Rocket 3 Roadster Possibly Overheating?

[buddazero]

Yes, top up and seal up and you're golden.

A bit of understanding of your cooling system might help here. Water is the actual coolant because it has a very high specific heat capacity (symbol cp). If you raise the temperature of water to 212F it achieves 'saturation' meaning it can't hold any more heat without going thru a phase change. The amount of heat to change one pound mass water to one pound mass of steam at 212F (at atmospheric pressure) is 970 BTUs. That's a lot of BTUs (a BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound mass of water by one degree Fahrenheit at about 60°F). It's called the "latent heat of vaporization" and it's how the heat in your engine is moved from where it's produced in the combustion chamber to atmosphere flowing across the cooling fins of your radiator. Once water at atmospheric pressure reaches saturation adding heat will NOT raise its temperature, only vaporize the mass faster. One gallon of water has 8.34 pounds-mass so if your cooling system holds a gallon of water, it has the potential to hold 8090 BTUs circulating in the system. As you raise pressure on the water the BTUs it will hold goes UP before boiling occurs. That's why the cooling system of your motorcycle has a pressure relief cap to increase the total BTUs the system can remove effectively from the combustion process to atmosphere. To understand how your system was designed you need to know the heat load and how much has to be removed to maintain material properties desired (too much heat expands metal beyond operational limits). You can arrive at that heat value by calculating the total heat of the fuel burned per hour at full throttle for the maximum heat load. The cooling system can then be designed to remove that heat load plus an added safety margin of say 20%. To calculate the size of the heat exchanger needed (radiator) the engineers use that heat load value and how much air differential temperature is needed. That leads to how much water flow is needed to move those BTUs so the result is: Rate of Heat is equal to the mass flow rate times the differential temperature of the source to heat sink.

I’m gonna call you professor! lol believe it or not I appreciate the explanation truly. Wish I had this additional knowledge growing up. Instead I’m all computers and video which I love

 

[atomsplitter]

You're welcome.

Also the Stant cap is available on Amazon for order:

https://www.amazon.com/Stant-10231-Radiator-Cap-Vented/dp/B000B8N3GE/ref=sr_1_2?adgrpid=1332608659662354&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.k4MRzCuY44OkY8RUbk9oFqkdrJTU98GQfQCvaw3thFLZP5wvfo5UHktHzjnt2NlsabIByO_Qyi2j-9PqOp8k7uQFwqrt4jTdA4qdj17kj3x9SsiYD7TN2OIURZP2BCHLrGNbWKmMQ767quluYvUuEw.EhsVr3MufxLWZkwGwc1f1f6Qfg2ymGOuOgG6lk_xyF8&dib_tag=se&gb=2&hvadid=83288280091201&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvexpln=0&hvlocphy=77280&hvnetw=o&hvocijid=17920101115351730880--&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83288389777883%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=5704_13190815&keywords=stant+10230&mcid=a7b16943e9c83ab5aad94606b50503a1&qid=1784238382&sr=8-2

 

[atomsplitter]

I’m gonna call you professor! lol believe it or not I appreciate the explanation truly. Wish I had this additional knowledge growing up. Instead I’m all computers and video which I love

Atomsplitter is fine. I was a licensed nuclear plant operator and then senior licensed power plant instructor teaching plant systems, procedures and operations. Like I said I have a head full of stuff that needs vented from time to time. Passing on the knowledge is a treat when someone wants to learn.

 

[buddazero]

I’m someone who wants to learn everything even though I may not understand it right away lol I’m more of a hands-on person so being hands-on with my bike is definitely helping me to learn faster.

If I had someone like you in New York, I would literally take my whole bike apart just to put it back together just so I can learn everything

 

[atomsplitter]

I’m someone who wants to learn everything even though I may not understand it right away lol I’m more of a hands-on person so being hands-on with my bike is definitely helping me to learn faster.

If I had someone like you in New York, I would literally take my whole bike apart just to put it back together just so I can learn everything

Well, I'm available to solve your mechanical mysteries whenever you have a need, I retired in 2017. I do spend time riding my bikes so please be patient for an answer, but feel free to DM me with specific questions whenever you need.