Water level indicator

[leman_opc]

Originally Posted by Richard L

The water level led doubles up as a flow problem as well as low level indicator. Do you have a v12 gauge with two yellow leds?

Forgot to ask.. is vodka more readily available than methanol in Russia?

OK, I see, didn't know that (thought these are two separate failsafe mechanisms basicaly: once you have low water level you get "water level" led lighting and failsafe on, once you have flow problem you get "w.injection" led and failsafe on).

Yes, I have a gauge with 2 yellow leds (red leds on the flow bar). Not sure about the version though - will check whether it says anything on the back etc.

You may say vodka is more readily available as you just go to the grocery store and buy it. For methanol it's more complicated as it's applications are limited to technical purposes, so you should search for a source. The other question is that it's more expensive (the one I used was ca. GBP 4 per 0,5 litre bottle) and somewhat less effective - so in the end I'll have to go and find where to get meth ))) I thought it's the same in UK (except for probably higher vodka price)?

[Richard L]

OK. We have a good reason for the dual function.

- water level only problem ......... one led on
- flow problems (failsafe activation) ....... both leds on.

It is easy to identify "one" or "two led" when you are watching the road. We tried a different colour for the failsafe but it can be quite confusing to identify when you have a bar graph with a different colour.

So we decided to use two colours only for the gauge. Yellow/2-yellows = problem (a standard warning signal colour).


Vodka in Russia ........ luck you! You can drink it to keep warm and make more power for your car.

[Richard L]

Originally Posted by leman_opc

Also had a chance to play with injection settings, turned the threshold setting down a bit (30% IDC or so) and also dialed gain a bit higher. Noted that the maximum flow is not significantly affected with a gain setting - presumably due to my small jet size. Am I correct to assume that with a small jet size turning the gain all the way up would result in higher midrange injection (relative to IDC) but have almost no effect on the top-end injection (as it is the jet size that effectively caps the water flow there)?

If the above is correct I would assume that putting the bigger restrictor in but leaving the small jet would make the a.m. effect (non-linear injection with higher flow to IDC rate in midrange) even more pronounced, correct?

The gain trimmer (probably badly notated on our part). We should have called it "F-idc% re-scaling trimmer". A bit too long to put into the limited board space underneath the trimmer.

For example, if your maximum injector opening is 50%. increase the gain by x2 will allow a full linear meth flow progression (100%)

But if you set gain trimmer to x4. You will reach 100% meth earlier. More throttle will only result in the same 100% flow.

[leman_opc]

Originally Posted by Richard L

OK. We have a good reason for the dual function.

- water level only problem ......... one led on
- flow problems (failsafe activation) ....... both leds on.

It is easy to identify "one" or "two led" when you are watching the road. We tried a different colour for the failsafe but it can be quite confusing to identify when you have a bar graph with a different colour.

So we decided to use two colours only for the gauge. Yellow/2-yellows = problem (a standard warning signal colour).


Vodka in Russia ........ luck you! You can drink it to keep warm and make more power for your car.

2 leds lighting consequently - clever solution! It's always a bunch of experience and testing behind simple solutions like this one...

Is it supposed to turn on the "water level" led always first and only then a "w.injection" led?

PS. Thanks for the IDC gain clarifications

PPS. Yep, just have a couple of bottles of vodka in the trunk and you are prepared to any unexpected occurrencies ))) This reminds me - I never posted the pics of my install (will do), I've also a couple of pics from my first system fill-up - caught a couple of shocked eyes on a parking lot )))

[Richard L]

Do post some pictures please. Especially the filling up!

How much is a liter of Vodka in Russia? In the USA, we typically pay $30usd for 750ml, but very cheap brands might be had for $15 for 3.8L.

Methanol in bulk, about 30 miles away from us is $3.50 per 3.8L.

But I do think in a emergency a few extra bottles of vodka in the trunk can certainly remedy many issues, including an empty tank!

[leman_opc]

The one I got was ca. 400 rub/liter (ca. $13). The cheapest one I saw was like 250rub/liter ($8 or so) but it had sugar listed as an ingridient so I decided in favor of more fancy brands )))

UPD. made and install thread with the pics finally http://www.aquamist.co.uk/vbulletin/...ead.php?t=2393

[leman_opc]

Noted today that the pump is energised only once the IDC trigger is reached an injection starts. Is this how it is supposed to be?

I previously thought that the pump should be working all the time for better system response purpose (irrespective of whether any injection actually occurs)...

[leman_opc]

BTW I changed my pump for a new one this weeked and I am pretty sure the flow issues I had previously (normal injection couple of seconds, then failsafe activation; or even no flow at all) were due to dying pump and not due to injection mixture freezing. As the pump is activated only when the injection actually starts it is highly important that it spools up fast enough to keep the pressure in the lines; this seems to be a problem when the pump motor shaft bearing starts to fail (i.e. it is not seized fully but the motor spool time is increased).

Interestingly, I had my old pump disassembled and cleared the debris from the bottom shaft bearing (it was completely seized by then) so that it could work at least somehow until I replace the bearing. The spool time was still bad - but I arranged the feed from the battery directly (i.e. the pump was on all the time, whether there was any injection or not) and this setup worked OK for me for a couple of evenings. So I'm pretty confident it's the spool time being significant enought for the failsafe to kick in which was my problem previously. Probably, if I was injecting enough for the pump capacity to become critical this would be another problem I'd face with a failing shaft bearings...

With a new pump there is no problem anymore even with the pump powered up as should (i.e. only when the injection starts).

[Richard L]

The most probable place for the water entering the pump is at the cable gland. If you put some silicon sealant around that area, it will help a great deal.

Are you replacement the older pump with a aquamist pump or from a third party supplier. All non-aquamist pumps run at a slower speed, higher cam profile and very strong bypass valve spring. It makes the line pressure very spiky and draws very high currents. It you adjust the pressure down, the pressure spike gets bigger.