Using magnets to improve fuel economy

[SVOboy]

<a href=http://www.tinet.org/~sje/mag_fuel.htm target=_blank>Magnet Theory</a>
Check it out, it's good information. It seems like good thing to try out, and only for a few bucks too.

[kickflipjr]

If magnets did help get 1 or 2 mpg on cars dont you think they would put them on cars from the factory? Because it is really cheap and easy.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by kickflipjr

If magnets did help get 1 or 2 mpg on cars dont you think they would put them on cars from the factory? Because it is really cheap and easy.

That is, of course, the logical argument that keeps me from trying a lot of these modifications. I remember a while ago asking the same thing about the "fuel vaporizer." "If a $100 contraption can increase fuel economy by 50%, why don't car manufacturers install them when they build the car?"

Using Occam's Razor, the answer is simple. The reason they arn't installed on cars is because they don't work. I guess the same can be said about magnets.

Seriously though, if Honda invests MILLIONS of dollars developing a car that gets 50mpg (the Civic Hybrid) why NOT just simply install simple little devices that do the same thing?

I guess this is where people argue about what works and what doesn't work. But then again, some of these tricks apparently DO work, as can be seen by people who achieve 40+mpg in cars rated to do 25 or so. It can't ALL be driving style.

So that brings me back to the point of the thread. I can't know for sure what works and what doesn't. I've never seen data either way. Some people say it works, others say, "no way." I'd like to find out for myself and post the results on this website so curious people in the future no longer have to rely on hearsay or speculation to determine if something really works or not.

[SVOboy]

The way I think about it is this:

Why didn't VW make a fin like Ernie Rogers uses if it decreases drag and increase mpg by so much, when it would be easy for them to make? No one wants a car that looks weird or has a bunch of "abnormal" stuff on it that take replacing and what not. And for things like acetone, they just can't do that.

[Matt Timion]

I can see how this line of thinking makes sense for fins, or even hydrogen boost generators.

Adding a simple magnet, however, wouldn't even be noticable. They could even make it inline with the fuel line and no one would ever see it.

I guess this is when the magnet people start with the anti-magnet government conspiracy.

Seriously though, I just wish some people would use real scientific tests to prove or disprove their claims.

[SVOboy]

I'm going to swing by radioshack one of these days when I'm getting into the acetone test so I can buy some magnets and have them ready by the time I start the magnet test, which will come after acetone. So I can make a DIY with pictures and stuff for putting them together and all that. I think I know what I'm doing pretty much now that I've read enough about it.

[SVOboy]

Well, I stumbled across this and now I wish I hadn't trashed all those old hard drives, mehbe I can get some somewhere for free, prolly. This guy got a 10% increase and he's saying that the products you can buy are crap, while making your own will work, so that gives it some credit for me.

<a href=http://www.benzworld.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1225917&posts=6&fid=14 target=_blank>Magnets on a 190D</a>

[mneofreek]

I was thinking that it would be a good idea to glue magnets to the outside of the fuel filter to pick up any loose particles that might be floating in the gas. It might help to keep the fuel injectors cleaner which would improve gas mileage. This is actually what I had thought the magnets were used for before I had read up on them more.

[Flatland2D]

I initially thought the same thing about magnets, but the idea of using them as another filter would only work on metals that are attracted to magnetics.

Welcome to the forum!

[Matt Timion]

I also read that gasoline is not attracted to magnets at all. In other words, it is not magnetic.

People have been talking about the amazing power of magnets since the 50s. People sell blankets with magnets in them that heal your sore muscles, etc. They have special magnetic headbands to cure your headache.

Now, I know enough about physics to understand that our entire existance is due to magnetic forces. The very existance of linear time is due to magnetic forces (ala The Theory of Relativity). So I can understand how there could actually be truth to some of this.

That being said, I have my BA in Psychology and am currently applying for graduate programs in Psychology. This doesn't make me an expert, but I also understand how the placebo effect works, and how believing something works usually means it will work (on some small level). Combine that with the above paragraph, and I can see how people would easily believe in the magical power of magnets.

Think of it this way. I have a refridgerator full of magnets... Nothing magical happens there. :-P

I wonder though... assuming that magnets actually work, why can't we construct a very small electro-magnet off of a 12v power source and have it switch on when the car is started? It will be more powerful than any of the other magnets available, and will be very cool to boot :P