A lawn mower Hydroxy experiment.

[BoyntonStu]

A lawn mower Hydroxy experiment.

I have been thinking about a potential mower engine experiment.


You keep adding Hydroxy until the timing can be retarded because of the flame speed increase.

Why retard?

Gasoline burns slow in comparison to gasoline.

The spark plug fires BTDC (before top dead center) to allow time for all the fuel/air mixture to burn.

Unfortunately as the piston is traveling up, a portion of the fuel/air mixture has already begun to burn.

Thus the piston is going up while the burnt fuel is trying to force it down.

If Hydroxy will cause the fuel to burn more rapidly, and if you could retard the timing from let's say 10* BTDC to 3* BTDC you would gain efficiency and mpg.

At the maximum retard timing point with no appreciable change in power, you would have determined the Hydroxy/fuel ratio required.

This done, you will precisely know what is needed in a larger engine.

BoyntonStu

[HYDROTEKPRO]

That sounds pretty close to exactly right!

[computerclinic]

One of my very first experiments was using the lawn tractor. I didnt need to change the timing any, but I wasnt trying to run it entirely on HHO like some folks are trying on Youtube.

I was looking for a bit more RPM or at least some more power. Back then I had no idea what I was really looking for or even how to measure anything, but it was not hurting anything that I could tell. I did notice that it was quicker to start and ran smoother after about 20 minutes of the first experiment.

Since then, my experiments have all been on the bench. I am waiting to get a sort of scangauge that will work on my NON OBD Cavalier so I can get accurate data. Sure, the old fashon mileage calculations will work out to tell me the improvements, but I want to improve more than just the MPG in my car...

[RMForbes]

I have not tried this yet but I have given it much study. Because most of small Briggs & Stratton type engines fires the sparkplug near the beginning of every cycle of the crank, retarding the spark past Top Dead Center would not be posible without major modifications to the engine. I do believe that you are correct though, there is no real need to do that. As long as you can retard the initial timing to just before TDC you should be okay (no more than 3-4 degrees). But, I'm am concerned about the safety of using 100% HHO fuel because of the waste spark problem. However, if you could add just a small amount of propane or any other hydrocarbon based fuel to slow the combustion speed just enough to allow smooth engine operation with initial timing around 4 degrees before TDC. At least in theory.

[BoyntonStu]

I have not tried this yet but I have given it much study. Because most of small Briggs & Stratton type engines fires the sparkplug near the beginning of every cycle of the crank, retarding the spark past Top Dead Center would not be posible without major modifications to the engine. I do believe that you are correct though, there is no real need to do that. As long as you can retard the initial timing to just before TDC you should be okay (no more than 3-4 degrees). But, I'm am concerned about the safety of using 100% HHO fuel because of the waste spark problem. However, if you could add just a small amount of propane or any other hydrocarbon based fuel to slow the combustion speed just enough to allow smooth engine operation with initial timing around 4 degrees before TDC. At least in theory.


See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nY-ZwdLjWo

For answers to both of your issues.

Zero also considers the double spark issue.

The point of using a small engine for this research is that it is cheaper, easier to do, and more controllable than in driving you car.

I suggested my idea to Zero and he liked it.

BoyntonStu