How much does the intercooler condensate?

[68ragtop]

Winterizing my toys last fall & I noticed quite a bit of water coming out of the intercooler on the 255. I pulled it out to flush it with antifreeze. I'll bet I dumped out nearly a 1/2 cup of water from the air flow side. might have even been more! Worried I needed a new IC, I pulled it back apart this when I got the skis out of storage today. I didn't find the problem I thought I was going to have. I pressurized the IC to 5 lbs & no leaks. I did soap bubbles, then dunked it under water. Nothing, no leaks at all. So, it it normal for that much condensation? I assume thats where it came from. Really nothing else that could cause moisture there that I can think of.

Anybody else?

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

I wouldn't know the answer of course aside to say maybe there should be a drain and humidity could cause this perhaps. Not sure off hand but seems to me the operating water pressure could be somewhat higher than 5psi, maybe as high as 15 psi?

Glad you didn't test it to 30 psi or more, that might not turn out too well..... :O

 

[68ragtop]

I was kinda wondering the same thing. I have often wondered how much PSI is created from the pump in the open cooling system. Someday one of us needs to tee in a pressure gauge. I'll bump it to 10 & see if anything changes. No need to wreck a perfectly good IC on the 4th of July weekend. Well, any weekend for that matter.......

I was thinking about the sweating more, & I would think most of it gets ingested by the engine as the SC is pushing the air through pretty quickly. Then when the engine is cut, the water should drain out, so I really don't know why there would be so much water. It ran excellent last year, so other than my discovery, I wouldn't think much of it. The rear of the IC is tipped down, so there is for sure a way for the water to pool in it.

Just seems odd to me....

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

There have been reports of intercooler leaks, maybe it was actually condensation? Wouldn't the shop manual have a suggested pressure for testing the intercooler?

We used to have issues from time to time with the old Berkeley jet boats pushing too much pressure into the cooling system, those pumps can develop over 45psi pressure on hard WOT runs so a dump valve is sometimes necessary.

 

[68ragtop]

Wouldn't the shop manual have a suggested pressure for testing the intercooler?

Point taken.....

Just checked & the manual says 10 lbs. Its been holding there for about 3 hours. Looks like it will hold for eternity. So, I am happy about that. No wonder the ski is so quick.. supercharged, intercooler & water injected too......

We used to have issues from time to time with the old Berkeley jet boats pushing too much pressure into the cooling system, those pumps can develop over 45psi pressure on hard WOT runs so a dump valve is sometimes necessary.

That would be cool to see.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Yep, I've been meaning to drag it out and clean it up. Sometime this summer?