Team-BHP - Heat Sink for the engine oil filter?

Couple of days back we saw this post about the new swift not having an engine oil filter cooler/heat-sink.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...important.html

While searching I found you could buy oil filter heat sinks which sit on top of the engine oil filters. These range from 15$ - 80$! (Very simple to attach - bolt on mechanism)
I know this is not the same thing as the ones in the swift but, How useful or rather functional are these things? Anyone tried them?

Pictures - Taken from google

as long as the contact patch area with the filter is large enough, such a contraption will aid in cooling. Looking at the surface area and design, I would gander by at least 10 degrees in a normally moving car. If practically proven, it would be useful to keep temps down at least by a decent value.
The bolt on worries me, such a bolt on, on a metal heat sink, exposed to heat in excess of 80 degrees might just slip off. A cross bolt at a 90 degree angle if possible would be helpful, but this needs to be explored by someone who knows the possibilities of space around the filter for fitment.

Not sure such a device would help much, first of all how much of heat transfer happen at oil filter and that too over a device which is going to be bolted on top? Exposed to engine heat inside engine bay?

Take a hot cup of chai and fit a heat sink like this? How much will it cool the chai down? If you keep it near a stove?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 3576488)

I hope this is not the latest version of Snake Oil.

Last heard Snake oil used to be dispensed in something like this. And then like other versions before - this fad died a natural death too- leaving a few believers behind.
But I guess one can always concoct better Snake Oil, and there will be enough people in this world who will beat a path to the salesman's door.

In theory it should work. But you need to ensure that

1. There is good contact between the spin-on filter's lateral surface and the ID of the device

2. Cool (ie, not hot) air hits the fins as you gather speed

3. Worst case it wont do any harm but make sure over-tightening wont puncture the thin shell of the filter

4. This will only work with the traditional spin on filters. Note that many cars today use drop in filter elements (more environmentally friendly). So check what your car uses before you order

If at all, the oil filter is supposed to be the heat dissipating device, it should not come painted in a thick black paint layer. Rather, it should come in a shiny metal with fins built on the surface of the filter(like those on heatsink of Desktop computer's processor area).

I am wondering if the oil filter would exchange heat, then what would Mr.Radiator do in a car? Chill out?

From personal experience (opposite direction, trying to get thermic fluid to heat something) I'll say that functionally it'll be close to useless.

Will look nice though, esp if the rest of the engine has visible buffed cast aluminium parts.

Regards
Sutripta

Does the oil filter outer surface gets so hot- especially of modern crdi engines?

For the tdci, i have seen plastic cartridge type- so useless.
For the Padmini 137D, filter is metal, but i didn't find it getting so hot that contraptions like this can be of some use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller (Post 3576226)

Are these available in different sizes, or is it *one size fits all*?

I guess this is a one size fit all kind of contraption.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grr7 (Post 3577347)

The Radiator cools the water/coolant mixture. It never cools the oil. :)

A good product to be sold through telemarketing, with shiny models claiming how they have saved their car engines by choosing this intelligent product.

On a serious note, I don't think the new generation cars need any aid in cooling, whatsoever. The new age cooling systems are very effective, and manage to keep the needle sharp at operating temperatures.

Even with additional fueling mods, I think it should be completely OK.

The efficiency of heat transfer using sinks depends on various factors.

1. Rate of volume of hot fluid flowing through the heat sink
2. Rate of volume of cool air flowing over the fins of heat sink
3. Difference in temperature between hot fluid and cool air
4. Thermal conductivity of the materials used between hot fluid and fins

Now, for the oil filter heat sinks we are discussing
1. High
2. Certainly not high, since the engine bay is open only at bottom, so cross winds
3. Although the engine bay is hot, the oil would be hotter, so this difference would be significant
4. The question is thermal conductivity, This would be really bad for multiple reason
- The external heat sink will not have uniform contact with external surface of teh oil filter. The surface contact can be as low as 10%, if the filter or heat sink is not exactly cylindrical.
- The surface of filter is painted and not good for thermal conductivity
- The fluid/oil doesn't contact the heat sink directly
- The air in gap between filter's external surface and inside heat sink is also bad conductor of heat.

Simply another SnakeOil Logic....
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