Exhaust & Turbo Insulating

[gus]

EHP wet blanket is easily removable, done it many times.

When it dries it is like an arm cast, hard and absolutely heat proof. Once dried it is wrapped with plain ole Al tape. To remove just cut it where you want with a box knife and it comes off in however many pieces you want.

It is slow drying in cool weather, starting the engine and heating the exh system greatly speeds up the drying.

To reinstall it just wrap it with Al tape again and go. Or, you can wrap it again with more wet blanket or a dry blanket for that matter, then the Al tape. You can make it as thick or as thin s you want.

I don't like the SS bands because they cut the cast from vibration, no such problem with Al tape.

No, I have no connection to EHP but I know how well it works.

[wagwar]

Are any of the EHP, Firwin or ATP blankets Ok for cast manifolds or better to just leave them wide open to the air?

Thanks.

[luvrbus]

The blankets work good on the manifolds they let it cool down gradually I would not use the EHP on the manifolds only the blankets the blankets do increase your boost pressure fwiw

good luck

[TomC]

The pre made to order blankets with the stainless wire holding it together is the best.  Easily removable, and lasts a long time.  I have about 1,100 hours on my genset and the blanket still looks new.

Considering the new truck manufacturers are trying to squeeze every drop out of the fuel now with the new Green House Gases regulation, I still don't see the OEM's wrapping their exhaust.  If it was so good, don't you think the OEM's would use it-especially to cut down the under hood temps?

Good Luck, TomC

[bevans6]

When I was making race car exhaust headers  I used to tell people that if they wrapped the header, the warranty expired at my shop door.  I repaired so many cracked and rotted headers that were wrapped, but people still did it - the idea was that keeping the heat in kept the exhaust energy inside the pipe, and made more power because the flow rate was higher.  That would jibe with Clifford's comment that boost pressure are higher.  What we went to on mild steel exhausts was aerospace ceramic coating inside and out.  Radically reduced the temps - you could almost put your hand on the pipe a minute after you shut off the engine.  Lasted extremely well, but you could not repair the tube without grinding off the coating inside and out, which was a pain.  With stainless steel or inconel, we left the pipes bare, since stainless naturally transfers a lot less heat than mild steel.

Look into ceramic coating in your area.  Near where I was, there was a local company that would coat anything extremely reasonably.  The local drag racers were ceramic coating their piston tops, which speaks to how robust the stuff is...  Plus you can get it in any colour...  maybe even DD green!

Brian

[wagwar]

sorry, I still have a lot to learn...

Is increasing the boost pressure bad? If so, then why put blankets on?  What are the advantages (other than lower engine compartment temps) and disadvantages?

Thanks.

[bevans6]

Jim, to net it out, the advantage is two-fold - reduced under hood temps and a slight, possibly nominal, performance gain.  The disadvantage is reduced life of exhaust components, possible cracking of cast iron components and more rapid deterioration of tube components.  I personally think keeping the turbo warmer is bad for it, but I may be mistaken on that, don't know much about turbo's.

Brian

[luvrbus]

Blankets are cheap insurance for a bus so many burn from engine fires caused by oil spraying on hot components or a manifold  or exhaust pipe breaking the blankets prevent that, they are required by the US Forest Service when working there with heavy equipment.

I think but I am not for sure the Coast Guard requires blankets also in some applications it is hard to find a diesel boat without blankets  

A turbo will cool down faster with a blanket compared to one without and I never blanket the cold side only the hot side some do both 

To me they are worth the money after seeing engine fires JMO

[gus]

I can't think of even one reason not to use wet blankets on manifolds, or any cast iron, I do it all the time.

Since the wet blanket becomes a dry molded casting it is better to me since it is one piece.

It is not a tight fit since it shrinks a tiny bit when drying and it sure does stop radiated heat.