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Re: radiators

To: Isensee@aol.com
Subject: Re: radiators
From: "John T. Blair" <jblair@exis.net>
Date: Fri, 04 Jul 1997 13:47:03 -0400
At 12:21 PM 7/4/97 -0400, Isensee@aol.com wrote:
>What I understand Water Wetter and similar products do is give you some of
>the additive properties of antifreeze (anti-rust, etc.) without the same
>level of freeze and boilover  protection. You run with a greater proportion
>of water in your cooling system. That should cool better because water is
>much more effective at transferring heat that anti-freeze is. The negatives
>are that you shouldn't use them in the winter in cold climates and your
>radiator will boil over at a lower temperature.

Scott,

   I don't think that is quite right.  For starters, antifreeze basically
works by putting some junk in the water to lower the freezing point and 
raise the boiling point.  Here's the real kicker, antifreeze doesn't conduct
heat very well. So you are actually decreasing the cooling capability of 
the fluid when you add the antifreeze.

Water wetter works by reducing the cavitation (or bubbles) that form around
the radiator tubes as the fluid flows through the radiator.  Therefore,
increasing the surface area that the water is touching and increasing the
heat transfer.

I don't know anything about 40 below, other than it was developed for NASCAR
to cool down their engines.

John


John T. Blair  WA4OHZ          email:  jblair@exis.net
Va. Beach, Va                  Phone:  (757) 495-8229

48 TR1800    48 #4 Midget  65 Morgan 4/4 Series V
     75 Bricklin SV1   77 Spitfire

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