Here are a couple of thoughts and info.
Of any of the max-power issues that you mention, I have only seen one atmosphere and two vgt's come back. Any other issues we have not seen to give any factual knowledge. The first VGT appeared to have been oversped as it was hammered. The 2nd VGT was only hurt due to compressor wheel damage from foriegn material from the atmosphere turbo failing. So really it didn't fail. The one atmosphere I have seen that was damaged was most definitely oversped. The comp wheel exploded so bad it cracked the compressor housing. That charger was a total loss. But that charger was on Rudy's Drag truck and was put through much more than ever designed for.
The engineer at Precision and I have discussed turbo speed and efficiency. His words were to keep it less than 155K rpm. We supply the kit with a 1.12 turbine housing. You could step up to a 1.28 but you would have to clearance your intake manifold. That is why we offer the auxillary gate kit so you dont have to grind the intake.
The gate inbetween the stages is merely a tuning tool. Dependant on many factors the charger may want no additional feed. For example when Mike and Dustin tuned Mal's truck they did not use any gating between the stages. Now changes such as a better flowing air filter or better density air could change that. My suggestion is to run the setup so the the gate between the stages is closed during initial dial-in. Get your total backpressure dialed-in, then see if driving the charger more makes more power. If you cannot keep backpressure under control then you need a larger auxiallary gate and/or a larger turbine housing.
Almost everyone has seen my video from Denver where I have the large nitrous backfire. The backfire was because the turbo failed and then boom! nitrous pop. Why did the turbo fail, NOT ENOUGH GATE. Simple, was the turbo to blame? No, I was. I oversped it! You can hear the truck come alive and its pulling hard and then the turbo said it was too much. Now let's relate that to the max-powers. A few people are trash talking the compounds because of failures. One of these people is in fact the person who dialed-in the wastegates on two of the failed systems and on one of the alleged failed systems. When I have asked for factual information, about the wastegate setup, none can ever be provided. I mean nothing. Not even a boost reading off of the atmosphere charger! I know backpressure was an issue though, which meant the wastegate system was undersized. You actually reference the picture of the system. If you keep blowing bellows, then you eliminate the bellows, then you blow the turbos. What does that tell you. Too much backpressure, not enough gate. WTF!
Shane, follow my advise and dustins. Also remember what mike haller has in his signature. "What you don't measure you can't control, and what you can't control you can't improve upon."
