  The fundamental tenet of the classical supernovae-driven wind model of
elliptical galaxies is that the residual thermal energy of all supernovae
remnants (SNRs) provide sufficient energy to overcome the binding energy of the
remaining interstellar gas, thereby driving a global galactic wind. We
re-examine model predictions of this epoch of wind ejection t_GW, highlighting
a heretofore underappreciated sensitivity to the adopted remnant thermal energy
formalism, and illustrating cases in which previous work may have substantially
overestimated t_GW. Arguments based upon chemical evolution alone, put forth to
reject the hypothesis of dark matter distributions similar to the luminous
component in spheroids, are shown to be tenuous. Finally, the predicted
enrichment of intracluster gas during the wind phase of cluster ellipticals,
and its relation to the selected SNR interior thermal energy evolutionary
scheme, is addressed. Despite the success of previous wind models, our results
still call into question the correctness of the simple analytical approach used
thus far, and imply that a more appropriate technique should be adopted in the
future.
