I don't understand how this could work. In order for this to work just by slipping it over the filter it would have to cool the filter it self. But filter is still the same thickness and metal, the same amount of air is passing over it, so it seems to me that really the filter is completelly unchanged. i just don't see how This modification can have ANY effect.

 

Heatsinks work by absorbing heat from a component and dissipating the heat into the air. Generally, heatsinks have a base that contacts the hot component and "fins" that extend from the base. The base of the heatsink absorbs the heat from the component and spreads the heat to the fins by conduction. The fins then dissipate the heat into the air. The idea is that the heatsink becomes an extension of the component that increases the surface area exposed to the relatively cool air. The component is unable to heat both itself and the heatsink to high temperatures. Therefore the component stays cooler than it would without the heatsink.

Got that off the internet.

 

MechE,

Great def. of a heat sink! Like I said before, even the oil coolers that mount in front of the radiator are heat sinks. The heat from the hot oil is transferred from the tubing coils to the fins and radiated out to the air. A heat sink on the oil filter is obviously not as efficient as the coil and fin oil coolers, but it does reduce the oil temperature.

 

Just because you are removing heat at the filter doesn't mean that there will be a dramatic temperature drop there. The more heat you have, the more potential you have for a temperature increase, but it's not neccessary. By removing heat from the fluid flow, you can decrease the total heat from within the fluid, which in turn can cause the fluid to decrease in temperature through the flow. An Air conditioner on your house or refrigerator works the same way. Fluid (freon in your fridge) cycles through the compartment, absorbing heat from within the compartment, which in turn cools the inside as we all know. But if you stick your hand behind the fridge, their are coils there that can get pretty darn hot, that is where the heat from a fridge is getting released. Same thing with this filter heat sink, the heat is being removed at that point, and the air flow is taking the heat from teh air immediatly surrounding the heatsink into the ambient air.

Just a small bit of thermodynamics for ya.

 

Don't get much clearer than that!

 

I think someone should measure oil temp @ a position far away from the filter and simultaneously in the filter (isn't that were the dipstick leads to anyway?). I'm theorizing there will be a difference in temp which would dictate there is a temp drop in the filter.

You have a lot more engine block surface area (which is ~214 degrees F) being exposed to the oil than the tiny surface area of the oil filter. To say that all the engine oil is being cooled 17 degrees would mean that the cool collar is dropping the temp well beyond just 17 degrees.

 

You have to understand thermodynamics. The oil is flowing. The temperature drop occurrs over the entire oil supply. It's just like flowing water doesn't freeze like still water. Heat is removed from the oil as it passes through the filter. The oil in the filter at any given instant is almost at the same temperature as the oil in the pan, but as heat is removed from the oil at the filter, it returns to the engine minus the heat removed as it passed through the filter. The overall effect is the temperature of the oil is lower with the heat sink than without it. I measured the temperature of the oil on the dipstick whick goes into the pan. It doesn't go into the filter.

 

According to the University of Michgan, I understand thermodynamics, applied thermodynamics and heat transfer.

My point is that the only entering the filter vs the temperature of oil leaving the filter is significantly different.

Hence, the temp drop "across" the filter is significant (side note: and may affect the way the filter works)

 

I don't think it's something to worry about. As long as your oil temp. remains above 180 F, it's OK. The filter, and the oil in it, are always above that at normal running temperature.

Here's another way to think about this:

Let's say you have the cool collar on the filter, and it's a cool day (40 F). When you first start the engine, the oil is at 40 F. Now if there were a 17 degree drop across the filter, at the time you started the engine, that would mean the oil after the filter would be at 33 degrees? I don't think so. This doesn't work like that. The oil will get hotter as the engine warms up until it reaches a thermal equilibrium of heating and cooling. This heat sink just lowers that equilibrium point by 17 degrees (in my case). So the oil temperature in the filter is still above safe operating temperatures.

If you still believe that the temperature of the oil in your filter will be at unacceptable levels then by no means use this device. I live in sunny south Florida and have no problem with low temperatures.

 

Argh, the 17 degrees difference was comparing the 2 "operating temperatures". Also, I know how convections works darnit!

 

HEHE, i should use a bunch of alpha heatsinks and use some of my silver thermal epoxy and glue them all over my oil pan

 

actually, if someone put fins on the pan and used a wing to prevent airflow when the engine is cold.....

 

They already make pans with fins. This one's for transmission.

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...br=76&lastcat=