed unit looks at throttle position over time and IC temp. If it sees that you're on the throttle a lot and the IC temps are going up, it turns on. Nothing mystical about that. Sure, when you're done and back to cruising it might take a couple of minutes for it to figure that out, but oh well. For drag racing it probably doesn't help a lot - certainly not as much as throwing some ice in your scoop between runs.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Here's my plan:

Pick up cheapie pump from hadware store, and get hoses long enough for the trunk. Get misters from a garden supply store (or something similar). Get a 5 gallon culligan bottle, and put that in the trunk(better weight distrib for autox, etc). Wire everything up, with some wacky switch(the STi one would be nice).

I'm also considering finding some sort of water tank that will fit in the spare tire spot for a "stealth" install. I'm almost thinking a plastic gas tank might be a good fit.

My problems:
-Where do I get the misters for cheap, and what would be the technical name I'm looking for?
-Will a normal washer pump pump far/hard enough to get the spray to the IC from the trunk?
-Is there a "safe" place to run the water lines that won't be too close to hot engine parts and melt?

With this setup, I may have enough water to run for a full day of autox or rallyx, and definitely enough to spray at the dragstrip. It will also allow me to use different mixtures of water and alcohol for quicker evaporation. I'm not sure if the difference in alcohols latent heat makes a big difference though, it might just be better to use water.

-Jay
 
#24 ·
thechickencow said:
My problems:
-Where do I get the misters for cheap, and what would be the technical name I'm looking for?
-Will a normal washer pump pump far/hard enough to get the spray to the IC from the trunk?
-Is there a "safe" place to run the water lines that won't be too close to hot engine parts and melt?

-It's called an electric garden sprayer tank: http://www.ssbtractor.com/page28.html

-Yes, more than powerful enough.

-Yes, along thew fuel lines in the frame.

-Jim
 
#25 ·
You can get all the T fittings and L fittings and tubing from the garden center at a hardware store. I found EVERYTHING I needed there including the sprayers. It is all 1/4" fittings/tubing and will work with the stock windshield washer tubing as well, so you don't have to adapt it to a different size. I will try to get a pic up soon, it looks Just like the STI, and since it uses the stock windshield washer button is a stealth as you can get!

$15....maybe 30-45 minutes for complete installation.
 
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