Got my KC two weeks ago and now waiting on drag kit from Joe Kincaid, been two weeks. Is the drag kit worth waiting? Plan on tracking it and Fontana Speedway is a stickler on turning off ac to prevent dripping.
I have the KC drag kit installed with a temp sensor in my water tank. The issue I have found is that because you are feeding double the AC coolant to the KC the balance goes out and so it stalls as in the TX valve closes. I find that shutting the drag kit valve the coolant starts getting colder again and then I can open it again. It definitely gets the IC water colder by around 5 deg however with the hassle. If you want to go racing I would have an AC expert re-balance the KC for 100% feed of the AC gas. That needs a new externally adjustable TX valve as the KC TX valve needs re-gassing the system as it is only internally adjustable.
I have the KC drag kit installed with a temp sensor in my water tank. The issue I have found is that because you are feeding double the AC coolant to the KC the balance goes out and so it stalls as in the TX valve closes. I find that shutting the drag kit valve the coolant starts getting colder again and then I can open it again. It definitely gets the IC water colder by around 5 deg however with the hassle. If you want to go racing I would have an AC expert re-balance the KC for 100% feed of the AC gas. That needs a new externally adjustable TX valve as the KC TX valve needs re-gassing the system as it is only internally adjustable.
Thanks for some good input on that trabots. I had wondered myself if trying to force all the refrigerant through the kc hx would simply cause the txv to close down or not. Do you know off the top of your head what size the high and low pressure AC lines are? I've been looking into piecing together a DIY chiller, I see pretty much all the fittings and lines(depending on size) and the txv available through summit.
Yes! Good info, going to decipher and follow up with questions. TX = triple bypass assuming. I have heard drag kit can mess up ac compressor. I really don’t know how the drag kit is routed or install. Can it be turned off when daily driving? Should I just forgo the drag kit? Not sure if KC will help with top end at the 1/4 cause at WOT ac shut down that’s when I needed the most.
any photos of install are helpful, specially drag kit.
Yes! Good info, going to decipher and follow up with questions. TX = triple bypass assuming. I have heard drag kit can mess up ac compressor. I really don’t know how the drag kit is routed or install. Can it be turned off when daily driving? Should I just forgo the drag kit? Not sure if KC will help with top end at the 1/4 cause at WOT ac shut down that’s when I needed the most.
any photos of install are helpful, specially drag kit.
Thanks droth & trabots for your inputs.
I couldn't say if you should forgo it or not. TX is the thermal expansion valve, it closes and opens as necessary to ensure the refrigerant is fully evaporating in the hx. If you try to force too much refrigerant into the heat exchanger(evaporator) the txv will just close down. The drag kit puts a solinoid on the high pressure AC line that goes to cabin cooling. It closes and forces all refrigerant through the KC ehen in "race mode" but if too much refrigerant is going in and there isn't enough heat from the ic loop it wont fully evaporate and the txv will just throttle down the refrigerant flow, defeating the purpose of the solinoid. It all depends on the size of the hx, the heat in the coolant, etc so without some legitimate engineering it's really a guessing game as to if it's actually beneficial or not, other than the feedback provided above.
Maybe a little off track but In my opinion I would think a trunk tank and ice are the only way to go. And if you get a little crazy with other things like I did it will work fantastic. But you always need to put ice in for every run and that's no big deal, bring some coolers !
I couldn't say if you should forgo it or not. TX is the thermal expansion valve, it closes and opens as necessary to ensure the refrigerant is fully evaporating in the hx. If you try to force too much refrigerant into the heat exchanger(evaporator) the txv will just close down. The drag kit puts a solinoid on the high pressure AC line that goes to cabin cooling. It closes and forces all refrigerant through the KC ehen in "race mode" but if too much refrigerant is going in and there isn't enough heat from the ic loop it wont fully evaporate and the txv will just throttle down the refrigerant flow, defeating the purpose of the solinoid. It all depends on the size of the hx, the heat in the coolant, etc so without some legitimate engineering it's really a guessing game as to if it's actually beneficial or not, other than the feedback provided above.
Ok, one more stab...hx = Heat exchange? Are we talking about the HE that draws ambient air temp to cool down ic? If so I plan on deleting. Would that makes a difference. Hmmm sounds a bit more technical then I thought. Hoping once I install everything then I’ll figure out how to tweak it for system to work effectively.
As for dumping ic fluids and reload tank with ice after a pass gets old and messy.
but overall, drag kit works to prevent dripping while staging? And what else Joe claims it would help on the track.
Ill try try to get your acronym right next time.
I'm not sure exactly how it would accomplish that. I guess maybe by forcing all of the evaporation to occur in the insulated killer chiller heat exchanger, you wouldn't get any of the condensation normally gotten from the standard uninsulated AC evaporator? Maybe some with experience with the kit could chime in with everything it includes. All I know is it has the solinoid. I've never had the kit just looking into making my own so I dont have any hands on experience sorry.
The drag valve is operated by a switch in the cabin so it can be closed for every day driving. I would advise anyone who installs a KC with or without a drag valve to have a temp read on the tank's IC water. By doing that you can see how it is operating at all times and learn how to best set your cabin AC controls for best operation. As I drive along I get great comfort seeing my IC water at up to 20deg C below ambient. I do wonder why anyone would want just a heat exchanger which at best can maintain the IC water at several degrees higher than ambient. Recovery is also much faster than with heat exchangers and which you can also see happening with the water temp read. A small amount of radiator coolant should be added to the distilled water as I have in the past when running a clutched pulley seen the water temp drop below freezing. A fixed pulley heats the water by the full time operation of the SC and so the minimum water temp is a little higher at all times.
The drag valve is operated by a switch in the cabin so it can be closed for every day driving. I would advise anyone who installs a KC with or without a drag valve to have a temp read on the tank's IC water. By doing that you can see how it is operating at all times and learn how to best set your cabin AC controls for best operation. As I drive along I get great comfort seeing my IC water at up to 20deg C below ambient. I do wonder why anyone would want just a heat exchanger which at best can maintain the IC water at several degrees higher than ambient. Recovery is also much faster than with heat exchangers and which you can also see happening with the water temp read. A small amount of radiator coolant should be added to the distilled water as I have in the past when running a clutched pulley seen the water temp drop below freezing. A fixed pulley heats the water by the full time operation of the SC and so the minimum water temp is a little higher at all times.
Thanks, great info and good to know dk function and how it works.
When you get a chance and if able, please post some photos of KC “T” fitting and drag kit for effects and their install location on AC lines.
Update: Thanks to Drothgeb for all his guidance on a successful install! And to Trabots for his inputs.
KC installed with drag kit (waiting to wire up drag kit). Installation wasn’t to bad, evacuate ac, cut ac lines, install T fitting and drag kit is a pain when tightening connections on drag kit due to lack of space; need 1” open wrench to do so with NO Teflon tape. Fittings on drag kit according to Joe Kincaid “...are SAE conections. They are made to seal up when you tighten them down.” The smaller T fitting is a pain to insert into ac line even with huge amounts of PAC oil; it takes a lot of strength to fully insert it. I barley got the tips in. Went to recharge ac and got major leak at drag kit connections. Tighten it up and G2G with ac recharge! Cabin ac blow cold still and IAT below ambient with quick/instant recovery. Insulated ice tank and all hoses and HEs deleted. Mpg fluctuate from city (10-13) to hwy (18-21). 63* is lowest IAT seen so far with 72mm fixed pulley, will continues to monitor both IAT and coolant temperature.
Question:
1) fluid path: Which path are you running to get the best performance?
KC>Tank>IC pump>IC>KC
Tank>IC pump> KC>IC
2) what’s your average IAT?
Drag kit with T fitting, almost a foot long and not a lot of room by the firewall to work with. Tighten those connections up!
Decided to mount KC in front, got lazy and still debating to remove SAI pump and relocate KC there. Maybe better performance by moving it. And it’ll look better.
I’m about to pull the trigger on this set up but have no idea about what your all talking about.
im looking to fit this set up to a supercharged am156 that runs the Weistec icebox set up.
what is this heat exchanger? Is the with the kit or part of the air con or part of the Weistec icebox set up?
whats the best way to fit the kit?
im looking to get the drag pack too. We don’t want to keep putting ice In the box. Sorry for the noob questions just trying get my head around it all before we fit it
I’m about to pull the trigger on this set up but have no idea about what your all talking about.
im looking to fit this set up to a supercharged am156 that runs the Weistec icebox set up.
what is this heat exchanger? Is the with the kit or part of the air con or part of the Weistec icebox set up?
whats the best way to fit the kit?
im looking to get the drag pack too. We don’t want to keep putting ice In the box. Sorry for the noob questions just trying get my head around it all before we fit it
thanks
The HE is referring to the actual part of the Killer Chiller cooling module. I’m Not too familiar with 156 or Weistec platform (07-09 E63???) give either VRP or Kincaid performance a ring and they can answer all your questions. As for install, its not that difficult to DIY, just need to know where your lines are to cut and connect. Feel free to pm me for any other details and I’ll try to help you out best I can.
finally installed drag kit and saw major improvements on tank fluid temp and IAT when it’s activated. The major downfall when drag kit on is cabin ac is nonexistent but that a known.
Also, I’ve injected three cans of 12a as advised by Joe Kincaid and seen decent improvement on IAT and tank temp. Tank temp dropped from 59* to 57* and seen IAT in the 60s when cruising 40-60 mph. Haven’t taken out at WOT due to tranny acting up.
See below photos on numbers with drag kit on; this is during cold start with car in garage hood up.
finally installed drag kit and saw major improvements on tank fluid temp and IAT when it’s activated. The major downfall when drag kit on is cabin ac is nonexistent but that a known.
Also, I’ve injected three cans of 12a as advised by Joe Kincaid and seen decent improvement on IAT and tank temp. Tank temp dropped from 59* to 57* and seen IAT in the 60s when cruising 40-60 mph. Haven’t taken out at WOT due to tranny acting up.
See below photos on numbers with drag kit on; this is during cold start with car in garage hood up.
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