DNP manifold cracked

[Hiitman]

Bought a "new" dnp manifold off of the classifieds about two weeks ago. It was built in Aug of 06 but I could tell it was never used because it still had the shiny finish. Anyway. About 100 miles later it did this. I doubt I can get any kind of warranty money. I'm most likely going to have all the welds checked by a reputable turbo shop and continue to use the manifold.

 

[Turbo Monk3y]

WOw thats really lame. I have a dnp as well that I'm about to run. Got any more pictures farther up so we could see the whole manifold?

 

[kahl23]

I'd be very interested to see pics of the entire manifold. Where exactly on the mani did this crack?

 

[GVR4592]

I see a couple things that could've caused that. The first is poor joint alignment, you can tell from the location of the weld that the two pieces weren't tight when it was welded. The second thing is that is just a very poor weld, no penetration, and it almost appears to be the wrong filler for the manifold material used. Third, they didn't back purge the pipe when it was welded. Fourth thing I see is heat wrap. You shouldn't use it on thinwalled stainless manifolds. It traps the heat and weakens the weld. Finally, that doesn't look like a DNP manifold to me. A few larger pictures of the whole manifold would help.

 

[viprez586]

Just because it "looks" clean, doesn't necessarily mean that it hasn't been used. Carbon build up can easily be clean, and stainless can be polished to a new finish along with practically every other metal.

 

[nfernotalon]

Man thats lame, ive had my ebay one since june with no cracks or anythng, 156.00

 

[Hiitman]

You shouldn't use it on thinwalled stainless manifolds

Your right. That heatwrap is the dumptube.

Carbon build up can easily be clean

Right, but the runners are so tight that I doubt the previous owner could have polished off the purplish/orangish color that the manifold eventually becomes.

 

[GVR4592]

Well I guess I was wrong. I would contact DNP, if you're nice they might repair it for you.

 

[kittay]

Did you have it go to a dump tube?
It looks like it was unsupported and broke off.

 

[awesome_asim187]

Dude that does not look like a crack that looks like it just broke off. Is there enough clearence to reweld it?

 

[bpestilence]

Your right. That heatwrap is the dumptube.

You can clearly see in the first pic of the thread the marks from where the heat wrap was wrapped around that joint. No need to try to BS people. Heat wrap + thin wall steel + not perfect welds = crack.

 

[desolateboosted]

cracking is almost inevitable in mass custom manifolds. Even the highest rated companies have some faulty products. However hopefully you get that manifold patched up. I'm sure it'll work fine afterwards.

 

[GVR4592]

You can clearly see in the first pic of the thread the marks from where the heat wrap was wrapped around that joint. No need to try to BS people. Heat wrap + thin wall steel + not perfect welds = crack.

Good eye, I didn't notice that the first time around.

 

[Hiitman]

It looks like it was unsupported and broke off.

That what I was thinking since their kit comes with a recirc o2 housing.

thread the marks from where the heat wrap was wrapped around that joint

Your right. There was heat wrap on there. That's because I was 70 miles north in LA when it broke. I can send you a pic of where I took the heatwrap off the IC pipe if you'd like. Or you can stop wasting our time with accusations and try responding with actual ideas like Kittay's.

Also if your not suppose to wrap THAT specific type of manifold then somebody might want to verify that in all of your "how to wrap your tubular manifold" tech articles.

 

[dwdsm]

For once I have some insight.. My manifold cracked in the same place and it also looked like someone cut it in half. I contacted the unnamed shop (don't want anyone to get in trouble) and talked to them since it's the place that made it/I bought it form. I know one of the guys who works there personally and he said that.
1. Tubular mani's aren't made to take the constant heat up/down of daily driving.
2. They are all made in the same place and shops (like dnp) purchase them. He said that all they do is slap some reinforcements on it and sell it as their own, Including the one I bought from them.
3. "The first is poor joint alignment, you can tell from the location of the weld that the two pieces weren't tight when it was welded. The second thing is that is just a very poor weld, no penetration, and it almost appears to be the wrong filler for the manifold material used. Third, they didn't back purge the pipe when it was welded."

This is because they are all machine welded. My father-in-law who is a nuclear certified welder said that it looked like a machine weld (cause of lack of penetration) and actually looked like they layered it to make it look like a hand weld.

-so i sent it to them and had them weld it because they said if my father-in-law did it then they would not be able to do anything about it if it cracked again.

Hope I shed some light on the subject
-Dave

 

[1g4my2g]

I was with Mike when this happened. The thing cracked when we were aproaching L.A. No this is not from heat wrap. It's from a shitty piece that DNP makes. That manifold is for kids. He's better off to not have them weld it again. For those on here that own one....I'm sorry. Good tubular manifolds are great, except they do put out a large amount of heat vs. cast manifold. If your running a dinky turbo like a 16G, then stay with the stock cast type manifolds. You'll go faster. -Noah

 

[bmoha2]

After my DNP SS tubular manifold first started to brown about six months after I installed it I completely cleaned and wet sanded it with 600 grit. It looked better than when new. The bends are pretty tight together but can easily gotten into to clean/polish etc. I like the way you wrapped your upper radiator hose. I've been meaning to do the same. I actually have some thermal insulation from a nuclear power plant, my friend's dad is a nuclear powerplant electrical engineer and gave us some. It's just mildly radioactive and insulates very well! Haha just kidding. It's not radioactive. I want to get a nuclear caution sign for the back of the Talon.

 

[Defiant]

It's been over twenty years ago, but I used to be a weld inspector. I inspected welds use on the valves for the Alaska Pipeline where they were being built in Emeryville at Grove Valve and Regulator, and other sites and jobs. I did X-ray inspection on steel 4" thick, using a cobalt source for the 6-hour exposures.
I can't tell that much from the alignment on that tubing, but there's penetration on only about three places on that "weld". The rest of it is just a bead stacked up over the joint, with maybe 1/32" of penetration.
Grim stuff, but not that rare in the accessory world, apparently.

Oh, and another thing on the inspection front: don't ever Zyglo a set of wheels you plan to drive on. You'll never buy anything but steel wheels again.

 

[GRNDSM]

I did X-ray inspection on steel 4" thick, using a cobalt source for the 6-hour exposures.

That is funny, because I design that "gamma-ray" equipment!

http://www.sentinelndt.com/Portals/0/880 Brochure (Sep 2007).pdf Small world!

I do not understand why you guys are accusing his of something, because it shouldn't have cracked in under 200miles (heat wrap on not!).

The larger point is that was already made, tubular headers are NOT well suited for street use! I have seen people get lucky and use them for a while. But the majority eventually crack many times and have to be re-welded by the time they reach 20-30k miles!

And why are you doing this? Have you ever seen testing showing large improvements over the Mitsu manifold? And even if does give you 10-15 extra hp (that is what Archers Brothers used to claim), is it really worth the hassle? Or is this a bling things?

Anyway, talk to DNP, most shops just repair it even if it is out of warranty, simply because it is cheap enough for them to do.

 

[Defiant]

Heh. Our cameras started at around fifty pounds, and were the size of a mini-AT desktop case, for iridium. The cobalt source was in a wheeled coffin some five feet long. We were always told if we saw an iridium source and ran from it, we'd be burned out for a few months, but probably wouldn't get seriously hurt. If we saw a cobalt source, there was no hurry. You were already dead.
There were stories of a welder at Mare Island who'd found an iridium source whose pigtail weld had failed, put it in his back pocket and turned it in to the inspector at lunch. Supposedly, he lost that cheek. It was probably a myth, but it got the idea across to the cowboys working with the shit.

 

[MyBlack94GST]

Nothing like the smell of irradiated nylon... I work in pharmaceutical/medical devices.