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While certainly not as authentic as carburetors in model engine making, I have had pretty good success using vapor fuel tank carburetion on my model IC engines. Vapor Fuel Tanks have been used for smaller engines in the past and I heard that Ford Motor Co had actually done quite a bit of research on the use of vapor fuel carburetion in the early days. Jan Ridders has popularized the vapor fuel tank on most of his model IC engines, making attractive tanks that work well for him.
The vapor fuel tanks are very easy to make and pretty much work with little or no adjustment. Following Jan's examples, I have added an adjustable mixer that allows the introduction of more or less air with varying degrees of success. My experience has been that my vapor fuel tanks produce a mixture that is barely rich enough in the best of circumstances and hardly require any need to make the mixture leaner. In addition, the vapor carburetion method is extremely sensitive to fuel level in the tank, partly I expect because of the surface area presented.
So, I'm trying a different setup that hopefully will resolve some of the above problems. I have reasoned that a flat, rectangular tank would give me larger fuel surface area resulting in more fuel evaportation and would make the fuel level less of an issue because the surface area would remain unchanged with differing fuel levels.
I found a nicely shaped bottle in my better half's perfume collection, but, unfortunately, no amount of pleading or wooing would cause her to relinquish it, even though it was nearly empty. So, looking on Ebay, I found a number of such empty bottles of the same brand. For those who are interested, it is called Red Door made by Elizabeth Arden. Here are some pictures:
Without the Lid...
The other red part pulls off with very little coaxing...
And here's what it looks life after cutting off the top with my Harbor Freight Wet Tile Saw...
The wet tile saw works very well. The trick is to go slow and keep the bottle straight as you go. I just pressed the bottom against the included saw fence as I pushed it past the blade.
As an added note, if you decide to go this route, you better be prepared to explain to the spouse why your hands, clothes and shop smell so good!
Next I'll machine a new end for the bottle and add some plumbing. Stand by...
Chuck
The vapor fuel tanks are very easy to make and pretty much work with little or no adjustment. Following Jan's examples, I have added an adjustable mixer that allows the introduction of more or less air with varying degrees of success. My experience has been that my vapor fuel tanks produce a mixture that is barely rich enough in the best of circumstances and hardly require any need to make the mixture leaner. In addition, the vapor carburetion method is extremely sensitive to fuel level in the tank, partly I expect because of the surface area presented.
So, I'm trying a different setup that hopefully will resolve some of the above problems. I have reasoned that a flat, rectangular tank would give me larger fuel surface area resulting in more fuel evaportation and would make the fuel level less of an issue because the surface area would remain unchanged with differing fuel levels.
I found a nicely shaped bottle in my better half's perfume collection, but, unfortunately, no amount of pleading or wooing would cause her to relinquish it, even though it was nearly empty. So, looking on Ebay, I found a number of such empty bottles of the same brand. For those who are interested, it is called Red Door made by Elizabeth Arden. Here are some pictures:
Without the Lid...
The other red part pulls off with very little coaxing...
And here's what it looks life after cutting off the top with my Harbor Freight Wet Tile Saw...
The wet tile saw works very well. The trick is to go slow and keep the bottle straight as you go. I just pressed the bottom against the included saw fence as I pushed it past the blade.
As an added note, if you decide to go this route, you better be prepared to explain to the spouse why your hands, clothes and shop smell so good!
Next I'll machine a new end for the bottle and add some plumbing. Stand by...
Chuck
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