Superior Radiators Newsletter #8

Welcome to our latest newsletter!  We hope you find some interesting articles in here.
We'd love to hear from you if you have a story, announcement or any contribution to the newsletter.  Please forward any suggestions and contributions to Lara at info@superiorradiators.com.au

Some recent works

Mercedes Bus Radiator

We recently had a customer who had a Mercedes bus with a leaking radiator.  The radiator wasn't available from the dealer and there were no aftermarket units available.
We completely remade the unit as the tanks and core of the existing radiator were unable to be reused.
The photographs below show the old and new unit.

mercedes-leaking-radiator

 

More bus and truck products and services offered by Superior -

Did you know?

The average service life of an OEM copper/brass radiator is six to 10 years, and eight to 12 for aluminum. But even with good care, radiators can fail for a variety of reasons including vibration, mechanical stress and physical damage. Fatigue cracks can occur where the inlet and outlet fittings connect to end tanks, along tank/tube header connections, or where the radiator support brackets attach to the radiator.

Excessive heat can kill a radiator, too. Ones with plastic end tanks can be damaged by steam erosion if the coolant level becomes low and the engine overheats.

Replacement radiators are available in various styles and materials. What’s important here is making sure the replacement radiator cools as well (or better) than the original.   Some "lower priced" replacement radiators cut corners to reduce cost, and may not cool as well as they should for your vehicle.  Be sure you know exactly what you’re getting, what you need and if it will cool your vehicle properly.

Just because you have an OEM 3 row and someone offers you a cheap 4 row replacement, does not mean the replacement will cool better or even equivalent to the 3 row.

New Products

Advanced Modular Cooling System (AMOCS)

Many years ago Caterpillar® began to move their cooling system design and construction toward more modular type systems, one of the advantages of these new designs allowed for easier in-field servicing of equipment.

AMOCS radiators utilize a unique design and can be found on a variety of equipment including “R” series models.  The key feature to this design is that it utilizes a two pass cooling system which effectively increases cooling surface area to provide greater cooling capacity over conventional one pass systems; this design is very effective in applications where there is limited surface area available.

The radiator itself is basically made up of a number of sectioned radiator elements and a sectioned main bottom tank.  The two pass cooling system circulates coolant from the sectioned bottom tank; up through the front side of the radiator cooling elements, the coolant then flows down through the rear side of the sectioned cooling element returning to the bottom tank and then flows back via the water pump through the engine.

caterpillar-advanced-modular-cooling-system

Often times with new cooling system designs there will also be new servicing considerations.  In this article we will look at considerations of the radiator unit only rather than the entire cooling system.  Certainly there exist the usual checks some of which include:

-        Good unobstructed external airflow through the radiator

-        Solid bond between the radiator fin and tube

-        Checking for internal plugging

-        Checking for leakage

With this design also comes a unique consideration that we call “coolant bypass”.  Because this design utilizes a sectioned main bottom tank and sectioned cooling elements both of which employ rubber gaskets to maintain the seal, these gaskets can fail for a number of reasons including but not limited to (oil/diesel fuel contamination in cooling system, rubber seal deterioration, baffles coming loose and more) and need to be checked carefully for deterioration and coolant bypass.  If the coolant is bypassing the seal through the sectioned bottom tank, then the coolant will return back to the engine without having moved through the radiator elements first, the coolant then effectively “bypasses” the radiator elements which provide the cooling  and may cause overheating issues.

coolant-bypass

Because the radiator elements also have a baffle and rubber seal built into them to maintain the two pass flow, the gaskets and baffles also need to be inspected and tested for bypass values.

Sometimes when we receive these types of radiator elements we do not have the opportunity to test and inspect the sectioned main bottom tank, but in order to properly check for bypass problems that can lead to overheating conditions it is important to determine the “total bypass value”  this is a value given to the total volume of coolant bypassing the radiator elements due to a combination of bypassing through the radiator elements and the sectioned main bottom tank, once everything is tested we arrive at a bypass value expressed in “gallons per minute” .

As these systems age/fail the radiator elements begin to exceed allowable bypass values causing equipment to run hotter and hotter, left unchecked this could lead to expensive engine issues.

We now have a very effective replacement product available from a Canadian supplier, (Micon Industries Ltd.) they have redesigned the radiator elements so that there is no baffle or gasket to fail, instead, they have used two separate tanks.  This design is a very practical way around this very persistent problem, the radiator construction has also been changed to allow much easier servicing and disassembly during routine overhaul intervals.  The radiator elements have been in use in Canada and the USA for over two years with extremely good reviews from many customers including mines looking for permanent solutions to the bypass issues.

coolant-bypass2

 

More radiator products and services offered by Superior -

Minesafe Caps

We are now able to supply Minesafe Caps / Brass Pin Lever Caps in a range of sizes and pressures (is that the right word?)

minesafe-caps

Various sizes are available to suit small, standard and truck size – ranging from;

4psi / 30kpa  -  7psi / 50kpa  -  10psi / 70kpa  -  13psi / 90kpa  -  14psi / 95kpa  -  16psi / 110kpa  -  20psi / 135kpa

More automotive products and services offered by Superior -

Adfuse Cores

Standard Aluminium Charge Air Coolers can deteriorate rapidly when exposed to the highly corrosive operating environments typically experienced by mining machinery. Adrad Heavy Duty Charge Air cores are designed to provide exceptionally long service life, even in the brutal conditions of underground mining.

Adrad Heavy Duty Charge Air cores feature tubular design, solder coated brass tube and copper, or brass fins for high corrosion resistance.

Adfuse welded tube-header construction was developed to provide maximum strength radiators for the most demanding on-highway and off-road applications.  Superior strength allows the core to withstand extremes of vibration and pressure that can cripple a normal core.  The Adfuse welded construction provides maximum strength tube-header joins.

Using a core design similar to an Industrial radiator means that Adrad Heavy Duty Charge Air cores can be easily cleaned and serviced. The hemmed fin and inline tube configuration allows external pressure cleaning without damage and the smooth-wall tubes can be rodded out to clear away blockages.

The Adfuse core was introduced a few months back, and since then we have sold quite a few.  All of those customers who purchased the core, advise that they are extremely happy with their new radiator’s efficiency.

Download more information about Adfuse cores here

More heavy duty radiator products and services offered by Superior -

Some interesting articles

FD Hino Radiator – Complete Aluminium Assembly Vs Original

We constantly have customers complaining of their engines running hot in their FD and FG Hino trucks.

We have been able to manufacture a replacement unit with fully welded aluminium tanks and core that is 56mm thick, compared to the original which is 36mm thick.

Some of the vehicles that we have replaced the radiators include car carrying trucks, line marking trucks and a truck which tows a large trailer.

The customers are completely satisfied with the replacement radiators and the engines are now running much  cooler.

hino-replacement-truck-radiators

More heavy duty products and services offered by Superior -

Technical Bulletin

Compressor not engaging (not cold) – (Ford BA; BF; FG and Territory)

(Click here to download technical bulletin)

Preventing premature water pump failure & avoiding warranty claim rejecting by keeping the cooling system free of debris & corrosion

Over time, coolant in the cooling system can break down resulting in the need to service the system.  The protectants in many of today’s coolants become depleted and weak leading to corrosion, rust and scale.  When this depletion takes place, heat and chemical reactions can eat away at the inside of the system creating small particulates.  These particulates, as small as 50 microns, can get trapped in the water pump seal causing damage.  The damage leaves small areas for coolant to leak out through the weep hole.  Excessive damage can lead to fluid backing up into the bearings resulting in bearing failure.

A properly flushed system will remove these contaminants.  The flush needs to be complete with the old pump still in place, as flushing after the new pump is installed can lead to premature failure due to particulates getting caught in the seals during the flush.

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