Ecotek CB-26P, Fart Your Way To Using Less Fuel (Other Car Accessories)

Member Name: Nibelung

Product:	Other Car Accessories
Date:	21/11/02 (2091 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Genuine savings to be had., Easy to fit, and tranferrable, Easy to tune

Disadvantages: Increased noise level, which improves with passage of time.

Incidentally, a propos my title, I'm not suggesting that you try to bottle your own "LPG".

If you input "fuel saving device" into Google, a goodly list of widgets results. Many of these refer to the application of a strong magnet clamped to the fuel line of the car. Apparently, this is something to do with re-alignment of the fuel molecules to make them burn better. Whilst this is an interesting concept, something inside me keeps saying "if it's that easy to make a car more economical, why don't the manufacturers do it?"

I looked into many of the web-sites selling magnets, and just couldn't convince myself that this would be upwards (some a long way upwards!) of £30 well spent. Most made some mention of the possibility of the car's mileage per gallon getting worse before it got better for anything up to 1,500 miles - something to do with a cleaning process having to take place, removing performance-sapping gums and "varnishes" from the innards of the engine. Personally, this wait-and-see approach makes me suspicious. Will the awaited improvement just be a welcome return to normal after the "cleansing" has taken place? Coupled with the fact that the DTI test centre results weren't THAT favourable, and on some websites, not even in evidence, I sidelined these to the "copper bracelet for rheumatism sufferers" category. Maybe with a bit more data, I could get interested again.

ECOTEK CB-26P

One device which sounded more convincing, with DTI test results showing some impressively consistent improvements was the Ecotek CB-26P* (Cleanburn for engines up to 2.6 litre). Likewise, their website www.cleanburn.co.uk had links to testimonials from all over the motoring press.

*If you have a larger engine or a V-formation block, then two of these may be needed.

Be warned - these only work with petrol engines, and possibly those petrol-engine

s fuelled by LPG too.

SO HOW DOES THIS DIFFER FROM A MAGNET?

It isn't one! Its installation has nothing to do with fuel lines. In appearance, it looks a bit like one of those plumb-it-yourself tap kits for connecting a washing machine to an existing pipe.

It fits into the hose of the vacuum pipe leading from the engine's inlet manifold, (where the air intake meets the engine block) to the brake servo. Cars with assisted brakes, i.e. most of them these days, use the semi-vacuum generated by lifting your right foot off the accelerator whilst the engine is running, to "suck" on a diaphragm which in turn reduces the pedal effort required to apply the brakes. This pipe is normally a rubber hose, and therefore it is easy to introduce the CB-26P into this line, using a knife and a couple of hose clips, without having to be a Ferrari pit mechanic. You are advised to keep the distance between the device and the inlet manifold as short as you can. If you are willing to give it a go, but are unsure as to which hose I mean, first find the brake servo. This is a skillet-sized drum, usually black, with the brake fluid reservoir sticking out of it, normally bolted to the rear engine bulkhead above the driver's pedals. Follow any rubber hoses of say 0.75" diameter back to the engine. Beware of rigid metal ones - these could be the brake lines. For obvious reasons, do NOT puncture or cut any of these!

THE PRINCIPLE

A car engine at normal working temperature is powered by supplying a regulated fuel-air mixture to the upper cylinders in "aerosol" form. Even so, some of the larger droplets of fuel that don't get fully mixed, get wasted as unburned hydrocarbons, exiting through the exhaust pipe and polluting the atmosphere unnecessarily. So much effort has been put into smoothing the air-flow through an engine these days, that maybe the need to create a uniform "aerosol" of combustible
fuel has been lost along the way. The CB-26P seeks to redress this balance by introducing a pulsating shockwave into the airflow to pulverise any over-sized fuel droplets, thereby ensuring that they stand more chance of getting burned. The shock wave is created by allowing a tiny amount of extra air to bleed into the car's inlet manifold via the device, which acts like a musical reed. Ecotek call this "Swirl Technology". The small airflow (about 5% of total) is regulated by a one-way valve, which is held closed by a retaining spring to allow for different amounts of air to leak in under different vacuum conditions. This induction does lead to some curious sound effects, which range from raspberries to "Bronx Cheers"! Ecotek have thought of that. They have collaborated with Piper X, the manufacturers of sports air filters to produce a filter/silencer.

FITTING IT AND TUNING IT

Fitting is a piece of cake. Make a cut in your vacuum hose, preferably less than 15" from the inlet manifold. Cut away about one more inch of rubber to create a gap. Fit the device to both bare ends of hose, and secure with hose (Jubilee) clips. If you can, tilt the top of the device away from the car's cabin - it does still make some noise in use, even with the filter fitted. This does quieten after a running-in period.

Tuning is equally easy. Warm up the car with the device fitted. Initially, screw the air valve down to its minimum setting - you will also need to do this every time a dealer services or tunes the car. Then open it up until it "farts" whilst the car is idling - gently screw it back down until the flatulaence ceases. Close it by one further quarter of a turn, and lock it in place with the second locking nut. Then put the air filter back on. It is the very "farting" noise and more melodic resonances that creates those shock waves in the airflow.

Now sit back and enjoy the added flexibility it
seems to give your engine. Smile smugly as you consider the lowered emissions emanating from your exhaust. Revel in not going to your favourite petrol station quite so often. What? Less Air Miles?

According to Ecotek, insurers do not regard this as a modification. I checked with mine and they were OK.

THE SAVINGS AND OTHER BENEFITS

Firstly, let's deal with those emissions. According to data, this device can make some un-catalysed cars pass the MOT emissions test for catalysed cars, and has been known to make some catalysed cars register so little in the way of noxious gases that one mechanic was moved to venture the opinion "What's it running on mate? Water?" At idle speeds, i.e. when in a jam, emissions are the only factor that the device can improve, but start to move away, and other benefits come on stream.

Many testimonials comment of the removal of "flat spots" in the "rev-range" and that the engine seems more "free-revving". Many of these delighted boy racers fail to improve on their miles per gallon - too bloody busy beating people away from the lights, I guess!

It does however seem, (and this is my field of interest), that anything up to 20% better mileage can be achieved, with maximum improvement going to those who cruise all day on motorways. I have to say that claims to make a car SEEM smoother running are purely subjective, and I don't lay any great store by them. After all, for some obscure reason, newly polished cars always SEEM to run smoother, but we all know that this can't be right - it's probably just that they just bring out the "chauffeur" in us!

The claimed savings as recorded by the DTI were:-

Carbon Dioxide emissions - down 21%
Carbon Monoxide emissions - down 27.91%
Unburned Hydrocarbons - down 4.76%
Nitrous Oxide emissions - down 21.1%
Nitric Oxide emissions - down 17.08%
Fuel Consumption
- down 21.83%

These weren't freak or laboratory results. They are an aggregate of
several runs around the city of Bedford, with and without the device. Therefore, they can be regarded as a true urban cycle, if ever there was one!

At least four of the above gases are, according to my limited memories of "O" Level Chemistry, producers of acid rain when dissolved in air, and of course, anything that reduces CO2 production is more than welcome on board HMS Earth. The interesting part of these figures for most people will of course be the fuel saving, the others being "nice to haves". It is also interesting that whilst it only cut wasted fuel down by 4.76%, consumption was cut by 21.83%, so I presume from this disparity, that the Ecotek device must have been instrumental in the more efficient burning of ALL the fuel, not just the potential waste.

ON TEST

This was always going to be the difficult one - getting a direct comparison of like for like journeys at similar speeds. It probably pays to run several tank-to-tank checks prior to fitting the device, and then afterwards as well. In my case, aggregating these results produced what appears to be a 10% saving in fuel. Since a tank full costs me around £33 at the moment, then I'm saving over £3.30 per occasion. Therefore, the claw-back period will come in around the twentieth tank-full, which, with my modest domestic mileage, will take 5 months. Noise levels from the device have descended to almost non-existent levels as the one-way valve beds in after 1,000 or so miles. The oscillation is no longer taking place against bare metal - it actually seems to benefit from getting a bit oily and grubby to cushion the contact. Even before then, it's not too bad with the engine compartment closed and the filter fitted. You only really hear it briefly as the revs die down to an idle as you stop, and with the radio on, you can't hear it at all. All parts ar
e removable and washable in warm soapy water.

Beware of using any on-board fuel computer your car may have to monitor progress. If yours seems to show a definite improvement in MPG , then fine. If it doesn't, don't
worry - you haven't been sold a "pup" - it's more likely to be the way in which your computer meters fuel usage from manifold pressure rather than actual flow of liquid fuel in the supply pipe. You should always double-check using a tank-to-tank check of litres bought for distance achieved*, which is the most accurate method anyway. Ecotek undertake to give you your money back if not satisfied, so you've little to lose except the barked knuckles that always arise as soon as I lift a bonnet lid and do anything other than check the oil!

* You can convert litres to Imperial Gallons by dividing by 4.5872 (there are about 1.09 gallons to every 5 litres)

WILL IT SUIT MY CAR?

Ecotek have an on-line forum, with an aim of answering all technical queries within one working day. The site contains the details of fitment on many cars already, depending on geeks like me to supply the detail including pictures! You could do worse than ask the forum. You can now view the installation details written by me, with pictures from my new digital camera at http://www.ecotekplc.com/more_cars_19.htm#Yaris. All my own work!

I had two concerns before parting with my "readies", both of which were answered efficiently and accurately. Firstly, I asked whether the loss of some vacuum would make my brakes feel heavier, but apparently, the amount of loss is so small as to be unnoticeable, and in any case, the vacuum produced is way in excess of the needs of the braking system. Secondly I asked whether playing around with the manufacturer's preferred air/fuel ratio might cause engine damage by running the car too "lean", i.e. too much air/too little fuel. It seems that because of the e
nhanced combustion of previously wasted fuel, it would NOT be running any leaner, despite the extra air input
.

HOW MUCH IS IT?

Initial costs are £48.99 for a basic unit in anodised gold finish. Then, a matching Piper X air filter adds £21.80 to this price. If you feel that you could get away without the silencer (if the unit is at the far front of the car, for instance) then you could hang back and order the latter after the event. However, "flash gits" who are trying to colour-co-ordinate their engine compartments to concourse standards, can also order metallic blue or red "combos" - how sad is that? These would set you back £75 including the filter. In these cases, you can't buy the filter as an afterthought. You can even lash out on an all-chrome one should you have a disparity in your "IQ/spending power" ratio....er.... more money than sense.

As I mentioned before, it comes with a no-quibble, money back guarantee, and is also guaranteed unconditionally against failure for two years. Buying from their website is handled by Worldpay, a secure server. They send you an immediate e-mail confirmation and order reference number. Delivery must have been almost by return of post.

Oh yes, and if you're none too handy, there is a list of dealers on the website who can arrange both supply and fitment too.

CONCLUSION

Given one or too concerns over slightly increased noise levels, which could be more intrusive perhaps on a luxury car rather than on my Toyota Yaris T-Sport, with its somewhat "buzzy" engine, I have no hesitation in recommending this as fit for purpose to anyone a bit handy, who a) wants to save petrol, and b) to a lesser extent, the planet.

In case anyone is wondering why, if they are so good, aren't these devices fitted to all cars, Ecotek are in talks with at least one manufacturer to get this device recognised as an approved accessory. Th
e fact that it may be audible wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but the sort of person who likes to hear the noise of turbo-chargers probably wouldn't object.

How long it takes to "cost in" depends on your driving habits and style. My wife's Smart, for instance, was projected by Ecotek's own tame Smart dealer to save only 7% fuel, which considering it can achieve 60 mpg without too much effort, means that £70 is going to take a long while to claw back, especially since she only drives 5,000 miles per annum in it.

There are so any testimonials and pictures from articles in the motoring press on the website, that it would be convincing enough, without the addition of the DTI's own (former, now privatised) Warren Springs test centre results. With them, the evidence is compellingly in favour of fitting a CB-26P, as long as the noise doesn't put you off.

Now, I wonder if I were to add one of those fridge magnets as well............no, forget I even mentioned it!

CONFESSION TIME

I WAS that sad git who bought a metallic blue one just to match the car!

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