I've had this very messy event happen to plates with food on them, and its even messier than this aftermath..Beware of plates marked "microwave safe" sometimes they aren't..
Cool clock btw...
Thanks!
And when a photo resistor sees the light, it announces each hour: "Cuc-koo". However, the voice was recorded mine.
http://wavebourn.net/images/2005/coucou.wma
Is your civic relatively new with low miles or is it a beater with zillions of miles on it?
Usually when a car knocks/pings/detonates on the octane it was designed for, the engine needs some tuning work, although with modern stuff, there is not much to tune anymore. As far as timing goes, most modern cars don't even have distributors anymore, so there is very little hardware to cause timing problems....and no carburators to cause lean fuel problems, it's all done closed loop between the O2 sensor, mass air flow sensor and knock sensor.
Of the fuels that you have tried between brands, are they all 87 octane? If you run mid-grade 89 octane does that work fine?
The other thing that has not been mentioned much is who buys gas from whom, as it is a somewhat regional distribution model, and the gas you get at station X may very well be the same gas as station Y down the street. An earlier poster in this thread who works for a petroleum company can probably shed some light on this.
Check with Jennie Chen's team. They got nearly twice the mileage in a Civic Hybrid.
http://romanreign.com/world_record_attempt.htm
As I stated before many companies add ethanol to their gasoline It is legal to add up to 10% ethanol to gasoline in the US without labelling requirements. Ethanol has less BTU per gallon then gasoline, but has a higher octane rating (about 108). It is a cheap way to raise the octane number of their product but it reduces the fuel economy. Gasoline burns completely (least emissions) when burned at a 14.7 to 1 ratio (air to fuel by weight). Maximum power is produced at about 12 to 1. Ethanol works best in the 8 to 1 region. Any ethanol blended gasoline will cause the ECU in the car to increase the fuel to air ratio thereby reducing fuel economy. The oxygen sensor forces stoic (optimum burn ratio) on any fuel when operating in the closed loop mode, so ethanol blended fuel will run richer than pure gasoline. The car companies were required to post the MPG ratings for E85 on flex-fuel capable cars. They aren't easy to find any more, because they are terrible, 12 MPG for a 6 cylinder Chrysler mini-van.
As someone stated, raw gasoline comes from one of a few refineries. Each brand adds their own proprietary additive blend to improve octane, combustion characteristics and RVP (reid vapor presure). The additives change with the geographical location, climate and season. Fuel blends change with temperature and altitude (barometric pressure) since the fuel must be volatile enough so that it will atomize efficiently, but not so volatile that it boils in the gas tank. Gas that works in the Arizona summer will not start a car in a Minnesota winter.
It is possible that the additive package used by Shell does not work so well in your particular engine. About 8 years ago there were a rash of fuel senders destroyed by Shell gas in the south Florida area. It seemed that their new additive package ate the resistance element in the gas gauge sender. A class action lawsuit occurred.
Back when I used to race the turbo Dodge I got the best results on Shell gas (with some toluene added) in the summer. Their winter blend was far to volatile for my car here where 85 degree days are common in January. It would flash boil in the fuel rail (mounted over the top of the turbo) after the car was shut off making it impossible to restart. I switched to Exxon in the winter.
It depends on the year of the car. Knock sensors first appeared in the late 70's (Buick turbo V-6). They were a two state device (on - off). On a modern high performance engine the sensor can even determine which cylinder is knocking and retard the timing on each cylinder individually. On a new GM V-8 the timing is reduced in two degree increments until knock is eliminated. At some point the fuel mixture gets richened up.
It depends on your particular engine. I guarantee that octane rating will matter in a Corvette, Viper, or anything with a turbo. In fact look up the horsepower ratings for many new turbocharged cars. The horsepower specs are quoted with premium fuel. The Ford Taurus SHO quotes 365 HP from a 6 cylinder engine with 91 octane fuel. The ECU will reduce the boost pressure and ignition timing on regular fuel reducing the power output. That is not reported on Fords web site but the auto magazines report a 20 to 50 HP decrease on regular fuel.
microwave goes boom
i love this forum. I guess we all think alike.
anyone try marshmallows? they grow very large then burn from the inside out.
when can we expect to see plasma videos? co2 should be easy enough
i love this forum.
I guess we all think alike. anyone try marshmallows? they grow very large then burn from the inside out.
when can we expect to see plasma videos? co2 should be easy enough
Thanks, but I could not find on their site how they did that. I don't mean, how did they seal gas tanks by signatures of gas station personnel; I mean how did they get that record gas mileage!
I did not have a video camera when I did these "experiments" (2003). I have killed all of my junk microwave ovens and the modern stuff with plastic doors and bottom trays won't live long. Sooner or later I will find another oldie made of real stainless and glass like this one.
No CO2 needed. Just nuke an SOS pad. Regular steel wool makes some good sparks and fireworks, but the blue soap in an SOS pad burns creating a black soot that will ionize. Of course the oven will be trashed, and an awful stink will be created, so use a junk oven and do this outside with a fire extinguisher nearby. I set the oven on a metal cart far away from anything flamable, and added additional ground wires (automotive jumper cables) from the cart and oven to the ground rod on my antenna. I also used the panic switch from my work room in case anything got out of hand. Microwave ovens run on extremely lethal voltages (about 2000 volts) and I was definately operating it outside of normal conditions. It was an exrtemely humid summer night with zero breeze so the experiments stunk up the whole back yard. The previous night I nuked a 2400 baud modem, that stunk up the whole neighborhood.
I didn't take any pictures on the first two nights since I wasn't too sure about setting the camera up too close to a possible nuclear meltdown. After two nights of attempted murder of a microwave, I was pretty sure that nothing was going to explode, and there were no more eggs in the fridge!
Things that made for cool microwave experiments: All of those AOL CD ROMS that came in the mail (major stink), lit matches, paper with heavy pencil marks, light bulbs (incandescent and CFL, more stink), aquarium filter charcoal (used), vacuum tubes, IC chips (stink), Neon bulbs (NE-2), cell phones, pagers..... no don't nuke any living creatures
First photo: Two vacuum tubes, purple is a 2D21, and orange is an 0A2
Second photo: One vacuum tube (already dead 6146) nuked until the glass melted and it caught on fire (about 5 minutes). The flames will create an ion trail that will ionize into a plasma. Note the small arc from one of the tube pins to the glass plate on the oven floor. This cracked the glass and started burning a hole through the stainless bottom of the oven cavity.
Third photo: After about 2 more minutes the plasma grew to fill the entire oven cavity and the whole oven was making a very wicked buzzing sound. It was about 10 PM and this thing was lighting up the whole backyard. I decided that it was time to quit before someone called the cops. What would you do if you saw this nuclear reactor glowing and making a racket in your neighbors backyard? Not totally unexpected at my house though.
I won't even discuss my defibrillator experiments except to say that you should never connect a defib across a bannana, turn it up to 400 Joules and hit the button unless you have several hours to clean up the mess.
Attachments
http://romanreign.com/hypermiling.htm
Scroll down for a list of tips.
Check out http://www.cleanmpg.com for more advanced tips.
It is about driving style; it is obvious. For me it is not a problem: my Sentra SE did 32 mpG average, when EPA was 24-27. It had 2 liter engine, and no "Hybrid" motors/batteries. My Civic Hybrid does 36-37 average, with the same driver / the same style. I don't see any money economy on a hybrid that is more expensive to buy and maintain.
The average engine operates most efficiently at a power level higher than what is used when cruising. One solution is to "PWM" the engine - known to hypermilers as "Pulse and Glide". You accelerate at the most efficient power level to the speed limit, coast down to a few MPH below the limit (clutch in on a manual), and repeat. For the best results, the engine should be off during the glide. That is impractical for a regular car, but a hybrid can do that automatically. (Some advanced hypermilers have added a pair of engine control switches to convert their regular cars to "mild hybrids", but it is not trivial to make it work reliably.) In addition, hybrids have smaller engines that attain peak efficiency at lower power levels, which is especially helpful in the city.
You don't need a hybrid to get excellent MPG, however. Here's a modified regular Civic that gets an amazing 95 MPG (highway at 65 MPH):
http://aerocivic.com/
Toyota's hybrids use an "Atkinson cycle" engine that gives up low speed torque in exchange for improved efficiency. This is a good trade since the electric motor provides low speed torque by the bucket loads. The Atkinson cycle basically modifies the valve timing to make the power stroke effectively longer than the compression stroke.
Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the first and second generation Prius here:
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/Hybrid01.pdf
There are 6 seperate lessons just change Hybrid01 to Hybrid 02 etc to get to the next one.
I have already read those. However, I believe the Honda hybrids use the Miller cycle, which is similar to the Atkinson cycle.
Also read the articles about automatic transmissions. They're surprisingly complex. A manual transmission is much simpler. And Toyota's HSD is even simpler mechanically.
I have been interested in CVT's since I saw one on a drill press about 30 years ago. It is amazing that the same pulley - belt arangement is now used in automobiles. I was certain that they would fail in automotive use, and I will find out. There is one in my wifes new Jeep.
Toyotas "electric CVT" is pure genius. One planetary gearset and two electric motors that can act like motors or generators, adding or multiplying torque. There are no friction surfaces to wear out, unlike all precious transmissions automatic or manual.
DAFs (made in Holland) and subsequently the sub compact Europe only Volvo models they made after they were acquired by Volvo all used CVT automatic transmissions in the 1970s - I knew several people who had them and they seemed to be quite durable.. CVTs are really only new around this neck of the planet.
Subaru has had them on and off since the Justy some 20 plus years ago..(Admittedly that cvt was a bit problematic) Driving a cvt equipped vehicle is an interesting experience..
Subaru has had them on and off since the Justy some 20 plus years ago..(Admittedly that cvt was a bit problematic) Driving a cvt equipped vehicle is an interesting experience..
I would see that hypermillers in San Francisco, on neutral gear, on Battery Street.
And a huge banner: [LOOSE LIFE BUT SAVE GAS!]
Mine was 2005. Good car. 45-55 MPG depending on circumstances, fast electric acceleration. Here is what Father in Law did to it:
Nice feature. Some time BC (Before Chinese production) we used lots of mechanics in radio and electronics, so studied similar systems, one of them was Svyatozarov's Variator (curved wheels for smooth ratio tuning).
A friend had a 1985 Justy. That car was a total POS. The transmission failed twice, it had multiple water leaks and with the rain in Florida it wasn't long before there were large holes in the floor. I haven't seen a Subaru with a CVT since then, but I really haven't looked.
Most CVT's are made by Jatco including the one in the Jeep. Google "Jatco CVT" for a you tube video showing the mechanics in action.
It seems like recent Nissans with CVTs are a mixed bag based on some cruising around on the web.. Both the Altima and Maxima have them, and based on the comments I would stay away from the automatic in these models. (I like manual gear boxes anyway.) A surprising number of newer cars have them, including some expensive luxury cars.
I have a good friend with a Honda Insight (about 7 yrs old now) with the CVT and he has not had any problems at all and has over 100K on it now.
A lot of positive comments about the Audi A4 2.0T with CVT... Interesting..
I remember the JUSTY quite well.. Rusted out quickly in this climate and the CVT was none too reliable. I think it was actually the first CVT equipped car sold in the USA, so it is unfortunate that it was so poorly made. Strange because by that time other Subaru models had deservedly achieved cult status here in New England for their quality, durability, and they were quite nice to drive - an inexpensive "drivers car." (A lot of fun to drive even with an automatic.) Not sure why I didn't buy one at the time..
I have a good friend with a Honda Insight (about 7 yrs old now) with the CVT and he has not had any problems at all and has over 100K on it now.
A lot of positive comments about the Audi A4 2.0T with CVT... Interesting..
I remember the JUSTY quite well.. Rusted out quickly in this climate and the CVT was none too reliable. I think it was actually the first CVT equipped car sold in the USA, so it is unfortunate that it was so poorly made. Strange because by that time other Subaru models had deservedly achieved cult status here in New England for their quality, durability, and they were quite nice to drive - an inexpensive "drivers car." (A lot of fun to drive even with an automatic.) Not sure why I didn't buy one at the time..
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Jatco is a transmission vendor that was initially funded by Nissan. They currently build most of their CVT's in a Nissan plant in Mexico. The transmission in the new Jeep is the same one found in the Nissan Rogue, both made in Mexico. We will see if I ever need the Chrysler "lifetime powertrain warantee" and if Chrysler is still in business when I do.
My wife has been required to drive long distances by herself lately and we began to distrust her 8 year old Ford Escape. It ocasionally refused to start and just recently the lock cylinder failed and you couldn't turn the car off (the key wouldn't turn even with vice grips). My 10 year old Volvo doesn't venture any further from home than the AAA+ free towing limit (100 miles)!
We decided to accept Obama's Clunker money ($4500) and Chrysler's $3500 rebate and drive out in a new Jeep for just over $10K. Yes it is the lowest priced SUV on the planet and you have to manually lock the doors and roll up the windows, but I don't have to worry about her driving a marginally reliable vehicle on a deserted road in sparsely populated West Virginia.
The kicker? The Volvo wagon didn't qualify as a clunker even with the bin full of parts that have fallen off (Belgian plastic doesn't do well in South Florida) in the hatch. Seems it gets too good gas mileage. I do get 20/28. So her 2001 Ford Escape which coincidentally was in the top ten cars BOUGHT under the clunker program was sentenced to die by lethal injection.
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