parallel flow compressor ?
drdd
07-03-2007, 08:20 PM
what is a parallel flow condenser and did my 97 Jimmy come stock with one?
when I look at them on ackits.com it looks like they are not "drop-in" and will need some fabrication ...
when I look at them on ackits.com it looks like they are not "drop-in" and will need some fabrication ...
ericn1300
07-04-2007, 12:43 AM
Unlikely that your 97 came with one but it should be a drop in substitute with no fabrication needed. PF compressors have been around for awhile but are only getting a second look in the after market since the change over to R-134 from R-12 Freon. R-134 just doesn't do the job as well. Here's a short excerpt from http://www.forparts.com/techcondensers.htm but be sure to read the whole article, especialy the "Parallel Flow Condensers and Black Death" section. I wouldn't recommend switching over.
How Condensers Work
Cooling is about contact, contact between the coolant and the tubes and between the tubes and the fins. The parallel flow condenser, developed by Modine in the late 1980s and now used by every auto manufacturer in their vehicles, was designed to provide a lot of contact between the coolant and the tubes.
Parallel flow (PF) condensers maximize the cooling ability of the Freon in two ways. The first is by turning the single "tube" into many tubes. On average, a PF condenser is 3/4" to 1 1/4" in width and consists of not one tube, but many (commonly 10 to 12) parallel tubes that, from the outside, look like a single tube. Instead of having one giant round tube where at least 75% of the Freon is not making contact as it flows through the condenser, a PF condenser's tubes are between 1mm and 2mm.
With openings this small, nearly all the Freon flowing through the condenser is in constant contact with the tube. The contact with the tube transfers the heat being carried by the Freon onto the tube.
The heat that is generated is then transferred to the fins and is subsequently dissipated by either the natural air flow (at highway speeds) or the cooling fan (or fans, depending on the vehicle).
The second manner in which PF condensers produce more cooling for the Freon is through higher fin counts. PF condensers really pack in the fins. The basic PF condenser has in the neighborhood of 18 to 24 fins per inch. More fins, as we all know, means more heat dissipation, lower high side pressures, less strain on the compressor, and a net result of better cooling for the motorist.
How Condensers Work
Cooling is about contact, contact between the coolant and the tubes and between the tubes and the fins. The parallel flow condenser, developed by Modine in the late 1980s and now used by every auto manufacturer in their vehicles, was designed to provide a lot of contact between the coolant and the tubes.
Parallel flow (PF) condensers maximize the cooling ability of the Freon in two ways. The first is by turning the single "tube" into many tubes. On average, a PF condenser is 3/4" to 1 1/4" in width and consists of not one tube, but many (commonly 10 to 12) parallel tubes that, from the outside, look like a single tube. Instead of having one giant round tube where at least 75% of the Freon is not making contact as it flows through the condenser, a PF condenser's tubes are between 1mm and 2mm.
With openings this small, nearly all the Freon flowing through the condenser is in constant contact with the tube. The contact with the tube transfers the heat being carried by the Freon onto the tube.
The heat that is generated is then transferred to the fins and is subsequently dissipated by either the natural air flow (at highway speeds) or the cooling fan (or fans, depending on the vehicle).
The second manner in which PF condensers produce more cooling for the Freon is through higher fin counts. PF condensers really pack in the fins. The basic PF condenser has in the neighborhood of 18 to 24 fins per inch. More fins, as we all know, means more heat dissipation, lower high side pressures, less strain on the compressor, and a net result of better cooling for the motorist.
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