Final justification of paralell rads

[John Napoli]

On Tue, 21 Jan 1997, George M. Dailey wrote:

> 
> Gentlemen, I checked a my reference books and could find none that spelled
> out one routing is beter than the other.  I will bow in disgrace. There have
> been many post by experts in this feild, that confirm the paralell routing
> to be the best. I do hate to holster a weapon without firing a few shots:),
> so I can still prove I was originally correct, through fundamental heat
> transfer logic. I thought I was wrong about something once in the past, but
> later found out I was right:) So here it goes. Clik...clank
> 

Very impresdsive write-up, George, and while I do not and have not
disputed basic theory, sometimes real life works a little differently.
Your analysis requires several assumptions that do not hang true in
practice, and there may be more at work as well.

I have seen several kit cars that tried your approach.  Overheated.
Switched to series.  Problem solved.  Production cars use series, too.
For example, for years Jaguar has set up their radiators with two inlets
at the top (parallel) connecting to a series setup in the botttom (ie, one
outlet).  I know some will now joke about Kags, but if maintained they
will not overheat on the hottest day.

One of the variables may be the speed of the coolant thru the setup.  Just
like pulling the thermostats can cause you to overheat because the coolant
flows through too fast -- there are many variables and few if any home
builts are enginewered beyond the use of whatever components are
convenient.

Home heating systems, which just dump the heat of the burner into the
rooms, are series circuits (zones are in parallel).

So, I am not prepared to concede the point.  Builders are encouraged to
try whatever they wish.  My advice would be to go series to start --
easier to plumb and looks a lot neater, too - and take it from there.  

John