Magnetic fuel "conditioner"

The question first: Has anyone tried using a magnetic fuel
"conditioner" in their motorcycle?

I bought a cold air intake for my truck recently and it came with a
FuelBoss which is a $30 retail device to be installed just before your
fuel injectors or carbeurator in your truck or car. It is supposed
cause the hydrocarbon molecules to separate so they burn more
completely and cleanly. Gimic? I don't know but from what I've read
even the sceptics seem to be reporting a mileage increase in their
vehicles. One mechanic reports buying one to prove it was a gimic and
average mileage increased from 18mpg to 22mpg in his '97 Ford Ranger.

Since it was free I'm going to give it a try on my '02 Dakota which is
a gas hog with its 4.7L V8. I'm wondering how it owuld work on my '97
Magna. I get around 43mpg with the bike and wonder if I could increase
average MPG's with the FuelBoss. In straight economic terms it may
take more than one season of riding in Maine to recoup the $30 in fuel
savings. The other factor to consider is the extended range since I'm
usually looking for a gas station at 90+ miles on a tank of fuel and
starting to get very concerned if I haven't found fuel by 120 miles.

Has anybody got experience with these devices?

Thanks,
Chris

 

It's snake oil, pure and simple.

 

I have a question for you: What kind of magnet attracts carbon based anything?
If that thing really does attract hydrocarbons in the fuel line, wouldn't those
hydrocarbons start bunching up on the inside of your fuel line at the magnet and
eventually plug it off? If you dipped it in a container of gas, would it come
out fuzzy with hydrocarbons like a magnet does when dipped in iron filings?

It helps to know what that does. Your injection system senses the intake air
temperature. When it's cold, it dumps in a little more fuel to act much like
the choke on a carb system. It gets more gas so it runs better when it's cold.
The cold air intake fools the system into thinking it's cold all the time, so it
dumps in more gas. It runs a little better. It uses more gas.

Stop for a minute and ask yourself this: If it's worth $30, why did they throw
it in free?

You can get the same increase by unplugging the AC clutch. Have you checked
anywhere else except the people who are trying to push this thing?

See if you still have the box that the Fuel Boss came in. It's worth more than
the Fuel Boss.

When traveling salesmen used to walk the streets trying to sell junk to
unsuspecting homeowners, they had a code. Any time they found a sucker, they'd
write on the gatepost or over the apartment door or on the mailbox, the date
they scammed the occupants. The next huckster would see the note and know that
resident was easy picking. They no longer mark their victims like that. They
just look for a magnetic fuel conditioner and they know they've found another
sucker. If there's anything to be happy about with this whole situation, be
happy you didn't actually pay for this thing.

My best advice would be to get a rubber band, and use that rubber band to
tightly fasten a $5 bill to the magnetic fuel conditioner. Go to a bridge,
preferably over deep water, and throw it just as far as you can throw it.

The $5 is so you can say you lost something of value.

 

since it was "free", what have you got to lose??
Otherwise
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAX1000

 

Laboratory experiments with extremely powerful magnets have
*levitated* frogs and insects. You can google for "levitating frog" if
you like.

I think the theory is that the magnet polarizes molecules and aligns
them, but I doubt if there is any effect on combustion that would
enhance economy.

 

My fuel filter strains out the frogs before they get to the magnet.

So in other words, you agree that my post was correct and the device is
worthless?

 

What's *that* got to do with. Extremely powerful (and extrmely weak)
magnets can 'levitate' chunks of steel..

There isn't. Not one iota.

 

Fair enough. I learned to check the ego at the "door" long ago when
posting to newsgroups but that is why we post here...to get
alternative takes on a subject or advise in a manner unhindered by
face-to-face barriers to communication. I used to be a frequent
responder to usenet groups since I consider myself to be somewhat of a
SME on MS Excel but I've always practiced restraint when answering
questions so as to improve the overall usefulness of this medium.

FuelBoss: I'll give it a shot since others have reported success, even
places other than the JC Whitney site. As the hydrocarbon molecules
are not "collected" by the magnet and only separated more fully prior
to combustion, I am not concerned about a buildup of said molecules in
the fuel line adjacent to the magnet. But, thank you for the concern.
Am I certain of the physics behind this device? No. I think Dr. Becker
is probably the SME in that area and he's already weighed in on that
front. But, I see no harm in trying it out since it arrived on my
doorstep without any extra cost to me and if it is truly useless the
"cost" would be the transport of an extra 1/2 pound of cargo in the
engine compartment.

The "cold" in the cold air intake may or may not be significant as you
mentioned. However, Using a K&N filter is an improvement over OEM
filters as I've experienced on a larger scale on UH-60's with the
engine inlet barrier filters installed. Sure, in that application
there is a bit of a "cost" in power but not much given the amount of
air that passes through those air intakes feeding those big GE turbine
engines. Now, granted, I'm an UH-60 crewchief/mechanic which in simple
terms means I replace parts on the blackhawk when I'm not actually
crewing it but I am aware that these "upgrades" are of limited
economic value. However, the vehicle sounds better and has a little
more pickup which is precisely the result I wanted. But, that has
nothing to do with motorcycles so my apologies to the group.

My original question stands: has anyone ever installed one of these
devices on a motorcycle?

Thanks.

 

Why waste your time? In a previous job, I had to liaise with the UK
laboratory that tested this sort (and all other sorts) of fuel saving
devices, on behalf of the government. Pills you dropped into the fuel
tank, ultra-violet this, chemical the other. They were *all* phoney.

No, they are not. This is what the company claims, not what happens.

That's fine. But there's a difference between improving gas flow
through an engine and this sort of fantasy.

Oh, there have been people, yeah, and they've claimed wonderful
results, sometimes. There was one lunatic on ukrm, some years ago, but
it turned out he had a vested interest in selling the things.

Ask yourself this simple question: if fitting a magnet to a fuel line
really improves fuel economy, why don't engine builders do it?

 

Jack's remarks about the effects of magnets on carbon based materials
made me remember the levitating frog story.

Most people assume that magnetism only relates to *ferromagnetism*,
i.e., the effect of magnets upon iron and steel.

However, there are *other* forms of magnetism, e.g., diamagnetism and
paramagnetism, which affect non-ferrous materials.

I don't remember which is which, but a magnetic field can affect
aluminum and living creatures. I have personally watched a rotating
magnet field cause an aluminum pan to rotate (and get hot at the same
time).

OTOH, it's possible that a powerful magnetic field might be working on
the *iron* in the frog's blood.

But, what do I know?

And, should I *care*?

 

**** all, as ever.

 

I often wonder that myself.

 

Obviously, because they've entered into a conspiracy with the
oil companies. You guys should read usenet more regularly.

What do I win ?

 

Some of the gimmicks front a more technical explanation, something along the
lines that non magnetic substances are that way because of the alignment (or
otherwise) of the electron spins around their respective atoms, they claim
that the prescience of a magnetic field re-arranges the electron spins and
so alters the properties of the molecules.

This is fundamental to the claims of some water softeners/pipe descalers,
although the apparently most popular type which passes high frequency
current through a coil wound round the pipe is a complete load of bollox,
since the copper pipe acts as a shorted turn so the coil does absolutely
nothing.

Having said that, I wedged some powerful ceramic ring magnets into the
insulation around the heater on my hot water tank where convection would
expose the water to the magnetic field. When the heater needed replacement
some years back, the plumber commented how easily the old heater unscrewed -
he said with that model of boiler the thread was usually so badly seized
with limescale it was unusual not to rip the threaded mounting out of the
boiler.

 

Out of curiosity, did you see results of tests on friction modifiers
such as slick 50? Any of the dry film, teflon based things[1]?

My natural reaction to them is "snake oil" but I was a bit surprised
recently to find a noted Laverda tuner talking about how he always used
slick 50 in the engines he built.

Bob

[1] something that coats a component (such as a shim bucket) and reduces
the friction sounds like a good idea but, if it works, why aren't
manufacturers using it from new? Mind you, given my newest vehicle was
imported in '91 they may be using them now for all I know

 

<G>

A night out with Spacker, at the Conspiracy Cafe of your choice.

 

No. I used to talk to oil companies, though, and they derided the stuff.
Again: "If it worked, we'd put it in ourselves..."

Funnily enough, I remember that the testing lab did find that (for
trucks, anyway, which was what they mostly did) two things did have a
benefit.

The first was aerodynamic kits, but their benefits were relatively
small, because trucks in Europe are speed-limited to 90kph, and at that
sort of speed you don't reap much benefit from a slippery truck.

Air dams (on top of the cab, to fair in the leading edge of the trailer)
were cheap and had a decent pay-back time. They work(ed).

Spoilers, skirts and the rest did have an effect, but very small, and
the payback time stretched into infinity.


The second was pre-heater gadgets for old diesel engines that didn't
have them.

Induced expectation.

 

My Fuel Bosss came free with the purchase of my Elephant whistles (much
more powerful than plain old deer whistles) Haven't seen an elephant in
nJ since I put them on my bike.Works even driving the truck with the
bike in the bed.

 

So has anyone who's seen a 1960s or 1970s Japanese motorcycle
speedo or tacho in operation. The effect relies on eddy currents
induced within the metal. Can't get eddy currents in hydrocarbon
fuel (and stay alive...). Trust me, I'm a scientist. Trust me, magnetic
fuel conditioners are pure bunkum!

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Hey, what's wrong with the Genuine Venison-B-Gon[1] deer whistles?

[1] http://www.beginnerbikers.org/forum/showpost.php?p=173634&postcount=17

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".