Anybody know anything about this?

[Charles uk]

http://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk/wo ... challenge/

[Hugz]

Wonder if they will be using an SD?

[Horsley-Anarak]

They will be going up these.



I have done the bit after the flight a couple of times and there are some great pub. Pubs could make it take a little longer than 24hrs.

H-A

[tedrevive]

Hello there, I know a bit about it as I'm one of the three man crew. I'm sure we have all had crazy ideas while chewing the cud with pals, then things come up and you put it off to next week and then it's forgotten. Often for the best. Well, nothings come up to check our helter-skelter plan, a plan that's grown past its humble origins to the proportions of adventure.
Us three friends were chatting about our fondness for our seagulls, and it came up that a claim had once been made that seagull out boards needed almost no maintenance, could survive complete submersion, and run for twenty four hours.
We have each proved the first two claims to our satisfaction, but the third?
So it began, could we run a seagull for 24 hours? Then we asked, 'how far could we go in that time?'
Questions we mean to answer, in the name of a good cause.
As for the locks, we have a cunning plan...

[Horsley-Anarak]

As for the locks, we have a cunning plan...

Is it to carry the boat round the locks.

Looks like a good idea for a trip, the Crossed guns is a great pub.

If you need additional boats for the trip I am interested.

H-A

[chris]

no reason why they should not run for 24 hours, the only thing that can give problems is the plug, the longest run I have done was 11 hours with a silver century on the back of a 14' catboat running it close to flat out in a gale, it ran erratic for a short time but I think that was because of a dollop of water taken in by the carb, it spat it out and kept on its merry way, have also done 5 to 6 hour runs with a century or a 40+ and a tc on the back of a 12' lugger,

[Horsley-Anarak]

no reason why they should not run for 24 hours,

I have no doubt that they will run for weeks, without any maintenance.

I have seen concrete mixers run for years with no maintenance, I do feel we underestimate how long a simple engine will run with no maintenance.

What you will need to do is stop at every pub to let it cool down, might take an hour or two.

H-A

[chris]

actually H A you have an excellent point, the cooling down period at the pub I think should be included in every seagull running manual

[Oyster 49]

I'll come with you H-A if I'm around. Sounds like fun

[david doyle]

dollop of water taken in by the carb

Obviously we are dealing with a 2 stroke here and am not a mechanic nor even a good operator...but.... water poured in the carb sure does a good job of cleaning truck engines out. wind up the revs and pour abit in at a time. Obviously not enough to end up in the sump but you can pour a pretty steady stream into automotive carb.

Back in the 70s there were alot of guys tinkering with water injection systems to increase fuel economy. water expanding much more then air. A bit south of me there is guy who has been running the system for 20 years. (in the summer) He swears by clean valves and cooler running.

Point being that "maybe" a spritz of bottled water in the intake every couple hours might help with the plug fouling mentioned above.

[Keith.P]

Not that this would have any good affect whatsoever, other than stopping the engine.
Oil and water don't mix.
I will put this one on that list of other ideas, you know, ashtray for a motorbike, chocolate fireguard, An inflatable dartboard, glass hammer, solar powered torch and pouring water down your carb. check.

[david doyle]

Kieth careful, your betraying more ignorance then I already admitted to Seems kerosene might be another option, but since your so busy being a sarcastic dick probabley no sense in exploring the options.

Can't really see what a spritz or two of carbon softening water could do to hurt anything. Your not excluding the lubricant. degrading it yes but surely a seagull or two has survived the odd drink. What do you think happens in the rain, LOL. Keep in mind that Cowels are 'optional' on alot of seagulls

Myself I have "steam cleaned" a Mazda B2000 at 220,000Km I sold it at 350,000km and a 1979 F150 that I still see on the road. Both ran like crap and then purred.

here is 30 seconds of gearhead forum searching:

Decarbonizing an engine does work and make the engine run smoother or at least stop pre-ignition. The only decarbonizing I've done in more recent times is with airplane engines, but that's a different ball game. With airplane engines you have a mixture control. With that control you go rich/cool...lean/hot...rich/cool...lean/hot. Does the same thing as the kerosene or water technique. And by the way....water injection has been used in airplane engines for 60 plus years. It is one way of allowing a high power piston engine AND jet engines to produce maximum power but still remain within normal temperature limits. The idea of using water in automobile engines may seem strange, but it's only strange because the public hasn't been aware of water usage in engines before. Also, the EPA wouldn't have a word to say about using water.

This is a process that has been used for many, many years, and does work. However, the engine should be at a fast idle or above, and the water poured in slowly (you don't want enough water to hydraulic the pistons!). The use of ATF has also been used in the same manner, but think the water is more effective, since the resulting steam acts as the cleaner (similar to steam cleaning your dirty engine or frame).

[quote]If you're going to "MIST" your carb... be sure to have the RPMs up around 2K when you do it.
I wouldn't go crazy misting it... a few short blasts w/ a spray bottle of water is PLENTY.[/quote]

I tryed that trick the other day. Pouring water in the carb while the engine is running to get rid of carbon build up. I think it really works. My engine is running much better now. I had alot of carbon build up due to my carb being out of adjustment and my distributor going nuts. My plugs kept fouling. When the plugs fouled, the engine started to miss. I read all kinds of stuff online. Some guys pour tranny fluid into the carb Some use marvel mystery oil. I think the water gets the job done. Just dont pour too much at once.

Well sort of.. When I was young I knew an old timer mechanic that taught me a lot of things. He would rev a engine up pretty tight and the same time take a beer can of cold water and drissel it down the carb as much it could take it with out bogging it down too slow. He said the cold water hitting the hot pistons and valves would clean all the carbon build up off them and blow it out the exhaust. Ya never know about those old "tricks" ya hear from time to time. I will say though that I have done this to several of my cars over the years and it never hurt anything. I also have seen dozens and dozens of heads come off in my shops and many times the piston and valves in the cylinder that was getting the coolant leaked into and burned through it have been clean as a whistle while all the others have been all black and covered with hard carbon. I dont realy know what makes rings stick other than rust, but if carbon can do it I would say give it a try, I dont think it could make it any worse..

[Horsley-Anarak]

I like this idea, I am sure some of my engines get this when I am on the sea, big wave bit of splash, sucked into carb.

I will try this next time I have one in the test tank, I could see that it could work.

What we need is before and after pictures of a piston.

H-A

[david doyle]

Yeah not sure what the friction coefficient of water is compared to TCW3 but it is a lubricant so I would not worry too much about the piston, If I was going to worry I'd focus on the crank journals where the water might persist. Either way the goal is to raise money for an ambulance so who cares about 100 dollar engine

Water Carburetor

The water carburetor was a labor of love for Garrett. He may not have been as motivated in marketing his invention since he once before saw his traffic light invention taken away from him "for the good of the public". In addition, times were different in the 1930s when Garrett invented his water carburetor.

Gasoline and oil were relatively cheap and people were not as concerned about the environment, global warming and greenhouse gases as they are today. The water carburetor was more of a novelty that didn't quite catch the public fancy at that time.

But, I only tell this story, to let you know that water fuel has been around for a long time. People have known about it for generations. Like many good inventions of the past, however, sometimes they get second chances and that time is now. Because of high gas prices, global warming and the desire for energy independence, people are giving water carburetors a second look. And, a third.

Popular with the HP crowd apparently:

[Stelios_Rjk]

To my understanding water in the bore increases the pressure of the mixture when compressed. But what could regulate the amount of water sucked in, that won't build up enormous pressure which would lead to con rod bending or any other damage?