This Ad Helps Bring You  Free Information on Welding Race Cars & Street Rods

Have a Welder?   Improve Weld Starts and Have Shielding Gas Cylinder Last at Least Twice as Long! 

Note: Our Patented GSS is Not Available in "Stores"

A home shop fabricator in Georgia with a Miller ^TM 175 amp welder purchased a 50 foot Gas Saver System ( GSS^TM ) so he could use a larger cylinder and mount it on the wall of his shop.  He wrote:

"The system works great.  Thanks for the professional service and a great product."   Click To See His Home Shop

A Professional Street Rod Builder Had This to Say:

With their standard MIG welder gas delivery hose the peak shielding flow at weld start was measured at 150 CFH. That caused air to be sucked into the gas stream causing poor weld starts.  With the GSS replacing their existing hose, the peak flow surge at the weld start was about 50 CFH.  Total gas use was cut in half.

Kyle Bond, President, quickly saw the improvement achieved in weld start quality as a significant advantage!   Kyle, an excellent automotive painter, was well aware of the effects of gas surge caused by pressure buildup in the delivery hose when stopped.  He has to deal with the visible effects in the air hose lines on the spray gun in his paint booth!  The paint surge is visible and creates defects unless the gun is triggered off the part being painted!  We can’t do that with our MIG gun!

Air/Fuel Meter

The Air/Fuel Meter was the salvation for quantifying the problems with the Vacuum Secondary Carb.  It also made setting up the Double Pumper much quicker and with a high degree of certainty that it was optimized for cruising as well as delivering maximum performance.  The meter reads the oxygen sensor output that was installed in the header collector.  It is relatively inexpensive and worth the price.  Both the meter and the sensor were purchased from the same company, (see suggestion below).

Once installed, while in the process of fine tuning the Vacuum Secondary Carb, the solution were obvious.  Use a Double Pumper!!  The following are pictures of the meter and bung for the oxygen sensor that was welded into one exhaust header collector.  It is only installed on the steering column when testing.  The oxygen sensor is replaced with a spark plug to seal the hole when not in use (thread size is the same and it can take the heat).

The Air/Fuel Meter has 10 colored LED bars ranging from about 11 to 12:1 Air/Fuel on the rich side to about 17:1 Air/Fuel on the lean side.  It is most accurate in the center at a stoichiometric ratio of 14.7.  Since we are mostly interested in achieving a slightly rich mixture, the inaccuracies of the measurements at the extremes are less important. 

The following table gives the approximate air/fuel ratio's for the 10 LED's:

Color

red

red

light green

light green

dark green

dark green

light green

light green

red

red

Ratio

~11.5

~12

~12.5

~13

14

15

~16

~16.5

~17

~17.5

There are broader range sensors and meters which can be used but these systems are 5 to 10 times the price (see below) and this combination provides good readings in the range where they are needed.  Now if your going to use a fuel injection system and use your laptop to set up the fuel map etc,.... but then why would you want to do that for your street rod!  Isn't that why your using a carb to get away from computers controlling your car?  Don't get me wrong PC's are great.  I had one of the first PC's, a Radio Shack Level I then a Level II then an IBM XT when they cost $3500!!  They are fine for producing web sites but not needed to run your street rod!  Although come to think of it, micro's probably operate the communications to the remote doors and windows, the  stereo system, digital dash and CD ignition.  Guess we can't get away from them entirely!

If you want to spend big bucks, one of the latest wideband oxygen sensor systems from FAST ^TM uses two O₂ sensors, one for each bank!    It features a built-in data logger with on-screen playback.  You can even connect to your laptop. It sells for just over $600. 

"Now let's see, is that whole left bank  running slightly rich or is it only those back two cylinders?  If they only had one with 8 oxygen sensors small enough to fit into each header pipe, then I could tell if changing the rear left jet would......"  Click here or the Picture to link to the FAST web site.

The final setting on the Double Pumper provides a slightly rich mixture (about 13:1) at idle and cruise.  It could be adjusted to run slightly leaner for better fuel mileage but for better cooling and reliability reasons it is set at that level.  Upon rapid acceleration it is now possible to keep the mixture just slightly richer.  That assures we are not getting into a lean situation.  A carburetor can not provide as uniform a mixture distribution as EFI.  Therefore its advisable to keep the leanest cylinder somewhat on the rich side which will cause the oxygen sensor, which averages them all (the four on the side where it is placed) to be richer than optimum.  With the Vacuum Secondary Carb it would reach into the 17:1 area and create a lean Bog for about 1 second.  The meter reacts instantly when the throttle is opened.  Those 2 x 50CC pumps prevent it from going lean and there is no evidence that it two rich when running.  No fouled plugs or stumbling after a quick stab of the throttle then backing off.  Only if that quick stab is when starting!

For an inexpensive system, www.SummitRacing.com  offers:

Digital Air/fuel Gauge, Part # SUM-G2986 for $27.95

O₂ Sensor, Part # SUM-G2989 for $29.95

Weld-in BUNG for O₂ Sensor, Part # SUM-G2990 for $4.49

( Note: Thanks to those "Car Crazy" folks who have purchased the Gas Saver System and commented on the improved starts and reduced gas usage they have achieved.  Many purchased our 6 foot prefitted GSS, Part Number WAT FB6. We also have 3 and 4 foot prefitted GSS, Part Number WAT-FB3, FB4 )

If your MIG welding, check out our low cost Gas Saver System.  It improves weld starts.  For the numerous short welds and tack welds made in this type construction it could save you over 50% of your shielding gas usage.  Click Here.

MIG Gas Delivery and the Small Block Chevy Evolved in a Similar Way and Time!

 Both had Advances and Setbacks Before

They Were Optimized!