After 3 months of Alpha and 12 months of Beta testing I am begining to feel pretty good about the new boxes actually being worthy of the 3rd gen Cummins.

Some of you guys that tested know how dern picky I am about getting the thing right the first time. I hate those calls from folks that are having trouble. Getting it right on paper is fine, but it has to be combat proven before it goes in my arsenal.

Pressure only at this time. It stacks well with the big hitters like the TST or is good as a stand alone unit for moderate power increases. About 60 HP for the 03-04 and slightly less with the 04.5 and up. Mileage and towing were the first priority. The engine is allowed to defuel naturally to control EGT. MAP fooling is coming along nicely and will be available soon for the guys who want bigger power.

No harbor freight style electronics guys. Serious "mil-spec" stuff here for lack of a better word.
I believe you could run them over with the truck and never hurt anything. Water proof ( heck we ran them soaking in buckets of water on the dyno ) shock proof and EMF proof. Use a 1000 watt linear powered CB radio if you like. No problem.

A shot below of some of the boxes on the dining room table undergoing some testing of the software while I watched/listened to the drag races from Sonoma this past Sunday.



http://www.f1diesel.com/box1.html

Don~

 

i thought you were the one that started the whole pressure is bad thing?no offense intended ...........bama

 

It is bad, if you use too much and too often. Like anything else in life, moderation is key.

Don~

 

Cool.
What's the maximum pressure with the box? And the street price?

MikeyB

 

Mikey,

I can set the programming to do anything. I wanted to release a lower pressure box for towing and mileage to start with, but I can program anything depending on which box I work with.

There are two versions: One has 8 pre programmed power levels and will really make more than 60 HP, but it does no MAP fooling so the truck defuels naturally to control EGT and smoke. If you stack it with a TST or other box you can get big gains though. On the upper power levels the pressure can be high, but you dont have to use them. It is there for later upgrades of the fuel system when they come along.

The second version I program per the needs of the customer and has 2 power levels. I can make them up anything from 5 to 130 HP worth. This allows me to maximize the mileage for certain set ups or the pressure to a specific stacking set up like a TST or Juice, etc. We can taylor the pressure to the FLUX injectors as well. This will add another benefit to the mileage and power arena for those who have the set up.

Both boxes are very smooth driving. We measure the rail pressure and adjust at a rate so fast we can really calm the pulses in the system. We sample at 10 times per second on the rail and can make adjustments in the parameters at a rate 200 times faster than this. This gives a rail pressure smoother than stock and it really shows on the dyno and rail pressure transducer tests. An accurately pressure regulated rail will inject the same quantity of fuel into every cylinder.

During the testing phase we have run everything from less than stock pressure to a high of 38,500 PSI with a modifed injection pump. The FLUX injectors must be tough to take that kind of abuse Even high pressure used in moderation can be a great benefit, but constant 100% duty cycles can shorten the life span of some components. I always suggest a moderate approach for daily use and wide open for competitive short duty cycles. It seems to be working, we have had no failures doing so.

Don~

 

Don,
Your product looks great. I like your "Do it right the first time" approach.

Will you be the first pressure box builder to actually tell comsumers how much maximum pressure is produced by your box? A comparison to other manufacturers would be great too.

 

Those are sweet Don

I dusted off a shelf in the DTR warehouse for those bad boy's, looking forward to the final release

 

It is hard to tell the MAX pressure of any box for the following reasons:

1) The rail is dynamic in nature and the pressure depends on the demand the injectors are placing on it through duty cycle and RPM.

2) We can command a pressure of say 30,000 as an example but if the duty cycle is too large using a duration box, large injector, etc it will exceed the rails ability to catch up and we will never see that amount of pressure.

3) The rail pressure relief valve is a dynamic valve as well. It opens and closes on a pre-set pressure. During a hard acceleration run the pump is commanded to deliver a higher volume which raises the pressure in the rail, but as soon as the pressure is higher than the relief valve is pre set at, you get a leak off. Most of the rails volume is lost when the pedal is lifted and the engine is no longer using the injectors to take volume away. As soon as you lift after a WOT run, the valve dumps an enormous amount of fuel back to the low pressure side of the system. Or as soon as the relief valve sees a pressure exceeding 1500 bar it begins to crack open and leak off pressure. The system stock is set at 1600 bar, but we can get in a situation in a stock truck that will exceed that with pedal and rpm position.

Cruising down the highway you will typically see about 13,000 PSI or 900 bar in a stock truck depending on load and pedal position. At the top of 3rd gear before the shift to overdrive in an automatic truck at WOT it will spike up to 1650 bar or higher, depending on year model.

The pressure is so dynamic in the rail you cant always get what you want in pressure. If we wanted a hghway crusie pressure of say 15,000 PSI as an example for adding some mileage gains, that is easily done. The duty cycle of the injectors is very constant and the pumps rpm is very constant. Adding in constant changes like varying vehicle speed and load you can begin to see how difficult it is to control the pressure with any consistancy.

These systems are designed to take a considerable amount of pressure. The pumps are ultra durable as well as the rest of the system. The damage begins to occur from a constant pressure variation. Pressure waves that are caused naturally from an injector asking for fuel and then slamming closed can cause cavitation. This cavitation is what erodes the injector components over time. Cavitation is designed out of the stock injection system. They have a low rate of this and a low failure of injectors from this particular damage.

Pressure boxes that change the system parameters far enough out of stock specs can raise cavitation considerably and not adjusting the pressure and smoothing it fast enough can result in premature failure. Just like a speed boat can have the prop eroded away in a few trips to the lake from cavitation, the HPCR fuel system can too.

So, lets say I ask for 1800 bar or just over 26,000 PSI. Can I get it? The answer depends on how much the injectors are using - if the truck has a duration expanding box on it, the size of the injectors, throttle postion and the RPM range. I certainly think it is NOT a good idea to ask for 1500 bar while crusing the freeway. And you can certainly get it. Common sense tells us we dont want a system designed to freeway crusie at 900 bar running double the rail pressure for hours on end, but some manufacturers do this. On the other hand, can I ask for a 1800 bar to rip off a dyno run, drag race or sled pull? All the evidence I have tells me that is just fine and will not cause a rapid degradation of the components if you can control the waves.

Larger injectors and duration boxes really can drop the pressure. I have seen as little as 7500 PSI at WOT. Your pressure box may be asking for 1800 or more, but the system is probably out of volume to give you that pressure. No matter what box you have.

It is all about controlling the dynamics and the pressure waves to avoid cavitation and maintain a smooth driving truck while being able to raise the pressure enough to raise power output.

Many people dont like waiting on the power to come on, the box manufacturers responded with a box that was more bottom end heavy. Some do it better than others. If you have a pressure box that gives an audible rattle at low engine speed, the manufacturer has commanded a high pressure early in the RPM range to gain a head start or gain low end power faster. That is great for fun, but for daily use, it is less than optimum for longevity. Some of these boxes can build the pressure extremly fast and get you to a higher pressure fast. Great news for HP and racing and used for that purpose only, you can get away with for a long long time. Driving down the freeway with something like that is not a good idea, IMO anyway.

So the answer is not a fixed number on MAX pressure. I can ask for and have seen 2000 bar for very short durations on a stock truck. The presure relief valve is wide open at this pressure but cant relieve enough to keep the pressure in check. This was for a short duration of less than 1 second and is only duplicated on the dyno where I can spin the tires and engine up quickly. I suppose if you did a burn out in water you could duplicate this as well on the street. This was with a MAX settings on the box.

The bottom line:

Cavitation and rail pressure can be controlled to avoid the long term damage.

Pressure spikes and short durations are not enough to worry about for long term durabilty.

High pressure in long term situations and high duty cycles will shorten the lifespan of the fuel system.

We all have a large array of choices to make additional power and mileage nowdays. Everything in moderation can be a great thing. Injectors that add mileage and power, pressure and duration boxes and some camshafts are all in the marketplace. I like the idea of a mix of everything.

Don~

 

WOW, thanks for taking the time to give such an excellent explanation.

 

Flux injectors??? weren't they flux capcitors??? you gonna send us back to the futre in a cummins powered truck instead of a DeLorian ???? what a guy

 

Good info Don.
Wonder what would be better to go with the +2 degree crankshaft sensor I just installed? Low pressure or a duration box?

MikeyB