NOS Bottle Heater
 

Anyone have experience with using a bottle heater? I just installed one on the Chevelle and wanted to know how long it takes to heat the bottle up prior to a run on say a 65 degree morning? Do you turn it on in the pits or do you wait until you are in the staging lanes?

way too many variables. if you cant read pressure, get a gauge. if you can, just warm her up until you see 1100-1200 psi or thereabouts, depending on temp outside, bottle size, mounting location, can vary greatly as far as time spent warming. - definitely dont wait till the staging lanes, chances are you wont get it warmed up, unless youre going to be waiting a while.

Thanks Sonic03SVT. I do not have a pressure gauge but the kit does have a thermostat that cuts out at 85º F +/- 5º F and according to NOS ideal temp for the bottle is 90º.

What's the technical reason for heating the NOS?

Standard temperature and pressure my friend. the idea is by warming up the bottle you will increase the pressure differential between the atmospere(14.7psia) and the bottle (900psia). The greater the pressure differenttial and higher the mass (and volumetric) flow rate out of the bottle. The highe the mass flow rat the greater the amountof oxygen inserted into the motor the greater the amount fo fuel you can burn. More fuel burning under normal conditions the greater he amout of power the motor can put out. As youy hit the Nitrous. The expansion of the gassed will cause the bottle to cool down significantly. As the bottle cools down the gassesb will contract and the bottle pressure will frop dramaticaly. This pressure drop will result in a unreliable system and give ou inconsistent power levels based on the varience an NO2 O2 flow
CNj

Thanks! I suspected the gas laws were involved (well duh I guess) but didn't put it together that it was so important for short blasts. I've been enriched.:thumbs_up:

The issue that I've had is that if I run anything more than a 150 shot there is not enough bottle pressure and the car runs rich. I did some testing on a chassis dyno using jetting for a 180 shot and a bottle temp of 65º. I started with the recommended jetting for N2O and fuel but the afr was below 10:1. I kept dropping the jetting size for the fuel but it was still rich so I call NOS and they told me the bottle temp needs to be 90-95º to have 950psi of bottle pressure which they say is ideal.

Also, when I was doing the testing I pulled the bottle out and set it in the sun for about an hour and was able to get the bottle temp up to 70º. I then re-installed it and made another pull. It picked up 13rwhp from the increased N2O flow because of more pressure.

Maybe you could hook up an inverter to your lighter and use a heat pad. :huh: :smack:

I actually tried that but even with the heating pad on the highest setting it wasn't hot enough to warm the bottle. With the Edelbrock bottle heater I purchased the instructions have a warning that states the surface temp of the heater can reach over 400º.

That outta get'r done. :thumbs_up:

We'll find out at the Street Legals at California Speedway in November. I'm going to jet the Chevelle for a 180 shot and see if I can run a 9.

How about using one of those new nitrogen bottle systems. It connects to the Nitrous bootle and since helps maintain pressure.

There's also the Nitrousaurus-X which keeps the bottle at a constant 86º but at $395 it just doesn't seem worth it here in CA. I mean with a 150 shot I have no problem with pressure so it's only going to be used for me to try and run a 9 the next time I go to the track. I only have enough safety equipment to run 10's and they only let you run 10.00 at the Street Legals anyways. If I do run a 9 I'll get kick off the track either way but it will be cool! Plus I'll have the bragging rights that I can run 9's.

be sure when u are heating the bottle in the staging lanes you either have ur car running or you have a bad ass battery.. your battery will be dead in 10 min.. those things suck up so much power.. b4 im about to get into the staging lane i put the bottle in a car and blast the heater so it takes off the chill.. you can feel the bottle if it getting warm or not.. a gauge is ur best bet.. to know ur pressure is everything.. 900- 1100 psi is great for most cars.. but its all on what u have tuned it with..

they wont kick u out.. we did an 8.9 pass last street legals, and they told us to go all out.. just make sure you let the tech guy know what ur gunna run

I didn't get a 9 the last time. My best was only a 10.25 at 128. It's time for me to put some new valve springs on since I've been running this combo for two years. The engine just doesn't pull past 6000 any more.