Dear Friends,
I was just reading the other thread on Prevost engine fires.
On my 6V92TA, we have the heat wraps on the turbo and associated plumbing. Yesterday I was talking to my muffler guy. He was telling me that I can buy 4' by 8' sheets of asbestos here for 380 pesos (about $30 U.S.) I am looking for something to reduce heat and noise into the bedroom area. Anybody use something like asbestos under their floor, above the engine?
Thanks in advance for your ideas, and have an awesome day!
In Canada, asbestos has been banned for use in public for decades, despite Canada being one of the largest producers of the mineral. It requires a HAZMAT team to remove it from older homes where it was commonly used to insulate water pipes. It is a strong carcinogen, and the fibers cause fatal lung disease. Don't use it in your bus for anything, please...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos)
Brian
Thanks, Brian! Down here they even used to have asbestos water tanks on the roofs of the houses, believe it or not! And there are still a bunch of homes with corrugated asbestos roofing on them!
So then I need some other suggestions. In my engine compartment "ceiling", I currently have (bottom up) sheet-metal, Pink Panther R-7 hardboard insulation, and 5/8-inch plywood.
Lead sheets are commonly used over top of the plywood in the bedroom for noise reduction. My 5C has it: very quiet. I saw them when I reopened the access hatches for the engine under the bed that the converter had covered up.
I also removed the floor pan on the right side of the engine compartment for better air circulation to help keep everything ventilated and cooler. There was no pan on the left side under the muffler.
The cross over exhaust pipe from the right manifold to the turbo on the left is wrapped.
JC
Add vented panels to the access doors to the engine room, where there are solid panels.
Another common trick is to open the engine room right up on arrival at the campground, so more of the heat goes out, instead of up into the bedroom.
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Quote from: lostagain on March 08, 2012, 06:51:53 AM(snip) I also removed the floor pan on the right side of the engine compartment for better air circulation to help keep everything ventilated and cooler. There was no pan on the left side under the muffler. (snip)
I would recommend that anybody who removes an engine cover or pan be careful. On a number of vehicles that I was involved in development with, removal of "lip spoilers", a bumper valence panel, or an engine underfloor pan "to increase air flow and reduce heat" would actually result in increased heat in engine components. In other vehicles, what "looks like" a simple change will reduce temps. So, sometimes these mods work -- other times, they make things worse. Unless you're measuring under difficult conditions, it's hard to know.
You guys will be shocked if you knew how many miles of asbestos pipe carries your drinking water to your home the pipe is in every city in the world still being made today lol even our neighbors to the north and south sent the pipe to us for years lol,I bought many of miles of asbestos pipe from CAPCO Pipe in Ft Smith AR
good luck
Quote from: buswarrior on March 08, 2012, 07:38:40 AM
Add vented panels to the access doors to the engine room, where there are solid panels.
Another common trick is to open the engine room right up on arrival at the campground, so more of the heat goes out, instead of up into the bedroom.
Dr Steve -I know a bus nut who put some of those small cooling fans you find inside desktop computers behind a grill he made in the chassis sheet metal just above the engine compartment tailgate (on a GMC). They run off 12v, are virtually silent, and can be had free out of old units if one schmoozes with a computer repair shop. (These little fans rarely fail, btw.) His are on a timer, set to run for a couple hours after engine shut down. IIRC, he used 6 or 8 of them, and it's amazing how much air these little fans move.
FWIW & HTH . . .
;)
My reasoning for removing the floor pan was that, in the MC5, air flows through the side mounted radiators from outside to inside, then down and around the engine. I figured that more open space below would facilitate air flow to help cool the rads and the engine compartment. I also installed a rubber mud flap right across the whole width of the bus behind the drive axle, in front of the engine, that will create, in theory, a low pressure to farther enhance air flow.
I don't know from the driver's seat if it really works. The only way would be to run the same hill, the same day, with pan on, then pan off, and record temps in engine compartment.
Busnut engineering...
JC
Quote from: lostagain on March 08, 2012, 08:15:09 AM(snip) I don't know from the driver's seat if it really works. The only way would be to run the same hill, the same day, with pan on, then pan off, and record temps in engine compartment.
Busnut engineering...
JC
Yes. Your "air dam" should be a good improvement. But some testing is a good idea. The "touchless" IR temp meters are good.
(PS - My post wasn't meant to criticize your busnut engineering, just a note that some general caution is advisable. I've heard people say "this cuts down on the heat" when what they really have done is transfer the heat to another place, often without thinking about what that does to the other place. We make "lots" of heat - you just gotta be careful.)
Best way I know to measure change in airflow is with a manometer. Any indicated drop in pressure inside the radiator air box would indicate greater air flow through the radiators. That would also then force more air and consequently more heat out of the engine bay.
Radiated heat into the bus floor could be averted with shielding and reflective insulation.
Had great success with this product.
http://www.soundown.com (http://www.soundown.com)
The silver foil type insulation will reflect radiant heat and a rock wool panel will insulate from conductive heat. Special fireproofing paint is available from commercial paint stores.