First 2010-12 FMIC?

[GotGrip?]

So I really wanted to paint my IC black. So I remembered a guy I'm not close friends with but we used to work together, he has a built EVO and I remember he painted his IC black. So I just asked him if he noticed any adverse effects good or bad, told him there's opposing info on the internet as usual. He said "I would paint it. Didn't notice any difference. Hope that helps".

So Black it is!

To be honest, if you already have a sprayer on the way, painting it black would be better I would think. Black will shed heat faster and any insulation issue you would have due to paint, should be negated by the fact they the whole cooler is going to be frozen anyway. So while you're staging at least you will have temps significantly lower to start, so while it may not be as efficient during long drives, it certainly would be for the 1320. In my opinion.

 

[802SHO]

To be honest, if you already have a sprayer on the way, painting it black would be better I would think. Black will shed heat faster and any insulation issue you would have due to paint, should be negated by the fact they the whole cooler is going to be frozen anyway. So while you're staging at least you will have temps significantly lower to start, so while it may not be as efficient during long drives, it certainly would be for the 1320. In my opinion.

I agree! So I'm going to paint only the parts of it you can see black. About 3.5" is recessed into the impact bar. I'll paint only what viewable...and so won't be painting the back of it at all. That way I get the look I want...and it's only partially coated to reduce unwanted insulation from the paint. I'll do the chiller bar as well. So it should be all black up front...but with a nice purple or red fitting from the stainless steel nitrous line running to the chiller. It should look menacing standing still.

Do you think the nitrous will strip the paint off though? My only concern at this point would be the paint not holding up. I was going to do a black etching primer, then Dupli Color Gloss Black.

 

[stripSHO]

Ecoboost hit it on the head, radiant vs convected heat.

Not to mention that the test setup is fatally flawed from the start. Testing radiative heat transfer in a giant sink such as a cool shaded garage is going to produce a massively different result than when it’s wedged next to a hot radiator and maybe pointed at the afternoon sunshine.

Really the only thing MCM proved is that black paint is superior for passively cooling a blow drier in a garage.

 

[GotGrip?]

Not to mention that the test setup is fatally flawed from the start. Testing radiative heat transfer in a giant sink such as a cool shaded garage is going to produce a massively different result than when it’s wedged next to a hot radiator and maybe pointed at the afternoon sunshine.

Really the only thing MCM proved is that black paint is superior for passively cooling a blow drier in a garage.

Except that his intercooler isn't wedged next to anything being in the front. Might be true for other applications though.

 

[stripSHO]

Black matte paint has absorptivity (rate of radiative heat gain) of 0.95 whereas highly polished aluminum has absorptivity as low as 0.1.

 

[GotGrip?]

While it can absorb faster, it can also disperse faster and as previously stated, he is setting up an intercooler sprayer, so any heat issues he could have had would be nulled by that. Also he is going gloss black from the sound of it, so your numbers might be slightly off. As for the "cool garage" even if he is staging assuming no direct sunlight, the cooler is tucked back, so it will be shaded and away from engine bay heat.

 

[stripSHO]

Except that his intercooler isn't wedged next to anything being in the front. Might be true for other applications though.

Meh, semantics. A few inches of air gap is irrelevant.

 

[GotGrip?]

Meh, semantics. A few inches of air gap is irrelevant.

Its more like 6-8 inches away from the radiator. Also, the radiator fan once active should pull any passive heat from the front of the vehicle as well.

 

[stripSHO]

Its more like 6-8 inches away from the radiator. Also, the radiator fan once active should pull any passive heat from the front of the vehicle as well.

Radiant heat travels like light. It is not [significantly] affected by 8" of distance and it is not affected by fan operation whatsoever. And as MCM's own test even proved, the paint actually lowered the convective heat transfer of the intercooler, making that radiator fan less effective at reducing intercooler temps.

 

[GotGrip?]

Radiant heat travels like light. It is not [significantly] affected by 8" of distance and it is not affected by fan operation whatsoever. And as MCM's own test even proved, the paint actually lowered the convective heat transfer of the intercooler, making that radiator fan less effective at reducing intercooler temps.

But it also made it more efficient at shedding passive heat or rejecting heat soak. Which I believe is what he is aiming for, and again with having the nitrous sprayet on the cooler it will basically be covered in ice. So any negative effect of painting it would be nulled by the sprayer. If anything the sprayer mifht even become more effective because there is a material or insulation on the IC now. So it should retain the colder temp better.

 

[stripSHO]

But it also made it more efficient at shedding passive heat or rejecting heat soak. Which I believe is what he is aiming for, and again with having the nitrous sprayet on the cooler it will basically be covered in ice. So any negative effect of painting it would be nulled by the sprayer. If anything the sprayer mifht even become more effective because there is a material or insulation on the IC now. So it should retain the colder temp better.

I move heat for a living and I promise that's not how any of this works. Insulation also reduces heat transfer to the water, making the sprayer less effective. In practice though it wouldn't matter because you're still going to get plenty o' cooling from the sprayers. But the point of the matter is that there's no rational reason presented so far to merit black paint as a performance enhancer. Picture your IC as a boat - would you prefer a sinking boat with an oversized bilge pump or one that's not taking on water?

Edit: I should also probably point out that being in an open garage MCM had no control over ambient conditions which likely throws some error in the results (could go either way). But ultimately the key thing is that radiative heat loss only happens where the mean temperature of the opaque surfaces line-of-sight to the IC is colder than the fluid being cooled, otherwise that black paint causes you to 'take on water' rather than pumping it out. And that is why that MCM video should be disregarded. A more comprehensive evaluation might reveal certain conditions where black beats aluminum, but until that happens I feel pretty confident in calling it bunk for what I consider normal racing conditions.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

I move heat for a living and I promise that's not how any of this works. Insulation also reduces heat transfer to the water, making the sprayer less effective. In practice though it wouldn't matter because you're still going to get plenty o' cooling from the sprayers. But the point of the matter is that there's no rational reason presented so far to merit black paint as a performance enhancer. Picture your IC as a boat - would you prefer a sinking boat with an oversized bilge pump or one that's not taking on water?

Although I agree 100% on the application of the black paint not necessarily having any real world performance benefit. For the "look" he's going for, and the steps he's going through (IC spray), I think he's mitigating performance loss best he can.

I know for me (and I think a lot of us feel the same), many mods done to the vehicle don't necessarily have 100% performance in mind. Sometimes performance and aesthetics don't go hand in hand so if there is some desire for a particular aesthetic "look", then a balance needs to be struck.

I think he's aware of the strict gain (or lack of) of paint vs no-paint, but has opted to go for a look he finds appealing while doing what he can to mitigate the loss in efficiency.

I personally prefer having the IC non-painted. Not really for any performance reason, but because I like the "look" of a menacing IC plainly visible. It just so happens, my preferences line up with performance in this case, but it doesn't always happen that way. But some people go for the "sleeper" look...and that's cool too.

 

[stripSHO]

Although I agree 100% on the application of the black paint not necessarily having any real world performance benefit. For the "look" he's going for, and the steps he's going through (IC spray), I think he's mitigating performance loss best he can.

I know for me (and I think a lot of us feel the same), many mods done to the vehicle don't necessarily have 100% performance in mind. Sometimes performance and aesthetics don't go hand in hand so if there is some desire for a particular aesthetic "look", then a balance needs to be struck.

I think he's aware of the strict gain (or lack of) of paint vs no-paint, but has opted to go for a look he finds appealing while doing what he can to mitigate the loss in efficiency.

I personally prefer having the IC non-painted. Not really for any performance reason, but because I like the "look" of a menacing IC plainly visible. It just so happens, my preferences line up with performance in this case, but it doesn't always happen that way. But some people go for the "sleeper" look...and that's cool too.

Well said! I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from painting their intercooler black, gold, brown, or purple for that matter. I just wouldn't want anyone to do it under false pretenses.

 

[Ecoboost_xsport]

Well said! I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from painting their intercooler black, gold, brown, or purple for that matter. I just wouldn't want anyone to do it under false pretenses.

Word! Lol

 

[GotGrip?]

I move heat for a living and I promise that's not how any of this works. Insulation also reduces heat transfer to the water, making the sprayer less effective. In practice though it wouldn't matter because you're still going to get plenty o' cooling from the sprayers. But the point of the matter is that there's no rational reason presented so far to merit black paint as a performance enhancer. Picture your IC as a boat - would you prefer a sinking boat with an oversized bilge pump or one that's not taking on water?

Edit: I should also probably point out that being in an open garage MCM had no control over ambient conditions which likely throws some error in the results (could go either way). But ultimately the key thing is that radiative heat loss only happens where the mean temperature of the opaque surfaces line-of-sight to the IC is colder than the fluid being cooled, otherwise that black paint causes you to 'take on water' rather than pumping it out. And that is why that MCM video should be disregarded. A more comprehensive evaluation might reveal certain conditions where black beats aluminum, but until that happens I feel pretty confident in calling it bunk for what I consider normal racing conditions.

Keep in mind he isn't using a water sprayer but a Nitrous spray loop. That intercooler is going to basically be a popsicle once he turns on the jets.

 

[stripSHO]

You could spray straight liquid nitrogen and it still wouldn’t change the fact that black paint is bad for heat rejection.

 

[802SHO]

You could spray straight liquid nitrogen and it still wouldn’t change the fact that black paint is bad for heat rejection.

Do we know how bad it is? Or just that it's not as good? We also realize the GH IC is black right? So I find that to be of interest. Why did @mattr66 decide to paint his IC black? Perhaps more tests revealed something else. And in the factory location of his IC its basically out of view. So any color is out of sight.

I think my IC needs to get moved over to the left a hair. And I'll install the chiller bar at the same time. That would be the time to paint. And it won't be even a complete paint job, no point in painting the back of it. No point in painting what can't be seen. But I will say the raw aluminum IC look is growing on me as well. Lol!

 

[802SHO]

Now this is pretty cool to watch. Not nitrous but you get the idea.

 

[High on Ethanol]

Now this is pretty cool to watch. Not nitrous but you get the idea.

I have that same fluke lol

 

[stripSHO]

Do we know how bad it is? Or just that it's not as good? We also realize the GH IC is black right? So I find that to be of interest. Why did @mattr66 decide to paint his IC black? Perhaps more tests revealed something else. And in the factory location of his IC its basically out of view. So any color is out of sight.

I think my IC needs to get moved over to the left a hair. And I'll install the chiller bar at the same time. That would be the time to paint. And it won't be even a complete paint job, no point in painting the back of it. No point in painting what can't be seen. But I will say the raw aluminum IC look is growing on me as well. Lol!

Well, we know that MCM demonstrated a 3% capacity loss after painting so let’s roll with that for now.