Electronic ball valve

[themonkey]

hello-

i'm wondering if any of you know of a proper electronic valve application for me.

i have a supplemental propane injection system on my truck. currently, there is a 1/2" npt ball valve between the vaporizor/regulator and my air intake. i adjust that ball valve open and closed to determine how much propane the truck sucks in.

i would like to replace the manual ball valve with some kind of electrical control that i can control from inside the cab.

i don't know much about pwm valves and switches, so please speak slowly and clearly... thanks!

any suggestions? also, any links to the products would be helpful.

 

[klrs129]

Hello themonkey,
Now firstly I want to see much more about the manual 1/2"npt ball valve, including the materials of Body?Ball and Seat,Pressure Rating of the valve.
Secondly, the electric ball valve instead of manual ball valve is also a on-off valve,yes? If you would like to control the propane with different opening of valve, the electric actuator need to collocate one "PCU" to achieve your order.Costs much more too.

 

[Sircrashalot]

An easier solution might be to replace the ball valve with a manifold of 2 or 3, 12VDC solenoid valves controlled by toggle switches or a dia selector in the cab. You could then open the valves in stages to increase the propane flow.

Just a thought...

Andy

(Another Diesel lover who has not yet gone to propane injection...)

 

[themonkey]

i'm not certain about the current valve. it says R910 on it. here is a not very good pic of it (mine does not have the sleeve on it, so i don't know specs):

http://dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8516&d=1126496431

the system essentially runs like this: liquid propane is fed into a filter lock that has an electronic switch to open it. the fuel then flows into a vaporizor/regulator. It starts out by dropping the pressure to 2 lbs. this causes the propane to vaporize just like freon does in an air conditioner or refrigerator. Propane vaporizes at -44° F, so it gets really cold. The vaporizer has hot water running through it to keep it from freezing because it is connected to the engine cooling system. It connects in series with the heater core. After the fuel is vaporized and reduced to 2 lbs pressure, it goes into the second stage of the regulator. Now the pressure is further reduced. It reduces to -1.5" water column, which means that the engine has to suck the fuel in, it doesn't go in on it's own. This is an excellent safety feature that stops gas flow immediately if the engine stops demanding it. The output of the regulator goes through THE ADJUSTABLE BALL VALVE, then directly to the intake ahead of the turbo.

i'm not sure how much the ball valve flows when fully open, but i would like to create an electronic method of opening it fully or partially from the cab.

klrs129- sorry i don't have more details on the current valve. what do you think possible solutions could be if you make some assumptions?

andy-

once you go to LPG, you will wonder where it's been all your life. i went with this custom setup, because on the highway, i can run up to 2 gals of LPG for every gal of diesel. i get LPG for $1.45/gal, so i can cut my fuelling bill by 20%. the extra power is crazy too. i mean really crazy.

i think the manifold idea sounds like it could be a great solution, because of cost. i'd like to do this for a reasonable price, and it would be fine to have say... 3 valves closed for 1/4 flow, then opening them to get to 1/2, 3/4, and full.

could you suggest any particular parts and switches? or where i could look?

thanks.

 

[themonkey]

i believe that the current 1/2" full port ball valve has a cv of about 20. so i could have a manifold with a free flow of 5 cv, and have 3 more solenoid valves with 5 cv each ??? is this the right way to think about it?