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supercharger?

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Wow! That looks funky! I dont understand how that would work...
Whats the deal with the tube on the carb air filter opening and the extra fuel line input at the top..
 
I think it sucks fuel and blows air... makes the engine rev higher therefore more power. i guess.
 
jay3 said:
Wow! That looks funky! I dont understand how that would work...
Whats the deal with the tube on the carb air filter opening and the extra fuel line input at the top..
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An engine is essentially a big air pump. That's why on cars and RC's, people change the intake manifold, air intake, air filter, headers and exhaust as some of the first performance mods. The more air you move in and out, the more power you make. You also have to have the proper amount of fuel to match the air and keep the air/fuel ratio at the proper level for efficient combustion. The supercharger is forcing more air and fuel into the engine than the engine would normally intake through the carb with natural aspiration. That's the basic principal anyway, no one seems to have much real data on these things for RC's (that I have seen, anyway) I'm no RC guru, just an old school hot rod mechanic, so some other guys might have better information. As always, please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Well I would if I could. That is the same basic principle that I thought so i think it is correct. But sombody with more info about these things please feel free to speak up.
 
Well, welcome to the huge debate. I guess someone published an article which shows these superchargers really work. I can't remember who. I've had doubts. One big thing is cost vs. benefit. I've always thought that for the $180 you'd spend just on the supercharger, you could get a decently massaged engine which will most likely give you more overall performance.
 
here we go... Maybe but who knows. I guess the only way is to go out and buy one. I don't exactly have an overflowing rc budget but I urge sombody to try it. Well i am and i'm not. its kinda hard to explain but it would be cool if sombody tried it and told everybody how it worked. again not me but some brave hero will come along and be up to the challenge.
 
I would try searching, I believe lessen is doing a funny car project that I believe If not mistaken is using a supercharger. Check out the projects section, he's also a really knowledgeable guy,so flip through there.
 
Yeap Lessen is a good friend to many of us here, and most of my information on these superchargers comes from what I've seen when he took his apart, and from He and I talking back and fourth about all the problems, etc...
 
Thanks for the kind words fellas...

Yes, I am currently working on a big project that involves the use of a supercharger. However, I am not using a conventional 2-stroke nitro engine. It is my opinion that these superchargers do not produce enough positive results to justify the cost or weight. I would say it MAY BE FEASIBLE to get better results with some modifications but the plug and play units just aren't worth the $$.

My project car involves the use of a 4-stroke nitro engine, which IMO, is a completely different animal when it comes to forced induction. but if you're lookin for some quick field tests you wont' get it from me, at least not for a while. My project is in it's infancy and won't be running for quite some time.

To answer your original question about how they work... A supercharger pressurizes the combustion chamber on the intake stroke. Instead of the engine simply drawing in air via suction, the supercharger aids this by forcing air in under pressure. Since air would then be inside of the chamber under pressure that means that there is more volume of air. This in turn means there is a higher volume of oxygen. A higher volume of oxygen will require a higher volume of fuel to get an efficient burn. More oxygen + more air = larger combustion = more horsepower.
 
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yeah what he said. It's kinda like what I said, but it sounds way better coming from a genius than it does an old school hot rod mechanic. Thanks man, we needed the Lessen intelligence on this one, the Charlie intelligence just doesn't word things like you do.
 
From what I was told, a 2 stroke supercharger does essentially the same thing as leaning out your high speed needle. I may be wrong on that, but when you only have 1 piston you run the risk of detonation which will kill the mill fast.
 
Even if you did bother to fit a supercharger to a 2-stroke you would still need to tune for it. Just like weather change or fuel change. It would cerainly require a richer setting.
 
just don't supercharge a 2-stroke......the air gets forced out the Exhaust port on many engines as they have an overlap in teh timing.....meaning all the "pressurized" air isn't getting that pressurized in the combustion chamber, it's getting pushed out the Exhaust port and taking fuel with it.....4 stroke should work ALOT better and more like a real supercharger since you control the timing of the ports.....this is a nice novel idea and it looks cool as hell on a shelf queen and yes people have gotten them to run on R/C rigs....BUT they don't tell you what a PITA it is to re-tune and the effects of cooler air can cause you to lean bog much easier......since the air volume is slightly more dense than natural aspiration you do have higher O2 content and this content will still rise and fall based on air temp and will be exponentially greater or lesser than normal....meaning normally you'd turn your HSN maybe 1/8 turn at a time, now you'd need to be making much greater adj. each time you turn the HSN screw, sounds easy but it becomes a headache when you start chasing a tune.......this topic has been beaten to death and everyone interested should search it here (and on the interweb) for more info as this will cause all kinds of Bullshit stories to fly about a friends of their cousin's boss' neice has a supercharged maxx that goes lightspeed and arguments will ensue and Zandor will have to come out of retirement with his new OZEC crew and thump everyone in the head for being idiots......
 
Plaidfish said:
just don't supercharge a 2-stroke......the air gets forced out the Exhaust port on many engines as they have an overlap in teh timing.....meaning all the "pressurized" air isn't getting that pressurized in the combustion chamber, it's getting pushed out the Exhaust port and taking fuel with it.....4 stroke should work ALOT better and more like a real supercharger since you control the timing of the ports.....this is a nice novel idea and it looks cool as hell on a shelf queen and yes people have gotten them to run on R/C rigs....BUT they don't tell you what a PITA it is to re-tune and the effects of cooler air can cause you to lean bog much easier......since the air volume is slightly more dense than natural aspiration you do have higher O2 content and this content will still rise and fall based on air temp and will be exponentially greater or lesser than normal....meaning normally you'd turn your HSN maybe 1/8 turn at a time, now you'd need to be making much greater adj. each time you turn the HSN screw, sounds easy but it becomes a headache when you start chasing a tune.......this topic has been beaten to death and everyone interested should search it here (and on the interweb) for more info as this will cause all kinds of Bullshit stories to fly about a friends of their cousin's boss' neice has a supercharged maxx that goes lightspeed and arguments will ensue and Zandor will have to come out of retirement with his new OZEC crew and thump everyone in the head for being idiots......
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Plaid pinned the tail on the donkey here. The overlap in port timing happens soo fast on a 2 stroke its almost impossible to "Pressurize" the combustion chamber. And with the amount of fuel needed to keep your running temps down it wont all burn so raw fuel will be forced through the exhaust.
With a 4 Stroke motor "Timing" is controlable, allowing the combustion chamber to become "fully pressurized" before opening the exhaust port/valve. This gives a much larger volume or air/oxygen content giving a more powerful combustion forcing the piston down at a higher rate, which creates more torque.
 
ok yeah. Lots of contraversy. I would agree that they are bullsh**. What kind of cost would a 4-stroke run? not that I want one but compared to a 2 stroke.
 
to my knowledge, right now there is only one 4-stroke designed strictly for surface vehicles and that's the O.S. FS26S-C Version II. It's a $200 engine but generally takes a bit of customization in order to outfit it to just about anything.
 
Don't want to start an arguement Plaidfish but a few things to know :

Plaidfish said:
just don't supercharge a 2-stroke......the air gets forced out the Exhaust port on many engines as they have an overlap in teh timing
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All engines have overlap, this causes what is called a scavenging action which aids in fillng the chamber for combustion.

.....meaning all the "pressurized" air isn't getting that pressurized in the combustion chamber, it's getting pushed out the Exhaust port and taking fuel with it.....4 stroke should work ALOT better and more like a real supercharger since you control the timing of the ports
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On a 4-stroke you have a cam to control valve timing, a 2-stroke is done with the ports on the sleeve. The problem with r/c engines is that the ports are maximized for natural aspirated applications.

BUT they don't tell you what a PITA it is to re-tune and the effects of cooler air can cause you to lean bog much easier
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If the supercharger is actually working, the air charge temp will be higher not cooler. The problem with tuning is that you are forcing air under pressure through a carb that is meant to have air drawn through it.

......since the air volume is slightly more dense than natural aspiration you do have higher O2 content and this content will still rise and fall based on air temp and will be exponentially greater or lesser than normal....meaning normally you'd turn your HSN maybe 1/8 turn at a time, now you'd need to be making much greater adj. each time you turn the HSN screw, sounds easy but it becomes a headache when you start chasing a tune
Click to expand...

The biggest problem in chasing your tune with a glow fuel engine is the fact that you have almost no control over ignition timing. As the engine speeds up on a naturally aspirated engine, the timing can be advanced. The glow plug does this because the internal temp raises with rpm which heats the glow plug and ignites the fuel sooner.The supercharger increases boost as the engine revs higher, with higher pressure you get even higher temps which in turn requires the ignition timing to be retarded to prevent pre-ignition or detonation.

This supercharger,IMO, does not look like it would actually be able to make much if any boost pressure. I've been talking with Lessen about one of my long term projects, trying to develope one that will. Need pics hint, hint....

this topic has been beaten to death
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Yeah, but sometimes a good beating feels good! :)
 
Hey all yep i got the Supercharger. I installed it last night and i do see a difference in power. I have faster speeds and way faster acceleration. It only takes like 1/2 hour to install too thers a belt and it hooks on to the clutch bell adn when the clutch bell turns it turns the supercharger which then forces air into the engine faster and therefor more power!! I LOVE IT!! by the way i only spend 30 bucks on it i bought it off a firend of mine
 

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