S70 Intercooler Spray Nozzle

Post by **mecheng** » 24 Oct 2016, 12:53

I am thinking of adding a spray nozzle to the inter cooler to cool it when ambient temps are high so that you can lower intake temps.
It works by using the evaporative cooling principal.

I think I have found an easy way to do it via the headlight washer nozzle. My wipers occasionally don't return to the start so I removed them.
I am thinking of either cutting the nozzle from the wiper or maybe buying a misting nozzle from the hardware store.

Has anyone ever done this? I would like a separate switch to activate them.

Does anyone know if the headlight washers use a separate water pump or are they fed from the windshield pump?

Post by **erikv11** » 24 Oct 2016, 14:09

I can only help with the last one: the headlight washers are fed from the windshield pump, there are just simple T-junction splices in the tubing.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 24 Oct 2016, 18:12

I have seen a manual pump version of that; MCM did this some time ago:

To make it electric you would just need a separate reservoir and an electric pump.

Post by **mecheng** » 25 Oct 2016, 06:55

@erik11 & @polskamafia

Thanks, that means until I can find an electronic valve to shut off water to to windshield with a button it will have to use the same circuit

I will exploit what the Volvo already has, although the video was amusing. The hardware store has some misters, I will buy those. In the summer I can use mainly a water mix so it should work out fine.

Post by **bmdubya1198** » 25 Oct 2016, 08:13

Definitely sounds like a good idea. I'm interested to see where this goes and how it will work!

Post by **sleddriver** » 25 Oct 2016, 13:05

Dang mecheng....I've been thinking about this same idea in the back of my mind!! Since I don't have HD washers though, I thought of using the rear window washer hose and disconnecting the rear window wiper. Not used much anyway down here, even less during the hot Summer. With this done, I could easily use the push-button on the right stalk. Further, the WW water tank is setup so that the rear pump runs out of water first before the front pump.

DripWorks irrigation supply has some interesting sprayer nozzles, along with their psi requirements. Not sure what the pump is rated for.

I've been planning on relocating the dual horns anyway and possibly replacing the standard chrome grille with the much-more-open XC style. Then mounting the sprayers to hit the middle of the condenser. I guess they could also be mounted inside the front of the hood on the backside of the grille as well.

I played around with this idea on my outdoor A/C condenser some years ago to mist softened water onto the coil when the unit came on. May still have a couple of those spray heads with the drip irrigation tubing still connected somewhere.

Also, I've long wondered about how much benefit water injection would be down here during the HEAT. The intercooler is getting heat-soaked from the condenser due to the constant A/C use. I've read where others have removed it and installed a separate unit down below. Makes sense. Ambient air temps in the shade are regularly > 100deg F. Sometime we hit 100 deg on May 1!! And still have 100deg days in Sept!! Just brutal. Performance really takes a hit with the heat.

To evaluate and tweak this, would require several air temp sensors to monitor performance while driving and to figure how much water is required to actually make a difference.

How's your thermodynamics?

Post by **abscate** » 26 Oct 2016, 04:42

After you guys perfect water, I expect you to implement liquid Nitrogen and really give it a freeze.

Post by **bmdubya1198** » 26 Oct 2016, 08:18

abscate wrote:After you guys perfect water, I expect you to implement liquid Nitrogen and really give it a freeze.

Don't go giving us ideas!

Post by **mecheng** » 26 Oct 2016, 08:47

sleddriver wrote:Dang mecheng....I've been thinking about this same idea in the back of my mind!! Since I don't have HD washers though, I thought of using the rear window washer hose and disconnecting the rear window wiper. Not used much anyway down here, even less during the hot Summer. With this done, I could easily use the push-button on the right stalk. Further, the WW water tank is setup so that the rear pump runs out of water first before the front pump.

DripWorks irrigation supply has some interesting sprayer nozzles, along with their psi requirements. Not sure what the pump is rated for.

I've been planning on relocating the dual horns anyway and possibly replacing the standard chrome grille with the much-more-open XC style. Then mounting the sprayers to hit the middle of the condenser. I guess they could also be mounted inside the front of the hood on the backside of the grille as well.

I played around with this idea on my outdoor A/C condenser some years ago to mist softened water onto the coil when the unit came on. May still have a couple of those spray heads with the drip irrigation tubing still connected somewhere.

Also, I've long wondered about how much benefit water injection would be down here during the HEAT. The intercooler is getting heat-soaked from the condenser due to the constant A/C use. I've read where others have removed it and installed a separate unit down below. Makes sense. Ambient air temps in the shade are regularly > 100deg F. Sometime we hit 100 deg on May 1!! And still have 100deg days in Sept!! Just brutal. Performance really takes a hit with the heat.

To evaluate and tweak this, would require several air temp sensors to monitor performance while driving and to figure how much water is required to actually make a difference.

How's your thermodynamics?

I already mocked it up, it is pretty simple to access the A/C condensor and with air flow it could spread the water on the intercooler. Or I will add an extension to the line and try to spray directly on the intercooler. Although I have to use my windshield sprayer to have them work.

Do you have a separate button for your rear hatch window? If so that would be perfect.
It will definitely cool the inter cooler down, especially if the air is dry. Water removes 2257 kj/kg (or 970 BTU/lb) of heat when it evaporates.
The finer the mist of water to increase the surface area, the better.

Post by **mecheng** » 26 Oct 2016, 08:48

abscate wrote:After you guys perfect water, I expect you to implement liquid Nitrogen and really give it a freeze.

I will try that if you have some spare intercoolers just in case it cracks from the thermal shock