carburetor

The carburetor, carburettor, or carburetter (also called 'carb' or 'carbie')

is a device that mixes air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It
was invented by Hungarian scientists Donát Bánki and János Csonka in
1893. Carburetors are still found in small engines and in older or
specialized automobiles such as those designed for stock car racing.
However, fuel injection, first introduced in the late 1950s and first
successfully commercialized in the early 1970s, is now the preferred
method of automotive fuel delivery. The majority of motorcycles still are
carburated due to lower weight and cost, but as of 2005 many new
models are now being introduced with fuel injection.

Carburetors measure the airflow of the engine, deliver the correct amount
of fuel to keep the fuel-air mixture in the proper range, and mix the two
finely and evenly.

Introduction
The carburetor was invented by the Hungarian engineer Donát Bánki in
1893. Frederick William Lanchester of Birmingham, England
experimented early on with the wick carburetor in cars. In 1896 Frederick
and his brother built the first petrol driven car in England, a single
cylinder 5 hp (4 kW) internal combustion engine with chain drive.
Unhappy with the performance and power, they re-built the engine the
next year into a two cylinder horizontally opposed version using his new
wick carburetor design. This version completed a 1,000 mile (1600 km)
tour in 1900 successfully incorporating the carburetor as an important
step forward in automotive engineering. The word carburetor comes from
the French carbure, meaning 'carbide'. George Kingston invented the
Carburetor in 1902, known as the Kingston carburetor, in Kokomo, IN.
The Kingston company also manufactured such things as Roller Skates
and Radios. To carburete means to combine with carbon. In fuel
chemistry, the term has the more specific meaning of increasing the
carbon (and therefore energy) content of a fuel by mixing it with a
volatile hydrocarbon.

Most carbureted (as opposed to fuel-injected) engines have a single

carburetor, though some engines use multiple carburetors. Older engines
used updraft carburetors, where the air enters from below the carburetor
and exits through the top. This had the advantage of never "flooding" the
engine, as any liquid fuel droplets would fall out of the carburetor instead
of into the intake manifold; it also lent itself to use of an oil bath air
cleaner, where a pool of oil below a mesh element below the carburetor is
sucked up into the mesh and the air is drawn through the oil covered
mesh; this was an effective system in a time when paper air filters did not
exist. Beginning in the late 1930s, downdraft carburetors were the most
popular type for automotive use in the United States. In Europe, the
sidedraft carburettors replaced downdraft as free space in the engine bay
decreased and the use of the SU-type carburetor (and similar units from
other manufacturers) increased. Small propeller-driven flat aircraft
engines still use the updraft carburetor design.

The carburetor works on Bernoulli's principle: the fact that moving air
has lower pressure than still air, and that the faster the movement of the
air, the lower the pressure. The throttle or accelerator does not control the
flow of liquid fuel. Instead, it controls the amount of air that flows
through the carburetor. Faster flows of air and more air entering the
carburetor draws more fuel into the carburetor due to the partial vacuum
that is created.

Carburetors Type
Carburetors are either:

Fixed Venturi
 the varying air velocity in the venturi alters the fuel flow; this
architecture is employed in most downdraft carburetors found on
American and some Japanese cars
Variable Venturi
(Constant Depression) the fuel jet opening is varied by the air flow
to alter the fuel flow. This is done by a vacuum operated piston
connected to a tapered needle which slides inside the fuel jet. The
most common variable venturi (constant depression) type
carburetor is the sidedraft SU carburetor and similar models from
Hitachi, Zenith-Stromberg and other makers. The UK location of
the SU and Zenith-Stromberg companies helped these carburettors
rise to a position of domination in the UK car market, though such
carburetors were also very widely used on Volvos and other non-
UK makes. Other similar designs are used on some European and a
few Japanese automobiles.

Conditions and functions

The carburetor must under all engine operating conditions:

• Measure the airflow of the engine

• Deliver the correct amount of fuel to keep the fuel/air
mixture in the proper range (adjusting for factors such as
temperature)
• Mix the two finely and evenly

This job would be simple if air and petrol (gasoline) were ideal fluids; in
practice, however, their deviations from ideal behavior due to viscosity,
fluid drag, inertia, etc. require a great deal of complexity to compensate at
exceptionally high or low engine speeds. A carburetor must provide the
proper fuel/air mixture across a wide range of ambient temperatures,
atmospheric pressures, engine speeds and loads, and centrifugal forces:

• Cold start
• Hot start
• Idling or slow-running
• Acceleration
• High speed / high power at full throttle
• Cruising at part throttle (light load)
• In addition, modern carburetors are required to do this while
maintaining low rates of exhaust emissions.
To function correctly under all these conditions, most carburetors contain
a complex set of mechanisms to support several different operating
modes, called circuits.

Basic elements and operations

A carburetor basically consists of an open pipe, a "throat" or "barrel"
through which the air passes into the inlet manifold of the engine. The
pipe is in the form of a venturi — it narrows in section and then widens
again, causing the airflow to increase in speed in the narrowest part.
Below the venturi is a butterfly valve called the throttle — a rotating disc
that can be turned end-on to the airflow, so as to hardly restrict the flow at
all, or can be rotated so that it (almost) completely blocks the flow of air.
This valve controls the flow of air through the carburetor throat and thus
the quantity of air/fuel mixture the system will deliver, thereby regulating
engine power and speed. The throttle is connected, usually through a
cable or a mechanical linkage of rods and joints or rarely by pneumatic
link, to the accelerator pedal on a car or the equivalent control on other
vehicles or equipment.

Fuel is introduced into the air stream through small holes at the narrowest
part of the venturi. Fuel flow in response to a particular pressure drop in
the venturi is adjusted by means of precisely-calibrated orifices, referred
to as jets, in the fuel path

Idle circuit
When the throttle valve is closed or nearly closed, the carburetor's idle
circuit is in operation. The closed throttle reduces the airflow through the
venturi to a level which cannot overcome the resistance to flow of the
fuel, but it also means that a fairly significant vacuum occurs behind the
closed butterfly valve. This manifold vacuum is sufficient to pull fuel
through small openings placed after the butterfly valve (and in SU and
similar sidedraft carburetors to pull the piston and metering rod up).

Only a fairly small amount of air and fuel can pass through in this
manner. Since this small volume of fuel/air mixture can generate so little
force to keep the engine turning, keeping it running at idle is more
difficult than keeping it running at higher speeds. Since the airflow is too
low for the carburetor to respond at all, it cannot compensate for
fluctuations;instead, idle airflow is set manually by the technician or
mechanic, adjusting a screw which opens the throttle a tiny fraction to
allow a minimal amount of air to pass, and another screw which serves as
a valve in the idle fuel circuit to adjust the volume of fuel delivered.
These adjustments interact with each other, as well as affecting manifold
vacuum which affects distributor spark advance which in turn affects idle
speed, so that adjusting the idle to optimum (highest manifold vacuum at
the specified engine idle speed) is not a completely trivial operation.
While experts often claim the ability to set the idle perfectly by ear, most
individuals do a better job using a tachometer and vacuum gauge. Since
the advent of emissions controls on production automobiles, the idle fuel
flow is typically set at the factory on the "lean" side of optimal, by
restricting fuel flow so that idle speed falls by 100 — 150 rpm from
where it was when optimally adjusted, in order to reduce unburned
hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide with some slight loss in reliable and
smooth idling; the idle fuel adjustment is typically sealed at the factory to
prevent tampering, so that adjustment when age and wear cause a large
deviation from proper operation requires drilling out a plug over the
adjusting screw or some similar modification to gain access.

Off-idle circuit
As the throttle is opened up slightly from the fully closed position, the
throttle plate uncovers additional fuel delivery holes slightly higher in the
carburetor throat; these allow more fuel to flow as well as compensating
for the reduced vacuum that occurs when the throttle is opened, thus
smoothing the transition to metering fuel flow through the regular open
throttle circuit.

Main open-throttle circuit

As the throttle is progressively opened, the manifold vacuum reduces
since there is less restriction on the airflow, reducing the flow through the
idle and off-idle circuits. This is where the venturi shape of the carburetor
throat comes into play, due to Bernoulli's principle (i.e. as the velocity
increases, pressure falls). The venturi (sometimes a second or "booster"
venturi is placed inside the venturi shaped into the carburetor throat to
increase the effect) raises the air velocity, and this high speed and thus
low pressure sucks fuel into the airstream through a nozzle located in the
center of the venturi.

As the throttle is closed, the airflow through the venturi drops until the
lowered pressure is insufficient to maintain this fuel flow, and the idle
circuit takes over again, as described above.

Power valve
For open throttle operation a richer mixture will produce more power,
prevent detonation, and keep the engine cooler. This is usually addressed
with a spring loaded "power valve", which is held shut by engine
vacuum. As the throttle opens up, engine vacuum decreases and the
spring opens the valve to let more fuel into the main circuit.

Accelerator pump
Similarly, the greater inertia of liquid gasoline, compared to air, means
that if the throttle is suddenly opened, the airflow will increase more
rapidly than the fuel flow, causing a temporary "lean" condition which
causes the engine to "stumble" under acceleration (the opposite of what is
normally intended when the throttle is opened). This is remedied by the
use of a small mechanical pump (often just a simple plunger which
pushes down through a small tube filled with gasoline which feeds into
the carburetor throat) which injects an additional amount of fuel as the
throttle is opened to cover this lean period; this is usually adjustable for
both volume and duration by some means, sometimes just bending the
linkage. Often the seals around the moving piston parts of the pump wear
out, so that pump output is reduced; this loss of accelerator pump action
causes the characteristic stumbling or bogging under acceleration often
seen in old, well worn engines until the seals on the pump are replaced.
Specialized aftermarket kits are widely available for this purpose. Other
variations of pump also exist, such as diaphragm based pumps.

Choke
When the engine is cold, fuel vaporizes less readily and tends to condense
on the walls of the intake manifold, starving the cylinders of fuel and
making the engine difficult to start; thus, a richer mixture (more fuel to
air) is required to start and run the engine until it warms up.

To provide the extra fuel, a choke is typically used; this is a device that
restricts the flow of air at the entrance to the carburetor, before the
venturi. With this restriction in place, extra vacuum is developed in the
carburetor barrel, which pulls fuel through the venturi to supplement the
fuel being pulled from the idle and off-idle circuits. This provides the rich
mixture required to sustain operation at low engine temperatures.

In addition, the choke is connected to a "fast idle cam" or other such

device which prevents the throttle from closing fully, which could starve
the venturis of vacuum and cause the engine to stall. This also serves as a
way to help the engine warm up quickly by idling it at a higher than
normal speed. In addition, it increases airflow throughout the intake
system which helps to better atomize the cold fuel and smooth out the
idle.

In older carbureted cars, the choke was controlled by a cable connected to

a pull-knob on the dashboard (GB — facia) operated by the driver. In
most carbureted cars produced from the mid 1960s onward (mid 1950s in
the United States) it is usually automatically controlled by a thermostat
employing a bimetallic spring, which is exposed to engine heat. This heat
may be transferred to the choke thermostat via simple convection, via
engine coolant, or via air heated by the exhaust. More recent designs use
the engine heat only indirectly: A sensor detects engine heat and varies
electrical current to a small heating element, which acts upon the
bimetallic spring to control its tension, thereby controlling the choke. A
choke unloader is a linkage arrangement that forces the choke open
against its spring when the vehicle's accelerator is moved to the end of its
travel. This provision allows a "flooded" engine to be cleared out so that
it will start.

Some carburetors do not have a choke but instead use a mixture

enrichment circuit, or an enrichener. Typically used on small engines,
notably motorcycles, enricheners work by opening a secondary fuel
circuit below the throttle valves. This circuit works exactly like the idle
circuit, and when engaged it simply supplies extra fuel when the throttle
is closed.

Classic British motorcycles, with side-draft slide throttle carburetors,

used another type of "cold start device", called a "tickler". This is simply
a spring-loaded rod that, when depressed, manually pushes the float down
and allows excess fuel to fill the float bowl and flood the intake tract. If
the "tickler" was held down too long it also flooded the outside of the
carburetor and the crankcase below, and caused a few fires in the process.

The main idea behind these devices is that extra fuel (a rich condition) is
necessary to get a "cold" engine started and running for a short period of
time. Either the air is restricted (choke), or more fuel is added (enrichener
and tickler).

Other elements
The interactions between each circuit may also be affected by various
mechanical or air pressure connections and also by temperature sensitive
and electrical components. These are introduced for reasons such as
response, fuel efficiency or automobile emissions control. Various air
bleeds (often chosen from a precisely calibrated range, similarly to the
jets) allow air into various portions of the fuel passages to enhance fuel
delivery and vaporization. Extra refinements may be included in the
carburetor/manifold combination, such as some form of heating to aid
fuel vaporization.

Fuel supply and float chamber

To ensure a ready supply of fuel, the carburetor has a "float chamber" (or
"bowl") that contains a quantity of fuel at near-atmospheric pressure,
ready for use. This reservoir is constantly replenished with fuel supplied
by a fuel pump. The correct fuel level in the bowl is maintained by means
of a float controlling an inlet valve, in a manner very similar to that
employed in toilet tanks. As fuel is used up, the float drops, opening the
inlet valve and admitting fuel. As the fuel level rises, the float rises and
closes the inlet valve. The level of fuel maintained in the float bowl can
usually be adjusted, whether by a setscrew or by something crude such as
bending the arm to which the float is connected. This is usually a critical
adjustment, and the proper adjustment is indicated by lines scribed into a
window on the float bowl, or a measurement of how far the float hangs
below the top of the carburetor when disassembled, or similar. Floats can
be made of different materials, such as sheet brass soldered into a hollow
shape, or of plastic; hollow floats can spring small leaks and plastic floats
can eventually become porous and lose their flotation; in either case the
float will fail to float, fuel level will be too high, and the engine will not
run well unless the float is replaced. The valve itself becomes worn on its
sides by its motion in its "seat" and will eventually try to close at an
angle, and thus fails to shut off the fuel completely; again, this will cause
excessive fuel flow and poor engine operation. Conversely, as the fuel
evaporates from the float bowl, it leaves sediment, residue, and varnishes
behind, which clog the passages and can interfere with the float
operation. This is particularly a problem in automobiles operated for only
part of the year and left to stand with full float chambers for months at a
time; commercial fuel stabilizer additives are available that reduce this
problem.

Usually, special vent tubes allow air to escape from the chamber as it fills
or enter as it empties, maintaining atmospheric pressure within the float
chamber; these usually extend into the carburetor throat. Placement of
these vent tubes can be somewhat critical to prevent fuel from sloshing
out of them into the carburetor, and sometimes they are modified with
longer tubing. Note that this leaves the fuel at atmospheric pressure, and
therefore it cannot travel into a throat which has been pressurized by a
supercharger mounted upstream; in such cases, the entire carburetor must
be contained in an airtight pressurized box to operate. This is not
necessary in installations where the carburetor is mounted upstream of
the supercharger, which is for this reason the more frequent system.
However, this results in the supercharger being filled with compressed
fuel/air mixture, with a strong tendency to explode should the engine
backfire; this type of explosion is frequently seen in drag races, which for
safety reasons now incorporate pressure releasing blow-off plates on the
intake manifold, breakaway bolts holding the supercharger to the
manifold, and shrapnel-catching ballistic nylon blankets surrounding the
superchargers.

If the engine must be operated in any orientation (for example a chain

saw), a float chamber cannot work. Instead, a diaphragm chamber is used.
A flexible diaphragm forms one side of the fuel chamber and is arranged
so that as fuel is drawn out into the engine the diaphragm is forced
inward by ambient air pressure. The diaphragm is connected to the needle
valve and as it moves inward it opens the needle valve to admit more
fuel, thus replenishing the fuel as it is consumed. As fuel is replenished
the diaphragm moves out due to fuel pressure and a small spring, closing
the needle valve. A balanced state is reached which creates a steady fuel
reservoir level, which remains constant in any orientation.

Multiple carburetor barrels

While low performance carburetors may have only one barrel, most
carburetors have more than one venturi, or "barrel", most commonly a
two barrel, with 4 barrels being common in higher performance larger
displacement engines, to accommodate the higher air flow rate with
larger engine displacement. Multi-barrel carburetors can have non-
identical primary and secondary barrel(s) of different sizes and calibrated
to deliver different air/fuel mixtures; they can be actuated by the linkage
or by engine vacuum in "progressive" fashion, so that the secondary
barrels do not begin to open until the primaries are almost completely
open. This is a desirable characteristic which maximizes airflow through
the primary barrel(s) at most engine speeds, thereby maximizing the
pressure "signal" from the venturis, but reduces the restriction in airflow
at high speeds by adding cross-sectional area for greater airflow. These
advantages may not be important in high-performance applications where
part throttle operation is irrelevant, and the primaries and secondaries
may all open at once, for simplicity and reliability; also, V configuration
engines, with two cylinder banks fed by a single carburetor, may be
configured with two identical barrels, each supplying one cylinder bank.
Similarly, in the widely seen V8 and 4-barrel carburetor combination,
there are often two primary and two secondary barrels.

Similarly, multiple carburetors can be mounted on a single engine, often

with progressive linkages; three two barrel carburetors were frequently
seen on high performance American V8s, and multiple four barrel
carburetors are often now seen on very high performance engines.

Carburetor adjustment
Too much fuel in the fuel-air mixture is referred to as too "rich"; not
enough fuel is too "lean". The "mixture" is normally controlled by
adjustable screws on an automotive carburetor, or a pilot-operated lever
on piston-engined aircraft (since mixture is air density (altitude)
dependent). The (stoichiometric) air to petrol ratio is 14.6:1, meaning that
for each weight unit of petrol, 14.6 units of air will be burned. In theory
this the most efficient regarding the power/consumption ratio. But as
combustion chambers in use on engines are not able to allow complete
combustion of the gasoline with stoichiometric mixture, a mix around
18:1 will give better results regarding fuel economy and pollution, the
excess air allowing more complete combustion. A richer mixture around
11:1 will deliver more power as the excess fuel will cool the cylinders
and pistons but the price to pay is increased consumption and
environmental pollution.

Carburetor adjustment can be checked by measuring the carbon

monoxide, hydrocarbon, and oxygen content of the exhaust gases. The
mixture can also be judged by the state and color of the spark plugs:
black, dry sooty plugs indicate a too rich mixture, white to light gray
deposits on the plugs indicate a lean mixture. The correct color should be
a brownish gray. See also reading spark plugs. In the early 1980s, many
American-market vehicles used special "feedback" carburetors that could
change the base mixture in response to signals from an exhaust gas
Oxygen sensor. These were mainly used to save costs (since they worked
well enough to meet 1980s emissions requirements and were based on
existing carburetor designs), but eventually disappeared as falling
hardware prices and tighter emissions standards made fuel injection a
standard item.

Catalytic carburetors
There are persistent rumours that appear to extend into the realm of urban
legend or even into conspiracy theory of extremely efficient carburetors.
However, there may be some basis for these rumors or claims. A catalytic
carburetor mixes fuel fumes with water and air in the presence of heated
catalysts such as nickel or platinum. The fuel would break down into
methane, alcohols, and other lighter-weight fuels. The original catalytic
carburetor was introduced to permit farmers to run tractors from modified
and enriched kerosene. The U.S. Army used catalytic carburetors in
World War II in the North African desert campaign, it has been said, to
achieve substantial logistic surprise and thus tactical and strategic
advantage against the Germans.

However, it is known that less than two years after commercial

introduction of the first catalytic carburetor, in 1932, tetraethyl lead was
introduced as an additive to raise gasoline's resistance to spontaneous
combustion, thereby permitting the use of higher compression ratios.
Also in that time, the price differential between a thermal calorie of
gasoline and kerosene was ended. Tetraethyl lead had the effect of
poisoning catalytic carburetors. Many modern gasolines appear to have
additives for "cleaning" which perform the same effect by producing
varnishes or gums in the presence of water, which of course, is not a
recommended use. Gasoline/petrol is an impure mixture of linear heptane
and octane and other miscellaneous light alkanes. Commercial gasolines
usually contain additives to clean engines, artificially lower evaporation
points, and (conjecturally) poison catalytic carburetors (an effect that is
certainly real, but might be accidental).

Famed NASCAR mechanic Smokey Yunick spent many years working

on a high fuel economy "vapor carburetor". The detailed operation is not
widely disseminated, but the general principle is to heat the fuel with
waste engine heat to enhance vaporization and improve the fuel's
combustion characteristics. This was reasonably effective compared to
normal carburetors of the time, but had implementation difficulties.
During the years he was developing it, the average production engine
moved from centrally located carburetors to electronic fuel injection,
wherein the fuel is delivered right to the intake port. This dramatically
reduces fuel condensation and puddling in the intake manifold and
runners, making Smokey's design a solution to a problem which no
longer existed so it was never commercially developed.

Carburetor icing and heat

Carburetor icing is an icing condition which can affect any carburetor
under certain atmospheric conditions. While it applies to all carburetors,
it is only really a problem in association with piston-powered aircraft,
particularly small single-engined light aircraft. Carburetor heat (usually
abbreviated to 'carb heat') is a system used in piston-powered light
aircraft to help prevent or clear carburetor icing. It is usually manually
controlled by the pilot. It consists of a flap which diverts warm air from
around the exhaust manifold into the engine's air intake. The warmer air
will usually clear any icing present within the carburetor. Applying carb
heat as a matter of routine is built into numerous in-flight and pre-landing
checks. Engines equipped with fuel injection do not require carb heat or
an analogous system as they are not prone to icing. Some car intake
manifolds had this, for the same reasons that aircraft do. Many Chevrolets
from the early 50's had it, but so do a number of aftermarket performance
manifolds from Clifford Performance.

Aircraft powered by carbureted engines are equipped with carburetor heat

systems to overcome the icing problem. In cars, carb icing can
occasionally be a nuisance but isn't usually a huge problem, as the inlet
manifold and parts of the carburetor often have warm water circulating
through them from the water cooling system. Motorcycles can also suffer
from carb icing, although some engine designs are more prone to it than
others. Air cooled engines may be more prone to icing, though it is
mostly in aircraft that the phenomenon is a significant problem.

Carb icing occurs when there is humid air, and the temperature drop in
the venturi causes the water vapour to freeze. The ice will form on the
surfaces of the carburetor throat, further restricting it. This may increase
the venturi effect initially, but eventually restricts airflow, perhaps even
causing a complete blockage of the carburetor. Icing may also cause
jamming of the mechanical parts of the carburetor, such as the throttle
butterfly valve. For information about when there is a chance of
carburetor icing, consult a graph (compiled by the British CAA) that can
be downloaded here: Carburetor icing chart.

Icing occurs in certain conditions due to the venturi within the carburetor,
which raises the velocity of the air in the carburetor, which lowers its
pressure (see Bernoulli's principle) and hence temperature (Boyle's Law).
If the outside air is already at a low temperature, the temperature in the
carburetor can drop below the freezing point of water, and if the air is
humid, ice can form inside the carburetor, narrowing the aperture of the
throat, which can create an even stronger venturi effect, and so forth. If
left unchecked, the carburetor will eventually malfunction which will
cause an engine failure, an emergency situation. Temperature drops of 20
degrees C or more are often encountered within the carburetor, and so
icing can occur even on relatively warm days. Also, the adiabatic lapse
rate (temperature drop) is around 4 degrees C per thousand feet, so it is
really the humidity of the air which is the more important indicator of
potential icing conditions.

Perhaps paradoxically, winter flying is often less prone to icing, since

cold weather is rarely associated with high humidity, and the air
temperature can drop so far below freezing that there can be little or no
water vapour in the air to begin with. Diverting warm air into the intake
will usually clear any icing present, though in some conditions still may
not be sufficient. The wise pilot will not attempt to fly into known icing
conditions if his aircraft is not equipped to deal with it. The diversion of
warm air into the intake reduces the thermodynamic efficiency of the
engine, which will be manifest as a slight reduction in power while carb
heat is applied. The reduction in power indicates to the pilot that there is
no icing present, a reassuring piece of information. If there is icing,
applying carb heat may not show this initial reduction, and as the ice
clears there may be an increase in power. Again, the pilot will note this as
evidence that icing conditions are present.

If carb icing results in an engine stoppage, one of the first things the pilot
will do is apply carb heat in an attempt to clear the icing, though as the
engine will not be running, it is possible that the exhaust will cool
sufficiently quickly that clearing the icing will not be possible. In any
case the pilot will be carrying out the emergency landing procedure,
including a possible engine restart. The outcome depends on the
conditions, prompt action and skill. Again, avoiding icing is far better
than trying to clear it in an emergency.

SU carburetors
SU carburetors (named for Skinners Union, the company which produced
them) were a brand of sidedraft carburetor widely used in British (Austin,
Morris, Triumph, MG) and Swedish (Volvo, Saab 99) automobiles for
much of the twentieth century. Originally designed and patented by
George Herbert Skinner in 1905, they remained in production through to
the 1980s by which time they had become part of the BMC/British
Leyland Group. Hitachi also built carburetors based on the SU design
which were used on the Datsun 240Z and other Datsun Cars. While these
look the same, they are different enough that needles (see below) are the
only part that fits both.
SU carburetors featured a variable venturi controlled by a piston. This
piston has a tapered, conical metering rod (usually referred to as a
"needle") that fits inside an orifice ("jet") which admits fuel into the
airstream passing through the carburetor. Since the needle is tapered, as it
rises and falls it opens and closes the opening in the jet, regulating the
passage of fuel, so the movement of the piston controls the amount of
fuel delivered, depending on engine demand.

The flow of air through the venturi creates a reduced static pressure in the
venturi. This pressure drop is communicated to the upper side of the
piston via an air passage. The underside of the piston is in communication
with atmospheric pressure. The difference in pressure between the two
sides of the piston creates a force tending to lift the piston. Counteracting
this force are the force of the weight of the piston and the force of a
compression spring which is compressed by the piston rising; because the
spring is operating over a very small part of its possible range of
extension, the spring force approximates to a constant force. Under steady
state conditions the upwards and downwards forces on the piston are
equal and opposite, and the piston does not move.

If the airflow into the engine is increased - by opening the throttle plate,
or by allowing the engine revs to rise with the throttle plate at a constant
setting - the pressure drop in the venturi increases, the pressure above the
piston falls, and the piston is sucked upwards, increasing the size of the
venturi, until the pressure drop in the venturi returns to its nominal level.
Similarly if the airflow into the engine is reduced, the piston will fall. The
result is that the pressure drop in the venturi remains the same regardless
of the speed of the airflow - hence the name "constant depression" for
carburettors operating on this principle - but the piston rises and falls
according to the speed of the airflow.

Since the position of the piston controls the position of the needle in the
jet and thus the open area of the jet, while the depression in the venturi
sucking fuel out of the jet remains constant, the rate of fuel delivery is
always a definite function of the rate of air delivery. The precise nature of
the function is determined by the profile of the needle. With appropriate
selection of the needle, the fuel delivery can be matched much more
closely to the demands of the engine than is possible with the more
common fixed-venturi carburettor, an inherently inaccurate device whose
design must incorporate many complex fudges to obtain usable accuracy
of fuelling. The well-controlled conditions under which the jet is
operating also make it possible to obtain good and consistent atomisation
of the fuel under all operating conditions.

This self-adjusting nature makes the selection of the maximum venturi

diameter (colloquially, but inaccurately, referred to as "choke size") much
less critical than with a fixed-venturi carburettor. A two-inch SU
carburettor is a useful device to have in the workshop when
experimenting with engines, as it is possible to bolt it onto more or less
any engine and the engine, if in good order, will burst into life without
the need for complex carburettor adjustments to get it to start.

To prevent erratic and sudden movements of the piston it is damped by

light oil in a dashpot which requires periodic topping up. The dampening
is asymmetrical; it heavily resists upwards movement of the piston. This
serves as the equivalent of an "accelerator pump" on traditional
carburetors by temporarily increasing the speed of air through the venturi,
thus increasing the richness of the mixture.
The beauty of the S.U. lies in its simplicity and lack of multiple jets and
ease of adjustment. Adjustment being carried out by altering the starting
position of the jet relative to the needle on a fine screw. At first sight, the
principle appears to bear a similarity to that used on many motorcycles
where the main needle position is raised and lowered by a direct
connection to the throttle cable rather than indirectly by the depression in
the venturi. However, this apparent similarity is misleading. The piston in
a motorcycle-type carburettor is controlled by the demands of the rider
rather than the demands of the engine, so the metering of the fuel is
inaccurate unless the motorcycle is travelling at a constant speed at a
constant throttle setting - conditions which are rarely encountered except
on motorways. This inaccuracy results in the wasting of fuel, particularly
as the carburettor must be set slightly rich to avoid damaging leanness
under transient conditions. For this reason Japanese motorcycle
manufacturers ceased to fit slide carbs and substituted constant-
depression carbs which are essentially a miniature Japanese SU. It is also
possible - indeed, easy - to retro-fit SU carbs to a bike which was
originally manufactured with a slide carb, and thereby obtain improved
fuel economy and more tractable low-speed behaviour.

Weber carburetors

Weber carburetors were originally produced in Italy by Edoardo Weber

as part of a conversion kit for 1920s Fiats. Weber pioneered the use of
twin barrel carburetors with two barrels (or venturi) of different sizes, the
smaller one for low speed running and the larger one optimised for high
speed use. In the 1930s Weber began producing twin barrel carburetors
for motor racing where two barrels of the same size were used. These
were arranged so that each cylinder of the engine has its own carburetor
barrel. These carburetors found use in Maserati and Alfa Romeo racing
cars. In time, Weber carburetors were fitted to standard production cars
and factory racing applications on automotive marques such as Abarth,
Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Fiat, Ford, Lamborghini,
Lancia, Lotus, Maserati, Porsche, and Triumph. In modern times, fuel
injection has replaced carburetors in both production cars and motor
racing. Weber fuel system components are distributed by Magneti-
Marelli's After Market Products and Services.

Zenith Carburetters
Zenith Carburetters was a British company making carburetors. In 1955
they joined with their major pre-war rival Solex Carburetters and over
time the Zenith brand name fell into disuse. The rights to the Zenith
designs was owned by Solex UK (a daughter company of Solex in
France). The big products of Zenith were the Zenith-Stromberg (used in
MGs, early Saab 99, Saab 90, early Saab 900, some 1960s Volvo 140s,
and 1960s Triumphs, for instance the Triumph Spitfire) and Zenith IV
carburetors. The Stromberg carburetor features a variable venturi
controlled by a piston. This piston has a long, tapered, conical metering
rod (usually referred to as a "needle") that fits inside an orifice ("jet")
which admits fuel into the airstream passing through the carburetor. Since
the needle is tapered, as it rises and falls it opens and closes the opening
in the jet, regulating the passage of fuel, so the movement of the piston
controls the amount of fuel delivered, depending on engine demand.

The flow of air through the venturi creates a reduced static pressure in the
venturi. This pressure drop is communicated to the upper side of the
piston via an air passage. The underside of the piston is in communication
with atmospheric pressure. The difference in pressure between the two
sides of the piston creates a force tending to lift the piston. Counteracting
this force is the force of the weight of the piston and the force of a
compression spring which is compressed by the piston rising; because the
spring is operating over a very small part of its possible range of
extension, the spring force approximates to a constant force. Under steady
state conditions the upwards and downwards forces on the piston are
equal and opposite, and the piston does not move.

If the airflow into the engine is increased - by opening the throttle plate,
or by allowing the engine revolutions to rise with the throttle plate at a
constant setting - the pressure drop in the venturi increases, the pressure
above the piston falls, and the piston is sucked upwards, increasing the
size of the venturi, until the pressure drop in the venturi returns to its
nominal level. Similarly if the airflow into the engine is reduced, the
piston will fall. The result is that the pressure drop in the venturi remains
the same regardless of the speed of the airflow - hence the name "constant
depression" for carburettors operating on this principle - but the piston
rises and falls according to the speed of the airflow.

Since the position of the piston controls the position of the needle in the
jet, and thus the open area of the jet, while the depression in the venturi
sucking fuel out of the jet remains constant, the rate of fuel delivery is
always a definite function of the rate of air delivery. The precise nature of
the function is determined by the tapered profile of the needle. With
appropriate selection of the needle, the fuel delivery can be matched
much more closely to the demands of the engine than is possible with the
more common fixed-venturi carburettor, an inherently inaccurate device
whose design must incorporate many complex fudges to obtain usable
accuracy of fuelling. The well-controlled conditions under which the jet
is operating also make it possible to obtain good and consistent
atomisation of the fuel under all operating conditions.

This self-adjusting nature makes the selection of the maximum venturi

diameter (colloquially, but inaccurately, referred to as "choke size") much
less critical than with a fixed-venturi carburettor. To prevent erratic and
sudden movements of the piston it is damped by light oil in a dashpot
(under the white plastic cover in the picture) which requires periodic
topping up.