Carburetor

Basics

• A Liquid Fuel Vaporization Systemfor Liquid Fueled Internal Combustion Engines
• It used Manifold Vacuum and the Venturi Effect to atomize fuel in a manner akin to Port Injection (albeit typically done at the Manifold level, depending on engine size/complexity
• Mostly Obsolete, but is SOMEWHAT simpler

Benefits

• A bit simpler than Fuel Injection (Especially Electronic Fuel Injection )
  • …when it works well
• Also while a FOS EFI + ECU system SHOULD be easily adjustable, most Off The Shelf Anti-Consumer Vehicles heavily lock down ECU Tuning etc
  • Although some of this is rightly done to prevent pollution or people who “know enough to be dangerous” from breaking things etc
  • Still though, many view a screwdriver as an easier means of adjustment than a computer etc

Downsides

• Far lest customization/optimization
  • Most are also only optimized for running at WOT or a simple High and Low band
    • EFI meanwhile can be tweaked in a near infinite amount of ways, and can also respond to changes in Temperature, Air Pressure, and Fuel Composition etc
• Reliability
  • The Needles can Clog, the “bowl” can get stuck (either due to rust, or Gum Formation etc)
  • Also Carburetors like to be level and not shaken much
    • This is ESPECIALLY relevant in Aviation Engines and was part of the reason for developing Fuel Injection around WW2 for dogfighting/dive bombing and such
    • HOWEVER a Vehicle Mounted Generator, or a Wheelbarrow Style Generator getting moved+bounced all over can encounter some similar issues
    • VERY small engines such as String Trimmers or Leaf Blowers ESPECIALLY if not secured well/if they don’t have a wide enough “base plate” can roll all around in the back of a truck etc potentially ruining them and also potentially spilling fuel around
• Emissions
  • Due to their lower atomization of the fuel, and lack of adjustability, they aren’t great in terms of pollution
    • Although most Two Stroke Engines use Total Loss Lubrication which compounds this issue
  • Furthermore as a sort of lazy / Malicious Compliance many Off The Shelf manufacturers simply remove the ability to adjust a Carburetor, rather than design small engines that are ACTUALLY “clean”
• In most engines, a Fuel Pump is still required, so as with Ignition Circuits, it doesn’t save you THAT MUCH electrical complexity

Internal Links

• Fuel Injection
  • Mechanical Fuel Injection
  • Electronic Fuel Injection
    • The minor distinction of Computer Controlled Electronic Fuel Injection
• Vapor Fueled Engines / Propane Engines / Natural Gas Engines for Internal Combustion Engines that do not have a Fuel Atomizer due to the fuel already being a Vapor/Gas

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Carburetors