Thread: Any reason not to use an Air-Con condensor as a Trans oil cooler

yep, nope, not in a landy, no pics, the hard part is getting the piping and the joints in place.

You want to use it for what? Sorry, I don't understand the short hand.

Assuming you mean a finned, air cooled condenser I don't see why not if it's gases you're cooling as long as you stay within the safety margin of the condenser.
Assume for practical purposes that the pressure limit is whatever the HP switch setting was on the doner cooling plant, unless you can get reliable information otherwise.

If it's fluid that you're cooling. Again it'll probably work but I'd suggest you need to be very careful to avoid surging or hammering, as in theory that can create peak pressures above what the condenser was designed for.

I look forward to reading about this more, especially as I imagine one of the other fridgies is bound to have done some experimentation.

Dave, is he talking about the same sort of thing that you were the other weekend?

As the title said I wanted some input/info on whether an air conditioner condensor (small radiator for cooling) would be suitable to use as an oil cooler for an automatic transmission, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by Ratel10mm

You want to use it for what? Sorry, I don't understand the short hand.

Assuming you mean a finned, air cooled condenser I don't see why not if it's gases you're cooling as long as you stay within the safety margin of the condenser.
Assume for practical purposes that the pressure limit is whatever the HP switch setting was on the doner cooling plant, unless you can get reliable information otherwise.

If it's fluid that you're cooling. Again it'll probably work but I'd suggest you need to be very careful to avoid surging or hammering, as in theory that can create peak pressures above what the condenser was designed for.

I look forward to reading about this more, especially as I imagine one of the other fridgies is bound to have done some experimentation.

Dave, is he talking about the same sort of thing that you were the other weekend?

not quite, he wants to use it as an oil cooler for an auto, Ive been there and done that to help sort the auto cooling issue in a jeep and so far thats working fine, the biggest headache is setting up the fittings onto the lines from the condensor. (an auto makes very few spikes in pressure for the cooler and doesnt run all that much pressure on the cooler lines)

the intent I had in mind for mine was a cooler between the pump and the seperator on an endles air sysytem.

the modern parralel condensors have such small passages you need a pressure gauge or by pass valve.i be worried about the passages filtering the oil.400-600 PSI isnt unusual in an a/c.

used older types many times for the right price.i once thew in one under the carpet to keep my feet warm using water.

the old tube and fin units you get in a benz would normally be real copper.
and ive cut these up to reduce the height.

cheepest way is to raid a toyota or magna at the scrap dealer..these japanese denso units are very good.

the only question I would have is this: does the condenser have the sme flow rates as the oil cooler?

fittings can be modified, pressure would not be a problem, fitting condenser easy