Infrared/Thermal Cam shots of SC engine warming up...

KMT

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<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/KentidCN/35thAnniversaryFordThunderbirdSuperCoupe/photo#5184794679312808066"><img src="http://lh5.google.com/KentidCN/R_QXSmXGeII/AAAAAAAAC64/s87PbK8Dsew/s800/D035x2.jpg" /></a>

This series basically shows warmup through thermostat open - fan kicks on - then hood closed & last shot is concrete directly underneath nose. Total time: 12 minutes. Outside air temp. approx. 50 deg.

Click to link to the original & album w/individual shots.

Ken
 
Cool.....

Like to see that with the cylinder heads....Maybe drive the car for 15 minutes and pop the hood to see where the hottest spots are......

I like this one shows how much heat wants out through the cowl......Hmmm

D11.jpg



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Like to see that with the cylinder heads....

If there is interest, I'll map out other surveys, etc. and put them up.

I'd luv to take the camera to a meet and survey various cars. A run or two on a dyno would be beneficial as well I think.

None of these shots include the on-screen metrics. I'll do other surveys later and put up a video w/metrics, voice-over etc.

The first thing to show heat right after starting the car was the positive battery terminal...

Ken
 
Cool. I've always wanted to borrow the infrared camera from work, but I can't afford to replace it if something happens.
 
I use a thermal imaging camera at work and do seminars on IR Theory. Doing the engine is cool to watch but there are alot of influencing factors that will just give you skewed readings
 
there are alot of influencing factors

For sure - that's why it takes a report by an experienced $$$ technician to fully understand the ghosts in the machine...

Like most technologies, IR is useless if you don't apply related theories AND experience. IR extends our reach beyond our physical limits to let us reach further yet again.
 
I actually photoshopped one of your IR pics to show more of the engine acc. to show more clearly where the hotspots were...worked pretty nice....

I still think there might be benefits by using a fan or two in the cowl...Also there is alot of heat under the brake system...Seems to travel hard along the metal inner fender wells....

Amazing what that Cam sensor goes through with heat...

thermal.jpg


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there is alot of heat under the brake system

I was surprised to see the heat bloom near the master cylinder with the hood closed.

I'd like to have a test hood to work with to see where the best spots would be for vents/louvers.

Loads of items to study/plot.
 
my super charger today was hot enough to steam water off it but not boil, I drove it with the bypass always closed. the sc top was painful to touch more than a quick second. NO mods just closed sound ports of a 94 blower
 
my super charger today was hot enough to steam water off it but not boil, I drove it with the bypass always closed. the sc top was painful to touch more than a quick second. NO mods just closed sound ports of a 94 blower

Not a good idea, cause your gonna lose ALOT of power. The vacuum line to the bypass on mine was cut keeping the bypass closed. It KILLED my car at the track last November. My ACT's went through the roof at idle because the blower was cavitating, then actually cooled down once I hit the throttle. Now we're talking hitting higher temperatures than ECT (engine coolant temperature). At one point I had a cel and the datalog indicated that the ACT went out of range of the sensor.

Frit
 
Very interesting, thanks for posting. Do you have the temperature ranges for the different colors?
 
Very interesting, thanks for posting. Do you have the temperature ranges for the different colors?

Sure do - as I said, these shots are sans metrics. I'll run another survey soon, and post a video with full temps, etc.

If you'd rather mess with the original images, download this app:
http://www.flirthermography.com/support/downloads/TCEXPSETUP.zip

[http://www.flirthermography.com/software/]

...and PM me. I will forward you a zip file with the TIFs representing these jpgs and you can check them out more closely, metrics and all.

Ken
 
Sorry, I see now where you said you would do that. I guess metrics would be the temperatures? I'm not sure what TIFs or jpgs are either so I'll just wait for the video.:D
Thanks,
Kurt
 
No problem - try this image for one example.

The cursor (label Sp1) in the image is the target temp [182.9 deg. F) of the area it is on... The range of temps. vs. colors is vertical on the right. The highest temp. in the image is 193.9 deg. f. / Lowest is 63.8 deg. F.

Ken
 

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Now that's about my speed.:p If I had one of those and knew how to use it I'd be playing with it all day.
 
I just got a infrared mini digital temp gun

I can take temps from an inch away or 2 feet away. I now know that my return plenium reaches 165 after a good romping with a short cool down drive. My coolant housing temps can reach 218 and the intake pump side was at 180's, usually runs at 180 and 140 normal driving. Exhaust manifold temps run 560 to 600 while idleing. So now I know why after a bit of fun why I can barely break the tires loose at WOT, heat soak and the ECC.:(
 
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Thats funny. I use a FLIR B series Thermacam for most my work. But I Use it for forensic Architecture..Air infiltration, water saturation, heat soak of materials, degraded insulation in building componants. I have a bunch of great photos and even teach seminars on IR theory. Good stuff
 
Here is an interesting trick you can do when using a thermal gun. When testing an area put a peice of flat black 3m electrical tape fon the item. Check that peice of tape then a few inches over. You will notice a temperature difference.

An IR gun measures Infrared radiation not temperature. The temperature output is just programming that says for this much IR you get this much temperature. The biggest problem is when you have a highly reflective surface. (low emmisivity) Kirchoffs law explains it pretty well. If I had a cup of coffee next to lets say a mirror. The mirrorr would read the same temperature as my cup of coffee although one os obviously hot while the other isnt. Ive seen someone write a 3 page post on an experiment done with an IR gun which was basically moot because of not understanding IR theory in general. The minute you understand what IR is and that what you are using isnt reading temperature..The better your results will be. The little tape trick I use all the time to get accurate readings aworks because the flat black 3m tape increases the objects emmisivity.

Im attaching a great example. Both pictures are of the same exact thing. My computer screen. One was taken with a Thermography camera while the other a standard digital. I dont do much IR work anymore but I used to find it interested back in the day. What you see on the left side picture is a reflection of IR
 

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