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RE: refinancing?
Better yet, why not double up the payments?
Can't afford to double the principle per month then apply even say $20 per month.
You basically pay extra against the principle on the loan.
Effectively paying the loan off 3-4 years earlier saving a heck of a lot of interest. I did that with a 15 yr mortgage, paid it off in 11 yrs and saved over $8K in interest.
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Gdetrailer
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05/21/12 05:07pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: New sink for my TT
Rather than dumping tons of money into Corian perhaps it would be wiser to find a different top mount sink?
Do a search for stainless top mount bar sinks, you want one which also has the holes for the faucet or at least a apron to mount the faucet. Having a faucet apron built on to the sink makes a huge difference when it comes to getting water all over the counter top.
For my TT I used a stainless double sink with holes for the faucet which was made for mobile homes. Mobile home sinks are made not as deep to the wall as home sinks would be.
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Gdetrailer
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05/20/12 04:41pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Where Do the Dead Norcold 1200 Refrigerators Go?
SCVJeff writes "Obviously the 'mine is better crowd' doesn't care that you don't care...
"some solar panels" ? Try an entire roof full just to stay up with the compressor."
Hmm... Mine is not better, just way SMARTER!
Smarter use of technology AND energy.
Obviously you are not very up to date with technology, absolutely no need for a "roof full" to stay up with the compressor. Many home fridges are simply far more energy efficient now days.
My fridge draws 90W when running, it runs about 20 minutes per hr. Unlike a RV fridge however I have found no change in cycle length or frequency for ambient outside tempuratures.
RV fridges when temps go above 80 degree outside temps will often result in running 30-40 minutes per hr and at 100 degrees temps and higher may run 100%.
Not to mention RV fridges tend to be slow a recovery and often are terrible at keeping a constant temp (who wants their milk to be at 55 degrees during the day and then by morning it is frozen solid?).
I use a Tripplite PV1250 inverter which has a load sense feature, the inverter detects if there is a AC load or not. It is able to turn on/off with the fridge demand. When no AC load is present the inverter goes into a deep sleep, basically using less than a few milliamps.
The load my fridge and invert combo presents to the battery is nominally very little more than a RV fridge control board will use.
If you don't believe me then you can search for Mr Wizard's home fridge conversion, he full times and uses no commercial power. He is using a similar fridge to mine and the same inverter. Basically he added a small amount of solar to his setup to accommodate the fridge.
I am so done with hugging the RV fridges...
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Gdetrailer
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05/20/12 03:33pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
Fridge uses 12V DC AND 120V AC.
12 DC supplied from battery but when RV is plugged in to 120V the converter recharges the battery (or supplies the 12V so to speak).
I am not sure if you left the RV plugged in but if you did not then the converter is effectively disconnected from the 120V circuit. Plugging in the fridge via extension cord sort of "clears" the fridge as the culprit.
However, you may need to see if the converter and or water heater is located on the same circuit.
As Hurricaner mentions it could even be a combination of several items providing enough leakage to trip the house GFCI.
For this reason to make things easier try taking a Ohm reading from neutral to ground on the fridge plug. This reading MUST be open, any resistance reading will indicate some sort of leakage.
Additionally you can also do the same for the RV at the shore cord or even in the breaker box (make sure you have disconnected the shore cord from the house for this). Same idea as the fridge cord, there must be an open reading.
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Gdetrailer
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05/20/12 03:11pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Where Do the Dead Norcold 1200 Refrigerators Go?
hypoxia writes "I'm interested in finding a Norcold 1200 that has a bad cooling unit so I can rebuild it & do a pre-emptive strike before mine quits. Where are they? It would have to be like new inside & out to make it worthwhile."
Scrap. Basically where they belong.
Honestly, save your time and money and quit worrying about yours.
When yours does fail then replace with a new fridge or rebuild yours.
Trying to rescue an old used fridge that was someone elses is a futile effort, you will have a lot of used parts which in turn can fail, not to mention finding the exact model in good enough shape.
"Please do not tell me about residential reefers, I need to be able to let it run for weeks when we travel away from it with no shore power."
Hate to tell you but YOUR fridge REQUIRES electricity to run along with the propane! If you are boondocking with no power for several weeks you WILL need a gen (or other means of recharging your battery).
Yep your fridge has an electronic control board which requires 12V. Couple that with propane detector, stereo and any other phantom loads on the 12V side and you would be hard pressed to keep the batteries charged for one week with nothing else being used.
My 10cu ft home fridge conversion uses less than 12Ahr of battery per day, that is marginally more than your fridges control board!
With a pair of 6V GC batts I can easily go 24hrs before recharging but while I am traveling my tow vehicle is charging my batteries. So as long as I am on the road daily I do not need to run the gen.
A few members of this forum have successfully converted to home fridges and also boondock, just takes some solar panels and they can go for several days before needing to run the gen.. So, it can and is being done with very little effort.
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Gdetrailer
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05/20/12 12:44pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: I need some RV windows!! help
As you can tell, there is a variety of answers.
The easiest, fastest, most low cost way is to remove the frames and take them to a home and business glass shop. Don't bother with auto glass shops, they generally deal only with autos.
A good home and business glass shop will be able to color match, then cut the glass to fit the frame. Then they will either temper or send out to have the glass tempered. Once tempered they will install in the frame.
All told should run less than $100 per window, this depends on the size, smaller windows might cost $50 each.
Many on this forum will argue about the need for tempering, sorry it IS required per Federal and state regs. In the past they called for tempered, now they call it "safety glazing" using an ANSI spec which IS tempered glass.
Tempering does several things. First and most important, tempered glass will shatter into smaller less sharp pieces. So instead of very large LETHAL shards you get a lot of small more rounded pieces which are much less lethal.
Second, it strengthens the glass, this is important since in mobile applications there will be a lot of flexing, bouncing, twisting of the glass. Without the strengthening of tempering the glass will break much easier.
Buying salvage or used will be difficult to find the exact size or style of windows and like you found out having totally new windows made will cost an arm and leg.
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Gdetrailer
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05/20/12 12:00pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Need help with ideas to add a bunk over master bed
While it could be done, it is going to be rather difficult to make it safe AND lightweight.
Running a piece of plywood without additional structure across the length of bed is going to sag. You would in effect have to have additional cross members which would go under the plywood to the floor. Not going to look nice or professional.
Instead you could make a structural "sandwich" so to speak by using two sheets of 1/4" luan (used as flooring underlayment) and some 2x2s. Basically you build a frame from the 2x2s, place 2x2s cross wise within the frame and then glue and nail the 1/4" luan on top and bottom. That is basically what I did for my TT (keep in mind I rebuilt my TT and put reinforcements in the walls). This will result in a bed frame which is lighter than 3/4 plywood but yet much stronger.
You will still need to add a 2x4 (or even 2x6) across the open edge of the frame to reduce the chances of the bed sagging at the edge.
To tie into the walls you will need to locate EVERY stud you can find, this can be very tricky since these studs are only 3/4" wide. You will need to use screws and screw into each stud. Do not rely on hollow wall anchors, they may pull out!
I used to have a document online which would have been helpful but alas I have had issues with several online storage outfits and just don't have time to find another (document is too big to email, sorry).
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Gdetrailer
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05/19/12 05:36pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
teddyu writes "The point I was trying to make was something changed to cause this event. Things typically to not fail during static conditions, some type of change occurred. The simplest thing can make the difference. That is why I suggested the extension cord, or was a heater pluged in, or did it rain into the trailer. "
Interestingly enough even items with think are static (like not plugged in or not in use) are in reality dynamic. Everything is in a constant state of decay from the moment it is manufactured.
The reality is that things do tend to break or fail even when not being used, it is not unusual to park a RV having all the marker lights, turn signals and such working and one week later one or more lights no longer work.
Applying that knowledge to the 120V system in a RV you can assume that over time the moisture involved in an outdoor environment can damage even electrical connections or devices which are not in direct contact with the outside of the RV.
Granted, if the RV fridge heater goes bad, that is sealed and is not weather related but they can and do fail and is not unheard of failing by electrically leaking to the case.
Another well known failure is the water heater element, this one since it is inserted inside the water tank you can't see the failure. The failure is usually due to accidentally forgetting to turn the power off and having an empty tank. This will instantly blow out the element, when that happens it creates an electrical fault via the water.
Other possibilities are the outdoor duplex outlet, it can draw damp and cause a fault or other outlets inside the RV which may have had water intrusion from a leak in the roof or windows.
At this point Gunns has done very well isolating the trouble down to just one circuit out of 4 branches. That in it's self is a major accomplishment!
The trick not is to narrow it down to the exact item on that circuit.
It is all about troubleshooting section by section in a thoughtful way.
Basically if Gunns can find and fix the issue they will save hundreds of dollars they would have spent for a dealer to fix. Not to mention the aggravation of the having to take the RV to the dealer and then they claim it is fine or normal (which it isn't).
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Gdetrailer
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05/17/12 06:39pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
teddyu writes "Has the OP checked the wiring to the house GFCI with a receptacle tester? Improperly wired Hot and Neutral could cause a problem. Also, a different, homemade or a repaired 120v extention cord could have place the Hot & Neutral on the wrong prongs. Some of these simple things can cause the the biggest headaches."
I would agree but the OP DID establish in the very first post the fact that this issue has RECENTLY started..
gunns writes "...The trailer has been parked for a while with everything working properly. Occasionally I'd hook it up to the house to keep the battery charged. Then last week without warning it started tripping the GFI circuit.... "
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Gdetrailer
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05/17/12 02:40pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
Gunns writes “I plugged the refrigerator back in and it didn’t trip the house GFI. For some reason, I don’t know why, I plugged the heat gun in the outlet that the refrigerator used and turned on the gun. The GFI tripped.”
Hmm.. Not sure as to why the heat gun tripped the GFCI when plugged into the fridge outlet?
Almost sounds like the fridge is clean and there is something else on that circuit which might have some neutral to ground leakage… If nothing else you have now eliminated three other circuits and now you will need to see what all other items are on this circuit.
“So my plan for tomorrow, Thursday, is to plug the refrigerator straight into the house GFI, bypassing the trailer completely, and see if it trips. So the refrigerator may be the culprit as many of you suggested.”
Known good extension cord and plugging fridge directly into home outlet from that cord is a good way to isolate the fridge and verify whether it trips or not.
“Gdetrailer, you mentioned the electric heater for the refrigerator shorting out. If the test mentioned directly above fails I’ll be figuring out a way to check it. Hopefully it will be easy to access. I’m assuming it is in the same area that the coils for the propane burner are located?”
Correct.
Here is a real nice writeup with some photos that should be helpful.
RV Fridge heating element clicky link
If you have a DVM (Digital Volt Meter) and know how to use the Ohms setting you can check to see if you have a reading from the Hot to ground and the neutral to ground. This needs to be done without any AC power.
These readings must be open (IE no resistance), any reading showing even the slightest reading in ohms means there is leakage (may not be a direct short).
You can also disconnect the heater element and check to see if there is any reading in Ohms from either lead of the heater element to the fridge chassis. Any resistance reading to the fridge chassis would indicate internal leakage of the heater.
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Gdetrailer
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05/17/12 02:34pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
gunns writes "Are you saying that you think that the doubled GFI hookup is causing a false trip and I should just put in a designated RV outlet?"
No, but some GFCIs tend to be false tripped when presented with additional GFCIs downstream.
To make matters worse, your RV presents an additional problem with the earth grounding.
In your home system there is to be only ONE grounding point which is in the main breaker panel. That is where the neutral is "bonded" to the earth ground via the grounding stakes.
Your RV must have the safety ground bonded (green or bare wire) to the metal frame, depending on the surface ground conditions (IE wet rainy days) your RV frame can be temporarily "grounded" via jacks or stabilizers. This causes what is known as a ground loop which can "confuse" the GFCI upstream (the home outlet protected by a GFCI)causing false trips but I don't think that is the issue at hand with the OP.
This was one of the problems I had when I plugged my RV into a porch outlet, never tripped when the ground was dry but after a good heavy soaking rain I would have to reset the GFCI.
I installed a dedicated 120V 30A RV outlet which stops the false trips.
On edit.. In theory and on paper it should be fine with GFCIs in serial and the fact that the OP did not have any problems with tripping I don't think the issue is with the GFCIs but in the RV.
Something HAS changed to cause this.
The two items which tend to cause these issues the most with GFCIs is the water heater electric element burning out and the fridge electric heater shorting to the case.
The fridge generally will be plugged into an outlet (which often is not GFCI protected), it can be found by removing the outside access panel and should be located near the panel. Unplug the fridge then check to see if the GFCI trips.
The water heater element most likely will be hard wired and you would need to determine which romex cable it is and disconnect the Hot and neutral.
In some cases the converter actually had some leakage from the neutral to ground.
The only way to find the problem IS to completely isolate the Hot AND neutral for each circuit.
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Gdetrailer
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05/16/12 07:34pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
Dave-Sparky writes "I will have to disagree with the above statement regarding using the breakers. If you have turned off all the breakers, then there is no source for the current to be leaked from the neutral to ground."
OK, well say that you do have some minor leakage between neutral-ground on one of the circuits.
Having all the neutrals tied together WILL trip the GFCI.
How can this happen even after turning off the breakers you ask?
Simple, electricity will seek the path of least resistance and since all the neutrals are tied to the neutral buss you will affect EVERY branch circuit in the breaker box.
Removing all the Hot AND neutrals will allow to isolate each and every circuit until you find the offending one.
Doesn't matter if you turn off one or all breakers, it only will take ONE breaker turned on to trip and it doesn't have to be the circuit which the power is applied (remember all the neutrals are tied together).
mexbungalows writes "Hmm, would it not be easier to branch protect the circuit being used inside the RV? I seem to recall five decades of RV'ing without benefit of GFCI protection."
RVs do use individual branch protection, the problem stems from requirements for HOMES to have GFCI protection on ALL outlets which may have potential for being used near water.
The problem though when connecting a RV to a home branch which has GFCI you are now adding a large potential for false trips. Basically you are expanding the existing branch and adding a breaker box plus additional GFCIs.
Ideally (and this is what I did) you can have a 120V 30A RV outlet installed and plug your RV into that, no more false trips since the 120V 30A RV outlet is not required to have GFCI.
"First it would be helpful to understand why GFCI protection is important and what it does for a living."
GFCIs detect an imbalance of current between Hot and Neutral, basically monitors how much current is on the Hot and if the neutral current is not the same it will cut power to the Hot.
The idea is if YOU become part of the current return (IE you are a return path to ground and are being electrocuted) then you will reduce the amount of current on the neutral. When this happens then the GFCI will detect and cut power SAVING your life. The trip point used to be 10 ma but if I remember correctly that has bee reduced to 5-6ma and the GFCI must trip.
"Secondly, where GFCI protection would be moot or inappropriate."
Generally you can count on GFCIs on kitchen, bath, basement, outside and garage outlets.
In older homes it is not required to add GFCI unless you remodel (grandfathered) but I do feel they are something to consider since they CAN save your life.
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Gdetrailer
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05/16/12 04:15pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Attention All Electron Chasers
Jim Cindy writes "Mine will trip a house GFI too. We were told it has to do with the way RV's are wired. Every thing is fine on non GFI circuit "
Has nothing to do with a PROPERLY wired RV. A properly wired RV actually should not trip the GFCI.
In real life however it is possible that you will get an occasional trip. The tripping is caused by LEAKAGE of the neutral to ground. The GFCI is supposed to see the exact same current which is on the Hot (black wire) as there is on the Neutral (White wire). If one of the devices in your RV has some neutral to ground leakage then the GFCI will see less current on the neutral and trip.
The most likely culprits are converter, fridge (heating element), A/C unit and Water heater electric element (this one happens when you have empty tank and power is turned on to the element and the element burns out), sometimes an outside outlet gets damp enough to trip the GFCI.
For trouble shooting turning of the breakers will do nothing to help since the issue is more likely neutral to ground leakage and the breakers only interrupt the Hot.
To trouble shoot you most likely will have to isolate every circuit by disconnecting not only the Hot (Black wire) but the neutral (white wire) until you no longer trip.
But I would check the water heater electric element FIRST since it can blow and you will never know that it is bad (assuming your RV is equipped).
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Gdetrailer
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05/16/12 02:54pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Freshwater Tank Repair?
FL Scott writes "Rodents while in storage. The holes do overlap the tank edge slightly, so the bulkhead fittings would not work."
Bummer.
Although it is possible to have the holes plastic welded, I myself would not consider reusing a potable fresh water tank which has been damaged by rodents. You simply do not know where they have been and how bad they have messed in the tank.
I would replace the tank and move on.
There are aftermarket sources for potable freshwater tanks such as RV SURPLUS
They carry NEW potable fresh water tanks starting at $65 for 29 gallon and if they do not have the size you can have them custom order a new tank for you.
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Gdetrailer
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05/15/12 02:40pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Freshwater Tank Repair?
since the holes are on top of the tank, why not just use some bulkhead fittings and plug them?
BULKHEAD FITTINGS
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Gdetrailer
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05/14/12 06:16pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Music download transportability
garym114 is on to something although I am not sure if using the "cloud" will work for sharing WMA files with DRM.
If you are buying WMA files they will have DRM embedded in the files.
With DRM you must "sync" the file with the portable device.
The problem is not all portable media players recognize the DRM sync.
So, the solutions are
1, Download the MP3 versions instead of WMA versions
2, burn the WMA versions as a audio CD and then rip to MP3
3, Find some software to remove the DRM (although not really legit)
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Gdetrailer
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05/12/12 08:19pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: Yamaha 600w mini-generator ????
mena661 writes "You actually have use for a 600W generator?"
For goodness sakes, comments like that really take the cake.
FREE IS FREE, a FREE WORKING SMALL GEN is always better than nothing.
My Dad kept a nifty 350W Harbor Freight gen in his 5vr basement, it was no bigger than a small chainsaw and weighed less than 10 lbs. It came in handy on one trip that he got snowed in on his way to Florida for the winter.
Small gens can and will work in a pinch to provide recharge batteries (although at a slower rate than a 4Kw unit) or even power small power tools.
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Gdetrailer
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05/12/12 07:03pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: wiring question - intermittent loss of brakes
Steveque writes "I did use regular solderless connectors with heat shrink over each connector and wrapped the entire thing with electrical tape."
That most likely IS your problem.
Solderless connectors even with the correct crimpers will after a lot of movement such as that cable gets will tend to fail (yeah I know, that comment is going to ruffle the crimper crowd!). Often times you either over crimp and smash the wire or you under crimp and the wire pulls out of the connector.
Over the years I had way to many DIY crimping failures, instead I now opt for soldering splices then coat with liquid tape then heatshrink then I wire ty the connection together. After 20plus years of doing that way I have ZERO failures.
Heat shrink and tape is not enough to make a good water proof seal, you need to use heat shrink with adhesive which melts when shrinking forming a water proof bond or a round of liquid tape then heatshrink.
To me, solderless connections are a short term fix for when I am in a bind and don't have any better means to fix.
For long term repairs your best way to repair such damage is to replace the cord. You can get new cords which have the plug molded to the cable which will banish those types of intermittent connections.
I now turn it back over to the seething angry crimper crowd to follow...
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Gdetrailer
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05/11/12 04:05pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Breakaway cable
SolidAxleDurango writes "Hyperbole. "
Nope, sorry.
PA state troopers do have the right to impound your rig. This could be anything from you leaving along the road until YOU fix the violations to you paying to have it towed to get it fixed. In other words your trip may take some unwanted twists and turns and an unwelcome forced stay.
PA troopers are empowered to make these decisions whether you like it or not.
But honestly you can't really mean you fail to connect your emergency breakaway?
That is just foolish and you are risking not only your life but other motorists.
Driving on the road is a privilege, not a right. Fail to follow the rules and something bad will happen.
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Gdetrailer
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05/08/12 05:40pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Do You Use Premium Gas When Towing ?
Water-bug writes “"How does retarding spark plug firing eliminate knock or ping ?? " Everyone acknowledges that is does but how/why ?”
Premature ignition and detonation (“pinging and spark knock”) are two distinct DIFFERENT issues.
DETONATION
From the above link..
“Confusion and a lot of questions exist as to detonation and pre-ignition. Sometimes you hear mistaken terms like "pre-detonation". Detonation is one phenomenon that is abnormal combustion. Pre-ignition is another phenomenon that is abnormal combustion. The two, as we will talk about, are somewhat related but are two distinctly different phenomenon and can induce distinctly different failure modes.
Detonation
Detonation is the spontaneous combustion of the end-gas (remaining fuel/air mixture) in the chamber. It always occurs after normal combustion is initiated by the spark plug. The initial combustion at the spark plug is followed by a normal combustion burn. For some reason, likely heat and pressure, the end gas in the chamber spontaneously combusts. The key point here is that detonation occurs after you have initiated the normal combustion with the spark plug.
Detonation causes a very high, very sharp pressure spike in the combustion chamber but it is of a very short duration. If you look at a pressure trace of the combustion chamber process, you would see the normal burn as a normal pressure rise, then all of a sudden you would see a very sharp spike when the detonation occurred. That spike always occurs after the spark plug fires. The sharp spike in pressure creates a force in the combustion chamber. It causes the structure of the engine to ring, or resonate, much as if it were hit by a hammer. Resonance, which is characteristic of combustion detonation, occurs at about 6400 Hertz. So the pinging you hear is actually the structure of the engine reacting to the pressure spikes. This noise of detonation is commonly called spark knock.
Causes
Detonation is influenced by chamber design (shape, size, geometry, plug location), compression ratio, engine timing, mixture temperature, cylinder pressure and fuel octane rating. Too much spark advance ignites the burn too soon so that it increases the pressure too greatly and the end gas spontaneously combusts. Backing off the spark timing will stop the detonation. The octane rating of the fuel is really nothing magic. Octane is the ability to resist detonation.
Pre-ignition
Pre-ignition is defined as the ignition of the mixture prior to the spark plug firing. Anytime something causes the mixture in the chamber to ignite prior to the spark plug event it is classified as pre-ignition. The two are completely different and abnormal phenomenon.
The definition of pre-ignition is the ignition of the fuel/air charge prior to the spark plug firing. Pre-ignition caused by some other ignition source such as an overheated spark plug tip, carbon deposits in the combustion chamber and, rarely, a burned exhaust valve; all act as a glow plug to ignite the charge.”
While one would like to assume that every bit of the fuel is burnt during combustion, the reality is that there is a very small portion which for many reasons does not. During spark knock or pinging it is that very small un burnt portion of fuel igniting or detonating at a high rate of speed after the spark ignition which you hear as a pinging (think of a bunch of marbles rattling around in a tin can).
Here is a decent read on Octane..
OCTANE EFFECTS
From the above link..
“Effects of octane rating
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 knocking. (Note that it is the absolute pressure (compression) in the combustion chamber which is important — not the compression ratio. The compression ratio only governs the maximum compression that can be achieved)….
…The best energy pressure (compression ratio) for a fuel is at the point of where the engine “pings”. Each fuel with its own resistance to pre-ignition requires its own ideal compression ratio. This is not always what emission levels require however. A motor must be constructed to work within a fuels compression ratio and emission levels.”
Here is an interesting read about actual real dyno testing to get data on effects of varying octane vs HP/torque.
Note that there is a very SMALL gain of HP and torque.
OCTANE COMPARISONS
“87-Octane Unleaded: 396.0 hp/401.3 lb-ft
87-Octane Unleaded With 104+ Octane Booster: 397.9 hp/403.1 lb-ft
91-Octane Unleaded: 402.1 hp/409.4 lb-ft
91-Octane Unleaded With 104+ Octane Booster: 399.8 hp/403.6 lb-ft
100-Octane Unleaded: 403.5 hp/407.5 lb-ft
114-Octane Leaded: 408.3 hp/414.7 lb-ft
First, the octane booster did work. However, we saw that octane alone does not deliver horsepower; it only allows more complete utilization of the hard parts in the engine. Wusz said, “An engine does not know what the octane rating of the fuel is, unless it is too low”; note that we made less power by adding booster to 91-octane fuel. The lower the octane of the base fuel, the more benefit you’ll get from octane booster.
But most of all, we discovered that our presumption that higher-octane fuels burn slower than lower-octane fuels (and therefore require more ignition lead) is largely incorrect. There are too many other fuel-formulation issues at work to assign a general rule about octane. Race fuel tends to have a more powerful formulation than pump gas, regardless of octane rating, because it is denser and can release more power and heat.”
So, Water-Bug the “knock or ping” you would hear from an engine is called Detonation and it CAN be controlled by retarding the spark towards Top Dead Center (TDC), effectively reducing some of the pressure and temperature in the cylinder which would otherwise ignite any unburned gases AFTER spark ignition.
In older non-computer controlled engines the spark was retarded via a vacuum control on the distributor, when the intake vacuum dropped (pulling heavy loads or wide open throttle) the vacuum control would relax and reduce the spark advance. Spark advance was achieved via “flyweights” and springs inside the distributor, faster the flyweights spun the more advance in the spark. The strength of the springs would determine the spark “curve” or how fast the advance happened. The vacuum control would override the flyweights under heavy throttle.
Computers on engines removed all slower mechanical and vacuum advance systems and control the spark via mappings in the computer and sensors on the engine. The computer and sensors can compensate much faster and maximize the burn without causing any harm, effectively making different grades of octane less of an issue.
One will not do any harm using a higher octane level than specified by the maker but in many cases it will not be needed and just will waste your money.
Overall, the links I provided give plenty of good info if you take the time to read the entire articles.
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Gdetrailer
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05/08/12 02:43pm |
Travel Trailers
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