I haven't connected the heater element as I find it difficult to believe it will make much difference, but I will try at the weekend.
The main cause of the moisture is the extreme cold of the inlet pipe and a little heater element at the start will only heat the incoming air slightly.
I am yet to be convinced.

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

mind posting a picture? I am very curious

You can see it in the previous photo. Its the white ceramic item in the middle of the air cleaner base.

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

I connected the heater element in the air cleaner and yes it gets hot but not sure if it works to reduce the humidity or condensation on the inlet tube?




Yes the engine is idling in this photo, I guess I need to learn how to take a video with my camera?


I guess I need to find a plan B?

I have been advised that the condensation is only a worry when the humidity is above 80%. I guess they dont reach that level in the UK
I need to get this issue resolved cause the engine goes so well, I just want to take it for a long drive and not worry about this issue.

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Michael,
Just beacause there is condensation on the outside doesn't mean the pipe is icing up inside...
I'd not worry at all, unless you get other symptoms. eg. when an SU ices up the throttle jams partly open.. I found this out in the highlands of Tassie one damp day. Weird feeling...

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Hey Doc, Getting condensation on the inside which runs back down into the carby bridge area. No problem while acelerating but causes hesitaion and stalling when taking off from the lights, if stopped in traffic.

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

This may be a completely stupid idea and I may not have understood the problem correctly... the condensation is coming from the iced up pipe and running back down the pipe to the carby?

Could you weld a little section on the underside of the pipe where it attaches to the carb to act as a collector for any condensation?
Excuse my paint skills:



May be a problem bleeding the collected condensation out though...

My only other idea would be to remove the throttle plate in your SU, put a new one behind it and drill a bleed hole in between the throttle and SU.




They're not great ideas but it may provide some inspiration for a good one I base them on my thinking that it's going to be all but impossible to get rid of the condensation so you need to give it somewhere to escape...

Hi spraycanmansam, your 1st idea is already on the drawing boards and has been implemented by a previous M45 supercharger person.
I will try this over the next few weeks, as well as a number of other tweaks.

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

What if you brazed a bit of copper pipe to the underside of the pipe and run some cooling water through it? If you fit a tap to it you can adjust the water flow (and warming effect).

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

One option would be to remove the butterfly from the SU and put a throttle body on the inlet to the supercharger. The SU has to stay where it is because of under bonnet clearance but the throttle can be located anywhere. You can still be carby fed without the complexity of EFI but without the cold inlet pipe.

The air is only cool and reaching the saturation limit where water condenses in the low-pressure area (temp drop is directly related to pressure drop). That is after the throttle. The SU doesn't cause enough pressure drop to generate the condensation. The evaporation of the fuel will still cause some temperature drop but it should be much less significant than now.

Keeping the pipe warm is also a very good ideal and I recommend a wet sleeve over the pipe behind the carby so another pipe of larger diameter around the inlet pipe, sealed at the ends and with water ports in and out, connected to the rad circuit.

M

that little water catcher is a crackup - what happens when it's full and the air going over it starts picking it up, or you go around a corner!



that's basically what I will do if ice is an issue with my new manifold... except I'll weld a 4" x 1" block of aluminium along the bottom with a hole through the guts, then just run the heater through it... it'll evaporate anything that tries to sit in the bottom of the manifold, along with heating the whole assembly

Hi Simon,

I think the water catcher will work OK because;
Step 1, When you are under power then the water vapour should be sucked up and absorbed into the engine and burnt off. No problem
Step 2, When you are stopped at the lights or intersection then water will probably run down towards the carby and into the catch can and collect. All good so far.
Step 3, When you move off from the intersection and accelerate then the fuel in the base of the carby should be undiluted and the engine will pick up OK. Hopefully?
Step 4, As you continue to accelerat the water in the catcher will slowly be sucked up and burnt off as in step 1. Pray.
Now to see if the theory works or I'm just talking out of my a*se?

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Simon, consider using fuel rail extrusion as it is commonly available, sized for tapping barbed fittings in the ends and can be cut to length. See here:

http://www.efihardware.com/products/163 ... -long-4cyl

Weld that puppy onto your inlet pipe and you're away.

Until then you could think about an insulating spacer between the intake and the throttle body to keep the throttle from freezing up. The cold is only downstream of the butterfly.

M

so you reckon you'll get some water injection happening?? maybe it's not such a bad idea then!

what about how much turbulence the little tube thingy is going to introduce when it's not full, actually, I bet it'll fill up with fuel anyway, so you'll get a nice mix of fuel and water, or just fuel, or just water depending on the conditions.... trouble is, it'll might be the opposite to what you want, or maybe it'll work really well, I can't make up my mind - I think it'll fill up with fuel when the weather is hot, which will be drawn off and make the engine run richer, which will make it run cooler, and then in winter when it's cold, it'll fill up with water, so you'll get your water injection which will make it run cooler too - it's win-win

and maybe in the depths of winter you'll get an ice block forming in there, and it'll get sucked out in one go - then the iceblock will sit in your intake like having an intercooler, all of the fuel & air will need to go around it so will get cooled

dunno!!



good idea, but nah, I'm too much of a tightarse for that - I have a bit of aluminium I can make one from. That's if I decide I want one, which I doubt. My carb ice & the little bit of water I got in the intake was never an issue - it always ran the best on those cold & foggy mornings.

I reckon the water only puddled when the engine was turned off anyway, there was probably a little bit condensed around the outside of the tube and it just ran down when there was no airflow keeping it up there

Could you do something similar to a water to air intercooler except hook it up to the coolant system to warm the inlet charge instead of cooling?