Hi All,
Has anyone tried using a lambda sensor on a restricted rotax?
Can you clean them if they get very oiled?
Will the restrictor play havoc with the sensor because the air flow won't be laminar?
Cheers
Has anyone tried using a lambda sensor on a restricted rotax?
Can you clean them if they get very oiled?
Will the restrictor play havoc with the sensor because the air flow won't be laminar?
Cheers
Views: 625
Comments6
Unfortunately the sensors cannot be cleaned. What you end up dong is washing the contaminants further into the the ceramics and makes the situation worse.
If your running on tune - you should easily get 50 hours plus out of a sensor. Unfortunately, the Alfano system only gives you a "reference" rather than a calibrated reading and I have seen 2 units giving totally different O2 readings.
The restrictor will not effect the readings.
Regards
Dave
Hi Dave,
Thankyou for your reply, it provides great info.
Once the sensor needs replacing do you need to buy a new one from alfano or are there replacements for the probe itself?
Cheers
Dave
My sensor recently fouled, and i did a bit of research into testing and the operation of the tuning lights. (before that i didn't really care how it worked)
It doesn't matter if the unit isn't calibrated, as long as you are aware which light is correct for the mixture you wish to run..
The O2 sensors run from 0-1V, and you can make a test unit if you have a battery, a variable resistor, and a multimeter.. You can test the calibration of the supa-tuna (or any tuning lights) by applying different voltages between 0 and 1V to the signal wire of the tuning lights, and looking at what light is displayed.
It's useful to do that in any case as this verifies the integrity of the wiring to the unit.. If the lights are working as you apply voltage, the only thing left that can be at fault is the sensor.
To test the sensor, check out the bottom paragraph of this website: http://mr2.com/TEXT/O2_Sensor.html
If you look on youtube there is a couple of video's under "testing oxygen sensors" that show this being done.
If the sensor is oiled up, sometimes it will come good if you burn off the oily deposit while doing the test above, and it will work for a while longer.
I ended up making a break-out box on my tuning lights to enable me to check the voltage with the display still connected, this way i can check the entire circuit and accurately know which component is dodgy..
The only reason i ended up doing this was because the sensor i use now takes longer than the original to heat up, and after replacing the original sensor i thought i still had a fault.. At least because of this i ended up with a pretty good understanding of how the tuning lights work.. Just took me a while!
If you do some research into the tuning lights, there really isn't much of a mystery to how they work.. Jaycar sell a kit for $19 that will do the job if you can get hold of a sensor for free.. Good luck trying to package it as well as the supa-tuna though! But you can do an OK job for a fraction of the price..
You don't need to use the original sensor (or connectors, but that's another story), as long as the unit lights change over a range from 0-1V any narrow band sensor will be OK. You will need to work out the correct wires for the signal and reference circuits.
Without dirtying the waters too much, what Tom says is "kind of " right. There are a few critical issues that you will need to address
1. There are a few basic types of O2 sensor and they do operate slightly differently. The voltages are not as simple as 0-1V and you need to ensure that the Alfano unit is replaced with the same type. By this i mean that there are both Zirconium sensors and Titanium - VERY different. You will need Zirconium.
2. There are 2 methods of earthing with the sensors. and it is imperative that you use the isolated earth version.
3. There are also Wide and Narrow band, you need narrow band and will quickly discover that a wide band is around $400 for the sensor alone.
Without giving too many of my secrets away, if you're just looking for an indication, then there is no need to worry about calibration. I have spent many hours on both the dyno and the track developing my calibration points, specifically for performance. I do use some filtering and the output of the sensor is not linear ( it follows a lambda curve - hence the alternative name "lambda sensor".
The best sensors to use are either Denso ( ACA), what I use, or NTK easi tune etc. They are the only sensors I would recommend, as they are build to last. The Denso sensors have a special anti - fouling coating included in the design and vibration dampeners. These can be purchased for approx $100 ( trade price) but I buy them in QTY of 50 ish plus - and get them much cheaper.
IF you swap sensors, type or brand or age, you will get variations in the output. Again, if your just after an idea - then that is easy to work to. I would not recommend using old sensors, most cars in a car yard have over 50,000km and that is generally their life span - so your $20 bargain is just that !
As recent as last month, a set of my tuning lights has just made a world record for height in an ultralights over Europe over 16000ft. This is the second world record achieved using my lights and comes by no accident....
Anyway - off topic, and certainly not intended as a sales pitch.
If you decide to build your own, let me know and I will assist you any way i can.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Dave
David give your self a plug so people know were to get and how much
David Price said:Without dirtying the waters too much, what Tom says is "kind of " right. There are a few critical issues that you will need to address
1. There are a few basic types of O2 sensor and they do operate slightly differently. The voltages are not as simple as 0-1V and you need to ensure that the Alfano unit is replaced with the same type. By this i mean that there are both Zirconium sensors and Titanium - VERY different. You will need Zirconium.
2. There are 2 methods of earthing with the sensors. and it is imperative that you use the isolated earth version.
3. There are also Wide and Narrow band, you need narrow band and will quickly discover that a wide band is around $400 for the sensor alone.
Without giving too many of my secrets away, if you're just looking for an indication, then there is no need to worry about calibration. I have spent many hours on both the dyno and the track developing my calibration points, specifically for performance. I do use some filtering and the output of the sensor is not linear ( it follows a lambda curve - hence the alternative name "lambda sensor".
The best sensors to use are either Denso ( ACA), what I use, or NTK easi tune etc. They are the only sensors I would recommend, as they are build to last. The Denso sensors have a special anti - fouling coating included in the design and vibration dampeners. These can be purchased for approx $100 ( trade price) but I buy them in QTY of 50 ish plus - and get them much cheaper.
IF you swap sensors, type or brand or age, you will get variations in the output. Again, if your just after an idea - then that is easy to work to. I would not recommend using old sensors, most cars in a car yard have over 50,000km and that is generally their life span - so your $20 bargain is just that !
As recent as last month, a set of my tuning lights has just made a world record for height in an ultralights over Europe over 16000ft. This is the second world record achieved using my lights and comes by no accident....
Anyway - off topic, and certainly not intended as a sales pitch.
If you decide to build your own, let me know and I will assist you any way i can.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Dave
Thanks for all the advice. Greatly appreciated