Randall Young wrote:
>
> > The only engine that I
> > feel absolutely
> > was damaged immediately and severely by ether was that of a dummy
> > who drove his
> > out-of-fuel tractor a couple of hundred yards to the pump on
> > squirt cans of ether.
>
> I absolutely agree with Tony on this one. NEVER run a diesel under load
> with ether, especially when it isn't also getting fuel. His other comments
> are on-target too, you certainly don't want a puddle of the stuff getting
> sucked in.
>
> BTW, some injector pumps can also be ruined by running (or even trying to
> run) the engine without fuel. The fuel acts as a lubricant to the pump,
> without it the pump pistons can seize and/or score the walls.
Apparently, a reply on this thread I sent a couple of hours ago didn't
go through. The biggest problem with ether is overuse. The "bombs"
mentioned previously are actually ether injection units, and they are
intended to minimize the quantity of ether used--most provide just a
small squirt on each starting cycle, and only below a certain
temperature. Most are wired to operate once, and only reset if the
starter is stopped and started again.
Ether is incredibly volatile, and large quantities of it can produce
similar effects in a diesel engine to detonation in a gasoline engine,
because it will light off well before the beginning of the injection
cycle. Ether is intended to flash heat the air in the cylinder, which
then enables the diesel fuel to ignite when injected.
Ether is enough of a problem that Cummins has installed electric
manifold heaters on some of its smaller engines and forbid use of ether
in those engines (foremost, because it's a safety hazard to do so).
It should be very judiciously used. In the case of ether, it can
definitely be a case of too much of a good thing....
Cheers.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM (yes, _that_ Roswell)
[mailto:mporter@zianet.com]
Don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's within walking
distance.
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