HIding wires! Can I use industrial strength velcro to attach my TFI Heat sink?

[Pokageek]

Ok, so I am iding wires. Ca I use ind strength velcro to attach the heat sinkto the inner fenderwell plastic liner to hide it?..OR do heat sinks HAVE to be attached to metal?

 

[Dan95-5.0]

for mine, i just bolted it back to the same spot but inside the fender using the same bolt holes. worked mint.

 

[Pokageek]

Thanks Dan. Last resort I will do that. I kinda wanted to place it in a different spot without drilling though.

 

[Pokageek]

ttt

 

[will_95gt]

Well, plastic doesn't conduct heat NEAR as much as metal, so velcro'ing a heat sink would probably defeat the purpose of putting on the heat sink in the first place.

Also, the point of a heat sink is to Draw heat away from what your attaching it to, plastic doesn't get very hot, if it did, it'd melt. So attaching a heat sink to plastic seems pointless.

Then again i'm a computer technician who knows just a little about cars, so my input is more heavily derived from my foundation of computer education rather than automotive. Either way, with heat sinks, the same principles should apply.

Hope I helped

-Will

 

[95strokerPSU]

Just remember that the TFI grounds to the heat shink which ground to the fender. So if you're attaching it with velcro (which will work), you'll need to run a ground wire.

 

[95strokerPSU]

Well, plastic doesn't conduct heat NEAR as much as metal, so velcro'ing a heat sink would probably defeat the purpose of putting on the heat sink in the first place.

Also, the point of a heat sink is to Draw heat away from what your attaching it to, plastic doesn't get very hot, if it did, it'd melt. So attaching a heat sink to plastic seems pointless.

Good point but I believe he's moving the module inside the fender which will reduce the temperature that is exposed to. I would still keep the TFI in the heat sink though. I ran my car one time with the TFI out of the heat sink and in the engine compartment and the car barely ran when it got hot.

 

[will_95gt]

Good point but I believe he's moving the module inside the fender which will reduce the temperature that is exposed to. I would still keep the TFI in the heat sink though. I ran my car one time with the TFI out of the heat sink and in the engine compartment and the car barely ran when it got hot.

I see, also good point about the ground wire.

 

[Pokageek]

Ok, thanks guys. I will screw it into metal like y'all said to be safe.

 

[HISSIN50]

The TFI's critical temp is ~257*F, and after the issues with the fox TFI's (Why ours are remotely located), I'd really try to heat sink the crap out of it. They also don't like a ton of vibration (a concern with velcro IMHO). You could use an intermediate mounting plank (metal) between the heat sink and fender if it helps (to deal with a round contour, etc).

As an aside, I'm going to attach a little fan on mine (in it's OEM spot) to help wick away heat.

Good luck.

 

[Pokageek]

I ended up putting it in the fenderwell just like Dan's car. It is tight in one spot against the fender liner and the other wiring pushes the fender liner out a bit but it works just fine.

 

[SublimeRT]

Just remember that the TFI grounds to the heat shink which ground to the fender. So if you're attaching it with velcro (which will work), you'll need to run a ground wire.

I ziptied mine to the frame today. The whole time I was wondering if the TFI grounded through the sheet metal since it's pretty much the only thing BOLTED to the inner fenders. Anywho, glad I read this. I guess I'll have to ground it somehow.