Acetone

[GasSavers_Antoine]

Let me add my grain of salt here ! Being a non-beleiver in any additives after many past experimentations without any effect on FE, not knowing why... I tried acetone last winter and... oh surprise I got 8-10 % improvement. What was my scientific method ? Well the best one .... feeling !!!!! Well not exactly, but I usually know in advance the FC I will get on a tank just by the way I drive and the route I take, speed, etc... And I rarely miss since 40 years. But when I do miss, I have to know why... and last fall-winter, I saw this 10% improvement... so I knew there was something different.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I'm not sure if Trebuchet was suggesting we lose fuel to evaporation if the tank isn't used up quickly? We'll have to wait until he chimes in again. I was under the impression modern cars have closed fuel systems.
e.

Slaps hand on forehead.... sorry for the memory lapse there I was in 50's panel truck mode (my father's restoration project) You're 100% right - my apologies :P

What is the lowdown on fuel system and/or engine damage? Isn't acetone the main ingredient in some type of commonly-found-in-the-gas-station engine maintenance fuel additive?(fuel injector cleaner?) And if so I assume that adding a few ounces to ten gallons of fuel can't possibly have a short term effect (I guess we might start asking questions about long term effects once the results are in)

I'm going to say damage is little to 0. Testing yourself is very easy -- just make sure to use fuel system hose - as it's not exactly rubber (I'm fairly certain it's a neoprene)

As far as the A-B-A testing, I can see why getting that second A would be very desirable, but is it necessary in order to get the test off the ground? Would the results from a first round of A-B tests with multiple makes/models in different climates it be significant enough to prove verifiable and repeatable effect?

No - think of it as the placebo test. You can get quite drastic before after results just by taking a placebo - this is why pharm. testing uses blind/double blind testing. The best test is more than one A-B-A cycle - to verify your results are consistent.

[Bill in Houston]

I stiil think that I could be convinced by a series of A-B tests, if it was on a flat stretch of road, using a scangauge and cruise control. But that's just me.

[GasSavers_Phoenix]

What about distance? I saw a test where someone was talking about 100 miles or so... I was thinking more like 6 miles total in a bi-directional run. Does that seem too short?
oh...and trebuchet03, when you said "just make sure to use fuel system hose - as it's not exactly rubber (I'm fairly certain it's a neoprene)" Did you mean to deliver the acetone to the tank? If so, why not a long funnel?

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

oh...and trebuchet03, when you said "just make sure to use fuel system hose - as it's not exactly rubber (I'm fairly certain it's a neoprene)" Did you mean to deliver the acetone to the tank? If so, why not a long funnel?

No, I was talking about if you wanted to do your own testing on how acetone effects fuel system components (damage wise) This way you don't find any old piece of rubber (from say... an old shoe) and assume it's the same material as your fuel lines et. al. components.

[rvanengen]

Why not have someone do a bench test on a couple different engines running in a lab setting. Doing so , you have controlled temperature, humidity, traffic, lead-foot syndrome, and the placebo effect, resulting in documented results.

Then if you are a believer, you have proof...and if you are a skeptic, you have proof.

--Randall
Concord, NC

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by rvanengen

Why not have someone do a bench test on a couple different engines running in a lab setting. Doing so , you have controlled temperature, humidity, traffic, lead-foot syndrome, and the placebo effect, resulting in documented results.

Then if you are a believer, you have proof...and if you are a skeptic, you have proof.

--Randall
Concord, NC

Like this?

I've been trying to find a paper published by them... but I've only found that teaser news article

[kwtorbe]

I tried acetone for one tank in my HX. It is the tank that I got 43mpg in instead of 45....Boooo to acetone for my car anyway...

[ELF]

Originally Posted by kwtorbe

I tried acetone for one tank in my HX. It is the tank that I got 43mpg in instead of 45....Boooo to acetone for my car anyway...

This is why acetone has a lot of negative feedback IMO , people try it once and that particular tank ends up as less mpg. One tank either up or down would not be proof that something is or is not working. Beside that fact that every tank your mpg will vary. The point is they try it once and come to there own conclusion that its not working, instead of trying another tank, or try a different amount or even a different brand of acetone.

[GasSavers_Phoenix]

Vehicle prepped by running as close to E as possible and then adding 10.5 gallons to tank plus 2 gallons in a potable tank placed in vehicle that is mixed @ 2 oz acetone to 1 gal gas.

"A-A-A" each "A" consisting of a pair of bi-directional 2.6 miles runs, 5.2 per set
At end of "A-A-A", estimated 20.64 miles traveled (plus another 4 to get to the track, and considering that my vehicle gets about 25 miles to the gallon), tank should be down to about 9.5 gal

"B-B" same runs but with 2 quarts of premixed gas first added to tank, bringing the fuel in tank back up to about ten gallons and a total concentration 1 oz acetone per ten gallons
At end of set B-B, estimated 13.75 miles traveled on track, tank should be down to about 9.5 gal

"C-C" started by adding 2 quarts of premixed gas added to tank, total concentration 2 oz per ten gallons
At end of set C-C, estimated 13.75 miles traveled on track, tank should be down to about 9.5 gal

"D-D" started by adding 2 quarts of premixed gas added to tank, total concentration 3 oz per ten gallons
At end of set D-D, estimated 13.75 miles traveled on track, tank should be down to about 9.5 gal

"E-E" started by adding 2 quarts of premixed gas added to tank, total concentration 4 oz per ten gallons
At end of set E-E, estimated 13.75 miles traveled on track, tank should be down to about 9.5 gal

The idea is to see if there is any real change using acetone, and if so can the curve I saw at be recreated. Unfortunately, the best I can come up with for getting back to "A" again is to come back another day a fresh tank or two later and Repeat the same "A-A-A" test and then repeating the same concentration that yielded the best result and comparing the difference.

The other idea I had was to do this same test except with only one gallon initially added (instead of 10.5). I thought the unknown amount of fuel in the tank would pose a problem by being a relatively much larger amount to skew the concentration of acetone, but the benefit would be that after test "E-E" it would not take long to run the tank empty and then go for a full refill to get a return to "A" on the same day and conditions. BUT, although it would be heavily diluted, there again is the unknown quantity of fuel and acetone left in the tank even after running it out of gas.

This would take a lot of time to do so I am hoping for a critique BEFORE I commit to explaining to my wife where I will be this Sunday