Originally Posted by oldevodude

Ha ha ha some Dude told them they should make them and another company already had them by request. Earlier in the thread when I said another model coming in ... this second one has measure ments.

Originally Posted by oldevodude

Cheap and very accurate as the alcohol/ethanol seperates from the water and you can see the additives and the remaining gas.

Originally Posted by Jim in Tucson

Jag,

How did that stuff from Fairfield actually run in your EVO? What were the symptoms that clued you in to having bad fuel?

Are both of these supposed to be E85? That Fairfield sample looks worse than puke!

Originally Posted by TTP Engineering

We applaud your information, however measuring fuel everytime you go to the pump is a chore.

Originally Posted by GST Motorsports

Let me complete that subliminal sales line for you.

"....is a chore, wouldn't it be great if there was a device that could read the Ethanol precentage of the fuel that is in your Evo and display it on a device, say like, the Zeitronix Ethanol Content Analyzer?"

Already in talks with cRoxorz for the local guys, since now that he can get the GM sensor at such a great price, its more financially feasible.

- Bryan

Originally Posted by GST Motorsports

Let me complete that subliminal sales line for you.
Already in talks with cRoxorz for the local guys, since now that he can get the GM sensor at such a great price, its more financially feasible.

- Bryan

Originally Posted by oldevodude

Theory of operation by some dude named "James W. Hebert"


Credit: James W. Hebert


"Test Theory

The fuel sample is mixed with a volume of water that is large enough to ensure that there will be too much water to go into solution with the gasoline. The test procedure assumes that in the presence of all this extra water any alcohol and water already in solution with the gasoline will leave. By driving all the water and alcohol out of the gasoline and into the other solution, the composition of the fuel sample is revealed. The change in volume can be assessed according to this relationship:

Let W be the volume of the water to be added
to the sample relative to the total volume
in the test tube. This is usually chosen to
be much more than the 0.5-percent maximum
that ethanol can hold in solution. In our
example we will use 25-percent volume for
water in the test tube. This will be the initial
volume of the lower phase in the test tube.

Let F be the volume of the fuel sample,
which is always the total volume minus the water;
in our case 75-percent of the total volume.
This will be the initial volume of the upper
phase in the test tube.

Let D be the increase in the volume of lower
phase in the test tube relative to the total
volume which occurs when the water and fuel
are fully mixed and allowed to separate
into two phases.

If we have a 100-ml cylinder, we can let

F = 75 ml
W = 25 ml

After mixing there will be an increase in volume
in the lower phase by an amount D (ml), which is
the amount of water and alcohol which came out
of the sample and went into solution with the water.
The original volume of the sample was F, and the
new volume of the sample is less, or F-D,
which is pure gasoline portion.

The volume change, D, was the water or alcohol
driven out of solution. The percentage of the
sample which was either water or alcohol is therefore

Percent = D/F X 100

For example, if the phase boundary moves up 5-ml,
then the percentage of the fuel that was water
and alcohol was

Percent = 5/75 X 100
= 6.7 percent


The above probably won't pass muster if carefully examined by a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering. When chemical reagents of a certain volume mix together the resulting solution does not always have a volume equal to the sum of the two reagents' volumes. Water and alcohol are a good example."


It should be remembered that a lot of oil companies and government agencies have ditched fancy equipment in favor of these simple testers

Originally Posted by ball7068

Here's what I found, that seems to make a little more sense, reading the first paragraph of the theroy, and applying it to the test procedure to determine the ethanol % content. Seems easy enough ... get a graduated cylinder with a stopper, fill it a dash over 50mL at the station, remove enough fuel to make it exactly 50mL at home, and test.

http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/RENEW/B...dlingGuide.pdf
APPENDIX E: Method to Determine the Total Hydrocarbon
Content of Alcohol Fuel

This procedure is based on a similar proce-
dure for methanol developed by General
Motors.* Errors in ethanol content of up to 5
percentage points may occur for E85 blended
with gasoline containing detergent additives.
Essential Equipment
50-mL volumetric pipette
100-mL graduated cylinder with stopper
Procedure
1. Use the volumetric pipette to extract exact-
ly 50 mL of fuel and place the fuel in the
graduated cylinder.
2. Add approximately 50 mL of water to the
fuel in the cylinder.(The total volume should
not exceed 100 mL.)
3. Place the stopper in the cylinder, and
shake the contents vigorously for about
15 seconds.
4. Loosen the stopper to release the pressure
in the cylinder but do not remove the
stopper.
5. Tighten the stopper. Place the cylinder
upright on a level surface away from sun-
light and heat sources. Wait 15 minutes.
If separation of the two layers is not com-
plete,lightly tap the cylinder to encourage
complete separation.
6. Record the level of the top and bottom of
the hydrocarbon layer (upper layer).
Do this by reading the measurement at the
lowest part of the meniscus at both the top
and bottom of the upper layer.(The menis-
cus is the curved border [the interface]
between the air and the top of the liquid
or between the hydrocarbon layer and
the water layer. See the accompanying
illustration.)
MENISCUS
7. Find the volume (in milliliters) of the upper
layer by subtracting the value at the lower
meniscus from the value at the upper
meniscus.
8. Calculate the ethanol concentration (per-
cent by volume) by this equation:
% ethanol = 98.69 - [1.97 x volume of the
upper layer in milliliters].
9. Calculate the hydrocarbon concentration
(percent by volume) by this equation:
% hydrocarbon = 1.31 + [1.97 x volume of
the upper layer in milliliters].

Originally Posted by oldevodude

Regardless the principle is the same. Water and alcohol do not mix so if you put in a predetermined amount of water and E-85 or whatever is being sold you can accurately measure.

Originally Posted by SyZyGy1394

Just get a freaking graduated cylinder. Works for me.

Originally Posted by Fourdoor

Yup, that is all the tester is, with a mark for how much water to start off with... where would you say that is, about 25%? So put 25ml of water in a test tube, and fill it up to 100 ml. Then measure the gasoline volume at the top and subtract that from the total... don't just measure to the bottom of the gasoline layer or you will be off by 2% or 3%.

Know where I can get a cheap 100ml graduated cylinder?

Keith

Originally Posted by SyZyGy1394

I might be able to grab a few when I go up north in a few days. No plastic ones tho. I'll have to dig around for the small ones because the majority are massive!