photos of a trials with the new exhaust connector design
The new connector, which is part of the on-barrel cooling loop,
is approx. 37mm long and 14mm in diameter at it's maximum width.
The 'spider leg' pipes are fitted only after the four barrels are assembled
A small spanner type tool is used for tightening the connector. (click for a larger view)

A model connector on barrel 4.
Note that the connector has to be at an angle to allow the
LMTs clearance when they are folded outwards in R to go
through the TE bulkhead.

Model connector on barrel 3.
The connector has to face away from the nearest LMTs
and cannot face towards the exhaust pipe bulkhead
(outwards in R) as it would invade the Barrel 4 envelope.

Model connector on barrel 5.
Here the LMTs go either side of the
connector which faces slightly away from the B5 LMTs.

Model connector on barrel 6.
This area is very crowded but the connector has to face away from the barrel 6 LMTs.
The INPUT pipe connector bulkhead may have to
be shifted in phi to create more clearance.

Another barrel 5 connector position

A view from the side showing clearance between
LMTs and connector. LMTs from other barrels can be
moved aside to go underneath the connector but this cannot
be done with LMTs from the same barrel.

This shows how it is not possible to get LMTs under a
connector on the same barrel if the connector is facing
across the path of the LMTs.

This shows the solution - to face the connector to the
side of the 'same barrel' LMTs or away from them
This will probably mean that the exhaust pipe 'spider legs'
will have to have an extra bend and extra length to reach the
exhaust pipe bulkhead in the Thermal Enclosure.

A view of an 'old' exhaust spider, with the directions of
the new connectors marked in red.

We will replace these 'old' cooling spiders and connectors with models of the new connectors and new pipe routing.
When this is done, new routing of the INPUT transition pipes can created on the model.

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