General Engine Tuning Warning!
Modifying an engine, carburettor, airfilter, exhaust... can result in: higher performance, reduced performance, or engine failure.
If engine failure occurs, it will be due to an incorrect setup - either a single wrong element, or multiple wrong elements.
Therefore, the engine tuner bears full responsibility for the failure.
Precautions can be taken to dramatically reduce, or potentially eliminate the risk of engine failure.
Where precautions are advised, they should be followed.
Video tutorials for all 'experience levels' are available (or are in production) via Fuelmapper.com
It is advised that the user studies the tutorials, before attempting to modify the carburettor setup, and before an engine is run after modifications have been made.
The advice is given in good faith.
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General Overview
The Needle Carb Fuel Mapper™ is designed for use with any carburettor using a needle and atomiser.
It calculates the dimensional relationship between the atomiser and the needle, across the entire throttle range.
Together, the atomiser and needle operate as a valve, opening and closing the fuel flow area (the hole gets bigger or smaller).
For each needle/atomiser setup, a graph is produced (fuel map), allowing the user to see how fuel delivery changes at all phases of carburation (at 1% throttle intervals).
What the Needle Carb Fuel Mapper™ does NOT do
● It does not indicate whether the displayed fuel map is correct, for your engine usage - this is achieved by testing.
● It does not 'determine' the adjustment of the fuel flow modifiers - from testing results, it provides an 'indication' of where changes might be made.
● It does not determine fuel consumption - this is determined by all factors associated with the engine and the work it is doing
● It does not stop you from making changes to your engine setup that results in failure!
Study the tutorials for guidance on how best to achieve success and avoid failure.
What the Needle Carb Fuel Mapper™ does do
It provides the fundamental fuel map around which you can plan your tuning.
The fuel map enables you to see:
● The exact throttle position when fuel flow increases
● At what rate the fuel flow area accelerates
● How much of the throttle movement is spent on a static fuel flow area.
● Provides a basis for fuel flow modifier adjustments (comparative to current performance)
● Overlays alternative fuel maps to determine faster fuel delivery, or more (or less) fuel in specific areas of throttle movement
● Enables focussing of attention on specific throttle area problems
● It provides a fixed position upon which changes can be added or subtracted.
Tuning a carburettor without knowing its fuel map, is a process of guessing in the dark, and requires years of experience.
In the past, most people gave up, because they never even
gained a starting point to understand how the carb is working.
This difficulty no longer applies.
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The program runs within Microsoft Excel 2007 and later
This is highly beneficial for the tuning community, as the program can be rapidly and constantly updated.
Note:
The program cannot function with Open Office nor Libre Office (their
programming teams have confirmed this).
Installation
1. Create a new folder (eg. in My Documents) called Needle
Carb Fuel Mapper.
2. In that folder, create two (sub) folders: 'backup' and 'original'
3. Place the original program file in folder 'original' - don't use it.
4 . Copy the original file to folder 'Needle Carb Fuel Mapper' and rename the
file from 'original' to 'working'.
5. Right-click on the 'working' file and choose 'send to' - 'Desktop'.
6. You can drag the desktop icon over the Windows Start Button... after 2
seconds the start menu will open - you can place the launch command into the
start menu.
You can now launch the program from your desktop, start menu, or by simply double-clicking the file in its folder.
Special Instructions: Working with Data!
4 additional command icons have been added to the Quick
Access Menu (shown above).
Please identify their location.
These 'command instructions' are provided here, where they
can easily be found.
There are help screens in each module, to remind you what you need to do.
For now... just gain a general understanding of the function of these commands.
Their usage will become apparent to you.
Padlock Icon
Clicking this immediately unprotects the software
programming.
Click it again - OK - to re-protect the software
Note:
Never use the program in unprotected mode, other than to add a new carb name.
# Label Icon
Click this to add your new carb name - OK.
Note:
When entering a new carb name - the name should appear in the dialogue box.
If it doesn't, that carb slot has been taken... cancel and move to the next
free slot.
Copy Icon
This is a standard copy command.
By using it, you will remember to use the special 'paste-values' icon (the circle icon to the right).
Highlight your chosen data, and click the 'copy icon'.
Paste-Values Icon
Whenever moving data... always copy and 'paste-values'
Do NOT 'copy & paste'.
You will often need to move 'needle and atomiser data', therefore... use this safe technique:
1. Select your chosen data
2. Click the 'Copy Icon'
3. To paste... Click the 'Paste-Values Icon'.
This is good working practice in Excel, when copying data... get into the habit, as it will preserve the appearance of the Fuel Mapper.
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Introduction
Other than entering a new carb name, you probably need little to no
instruction.
You've watched the various videos... so just get started.
There are tabs at the bottom that tell you where things are.
When clicking 'save'... when you reload, everything will be exactly as you left
it.
Carb Manufacturer Tab
Here all the needle and atomiser information is kept.
Assemble the needles and atomisers that you wish to work with.
Copy the appropriate data and 'paste-values' into the assembly area.
When complete... copy the data and switch to the Carb-Data tab.
'Paste-Values' the data into the next available carb slot.
In the Carb-Data tab
The atomiser, needle and measurement data goes where it says.
In the Tuning Notes... delete what you don't need, and organise it as you wish.
Note:
In tuning notes, you will use Ctrl+C to copy, and Ctrl+V to paste.
When adding a new carb... scroll down to the next free carb
slot and add all the data.
Clicking the help button brings the help screen, detailing how to add a new
name.
1. Enter any unique name without spaces.
2. Click on that new name
3. Click the 'padlock icon' (to unprotect)
4. Click the '# Label Icon' - OK
5. Click the 'padlock icon' - OK (to protect)
Add the needle series name in the appropriate place.
Read the help file
You will need to measure a needle in your carb slider.
Also add the carb bore height, or diameter if the bore is circular.
In the Mapper tab
From the drop list at top left, choose your carb... your data is loaded.
Note:
Any chosen atomisers left over from the previous carb must be changed to the
new atomiser specs.
Two modules are available to you:
Fuel Maps
Maths Module
Scroll to the right to see the Maths Module.
This is controlled from the left side menu, by choosing one or two comparative
atomisers, and the throttle position.
The results are indicated in the tables.
You may be more interested in the fuel maps, so scroll back.
Creating Fuel Maps
Find the Needle area.
Find your needle row, and click in a Notch column.
Select your atomiser... the fuel map appears.
You can add many maps at the same time.
They can be switched in and out by the 'tick boxes'.
Working with the Fuel Map
Click on a curve to identify it.
Clicking at specific points will reveal the fuel flow area.
The vertical guide lines are provided to remind the user of the different phases of the carburettor, and where they appear in relation to the fuel map.
Additional guidelins are provided at top and side.
When required, these can be dragged into place.
When working with fuel maps, certain quirks will exhibiy
themselves.
Read below the section on these quirks.
Fuel Map Manipulation Exercises
1. Click on the curve - identify the needle and determine
'fuel flow area' at any point on the curve (the number is % throttle opening)
2. Add curves for your needle and atomiser, at the different notch positions
3. In the needle area - select one of your entries - hit delete.... you do not
need to deselect it from the drop box.
4. Choose a needle to graph... using different needles, notches, and
atomisers... try to find a different needle that creates a similar curve.
5. Try to find a setup where the curves cross (going richer to leaner or leaner
to richer)
6. Try to move the crossover point higher or lower in the throttle range.
7. Grab a spare verticle blue bar from the right, and move it to the crossover
point, to indicate the throttle position.
8. Grab a spare horizontal blue bar from the top, and move it over the
crossover point, to indicate the fuel flow area at the point.
9. Click the tickbox against a needle, to undisplay its data... click it again
to redisplay.
10. Did the graph scale reset itself, destroying the careful positioning of
your blue marker lines?... If not, try loading different needle sets, then read
'Fuel Map Quirks' below.
You now know your way around the chart.
Fuel Map Quirks
1. Curves changing when needles are added
The graph scale must change to suit the needle fuel flow
range.
If you load a single, almost parallel needle (tip diameter close to the land
diameter) - check the fuel flow area.... not much eh?
Now load a needle with a tiny pointed tip - Boom!... the maximum fuel flow area
is enormous by comparison... the scale must change.
If this is a problem (and it can be) when switching in and out
needles that you are interested in...
... load a pointed needle on N1 with say the biggest atomiser.
This pushes the curve to the top, and fixes the scale.
You can now load your chosen needles without the graph scale changing.
2. Strange Curves
Normally you will be working on only one carb, but hey!...
you're testing, so you load another carb.
All the curves are immediately wrong.
The atomiser selections have remained from the previous carb.
The last data that you used remains in place... exactly as you'd like for
normal use.
So when changing carbs, you must now reselect the atomisers from the new
atomiser data set.
3. Initial curve at start of taper
Sometimes the taper curve precisely angles from the land curve... other times there is a small variation.
This change of curve is due to the throttle being measured
in 100 steps.
For a 20mm throttle travel, the measurement is 0.2mm 0.4mm 0.6mm etc.
The start of the needle taper might occur between those measurements.
It's of little consequence.
The taper actually starts at the beginning of the rising curve.
4. Chart options
In order to allow the chart to be accessed for curve
information, and movement of marker lines... the chart had to be left editable.
It is not advisable to mess with any of the settings... and most definitely not
the data set.
5. Go To Chart Data
If you have a lot of carbs loaded, you can go directly to
that particular data in the carb data tab (normally you can just click the tab
to go to your carb).
When you return to the mapper tab... you must click in say the needle area.
If you click in any of the unselectable areas you will return to the Carb-Data
that you just left.
It's a quirk of Excel (perhaps fixed in later versions).
Okay... you are ready to start using the Needle Carb Fuel
Mapper™ for tuning purposes.
Oh!... just one other thing....
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If you do find a bug... send us an email with 'Bug'
somewhere in the subject line.
Try to describe how it occurred.
Thanks for that.
Okay, that's it.
Keep your eye on the website for new info.
Subscribe to the Youtube channel and help spread the word... 'thumbs up' the
videos to lift their ranking.
Good luck with your tuning!
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