DEI reflect-A-Gold

[wigenOut-S30]

So while everything is apart on my 77 280Z turbo,  I was thinking about the DEI reflect-a-gold heat tape..  Was thinking about coating the bottom of the intake manifold as well as the runners and maybe even the IC pipe or fuel lines and rail.. I am running a T3/t04E 3" downpipe .. I have had this turbo setup for many years. I have a turbo blanket and the downpipe is wrapped  with header wrap. Does anyone have any real world experience with this stuff? Their claims are pretty impressive if it actually is true.  with the intake directly over the turbo, it should help with heat soak.

 

 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dei-010396/overview/

[TimZ]

I'm using it to insulate my fuel lines - it's been holding up pretty well, but I can't give you any data on actual heat reduction.  I used a combination of home pipe insulation wrapped with the reflect-a-gold...

 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Iy6pb0U6hHjroSW3GeJtvAZudKip4JM0HBtQ6hItqDTJCPT6gddpTxBejaNwuiGruyKtShdPbS9rQW8ppj70XEB2vEBbjyvgJyiVC_bai2OxiFlF5Cs8bi7vC5a4sWTEDlt-j6Gq5bEL_gYRVChWq6nVCtTJODrNZIj362-zWdt4xAL_wG1EV0bJDFsh6FKNWLpXaYkyqibzcMIaBH6keqKS8Y_vmgN4U_rOXdHNkMlRYoxulMjOrja7DmXCTSlH9JYPb72m3IQjY41owZsqU84Eucf2WuWMPjJT-CV5i9jUEhAFttzIh2qR66wp6USlnV1cF42g6723GpRN7yN9yxiPuQgnygWiXMditpWjqACRCM1_K9ahKZHwnPv1wIpcBQcKdpOBT79qBKt4zG1rQ1BaS0QoKKy-eM34IcLEjmYNQLiIKjE5DJN2HtaXfpHgIsFFK29ovXOm8YKrm4XwW6_O6wtEx04mVd6nmOwZ8yLFiYwgAHrAvPPCMPz-9bPt457aLDmPvwoboQ9_3ycmF1uloLFg2yarAcbVJ7LAhC74Jk7vL9Xqk-AIEJspnIZL8TK8nxmtrmwuzQ5VGjWlYS91ulzPnC8=w1586-h892-no

Edited August 22, 2016 by TimZ

[Namor]

I'm also curious as to how well this stuff works.  I tried to find where someone had tested it in a more controlled manner than "I installed it and it worked" but the only thing I found was some idiot holding a blowtorch directly to a piece of sheet metal with it applied.  I might end up picking some up and testing it myself.  

[wigenOut-S30]

I am thinking about ordering some and doing a heat test of the manifold.. Run a heat gun under the manifold acting like turbo heat and measure the heat soak.. Then put this stuff on and re measure.. thanks for the Info Tim.. 

[rossman]

It's interesting that DEI website for reflect-a-GOLD doesn't actually say it's gold or what it actually is made from.  Polished gold has a very low emissivity and high resistance to oxidation so it doesn't radiate much heat BUT it's obviously expensive. I have a piece of their aluminum laminated glass cloth between my intake and exhaust manifold with the silver facing up towards the intake.  The stuff works, there is virtually no radiant heat coming up.

[wigenOut-S30]

RESULTS! well at least bench results.. Soo I used a heat gun pointed at the bottom of the manifold before and after the gold heat tape.. I showed a slight difference in heat soak on the manifold.. It looks like it dropped only about 10 degrees. I was hoping for more but about what I expected.. However.. I did the same test with the gold reflective tape and my jet hot coated heat shield and that made a huge difference. about 20-30 deg cooler.. These tests are very far from being "scientific" but at least it showed me a very small sample. I think if you have the money, Jet Hot coating the whole manifold would do better then the gold heat tape and in combination with the heat shield would also help a lot.

 

Ambient Temps;

 

With out DEI reflect a gold

 

DEI Reflect a gold

 

Added Jet hot coated heat shield.

[rossman]

Cool experiment!  Try covering your heat shield on the side facing your intake manifold.  That will take full advantage of the material's emissivity.  Also, take your temperature measurements on the same surface every time to avoid skewing the temperature readings.

[LanceVance]

Covering the heat shield on the side facing the source of heat might be more effective, albeit with less bling factor.

 

I've done the heat shield on the turbo manifold, and plan to do the fuel rail as well.

[ArizonaZ]

The results may also be skewed because non contact infrared thermometers will read differently depending on the reflective of the surface. The gold tape will alter the results I'm betting. 

[Tony D]

The results may also be skewed because non contact infrared thermometers will read differently depending on the reflective of the surface. The gold tape will alter the results I'm betting.

 

He's hitting the same runner and same surface in each test I looked at, giving a plausible delta.

 

It's not the gold he was hitting, and was not Stainless Steel either, taking out the two largest potential emissivity offenders....but since the surface was lamp blacked, even if it was Gold or SS the paint would standardize the emissivity result.

 

Now, if he had a top end IR Gun, there are emissivity adjustments you can make...

 

The way he set up the profile, it's not affected by emissivity changes and with the lamp black, probably more accurate than raw manifold numbers!