| Author | Message | ||
     Preybird1 |
So does anyone use an octane booster? Fuel system cleaning additive? High octane fuel-race fuel? Water remover additive?  I am curious about playing with fuel octane points. I can only get 91 here and i would like to get to 93 octane or equivalent. Any ideas, I was thinking this one http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/aob.aspx | ||
| Garyz28 |
The owners manual specifically says not to use either racing fuel or octane boosters. I suspect this to avoid fouling the O2 sensor. | ||
| Nillaice |
i use b-12 chem tool on the fiist few tanks after winter. i always thought the octane boosters were 'snake oil' | ||
| Josh_ |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating "Since switching to a higher octane fuel does not add any more hydrocarbon content or oxygen, the engine cannot produce more power" Your engine will run best on the lowest octane gas that doesn't ping... | ||
| Old_man |
You're right, high octane gas will not ignite as easily as a lower octane rated gas. High octane gas will not, in itself, give you more power. It is used in an engine to prevent premature combustion. (knocking). Higher octane gas enables engine builders to use higher compression ratios and more aggressive timing. There is no advantage to using a higher octane rated gas than an octane the manufacturer recommends. That is, unless, the engine has the capability to adjust the timing on its' own. via a knock sensor. Possibly, then, you could gain power with the higher octane rated gas. | ||
| Nillaice |
so it's just that the higher octane gas is associated with making more power... kinda like putting on a NOS sitcker, but not the actual nitrous system. | ||
| Froggy |
True. The Saab Bio Power will produce 300hp when run on E100, vs the 160hp for the normal gasoline version. But thats something for another discussion as it dosen't apply to our Buell's in any way. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Similar Nillaice, more like it's using faulty logic along th lines of: that guy has a fast bike and I saw him using high octane gas, therefore if i use high octane gas I'll have a fast bike because that's what makes it fast. or If she weighs the same as duck she's made of wood, therefore she's a witch! Burn Her! I can't pass up the opportunity for a good Python reference. It's a weakness. (Message edited by diablobrian on February 11, 2009) | ||
| Preybird1 |
I was 0nly going to use this to help against knock and ping when it gets real hot in the summer time, The octane booster only makes the injected fuel less likely to pre-ignite before its ready. The fuel additive makes the fuel more likely to detonate in a ignition spark controlled burn vs the explosion knock-ping, Now the chance of knock and ping is severely reduced. | ||
| Dfbutler |
I've used the AmsOil octane boost when it is hot. I have 10.5 pistons and get occasional ping when the temperatures are high. You only need a little in each tank and it will be cheap insurance if you're getting any pinging. | ||
| Hootowl |
This new learning amazes me. Explain to me again how sheep's bladder may be employed to prevent detonation? | ||
| Preybird1 |
Octane rating does not relate to the energy content of the fuel. It is only a measure of the fuel's tendency to burn rather than explode! R.O.N. Research octane number acquired by test engine mixture M.O.N. Motor octane number, Manufacturer recommended octane of motor Higher octane ratings correlate to higher activation energies. Activation energy is the amount of energy necessary to start a chemical reaction. Since higher octane fuels have higher activation energies, it is less likely that a given compression will cause detonation. It might seem odd that fuels with higher octane ratings are used in more powerful engines, since such fuels 'explode' less easily. However, an explosion is not desired in an internal combustion engine. An explosion will cause the pressure in the cylinder to rise far beyond the cylinder's design limits, before the force of the expanding gases can be absorbed by the piston traveling downward. This actually reduces power output, because much of the energy of combustion is absorbed as strain and heat in parts of the engine, rather than being converted to torque at the crankshaft. A fuel with a higher octane rating can be run at a higher compression ratio without detonating. Compression is directly related to power, So engines that require higher octane usually deliver more power. Engine power is a function of the fuel as well as the engine design and is related to octane rating of the fuel. Power is limited by the maximum amount of fuel-air mixture that can be forced into the combustion chamber. Im not trying to gain HP just a more stable combustion! | ||
| Boltrider |
I was wondering about this with the 1125. It has compression of 12.3:1, yet 91 octane is the recommended fuel. I still don't get how it all works with no knock sensor when it's 100 degrees outside. Maybe it's because 12.3:1 is the static number, and the dynamic CR number is a little lower? (Message edited by boltrider on February 11, 2009) | ||
| Garyz28 |
Thank you Preybird, that's the best explanation concerning the how's and why's of octane I have ever read. | ||
| J2blue |
I only recently learned that the difference in regular combustion like we have and detonation is speed. The term I learned was "deflagration", which is the slower(subsonic) burning and expansion of the fuel. Before when they talked about premature detonation I thought they still meant that the gas/air detonated, just too early. But no, it isn't supposed to detonate at all, rather it is supposed to deflagrate. It is the controlled burning that gets harnessed for useful power. Having said that, I also learned that many researchers are working on "Pulse Detonation Engines" that do try to harness the supersonic detonations into useful thrust. The applications are obviously aimed at near space vehicles. I have a cool video from a lab showing an engine that catches fire shortly after initiating the detonation phase, pretty cool. My earlier idea of using pelletized explosives to increase horsepower had to be scrapped. | ||
| Diablobrian |
There goes my gunpowder as an additive theory too  (Message edited by diablobrian on February 11, 2009) | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Premature detonation is no joke..  (Message edited by pkforbes87 on February 11, 2009) | ||
| Garyz28 |
The very first internal combustion engine actually did use gunpowder as fuel. http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/mechanical/ar ticles/8251.aspx | ||
| Diablobrian |
Yeah, but that was black powder. Since this is the 21st century and we're very environmentally conscious these days I was intending to use the ultra- green smokeless powders. Maybe start with a bit of slow burning powder like a VV110 I have left over from my days shooting and reloading my .41mag and then move up to the faster burning powders that are used in some of the rifle loads (no reloading manual handy to look them up) Of course this whole post is utter B.S. but I cracked me up thinking it up! | ||
| Preybird1 |
I thought the pulse spark plugs was interesting, But those are just stupid expensive! If your interested here is a link http://www.pulstar.com/ |
