ceramic coatings...

n468ac · #1 09-12-2007, 07:38 PM

http://www.swaintech.com/

So today I?m walking over to another building in our complex and I run across one of our neighbors. His hobby is racing classic and custom snowmobiles; his shop has a very impressive collection. So I stop by and ask him about ceramic coatings, our hanger neighbor coated his RV8 but yet has to fly and has really sparked my interest in this technology. Too my surprise he shows me ceramic coated pistons, vales, the dome on the heads, and exhaust systems for 2 and 4 cycle engines. He claims on the pistons that have been coated he hasn?t been able to burn a hole in one yet! On the exhaust he sees 30% to 50% reduction in temps. He didn?t think that it increased performance ? just reduced temps in the engine and under the hood. So after talking awhile he recommended Swain Technology, I gave them a call ? they were nice, but they don?t want to touch anything with aviation on it. Can?t blame them, I?m sure the insurance company has something to say about it (sometimes I think the insurance companies really run the world ? another rant for another day). They were nice enough to say if I sent them an exhaust system that didn?t ?look like? it came off an airplane they would coat it. They didn?t want to make any claims on durability or temperature reduction, as they didn?t work in the aviation field.

Has anyone tried ceramic coatings? Did it help reducing temps? Did it just flake off within a few hours?

Just thinking out loud ?

gpiney · #2 09-12-2007, 08:03 PM

I know a couple of guys who had their Rotax exhaust pipes done with 'Jet-Hot' coatings. Still look new after more than 5 years. You can check them out at
www.jet-hot.com

sf3543 · #3 09-12-2007, 10:03 PM

Cradin Technologies, in Boerne, Texas coated my exhaust and intake tubes. They are aviation friendly and the owner is an A&P and does a lot of aircraft coatings, including internal engine parts.
Since I had it done from the beginning, I can't tell if it improved anything or not. I like to think it does.

RVadmirer · #4 09-12-2007, 10:33 PM

Just listened in on a conversation about this recently. Seems there may be evidence that the coating keeps heat inside the pipe and can then burn exhaust valves. Would be good to hear input from someone with the expertise in this area (long term).

Robert M · #5 09-12-2007, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVadmirer

Just listened in on a conversation about this recently. Seems there may be evidence that the coating keeps heat inside the pipe and can then burn exhaust valves. Would be good to hear input from someone with the expertise in this area (long term).

Ditto RVadmirer, but it's what I heard in a conversation between other aviators. Might warrant more investigation.

thallock · #6 09-13-2007, 11:55 AM

Chris,

Remember, when dealing with outside vendors, you're not building an aircraft, you're building a "dune buggy".

Tracy.

decathlon737 · #7 09-13-2007, 02:25 PM

Go to VAF home page, scroll down to vetterman on left side and click to see what he thinks about coatings or wraps.

Bill Woods
RV 8 QB

n468ac · #8 09-14-2007, 07:22 PM

Thinking out loud ...

Maybe ceramic coatings are good for racers ... short time, high power, high fuel flow.

RV8RIVETER · #9 09-15-2007, 05:13 PM

There is a very long history of coating in the racing world. Not a big history of aviation use, excluding turbine components that is.

My neighbor had his IO-320 in his Lancair coated by Lycon a few years ago. His motor is modified and puts out 190hp and Lycon said it was the "coldest" IO-320 they had ever run on their dyno. I think, ECi is starting to coat some of their pistons, so inroads are being made. I had my pistons coated, and am still waiting to get the exhaust and cylinders done (my choice no problems) by Cradin. It is not that expensive and I think well worth it to keep the heat out of the engine. A few hp is nice, but not the primary goal.

The only downside of coating, in my opinion is that it must be done by a professional shop with a good history of it. If it is not done well, the coating could peel and those bits that come off would be a very hard abrasive and do a good job of tearing up a cylinder.

N941WR · #10 09-15-2007, 07:25 PM

A few years back I spoke to Larry Vetterman about having this done to my exhaust as I had done it on the header in my track car with good results.

Larry had two comments, the ceramic coating may cause the the exhaust to crack due to different expansion rates.

More importantly, he said that exhaust works as a heat sink to draw heat away from the head and by adding the coating you reduce its ability to do that.

I have no idea if this is true or not, just repeating what he told me.

This would be on a completly stock engine, no ceramic coated pistons or other internals.