Help with choosing an aquamist setup....

[ZisLuv]

Ive been quite keen on an aquamist setup for a while now but have heaps of questions and not finding many answers. Ive just found this board so maybe someone can help shed some light on things for me.

My car is a 1990 twin turbo nissan 300zx with about 500kw at the crank. Runs 550cc injectors, twin air intake, twin throttle bodies. Has a motec m800 ECU thats just getting installed.

What I want to do is have a set of maps the motec will run with advanced timing and leaner fuel while it drives the water injection and also so it cuts back to normal maps if it senses that no water is flowing through the jets.

So my questions are really based on what do I need? I have been told the aquamist pump itself is not up to the task and fails easily, I was told to get a sureflow 100psi pump. Have their been any recent changes in the pump design? Are the high speed valves what I need to run the injection of the water, if so do I need two or just one running before splitting between two jets? Do these act like a fuel injector and can the flow rate be controlled by the motec? How do I get it to feedback if there is no flow or no water, by pressure switch? Lastly what size jets do I need?

Any advice appreciated.

[hotrod]

I'll let the vendors speak to the details of the aquamist system but it should serve you quite nicely. It is the preferred system for the serious race community, such as the WRC cars.

Most of the folks who run the shureflow do it because of cost constraints and its availability at local supply sources. I have seen threads were people lost engines due to the shureflow shutting down due to overtemp because they were running it with no pressure accumulator. In my mind it is an acceptable but less capable substitute for the aquamist pump.

I have a shureflow simply because I bought it for a different application and it will suffice for my needs, and I would rather not spend the money for another pump just now. I also will be running ethanol alcohol because it is easily available here in the middle of the country, and it is incompatible with the aquamist pump.


Larry

[ZisLuv]

Thanks for the reply Larry. Trouble is I have heard the same thing about the aquamist pump. There was a group buy on the twinturbo.net forum a while back and just about everyone who has bought them had their pumps fail. One guy has had 3 pumps now. Maybe the design has changed now?

Id love to hear from the aquamist crew, I have sent emails but no replies yet and Id really love to get this organised befoer my car is finished.

[Richard L]

ZisLuv,

I remembered the episode well, it happened over five years ago. This is the first time we are prompted to publish our side of the story, so here it this.

When we first entered the aftermarket scene in 1997. We have little choice on selecting who we sell the systems to and how the system was installed. Prior to that we only supplied to professional rally teams where all the WI systems are installed inside the car - water ingression was never a problem.

During those transitional periods, the Aquamist pump has gone through some sealing improvements to stop the ingress of water into electronics housing within the pump - we used three sealing rings - two in the front area and one on the centre tube. They are worked effectively. We have overlooked one seal - the rubber cable gland (more about that later). At the time of the launch of the package to the market place, we were quite careful on what we put onto our installation instruction (not very detailed, but straight to the point).

One of the line stated clearly that the pump should not be placed where there are chances of water splashes, heated parts. Unfortunately this part is often ignored or not read. We accepted that this was often the case for the public and should be the traders that deals with Aquamist systems.

During this period, one trader specialised on the SurpaTT has installed many kits and each and every time the pump was placed near the front bumper where rain water and road splashes hit the pump directly. Despite our many advise from us he continued to install the pump in the same position. We always honoured our warranty claims - even the pump continue to fail in the same manner. Only months later, after numerous modifications we have managed to stop the water ingression problem. The pump to date has no less than SEVEN o-ring seals

Bad news travel fast especially in the age of internet chat rooms and emails. This particular episode was the most talked about disaster story in our book, still being spreaded like wild fire. There were many positive stories on Aquamist pump but rarely noticed - I am afraid this six year-old story will be told again and again especially by those who are against the concept of water injection and some competitors who will and would use this ONE story to help paddling their own systems. I believe that there was one of example on this site, a link to an English company that also sells a WI system.

The aquamist pump has undegone many improvements over the last six years and each one addresses a particular problem that arises a few months before. I think we have eliminated and overcome many problems due to misuse (sometmes) and less-than-ideal installations, but we never stop trying and would never criticise and capitalise our competeitor's misfortunes. I think there are plenty of rooms for all WI system makers.

The lastest and not the last improvement on the battle against water ingression was to applying epoxy sealent instead of silicon sealent at the junction of the cable and 3-pin electrical connector. Water was able to find its way into the pump during cooling down period (internal vacuum) through the gaps between the three core cable used.

The cable gland has also been replaced by our own designed metal gland. This is not a problem if the connector is pointing downwards and the plug (water will only travel doenwards). The silicon sealant is normally very effective but the heat cycles in a hydrocarbon rich enviroments will age it and some mirco-pour develops.

If anyone who needs advise before they start the installation, please do use this board or PM me. I will always reply. If anyone who has any other concern about the pump please speak out and help us to improve the system further.

[Richard L]

ZisLuv,

I remembered the episode well, it happened over five years ago. This is the first time we are prompted to publish our side of the story, so here it is.

When we first entered the aftermarket scene in 1997. We have little choice on selecting who we sell the systems to and how the system was installed. Prior to that we only supplied to professional rally teams where all the WI systems are installed inside the car - water ingression was never a problem.

During those transitional periods, the Aquamist pump has gone through some sealing improvements to stop the ingress of water into electronics housing within the pump - we used three sealing rings - two in the front area and one on the centre tube. They are worked effectively. We have overlooked one seal - the rubber cable gland (more about that later). At the time of the launch of the package to the market place, we were quite careful on what we put onto our installation instruction (not very detailed, but straight to the point).

One of the line stated clearly that the pump should not be placed where there are chances of water splashes, heated parts. Unfortunately this part is often ignored or not read. We accepted that this was often the case for the public and should be the traders that deals with Aquamist systems.

During this period, one trader specialised on the SurpaTT has installed many kits and each and every time the pump was placed near the front bumper where rain water and road splashes hit the pump directly. Despite our many advise from us he continued to install the pump in the same position. We always honoured our warranty claims - even the pump continue to fail in the same manner. Only months later, after numerous modifications we have managed to stop the water ingression problem. The pump to date has no less than SEVEN o-ring seals

Bad news travel fast especially in the age of internet chat rooms and emails. This particular episode was the most talked about disaster story in our book, still being spreaded like wild fire. There were many positive stories on Aquamist pump but rarely noticed - I am afraid this six year-old story will be told again and again especially by those who are against the concept of water injection and some competitors who will and would use this ONE story to help paddling their own systems. I believe that there was one of example on this site, a link to an English company that also sells a WI system.

The aquamist pump has undegone many improvements over the last six years and each one addresses a particular problem that arises a few months before. I think we have eliminated and overcome many problems due to misuse (sometmes) and less-than-ideal installations, but we never stop trying and would never criticise and capitalise our competeitor's misfortunes. I think there are plenty of rooms for all WI system makers.

The lastest and not the last improvement on the battle against water ingression was to applying epoxy sealent instead of silicon sealent at the junction of the cable and 3-pin electrical connector. Water was able to find its way into the pump during cooling down period (internal vacuum) through the gaps between the three core cable used.

The cable gland has also been replaced by our own designed metal gland. This is not a problem if the connector is pointing downwards and the plug (water will only travel doenwards). The silicon sealant is normally very effective but the heat cycles in a hydrocarbon rich enviroments will age it and some mirco-pour develops.

If anyone who needs advise before they start the installation, please do use this board or pm me. I will always reply. If anyone who has any other concern about the pump please speak out and help us to improve the system further.

[robbilau]

I use an Aquamist 2c with a MoTeC M4. The 800 will be able to drive the High Speed Valve just fine.

You could set the M800 up with the 2c and use the digital pressure output with a digital speed input in usecs to get a reading of water flow, or better still add one of the flow meters and use that with an analog input.

You use the AuxV or speed reading to add a trim to your ignition, fuel and boost maps. I don't believe you can switch to a whole different map (can't in the M4 anyways) but the trim should work fine.

The net effect is if you run out of water, the trims come into play and pull timing and or reduce boost and or add fuel.

You probably want about 700cc/min capability so you'll be using two jets and two HSVs most likely, maybe a second pump depending on exactly what you want to do.