[geoffbaker]

It's been a while since I added anything about my diesel project. I posted about adding some bar end mirrors and signals, but nothing about the other things I've been working on... mostly because I've been very short on time and my girfriend had a family emergency to boot...



Still, I've gotten a lot done since Christmas. From start to finish, I built a system to inject water into the fuel/air supply. The purpose was to increase fuel efficiency, of course.



I used an old scuba "pony" tank (a small supplementary tank) as a tank, rebuilt my Mikarb to act purely as a float/control valve, and installed a product called a "Dial-A-Jet" which is designed to inject fuel on a supplementary basis into a carburetor, to improve the power curve of any engine. After some discussion with the tech guy at Thunder Products (Lon) we agreed it could work, so I ordered one.



I built a ramscoop to help funnel air to the diesel (the more air the better, with diesels) and used a cheap circular air filter as a cleaner. On the side of the ramscoop, I drilled and cut a mounting for the dial-a-jet, so the jet is pointing directly into the air intake, inside the air filter itself.

The Mikuni carb I mounted on a plate sitting at a point just below the seat and level with the Dial-A-Jet. Tapping a hole into the base of the Mikkarb bowl, a small hose connects the Dial-A-Jet. Using the mounting points for the old dual seat, I built a frame to hold the scuba tank, and then I tapped and threaded two extra holes into the tank itself, one for the water feed, and one at the top as an air bleed. The main tank hole I used as a water filler tube, adding a 90 degree pipe and a brass cap.



It appears to work as indicated; water flows into the engine in proportion to the speed of the engine or the amount of air it is inhaling. How much efficiency it will add will be discovered over the course of many runs!

I added a oil temp meter becuase I found one pretty cheap and was working on the electrics anyway; it now sits under my cylinder temp meter and gives me a pretty good overall monitoring of the whole of the engine.



The electrical work is all comlete on my HID (high intensity discharge) headlight system, although I am still wrestling with one gremlin, my off switch. I wired my engine kill switch (which I don't use on the diesel) to act as a simple ON/OFF for the headlamp; but so far, the headlamps come on no matter what. I will need to check the wiring of the relay that controls the headlamp.  At any rate, the HID is installed, it is very bright, and works fine except at a very low idle with a low battery it will start to flicker.

For those who have read earlier postings on this subject, the problem with diesels is that the generator only produces 48 watts - at 3600 RPM! This means that a standard lamp cannot be successfully powered by a diesel engine generator, much less all the other running lights.

I've converted to 100% LEDs and a 35W HID headlamp to solve this issue, and it is on the borderline of being solved. I'm still under the impression that the wattage produced at 1500RPM (a medium idle) is probably only 25-35W total, which still leaves me a little short.

I'll keep working on it.

Lastly,while working on the headlamp, i added a headlamp visor. Why not? Looks good, I think!

[r80rt]

That's a dang cool motorcycle ya got there.

[Anon]

Damn Geoff, you HAVE been busy!  Are you stil planning your trip up here (Washington) this summer?  I know many of us would enjoy giving you a welcome convoy and would like seeing everything you've done to the bike in person.

Eamon

[Blltrdr]

 Geoff, all you need now is to mount a speaker and rip some Wagner! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7XNb3Q9Ek

Blltrdr

[Rick Sperko]

Thank you for the update Geoff. I have been very interested in your bike since I joined this forum. I have a friend who is working on making his own bio-diesel. Great work you are doing.

Now if only someone would make an electric rickshaw... but I digress.

Take care,
-Rick

[The Garbone]

Have you looked into rewinding your stator... 

Something like this...

http://www.mtmscientific.com/rewind.html

May not be the exact solution but might work..

[Ukuvox]

Where's the smiley w/ it's jaw dropping? I can not express how exceedingly COOL this mechanical chunk of GLORY is! I admit that I didn't completely understand much of what you were describing but these kind of innovative solutions to fuel efficiency can only inspire others to try as well! HUZZAH!

[Kevin Mahoney]

Geoff,
Is the water injection fro diesels  a proven thing or are you out of the cutting edge here?
  I am probably behind here in your posts, but the rewinding of the alternator/generator seems like a good idea. It was done all of the time with Ford Flathead engines. Cheap usually too.

[baird4444]

Geoff- Man you've got a lot done   -  Looks like sumth'n out of one
of those MAD MAX movies!!
                - Mike

[geoffbaker]

Thanks for the positive response!

Kevin, water injection is an old technology. It's currently used in high end racing applications and both on gas and diesel engines (tractor pulls and the like often use water/methanol injection).

The idea is that the water converts to steam, as a supplementary (but weak) fuel. It improves fuel economy while helping cool the head. Racers add methanol to keep the power level higher - you will gain fuel efficiency but lose top end speed.

My particular application - the Dial-A-Jet has also been used for water/methanol injection, but never just for water injection.

It will be interesting to see how it goes.

Kevin - did you ever speak to your friend who makes the fairings? I'm still hoping to add some aero mods...

I'm still planning my June trip, and if I can just put some miles on the bike between now and then I'll be pretty comfortable in making the trip. I'll post details and route info when I figure that out, I still have a lot of work to do...

Rewinding the stator... sounds like a good way to go. I'll look into it. The other alternative is to remount the RE stator system. it would mean highly accurate tapping and drilling of the Taurus primary chaincase, as well as either boring out the stator or figuring out how to otherwise mount a 3/4 keyed stator onto a 1 inch crankshaft. The crankshaft is tapped for a 10mm bolt, so I could possibly simply bolt it on, but I would need something to make sure it couldnt turn (a keyway?) ... and I might have to cut off the last quarter inch of the crank to make everything fit in the chaincase.

Has anyone disassembled the inner rotor of the RE alternator? I ask because I don't think there is enough metal in the center to allow me to bore it out from 3/4 to 1 inch. The rotor is an assembly of magnets which are, I'm guessing, soldered onto a center core which looks to be only about 1 inch in outer diameter itself. I'm curious if anyone has taken one apart.

Anyway, it all sounds like a lot of work. So I'll talk to a couple of elec motor companies here and see if they can beef up my stator by rewiring. Thanks for the idea!

[geoffbaker]

I just updated the photos; the pictures of the carb and the meters were both too blurry. Sorry, I'm a lousy photographer!

[Blltrdr]

 Geoff, quite an undertaking. I was wondering about the size of your scuba tank. Is it necessary to have such a large one? If it's for your water injection I can't imagine you need that large of a tank for your trips. You could probably use your inner frame tubes if coated with a filler valve to hold your water and eliminate a lot of weight. Will be very interested in the reliability of your Bullet on long trips. And the mileage stats you should achieve will also be fascinating to see after you've taken a few trips. Keep up our interest with more posts!

Blltrdr

[ace.cafe]

Geoff, quite an undertaking. I was wondering about the size of your scuba tank. Is it necessary to have such a large one? If it's for your water injection I can't imagine you need that large of a tank for your trips. You could probably use your inner frame tubes if coated with a filler valve to hold your water and eliminate a lot of weight. Will be very interested in the reliability of your Bullet on long trips. And the mileage stats you should achieve will also be fascinating to see after you've taken a few trips. Keep up our interest with more posts!

Blltrdr

He's tooling up for the "border to border on 10 gals of diesel" trip that he's planning.

Looks like it might be able to do it, too.

Kind of an unusual blend of hi-tech and low tech, and it makes me want to see a cow-catcher on the front, because for some reason I get the feeling I'm looking at a  locomotive when I look at it.

[Nevadan]

I have never heard of injecting water.  It is quite interesting.

[geoffbaker]

Geoff, quite an undertaking. I was wondering about the size of your scuba tank. Is it necessary to have such a large one? If it's for your water injection I can't imagine you need that large of a tank for your trips. You could probably use your inner frame tubes if coated with a filler valve to hold your water and eliminate a lot of weight. Will be very interested in the reliability of your Bullet on long trips. And the mileage stats you should achieve will also be fascinating to see after you've taken a few trips. Keep up our interest with more posts!

Blltrdr

Now there's an interesting idea!

I had a choice of sizes of scuba tank (a friend had one half the size). But I'm guestimating it holds two quarts (scuba tanks are very thick aluminum so they hold less than they look like they could). I reckon if I get an extra twenty percent efficiency injecting water, than a one gallon tank would be the ideal size - just need refilling at the same time as the main diesel tank. So this is actually smaller than ideal, but hey, you work with what you have got, right?

I like the idea of using the frame tubes as a water tank. However, they wouldn't hold much water - less, I think than the pony tank - and I hate the idea of my inner frame tubes rusting

Ace, a cow catcher would be appropriate!. Seems like with every modification, my bike gets just a little more "steam punk" 

Today for the sheer hell of it I did one more thing... there is a sensor that came installed on the diesel engine. No documentation - just a sensor referred to in the plans as 39-1 Sensor unit. It's right below the oil pump, so my guess was that it was either an oil level sensor, an oil pressure warning sensor, or an oil pressure meter sensor.

I hooked the sensor's insulated connector to an LED, the LED to power, and grounded the sensor. When I turned the ignition, the LED lit up. When I cranked up the engine, the light went off.

So it's an oil pressure warning light. Nice! Now mounted above my meters.

Here's a pic...




Question for the resident wizards... has anyone here actually rebuilt their alternator, or any alternator? Garbone suggested it as an option for my power problem (described earlier) and I talked to a shop which said they could certainly do it for me. But I was wondering if anyone knew of any good DIY information out there. Garbone's link turned out to not be hugely informative - useful, but it didn't get into the details because it wants to sell a book on alternators...

Recommendations, anyone?

[The Garbone]

I only knew about it because of my hanging at 8n tractor forums in the past..  Looked through that forum and found a bunch of " take it to the shop to get done" posts...

How about this...

http://justxr.com/jaw/stator.html

Might prove useful...

I just reread that page..  He sorta stumbled across the solution..  By using thicker gauge wire he lowered the resistance per foot and therefore was able to put more wraps on before he reached the factory required resistance across the winding.    This actually does generate more power as there is more area in the coil to be effected by the magnet.  You manipulate the voltage and current out by adjusting the resistance in the circuit.  Ohms law at work. 

[Vince]

     Geoff, I also suggested this when we talked about regulators and rectifiers. What you do in a rewind is to use a different gauge wire than stock and wind it a different # of turns. IF (a big IF) memory serves me, thinner wire with more windings will give greater output. Out put would be limited by the available magnetic field.
     I used to have a mechanic that was real proud of him self for rewinding his Suzuki stator. It was sooo much cheaper. It also barely kept the battery charged and it failed in 3 months. He bought a new one. The point is that this must be done precisely and with a degree of care that is difficult to achieve in your garage. The wire is expensive and the learning curve steep.
     Most big cities have at least one place that rewinds industrial and/or automotive stators. If nothing else a good repair facility might know where to job out the work. You might also check with classic auto restoration facilities. A lot of the old electrics would not be available, thus necessitating a rebuild.
     A pro could probably whip it out lots faster and cheaper than you would be able to just starting out. I know you are a real handy guy and can do the job, however  I have found that usually it's cheaper and quicker for me to job out an operation that I am really not set up for.

[geoffbaker]

A pro could probably whip it out lots faster and cheaper than you would be able to just starting out. I know you are a real handy guy and can do the job, however  I have found that usually it's cheaper and quicker for me to job out an operation that I am really not set up for.

All too true, Vince. The shop I talked to said $45 - $100, so it's hardly worth it for me to do it - I'd take DAYS and would still have to shell out money for materials. As I'd have to buy a whole spool of wiring, epoxy and anything else I'd need, it would almost certainly cost me more just in materials...

On the other hand, I won't learn a thing by having someone else do it, right?

I'll probably shop this one out. Still, worth thinking about....

[The Garbone]

On the other hand, I won't learn a thing by having someone else do it, right?

I'll probably shop this one out. Still, worth thinking about....

LOL,,  you'll would probably learn your should have farmed out the work when the thing goes on the fritz in 4 months and leaves your stranded...       I would not touch that job with a 10ft pole myself.

[Blltrdr]

All too true, Vince. The shop I talked to said $45 - $100, so it's hardly worth it for me to do it - I'd take DAYS and would still have to shell out money for materials. As I'd have to buy a whole spool of wiring, epoxy and anything else I'd need, it would almost certainly cost me more just in materials...

On the other hand, I won't learn a thing by having someone else do it, right?

I'll probably shop this one out. Still, worth thinking about....

 Geoff, maybe the guy's at the shop where you have it rebuild can give you some free schooling. You know most people love to take the time to expound on there knowledge to the layman.

Blltrdr

[geoffbaker]

Damn Geoff, you HAVE been busy!  Are you stil planning your trip up here (Washington) this summer?  I know many of us would enjoy giving you a welcome convoy and would like seeing everything you've done to the bike in person.

Eamon

Eamon, I'm sorry I missed this... got distracted with all the other stuff. Yes, I'm still planning a trip up to Washington this summer. On or around June 1, I'm hoping to ride from Nogales MX to Vancouver CAN on 10 gallons of biodiesel! I would love any and all company and will be posting info to the planned rides section of this forum. Right now it's pretty hazy, but I spent an afternoon trying to find biodiesel stations along possible routes. The most likely one has me going straight north from here , via the Arches, through the Rockies and on to Yellowstone. From there, heading slowly west till I get to Vancouver. It's roughly 1800 miles. Anyone want to meet up anywhere along the route, let me know!

[Alaroyal]

Just for an alternative consideration, does that diesel have a place, (shaft, pulley, pto, etc.) where you could attach a tiny automobile alternator?   

If you could, you could mount a pulley set with a ratio to spin the alternator to whatever speed you needed.   

This also assumes it wouldn't take too much power to turn this, as I know small diesels often don't put out a lot of power.

[The Garbone]

I remember growing up we had dynamos that ran on our bike tires to power the lights..  Could get you a few watts...

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/dymotec.asp

Or maybe not........

[Bucky]

Geoff,

I commend you on your diesel conversion build.

A better option to water injection for increased MPG and decarbonizing would be a hydrogen generator (electrolisis of H20) Imperical testing has shown 33% increases in MPG. below is a link to what appears to be a viable supplier.

http://www.hydrofuelgenerator.com/product.php

A hydrogen assisted 500cc personal commuter getting high MPG would be an ideal alternative to the SUV method of personal transportation. The bike is nice, but an enclosure with A/C would be required for general acceptance. Sort of like a mini dymaxion automobile using modern composits like Fiberglass Pultruded Plastics, Transonite panels, ...

Are you interested in taking your concept to the next level? Your willingness to use a readily available cheap chinese knock off of an existing proven diesel engine proves that you get the idea of economically viable engineering.