by maverick1 » Sat Jan 10, 2009 4:02 am
[quote="Spanky"]
[quote="maverick1"]
When the system is fully charged with air and oil and is around 60psi with the engine off and you switch on the ignition which activates the masterlube, how much does the pressure on the gauge drop?
[/quote]
If at the start you calibrated it with approx. 30 psi of air only in the accumulator, then your full charge 60 psi of air & oil will be a correct 50/50 ratio. So now, when you switch on the ignition without starting the engine, the accumulator electric valve will open allowing the air pressure to push the oil down & out of the accumulator tank and into the engine's oil galleys. The oil will drain out until the floating steel ball (it must be hollow) inside the accumulator tank is not able to float any longer because there is not enogh oil to keep it floating. This ball becomes pushed by the 30 psi of air against a valve seat at the bottom of the tank and in the throat just above the electical valve. This is why the tank needs to be mounted near vertical. Your gage reading should be close to your original air only reading of approx. 30 psi.
[quote="maverick1"]
Secondly, if you were not to start the car but turn off the ignition wait a minute and then turn the ignition back on without starting the engine, will the pressure drop more in the masterlube during this second cycle or is it a one time thing???
[/quote]
If you gave it enough time in the first cycle to completely drain out so that you saw the gage needle stop dropping before shutting the ignition off, then when you turn the igintion on again (without starting it) it will not drop anymore. If you did not drain it down until the gage needle stops moving down the first time, it will move on the second cycle until it does. Mine takes approx. 30 to 45 seconds to come to a complete stop.
Here are some things I have noticed with my system,
When I am done with driving it and I put the car away in the garage, I note that the gage pressure will read close to 60 psi (after revving it to about 2500 rpms for 5 seconds before shutting it off). But by the next moring after the hot oil and the hot air (which got heated up by being in the accumulator with hot oil) cools down to room temperature, the gage reading is about 53 to 55 psi. This makes complete sense. Hot air expands creating higher readings. My point is: don't be alarmed and think that you have a leak.....unless the pressure continues to drop over a few days of being cold.
I have found that I have to calibrate more than I originally thought. I asked Masterlube about this and Kerry said that the better the quality of the oil you use, the more the amount of air that the oil will absorb. So after a period of time, Kerry said the amount of air in the accumulator will drop as it is carried off by the oil. This happens in very small amounts, but there is a very small amount of air to begin with in the accumlator. This is the primary reason why we need to calibrate the system.
Doing my calibrations, I have seen my system drop to 15 psi (air only) from what was 30 psi in just 3 weeks. So I check it often. But it is so easy, I do it when I do my other oil, brake & coolant levels checks.
The last thing you want to do is ignore it, allowing all the air to eventually be consumed. This will leave you accumulater at 100% oil. Since oil is not compressable like air, you risk over pressurizing the accumulator.
[/quote]
Silver and Spanky....thanks for clarifying everything for me, especially the part about the air pressure gradually going down and it dropping below the 60psi mark due to the hot air issue. Makes sense to me. I would turn off the ignition and the gauge would read 60-62psi and the next day it might be down to 53-55 and I thought I had a leak. Good to know the reason.
If you end up with more oil in the system what would be the best way to lower the level....add air above the 30lb level?
cheers
[quote="Spanky"]
[quote="maverick1"]
When the system is fully charged with air and oil and is around 60psi with the engine off and you switch on the ignition which activates the masterlube, how much does the pressure on the gauge drop?
[/quote]
If at the start you calibrated it with approx. 30 psi of air only in the accumulator, then your full charge 60 psi of air & oil will be a correct 50/50 ratio. So now, when you switch on the ignition without starting the engine, the accumulator electric valve will open allowing the air pressure to push the oil down & out of the accumulator tank and into the engine's oil galleys. The oil will drain out until the floating steel ball (it must be hollow) inside the accumulator tank is not able to float any longer because there is not enogh oil to keep it floating. This ball becomes pushed by the 30 psi of air against a valve seat at the bottom of the tank and in the throat just above the electical valve. This is why the tank needs to be mounted near vertical. Your gage reading should be close to your original air only reading of approx. 30 psi.
[quote="maverick1"]
Secondly, if you were not to start the car but turn off the ignition wait a minute and then turn the ignition back on without starting the engine, will the pressure drop more in the masterlube during this second cycle or is it a one time thing???
[/quote]
If you gave it enough time in the first cycle to completely drain out so that you saw the gage needle stop dropping before shutting the ignition off, then when you turn the igintion on again (without starting it) it will not drop anymore. If you did not drain it down until the gage needle stops moving down the first time, it will move on the second cycle until it does. Mine takes approx. 30 to 45 seconds to come to a complete stop.
Here are some things I have noticed with my system,
When I am done with driving it and I put the car away in the garage, I note that the gage pressure will read close to 60 psi (after revving it to about 2500 rpms for 5 seconds before shutting it off). But by the next moring after the hot oil and the hot air (which got heated up by being in the accumulator with hot oil) cools down to room temperature, the gage reading is about 53 to 55 psi. This makes complete sense. Hot air expands creating higher readings. My point is: don't be alarmed and think that you have a leak.....unless the pressure continues to drop over a few days of being cold.
I have found that I have to calibrate more than I originally thought. I asked Masterlube about this and Kerry said that the better the quality of the oil you use, the more the amount of air that the oil will absorb. So after a period of time, Kerry said the amount of air in the accumulator will drop as it is carried off by the oil. This happens in very small amounts, but there is a very small amount of air to begin with in the accumlator. This is the primary reason why we need to calibrate the system.
Doing my calibrations, I have seen my system drop to 15 psi (air only) from what was 30 psi in just 3 weeks. So I check it often. But it is so easy, I do it when I do my other oil, brake & coolant levels checks.
The last thing you want to do is ignore it, allowing all the air to eventually be consumed. This will leave you accumulater at 100% oil. Since oil is not compressable like air, you risk over pressurizing the accumulator.
[/quote]
Silver and Spanky....thanks for clarifying everything for me, especially the part about the air pressure gradually going down and it dropping below the 60psi mark due to the hot air issue. Makes sense to me. I would turn off the ignition and the gauge would read 60-62psi and the next day it might be down to 53-55 and I thought I had a leak. Good to know the reason.
If you end up with more oil in the system what would be the best way to lower the level....add air above the 30lb level?
cheers