Great Minds!!

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High-Tech Manhole Covers Wirelessly Charging Cars
Wireless transmission of energy. It's happening today!

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In 2008 I blogged about wireless energy transference and mass storage (specifically super-capacitors).  In my blog I said

Keep your eyes on this technology. Especially resonant tech as it shows the most promise for transmitting over distance... and that's where the real practicality is.

Well, it has come true!!  Yesterday FoxNews posted an article about a company that is using "manhole covers" to wirelessly charge electric cars. The only difference is they aren't considering super-capacitors but simply the "resonant tech" I described in my post. Who knew I was a prophet??

Maybe they'll give me some credit here.

Fuel Savings in Hard Times (Update)

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Truth About Acetone and Ethanol

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Update 2008-08-18: I spent a couple of hours on my Tahoe this weekend. First I changed the plugs and wires. I bought standard parts... nothing special. Then I put six ounces of Seafoam in the crankcase and pulled six ounces into the throttle body via the brake booster. I let the latter set for five or ten minutes and then started the Tahoe up. It smoked for five or so minutes as it burned through the engine. Then I took it out and "blew the soot out" of it. After this I changed my oil. I wanted to go with a synthetic oil but my Tahoe has 118k miles and dude said I should not because it will break down the engine. I will research this further to validate whether I should or should not go to a synthetic. So I ended up putting in Quaker State 10W-30. I can verify that the Tahoe has more power and seems to be more agile. I'm going to let this tank burn out and refuel before I begin testing fuel economy again.

So here's a summary of what I did this weekend.

• Changed spark plugs (Autolite) & wires.
• Seafoamed the crankcase and engine intake (not the fuel)
• Blew the soot out (the fun part)
  
• Changed the oil

My Tahoe is not leaving rubber or running a six-second quarter... that's not my goal. I just want to up my MPG.

Fuel Savings in Hard Times (Tank 3)

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Truth About Acetone and Ethanol

Tracking Spreadsheet

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-- Third tank... testing with no acetone added. --

An amazing thing happened today. I had been watching my gas gauge with this tank and thought my mileage would be up a bit. This morning I filled up and calculated 17.9 mpg with no acetone added!! Note that I probably averaged 75 mph on the interstate traveling from southwest Arkansas on Sunday and then back and forth to work the past three days.

How could this happen? I have three guesses:

1. I put in 20.1 gallons this time. That means there were over five gallons left in the tank that had an approximate mix of 0.5 ounces/gallon. Now assuming the acetone did not evaporate from the gas it could be possible that this diluted throughout the last tank. Many internet articles show better fuel economy at a much more diluted mixture than I am using.
2. The higher ratio of acetone used may have helped to clean my fuel system.
   
3. The fuel I used was possibly superior to the fuel I have been using. This is a good point too because I have been using Kroger and everyone knows Kroger buys from different brokers... so there's no guarantee of consistent quality. On Sunday, however, i filled up at an Exxon station. I always buy 87 octane so that was the same. But I have to wonder if the fuel I bought was that much better than Kroger's.

Anyway, after I filled up today I went to the auto parts store and bought a new set of plugs and wires. I spent over $100 on them but they weren't particularly special... at least not according to the dude behind the counter. I also bought a can of Seafoam. I intend to flush out my oil system and my engine with this. So here's what I have planned for the weekend.

• Change plugs/wires
• Seafoam the engine/oil system
• Change the oil. I will probably go with Mobile 1 (synthetic) oil.

I'm going run a few tanks through after this with no acetone to see what increases I get.

Fuel Savings in Hard Times (Tank2)

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Truth About Acetone and Ethanol

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-- Second tank... testing at 0.5 ounces of acetone per gallon of gas. --

I refilled on Sunday. I put just over 20 gallons of gas in and calculated 17.1 mpg. So it appears obvious that with the current air/fuel ratio of my Tahoe 0.8 ounces did not perform as well as 0.5 ounces. Currently I'm running a tank with no additives and will report the economy when I refuel.

My plan next is to Seafoam, to change out plugs and wires and possibly upgrade to a synthetic oil (I'm thinking Amsoil). I will let you know what I end up doing.

Oh... I intend to track my progress in this spreadsheet (follow the below link).

Spreadsheet

Fuel Savings in Hard Times (Tank1)

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Truth About Acetone and Ethanol

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Well, the first tank is history. It got a dismal 16.2 mpg. I was really disappointed after the horsepower increase I saw early on. I refueled yesterday and added the acetone at .5oz/gal. That was 21 gallons added and 10.5oz of acetone. Yes, I realize there were a few gallons in the tank (26-gal tank) and this throws off the mixture a bit but I'm not going for rocket science yet. I'm going for a noticeable result... and 16.2 mpg is noticeable... OUCH.

By the way... 87 octane was $3.47/gal in Cabot, AR yesterday (Aug 5, 2008) evening. I buy at Kroger and get $.03 off just for having a Kroger card... then an additional $0.10 off if I've bought over $100 in groceries. Not shabby, but I remember when gas was below $0.50/gal... so $3.50 is not really impressive.

So far I'm not impressed. However there are some discrepancies I've seen on other sites. For the most part, people use a much smaller amount of acetone per gallon of gasoline. My test, for now, is to baseline the higher ratio and then begin tweaking the fuel mixture. I will probably also see about tweaking the timing. Something tells me that timing may have something to do with this although the article above didn't speak about timing at all. I'm not a mechanic but I have this feeling that richer fuel may need a timing adjustment to be optimal. We shall see.

Fuel Savings in Hard Times (Update)

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Truth About Acetone and Ethanol

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Update 2008-08-01: I added the acetone yesterday evening and drove for a couple miles just to help ensure it was distributed throughout the tank. I don't know whether that was necessary but it made me feel better.

The first thing I noticed immediately this morning was power. I had much more power than I did before adding the acetone. When my Tahoe shifted to overdrive my head went back... the car lunged when it shifted. I don't have whiplash, but it was noticeable. Acceleration is amazing... I can just feel the additional horsepower. Anyone who has climbed Cantrell Hill in Little Rock, AR on I430 knows that it's a long 30% grade and it increases at the top. I climb it every day going to work. Normally I like to get a run at it so I don't have to drop out of overdrive at the top to maintain speed. Today I didn't get a run and I didn't maintain speed. However, I also did NOT drop out of overdrive. My Tahoe climbed right up the hill without so much as a whimper!!

Now I am very excited to see what mileage improvement (or decline) I have with this acetone. I haven't changed my driving habits one bit and don't intend to. In fact, I want to replace my plugs and wires and also Seafoam my engine but I'm going to wait until this is all done. I'm not changing a thing until I've determined what the acetone is going to do. I'm pumped about this! I think I'm going to go find a punk kid and drag race his butt this evening!!

Fuel Savings in Hard Times

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Truth About Acetone and Ethanol

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I am an eternal optimist when it comes to alternative fuels. I like to think that there are ways to enhance current technologies to squeeze more from them. I truly believe there are those in positions of power and authority who aren't motivated, for whatever reason, to make advances using current technologies.

There are a lot of potential reasons for this... take the concept of planned obsolescence for example. This concept is simple... make the product obsolete or outdated so that those producing the product can perpetuate their profit... or at least re energize it. And this concept exists in pretty much every market.

If I could tell you how to get 40 mpg in your V8 SUV without anyone having to buy a new car or any companies having to build one single new refueling station would that be significant? Imagine what that would do for the average Joe... how much money he could put back in his pocket after refueling... how much money he could pump back into the economy after refueling.

So for this reason I have decided to find out for myself if a certain technology is truly viable. I went to Home Depot today and bought a can of acetone. The theory is that acetone can improve fuel efficiency. The claims are anywhere from a couple of MPG to over 100% increase in gas mileage.

The link at the top of this blog gives a person enough information to begin testing. So I filled my Tahoe and then added 0.8 ounces of acetone per gallon of gasoline in the tank. This is not the 1.0 ounce per gallon prescribed in the article but I don't have an exhaust leak... so I'm starting a little smaller. My Tahoe has a 5.3 liter V8 and I currently get around 17 mpg. I've watched my mileage for quite awhile so I'm aware of the average. I have never gotten over 17.5. So this first test ought to be a quickie... here's what I'll do:

• Run through a few tanks with the 0.8 oz. per gallon and check my mpg after each refill. I realize that I can't perfectly calculate the amount of acetone if I'm not running my tank dry, however this is close enough for government work.
  
• Run through a few tanks with no acetone and check my mpg after each refill. Why? I saw reports of lower-than-normal mileage after the acetone was out of the system, so I want to check that out. Plus, if the acetone has done anything to the engine (good or bad) I want to know that as well... kind of re-establish a baseline for further tests.
  

This is pretty cut-and-dry, no?

Now, I truly want to try the "Richening" theory as well. I will consider that after the above tests are complete. If I do this I will probably buy a one of the chip programmers so I don't have to drill a hole in my exhaust pipe... and so that I can get some real numbers on how rich my mix is... seems like that would be important.

So, check back regularly and I will keep you posted. I'll post an update after each refill and anytime something interesting comes up... like my Tahoe dies.

Oh... ever wonder why the tests in these far-out stories are always done on old cars nobody drives anymore? Me too. Oh well.