K75 Fuel Cooler

[Martin]

Ed the only code I know is Morse, the only Vector is a car and aren't Pixels a type of fairy??  :dunno
Regards Martin.

[bocutter Ed]

Morse is tapered, Vector is for cereal killers, and faeries sprinkle pixie dust on their cappuccino racers.

Pixels dont go well with Illustrator, AutoCad, SolidWorks, etc

[Martin]

Getting there slowly all the galleries drilled and tapped bar one. Went to a couple of places chasing 1/4" BSPT Allen plugs, all that I could find were hex plugs which I could use if I wanted to make them non removable. I'll wait till Monday and try a few more places, if I can't get them I'll order them of Aliexpress. I had a gauge and a couple of fitting that I could substitute for one of the plugs. Not sure whether to go that route. I am also not sure about painting it. I was going to hit it with a coarse sand blast then paint it black and polish the end of the fins. Still trying to find someone to weld on the back cover plate which I will recess into the back of the cooler so that once welded it will be flush.
Regards Martin.

Fuel Cooler Galleries 1.jpg (58.52 kB . 768x576 - viewed 437 times)
Fuel Cooler Galleries 2.jpg (34.79 kB . 768x576 - viewed 422 times)

[Martin]

Fuel Cooler Galleries 5.jpg (63.68 kB . 768x576 - viewed 384 times)
Fuel Cooler Galleries 3.jpg (61.65 kB . 768x576 - viewed 379 times)

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Looking good!

[Martin]

Thanks Gryph I am happy with the way it is turning out. And I don't know whether anybody else does this. But over the years I tend to solve things in my sleep, and I may have done it last night. I may be just weird.  :hehehe I am looking at drilling a hole at 90o to the galleries B and C right between them replacing the routed hole. I will then drill and tap it to take an 1/4" allen plug. I also believe that rough sandblasted surfaces disperse heat more than a machined surface, and I need to look at that. As to the paint I'm still undecided, it will probably be more efficient unpainted, but it will match in better painted. Any input appreciated.
Regards Martin.

[Martin]

Spent 2.5 hours chasing bits, the third place I tried had six only of the Allen plugs.  :clap:The rest of the time I zig zagged back in the direction of home chasing Teflon paste I eventually got it at the local Super Cheap the closest car place to home. I had tried six places before I struck gold. I proceeded to fit it out and I am reasonably happy with it. But when I went to make the brackets and found I had no aluminium flat bar. I had had enough of chasing around in the morning and also had to take the Honorable Minister to the Doctors ( Nothing serious). So I will have to chase some flat bar tomorrow. However I had some double side tape so I stuck it on roughly in the position it will occupy give or take an inch. It does sort of stand out a bit more than I anticipated so a paint job including the end of the fins might be called for.
Regards Martin.

Fuel Cooler Positioned 1.jpg (69.16 kB . 768x576 - viewed 348 times)
Fuel Cooler Positioned 2.jpg (60.69 kB . 768x576 - viewed 368 times)

[CNRED]

Your fuel cooler looks pretty sanitary.. If the gauge was not there I doubt it would catch the eye of anyone not familiar with the bike.  It blends in almost perfectly, excellent work!!

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Wow, that looks good!

[Filmcamera]

Looks great!

[Martin]

Thanks fellas, the gauge is only there probably until I get a pressure reading on the return line. I am also one Allen plug short, I did a slight booboo that required me use 6 instead of 5. The place I got them from has one left, which I will snap up today. I'm also interested to know what the pressure is and will it show up problems with the FPR.  :dunno

Not entirely happy with the fin spacing, the original pattern was made with the cooler fin spacing mimicking the valve cover. However due to the restrictions imposed by the sandcasting process, and the use of my drill press with a burr grinder bit as a mill required thicker fins. However I have learned a lot and if I decide to do a Mark 2 version now with access to a turret mill and a CNC router who knows what can be achieved. I have know learned how to join parallel galleries without resorting to welding. I am going over to get some stainless flat off my mate for the brackets, I was going to use aluminium but he has talked me into stainless.  :nono

I have also decided to give a coat of satin black and leave the fins polished. I think painting it  will allow it to blend in a bit better. I might even paint the end of the fins, if I don't like it I can always buff of the paint. I know unpainted aluminium disperses heat better but from what I can find out there is only a slight difference between the two. :2thumbup:
Regards Martin.

[John Lang]

I am jealous that you live where a fuel cooler is useful.

[Martin]

John I would love to visit Canada it looks like an incredible place. However after doing 10 years in Bass Strait in winter, with winds coming off Antarctica I could only do so in your summer. I moved here to finally be warm all year around. Native Queenslanders complain about the cold in winter and I still run around in shorts and maybe a light jumper of which I only possess two. But even though Queensland is warm, the riding in what they call rain can be daunting. What they call rain here is a deluge down south.  :hehehe
Regards a warm and happy if slightly soggy Martin.

[Martin]

After a lot of head scratching I decided not to mount the cooler off the stainless steel bar that runs across the front of the throttle bodies. The bolts are only 5mm and if mounted flush to the rail impede access to the vacuum ports. I was going to try heavy Velcro, so I had a look at what Bunnings had to offer and found something that has heaps more grip. Had a bit of stuffing around routing the hoses, eventually got something that worked. The return hose has not been altered in length and therefore the cooler can be taken out of the circuit at anytime. Even though the new type of Velcro is extremely good I added a safety strap as a precaution. I had a minor fuel weep on start up from one off the Allen plugs just required a minor nip up. The only problem was the paint which although drying for two days is still tacky, could have been the humidity. I will have to strip it and repaint at some stage. We are coming up to some hot days so I will take the laser temp gun with me and try and get some readings.
Regards Martin.

Fuel Cooler Mounted 1.jpg (59.74 kB . 768x576 - viewed 342 times)
Fuel Cooler Mounted 2.jpg (60.62 kB . 768x576 - viewed 318 times)
Fuel Cooler Mounted 3.jpg (43.15 kB . 768x576 - viewed 355 times)

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Martin, have you looked at 3M Dual Lock.  It's similar to Velcro, but an awful lot stronger. 

Your installation looks good.  It will be interesting to see what the temperature difference is between the input and output fittings. 

[Martin]

Gryph I think this is Scotch's version of 3M Dual Lock, hooks on both pads. One piece is supposed to hold 10 lb I've used two pieces. The only way it will fail I believe is where the pads stick either to the air box or the cooler. Once I'm satisfied that they will hold in the heat and the rain I might remove the strap.
Regards Martin.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Martin, I agree, the adhesive backing is the weak point.  Depends on how hot the surfaces get,  If you can touch and hold your fingers against the airbox and cooler I would think the adhesive should be okay.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

BTW, Scotch is a trademark of 3M.  They are both the same company.  If I'm not mistaken, Scotch is the consumer brand, while 3M is the professional brand.  Different packaging, not sure about design or quality differences, if any. 

I've used Dual Lock, and it is not the same as Velcro.  The two halves of the system are identical, and actually snap together.  Rather than hooks like Velcro, the Dual lock has knobs.

[kris]

Nice work, Martin! You're having waaaay more fun than me. No fair! For what's it's worth I liked the cooler (very cool) with the gauge on it. It gave it an interesting retro and more dangerous look. If you need a gauge to monitor fuel pressure it must be serious....


Life ain't perfect. The fins are fine.

[Inge K.]

The two halves of the system are identical, and actually snap together.  Rather than hooks like Velcro, the Dual lock has knobs.

Just what Martin have used, if you look a bit closer on the photos.
It's also used on the front mudguard on the K1100LT......BMW is also calling it velcro...but it ain't.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I need new glasses...

[Martin]

I went for a short test ride to the shops 2K. Half way there it started to drop one cylinder and run rough and hesitate on acceleration. I did what I had to do quickly, and when I went to start it was reluctant to turn over. The engine ran rough on the way back and cut out twice at the traffic lights and I just managed to get it to fire up, it was reluctant to turn over. Once home and on the stand it would hardly turn over and after two tries would not turn over. At this stage I didn't want the relay to stick so stopped trying, and decided to investigate.

One hose on the cooler had developed a kink so I removed it and blew it through no blockages. Next checked the vacuum line to the FPR looking for fuel, it was fine. Next step removed the spark plugs which were very sooty. Tried the starter and it turned over but not at it's normal vigour.  listened for the pump and it was pumping. Put on my spark plug lead test harness and went through the plugs one at a time checking the spark. They were not that strong not that but strong enough to illicit starting. Replaced the plugs with new ones, and tried to start it wouldn't turn over.

Put the brick on charge and before I went to bed, I tried it and it fired right up and ran smooth. This morning I put the multimeter on the bike. The readings as follows static ignition off 12.58v ignition on 12.10v run at idle 11.81 rev to 2500 13.23v. I couldn't really get a reading on the current draw on hitting the starter, it start too easily at a guess about 11.5v. I'm suspecting the battery as it is 5-6 years old but the running rough has got me a bit stumped. It should of run smooth when the alternator cut in. I rang Turbo Batteries to see if I could get a RevPlus AGM battery. The last time they didn't have a Deka which had been my previous battery of choice. Looking on line I could not find the same RevPlus number. The took the bikes information and said as they were busy would ring back later, that was yesterday afternoon it is now the next day.
As I have to work today I'll have to investigate further this afternoon when I finish.
Regards Martin.

[Martin]

Refitted the newly painted cooler. And I encountered a slight side effect from fitting it. When the fuel level drops, but not low enough to activate the low fuel light the pump starts to scream like a banshee. I removed the filler cap and had a look, the bottom half of the pump was fully submerged. I was wondering whether the pump had picked up something? It has got a fully intact OEM screen. I decided the first thing was to eliminate the cooler as a problem so I removed it first. As soon as it was removed the noise disappeared. :dunno As the temperature in my garage is about 30 C I has decided to ruminate on the matter and leave it for another day. I suppose I could refit it and use the screaming as a warning for the fuel light about to come on. :hehehe
Regards Martin.

[Laitch]

As soon as it was removed the noise disappeared. :dunno as a warning for the fuel light about to come on. :hehehe

I think turbulence within the cooler is restricting fuel flow. The fuel path might be too angular. Otherwise, I think it's signalling profiterole and Cuban coffee time.
 :yippee:

[Martin]

Laitch it is weird it didn't do it with a full tank. On my first test run it made that noise as I was on my way to fill up with fuel it stalled just before the service station and refused to start. With great effort and nearly blacking out I managed to get it to the servo. Once refuelled it fired right up rode it home  no noise.  This was the first time I had ever run out of fuel on the Brick and there was no warning light. When I got it home the relay and four pin connector saga started. I tried to look up where the return line comes out in the tank, I was going to try and add a bit of hose tomorrow to see if that makes any difference. At the moment the solution to the vaporization problem, seems to be a double edged sword. Low fuel with no cooler vaporization, low fuel with a cooler screaming banshee.  :hehehe :dunno It's even to hot to go and sit under a palm tree and contemplate. However it's not too hot to go and get a Beefies chocolate Éclair tomorrow. Pictures to follow.
Regards Martin.