Quantum Leaps

[KARNUT]

I read this several times to make sure I got it. I think I do but there I go thinking again. Gets me in trouble. 
 
I would expect your statement in bold is on the money. Longevity is the #1 reason for it's use and as you, I find it cost effective. I can't speak for you on this point however that even when I use it at much shorter intervals than Mr. Joe Consumer I still find it cost effective. I say this based on my habit of 5K changes which I do consider 'extended' compared to my 'father's day' 2-2.5K intervals. 
 
Part of Peppers mileage numbers do come, as you say, from a pace that would drive a Woodpecker nutty; but not all. I can directly attribute a good deal of her efficiency to Red Line lubricants properties and to the heat management methods employed to reap those benefits from viscosities and grades not recommended by the manufacture. In fact in direct violation of my warranty, which I never have worried about.  My speed aside Pepper's 'same speed' performance is a solid 5 mpg over the factory delivered values. That lone pays for my synthetic habit.
 
Quick story. I run 10W40 Red Line car oil in the motor of my 2005 Twin Cam Harley 88 and have from early on. She now has just under 50K on the clock. I run twin coolers and made a filter set up that allows filtration before cooling and a filter with a pint more capacity. Before Red Line I tried Screaming Eagle, Royal Purple and Amsoil, all 20W50 Motorcycle blends. Red Line in the same set up consistenly runs 10-15 degrees cooler than any of the others and 25 degrees cooler than Harley " 
 

I know what you mean about over thinking things. I know there are some people who come to these sites who know nothing about trucks. I mean nothing. So when they read a post saying stupid is as stupid does in regards to using synthetic (as an example) it could blow their mind. I understand your reasoning and respect it. I’ve been involved with hundreds of real world uses of synthetics. Its use has saved me and my customers thousands of dollars, it’s for real. Maybe people can’t wrap their minds around 20K oil changes, I get that. Using it like it’s conventional oil is foolish.


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[Grumpy Bear]

Stan it posted before I was finished. Hit a hot key or something. Read the last half. You'll get a chuckle. 

[Supreme Pizza]

Quantum Leaps

By Grumpy Bear, December 5, 2016 in Off-Topic 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

If you drag race your truck and contribute to that forum you get a round of applause whenever you set a new personal best and are asked about the details. 

 

If you tow and figure on a better way to skin your towing cat likewise. 

 

If you rock crawl...hit the dunes....desert race, ditto-ditto and done.  

 

Your in the big time if you install a million watt stereo they can hear on Mars.

 

Install the same Ol, same Ol list of modifications gets thousands of hits.  

 

If you squeeze and extra mpg from your rig and share the details.....well it doesn't get the same reception now does it? 

[swathdiver]

Nope but there are some who appreciate the work and knowledge made available.

[Grumpy Bear]

18 hours ago, swathdiver said:

Nope but there are some who appreciate the work and knowledge made available.

Then let's make some available. 

 

Part #1

 

We don’t drive on billiard tables and it’s a rare day that reflects Standard Atmospheric conditions. Fewer of those days are under calm winds. The OEM instrumentation displayed is crude and uncalibrated. There is variation in fill ups even at the same station using the same pump although it is much less doing so. Almost every piece a data you need to track your current conditions and improve them, if possible, is difficult to obtain and always under suspicion. Seems a hopeless task.

 

It’s not all bad news. The computer in your truck is a wealth of accurate information even if it displays it on your dash as trash. To retrieve it you will need a reliable retrieval device. Which one? Not the direction of this post and there are arguments for them all. My personal favorite is the Liner Logic Scan Gauge II with a host of additional X-Gauges installed.

 

A second piece of good news is the statistical knowledge needed to make sense of your readings isn’t hard. Fact is you likely already know the pieces and just never put them in order.

 

The third is time and mileage. The more data you collect the more refined your results. In fact with enough data your results have a dizzying probability for accuracy.

 

Fourth, your patients and desire to know a thing. You compile the data and make the comparisons to your notes. Stats sorts the trash.

 

Last but not least is the best news yet. Perfection is not the goal. Not in an absolute sense. LEXUS I believe use to have a commercial where the statement was made, “The relentless pursuit of perfection”. Robert Persig would have modified that to say, “The relentless pursuit of better”.   Better is good enough.

 

We need direction not perfection to improve anything. To do that we need a touchstone. A base line. Next post. If there is one.    

Edited July 26, 2018 by Grumpy Bear

[swathdiver]

Yes, I have lots of variations between the fuel pumped, the fuel used, the odometer and trip odometer, engine hours, trip time, etc.  I also have a Tech2 and can peer into the depths of my truck's computer and electrical system.

[Grumpy Bear]

Part 2.

 

It is said that you cannot measure a thing without changing it. The “Observer Effect” I believe it’s called. Often it is seen as a bad thing. My experience is that in this particular situation it is not. In fact the act of observation is a change of focus that almost by necessity results in a measureable increase just because you’re paying it some attention.

 

It was mentioned in part one that we need a touchstone; but giving this some though there is something else that precedes setting a benchmark that if left undone can undo your efforts. And what is that? Having and managing a reasonable expectation.

 

It is a big mistake to compare your results, both current and future on anything but your inputs, period. Different trucks. Different options. Different locations. Different fuels. Different duties and most importantly different drivers who have different preferences.

 

Noting will derail you faster than not living up to someone else’s results. Doesn’t matter if theirs are better or worse. The result is the same. You become either disillusioned or apathetic and you quit looking. I can’t get there or there is nothing left to gain.

 

You have to get rid of the idea that improvement must be cost effective as well. Sounds silly I know but education is never ever free nor does what you learn in the process evaporate when your project is completed. I’ve put about 50,000 unnecessary miles on Pepper burning up gas to learn what she likes and doesn’t like to save some fuel I can never ever recover; on that project. I also have a nine year old very low mile pristine Buick that has benefited from every lesson I’ve learned without sacrificing a single mile or drop of fuel by applying that education of Pepper to Daisy (the Lacrosse’s name).

 

I'm almost never doing what it looks like I'm doing nor doing just one thing with the current effort.    

[KARNUT]

Part 2.

 
It is said that you cannot measure a thing without changing it. The “Observer Effect” I believe it’s called. Often it is seen as a bad thing. My experience is that in this particular situation it is not. In fact the act of observation is a change of focus that almost by necessity results in a measureable increase just because you’re paying it some attention.
 
It was mentioned in part one that we need a touchstone; but giving this some though there is something else that precedes setting a benchmark that if left undone can undo your efforts. And what is that? Having and managing a reasonable expectation.
 
It is a big mistake to compare your results, both current and future on anything but your inputs, period. Different trucks. Different options. Different locations. Different fuels. Different duties and most importantly different drivers who have different preferences.
 
Noting will derail you faster than not living up to someone else’s results. Doesn’t matter if theirs are better or worse. The result is the same. You become either disillusioned or apathetic and you quit looking. I can’t get there or there is nothing left to gain.
 
You have to get rid of the idea that improvement must be cost effective as well. Sounds silly I know but education is never ever free nor does what you learn in the process evaporate when your project is completed. I’ve put about 50,000 unnecessary miles on Pepper burning up gas to learn what she likes and doesn’t like to save some fuel I can never ever recover; on that project. I also have a nine year old very low mile pristine Buick that has benefited from every lesson I’ve learned without sacrificing a single mile or drop of fuel by applying that education of Pepper to Daisy (the Lacrosse’s name).
 
I'm almost never doing what it looks like I'm doing nor doing just one thing with the current effort.    

Maybe related. When I retired and finished the list that every person has waiting for them when they retire I started thinking ok what next. I just purchased a new trip vehicle and wanting to drive around a bit, I encountered a problem that usually surfaces being a bit OCD. I’m not real good at wasting money. Every thing has to have some kind of purpose. UBER. So I have an excuse to drive and get paid for it! Fast forward two years. OCD, I ended up with tons of miles on my ride, it became a 7-5, five day a week job and I started to hate driving. And the kicker, It cost me about 1K over all not counting depreciation. The conclusion, at least for me. After helping grow a family business, and always putting family first. It’s okay to just go for a ride.


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[Grumpy Bear]

Part 3

 

Setting a bench mark. Obviously I can’t cover every possible scenario imaginable. That said, as a general rule your vehicle will peak part throttle fuel efficiency somewhere between 43 and 63 mph. That is to say; the lowest speed it will maintain high gear smoothly and some rpm on the fuel spark map that gives best lean mixture power without using too much fuel pushing air and AFM active if so equipped.

 

For trucks that number is a bit lower even if the drag coefficient is reasonable. They still have a large  frontal area. For Pepper that number fell between 45 and 53 mph, 43 to be exact.

 

This number was found driving two way averages over a short distance of as level a piece a road as I could find fully warmed up on a warm day in dead air. Don’t kid yourself this isn’t a once an done task. It’s a process of mapping and what it delivers is the absolute best mileage you could ever obtain if everything went perfect.

 

While 43 was the best mpg speed it is in fact too slow for day in and day out driving meaning we’ve come to our first compromise which goes toward the point of ‘reasonable expectations”.

 

Locally I’ve found 50-53 (mph) a good pace on state and federal highways and 55-60 adequate on the local Interstates. That’s me, others in other places might find these numbers too slow or perhaps too fast for given terrains. But pick a number you must IF you would like to get the most you can for your situation because as you’re going to learn that number isn’t going to happen over the long run. Thing is, you still need it reference your progress.

 

The instant reset features of the Scan Gauge II make this an easier task. I cannot comment on other tools such as the Tech II or Diablo dash board. Hit reset when you enter your test length and allow it to stabilize then read and record. Repeat in the opposite direction and average. Do as many as it takes to get a repeatable number. 

 

Next post will explore the primary reason this number is unobtainable for these conditions for more than a the test length. 

Edited August 1, 2018 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

Part 4

 

The red line is the base line you set as a snapshot of your motors fuel economy at some speed you’ve chosen to target. For this example I chose my 50 mph number of 33.5 mpg.

 

Remember this is the number you gathered on a level road and on windless day averaged two ways. It should make sense that this number is unlikely as you don’t start the day fully warmed up and at speed. What might not seem as likely is the degree this degrades your mileage. That would be the orange line. Every day, every cold start that is starts as a zero mpg situation. The rate of rise towards your perfect number is a constant. Same constant used for electric motor acceleration or ignition coil rate of saturation. The mechanical time constant. The electrical time constant. The thermal time constant.

 

This rule states the in one period of time “T” you will reach 63.2% of the terminal number. During the second “T” 63.2% of the remianing number is accomplished. Third, ditto. Same idea as the frog jumping half way to the wall with every jump. In theory the frog can never reach the wall. In this rule it is commonly acknowledged that 13 periods of “T” is 99.9999% and effectively six periods gives 99.8% of the terminal value. This chart shows six periods.

 

We need to know the area under the orange curve. Just too wet the appetite 13 periods of “T” would allow 92.55% of the area to be covered or 31.0 mpg. (Imagine those two converging line driven to the right side of this chart). 

 

For six points the area under the curve and it is in fact 84.47% of 33.5 mpg or a maxium possible of 28.3 mpg IF you drive a distance of six “T”. So what makes up “T” in this case? That will be the subject of the next post.

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Part 5

 

The value of “T”, literally time. Time in seconds or time in units of distance at a fixed velocity. Time in units of fuel per distance.The value of or the length of time per unit depends on warm up rate. Warm up is an elusive word in this context.

 

When we begin with a cold motor what do we mean by cold. How cold and by what measure. Temperature? How about viscosity.

 

In our previous graph we explored the thermal constant in terms of percentage per unit time or “T” and we did sample based on 33.5 mpg steady state. We looked at how the warm up, oragne line, takes away area under the curve to leave a smaller value for MPG.

 

Picture that orange line starting at zero on both the X and Y axis and proceedeing straight up the Y to intersect the X depicted at the red line with the smallest possbile radius to follow right at their intersect. That would be a perfect warm up with 99.9999% of the area under the curve. What prevents that from happening?

 

Several things. Viscosity is huge amoung them. Hand in glove with not just temperature but rather the Delta temperature. Use your mental blackboard for this…..

 

When the motor is fully warmed up the viscosity is at whatever value was that gave us 33.5 MPG steady state so it isn’t the second number that determines the area under the curve but the first number. That number is tied directly to the fluids/oils temperatuere.

 

Whatever the air temperature is; by default is the temperature of the fluid of a cold motor and that’s what we mean by a cold motor.

One whose fluids are at equalibrium with the surounding air temperature. That number can be anything and the visicosity will be the value it is for that temperautre FOR that first number on the bottle/can. We have references for several in the data sheets. 100C, 40C, CCS and so on.

 

That’s one lever for “T”. Viscosity. The other is Delta T. The greater the delta between the fluid and the heating/cooling medium the more rapid the rate of rise. It’s what I love about in the radiator tank heater/cooler units. We get to use part of the heat of the fuel we burn to heat the fluids to operating temperatueres more rapidly than the ambinent air or conduction cold alone. The only difference between a heater and cooler is the direction of the heat transfer. It always goes from hot to cold. It’s the law.

 

Some perspective. 5W30. The 30 is the number when married to the fuel and spark maps that determines how high the bar is (red line). The 5 is the number that helps us get to that number fast so we can harvest the highest area under the curve. You motor oil, your transmission fluids. Transfer case. Diffs. Wheel bearings. 

 

We can assist or hinder with coolers and heaters.

 

Give this some thought. If you buy a tune for MPG your working the height of the bar and paying what? Several hundred for that? Their is little fat left after Detroit gets done with it. Their can be allot of fat in the lubrication and thermal management of those systems. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Part 6

 

Same information expressed two different ways. One is not miles per gallon but miles to gallons. The graph that shows a slope defines “T” in that the steeper the slope the more rapid the heat up and thin out of the affected fluids.

 

The second graph takes that information and displays it in terms per ‘per unit’ insteaed of ‘additive progressive’. It shows the effects of in MPG per quarter gallon fuel used. Literally it is a map of the condtions this five gallan distance was driven under. It shows changes of elevation, wind speed and direction as well as speed limits and traffic patterns. Oh and your ability to concentrate on the task at hand.

 

By the time one has a peak line minus the thermal constant minuse the traffic and terrian….well you can see that the peak point is impossible but it is a grand reference and one you can do several things with to improve your reslut.

 

First you have a tool to identify which area of operation or operting conditions you have room to improve in and second define the degree of influence you have over that parameter.

 

If this makes any sense to you will come to the same conclusions I have. That’s the thing about physics and math. There is only one solution to a paticular problem set but there an unlimited number of comprimises.

 

I’ll list a few in the next post.   

 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Part 7

 

In part 4 this graph was shown and calculated to the 6th point. I’ve now extended that point to the 13th to show that time helps gain percentage under the curve. Increased to 92.6% from 84.5% I nice 8% bump.

 

The white unsmoothed line represents five cold starts each three periods in length with partial credit given to point five and the area under the curve calculated at 59.7% or reducing the MPG for this tank from 33.5 to 20.0 mpg.

 

So what are we looking at when we combine all seven post.

 

1.)        An Ideal value. Effects of base fuel/spark/set up mapping and conditions.

2.)        Effects of personal habits and choices.  

3.)        Effects of the thermal constant.

4.)        Effects of fluids, coolers and heaters on the thermal constant.

5.)        Effects of wind, terrain, traffic and all other non-vehicle friction and losses

6.)        Effects of the number of stop/start cold cycles.

 

Most who have observed Peppers progress dwell on point #2, primarily speed and have assigned all progress to that point alone. While it’s a big one no doubt; better than 75% of the increases have come from all other categories EXCEPT category #1. I have not altered the mapping. What I have done is work the map to her advantage.

 

After choosing the preferred speed on the fuel/spark mapping, which maximizes AFM time on, consideration was given to fluids and heat up to maximize the orange lines area under the curve left of the sixth value of T. Then to the length of each drive needed to maximize the area under the curve, area right of the sixth T. Planned trip routes, times and days to use terrain and weather to her advantage. Avoid cyclic cold starts. Avoid useless idling.

 

Practice the choices until they are unconscious-automatic.

 

Move your focus from how high you can set the bar to how much of the area under the bar you’re going to be permitted to keep.

 

There is more to it than a multi-hundred dollar tune and driving like Mr. Magoo.

 

 

Edited August 7, 2018 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

Part 8

 

In the late 70's I did what they call the "Iron Butt". Then the object of the game was to log 1,000 miles in under 24 hours certified by a participating Harley Davidson Dealer. I did it on a 76 FXE logging 1056 miles in 22 hours and six minutes. That's a road average of 47.8 mph. I spent one hour down due to a snapped speedo cable I had to source on a Sunday and two hours due to fog.  Sans those key off events my road speed was 55.3 mph. The kicker was I never drove faster than 60 mph.  Every three hours in the saddle I took a fuel break of under 15 minutes. Fuel, pee and a cuppa. Serious seat time. I spent two days in bed afterward. Young and dumb. Mind numbingly stupid. 

 

Ever been on a cross country where the same guy for an entire day passes you like six times and is always blowing by you 20 over your speed? Day started with both of you eating breakfast in the same choke and puke and ending at the same Motel 6? 

 

A lower but steady speed where you stay in the saddle will get you there just as quick and use way less fuel. 

 

In my youth I did 500-800 a day for weeks at a time...on a bike. I traveled much and saw little. These days 350 miles is a good day. I see everything. Talk to people. Eat something other than dried fruit from the pocket of my leathers and water from a botta bag. See things. Get way better fuel economy. Machines last longer and are way less trouble. 

 

60 mpg on an Interstate will give much better fuel economy than 60 mph on a state highway. Your only interruptions come when you have a need.