Carburettors

It is the device responsible to prepare the homogeneous air fuel mixture to the engine
under all the working conditions. With this the carburetor also keeps a small amount of fuel
as reserve.To understand how the carburetor performs all these functions let’s look at a
simple carburetor.

SIMPLE CARBURETOR

Float chamber – The float in float chamber is made of deep drawn brass sheet and is kept
hollow for light weight but, such floats have a tendency to leak along the joint seams.
Therefore the floats are now made up of nylon plastic or expanded synthetic rubber.

Needle valve – The needle valve consists of a cylindrical stem with a conical tip made of
steel or a solid stem with rubber seat tip. It is attached to the float lever and serves the
function of opening and closing the fuel inlet to the float chamber depending upon the
requirement.When the fuel level falls below a definite predetermined value, the float also
falls along with fuel level, thus opening the passage for fuel supply. The fuel starts flowing in
and the float rises gradually till the fuel level reaches the desired value after which the needle
closes the inlet passage. This helps to maintain a constant head of fuel in the float chamber.
This level is below the nozzle outlet, so that the fuel may not drop all the time from nozzle,
even when the engine is not working. It also helps to prevent the spilling when car is tilted on
a hilly or highly cambered road.

Vent – A small vent located in float chamber to keep the pressure inside atmospheric. In
modern systems it is preferred to vent the float chamber to the air intake of carburetor as it
prevents the dust particles from mixing with petrol as the air intake has an air cleaner. When
the air cleaner is blocked the pressure in the air horn is no more atmospheric and if the vent is
made to the atmosphere this creates a pressure difference and hence faulty working of the
carburetor.
Fuel Jet – The fuel supply from the chamber at anytime is measured from where the fuel
flows into the venture through the discharge nozzle.
Venturi – It is the restriction in the air passage, it causes a decrease in area which in turn
causes the increase in velocity using Bernoulli’s theorem. Due to this depression being
applied to the nozzle, the fuel comes out and is vaporized by the coming air stream. The
amount of fuel delivered depends on the jet size, float level and venture vacuum.
Throttle Valve – It controls the quality of air fuel mixture. It is attached to the accelerator
pedal. It is of two types-
 Butterfly Valve – It is just a disc hinged at the centre, Due to its simplicity it is more
widely used.
 Cylindrical valve – It doesn’t obstruct the path of the flux.
When the throttle valve is completely closed no engine suction is applied to the nozzle, the
whole suction in that case is acting below the throttle valve, in the region of inlet manifold.A
small throttle opening would still have a large depression on the engine side of the throttle
permitting only a small amount of depression on the engine side of the throttle valve. When
the throttle opening is increased, the depression on the engine side of the throttle is reduced
while in the venturi is increased.The depression at the venturi and amount of the fuel flow is
controlled by the throttle opening which depends on the position of accelerator pedal.

REASONS FOR DEFECTS IN SIMPLE CARBURETOR

Carburettors are designed to work at high speeds, it will not work at low speeds as the suction
created at the venturi will not be sufficient to draw fuel from nozzle at part throttle. Similarly
if carburetor is designed to work at low speeds it will deliver rich mixture at high speeds.

The coefficient of discharge for air and fuel varies in different amount with the depression,
For air it becomes constant at certain value of depression, but for fuel it increases gradually.
So, carburetors are set at a particular speed above which it gives rich mixture and below
which it gives lean mix.

DEFECTS –
 Starting Difficulty – At the time of start engine requires a rich mixture , but the
mixture provided by the carburetor is very lean.
1. Ticklers – These are the devices used to cause flooding of carburetor at start. By
depressing the tickler, the float is depressed, thereby providing more fuel. They were
used in old motor bikes.
2. Choke – It is a simple butterfly Valve fitted at top of air horn. It can be manual or
automatic. For starting, choke is closed so that very small amount of air gets past it
and the throttle valve is open due to which whole suction is applied to the nozzle ,
which delivers sufficient fuel to provide a mixture rich in quality, though small in
quantity. But the choke must be closed immediately after the engine starts, otherwise
the engine will be flooded by fuel. To do so
1. Eccentric mounting of choke – Due to unequal pressure on the sides of the
spindle apply a turning effect on them and open the choke.
2. Strangler Valve – As soon as the engine starts the, the air pressure forces the
strangler against the spring and air enters the carburetor avoiding the mix from
being over rich.
 3. Adjusting Screw – A long tapered needle is used to control the jet area
feeding the fuel to the engine.

4. Automatic choke – The choke is mounted eccentrically. A bimetal

thermostatic coil is located on exhaust manifold to quickly sense the heat. A
vacuum diaphragm unit in which diaphragm is subjected to inlet manifold vacuum
is provided. When the engine is cold, the thermostatic spring holds the choke
closed. In this position, the fast-idle cam maintains a small opening when the
engine is cold. After the engine is started the vacuum diaphragm pulls the choke
valve open. This tendency is helped by the eccentricity of choke valve. As the
engine warms up, the thermostatic spring gradually winds up and allows the choke
valve to open.
 Idling Difficulty – During idling the engine runs at low rpm and the suction is
insufficient to draw the fuel from the nozzle. Therefore a separate supply circuit of
fuel is provided. It is done by providing an idle jet and an air bleed hole, so the air and
fuel combine to form an emulsion, which is the sent to the engine. The amount of air
and fuel is controlled by the idle management screw. When engine is accelerated the
supply shifts from the idle circuit to the nozzle by the transfer ports.
 Operation at Different Speeds – A simple carburetor is set to work at a specific
speed above which it gives rich mixture and below which it gives lean mixture. The
process of adjusting the mixture strengths at all speeds throughout is called
compensation. It is achieved by-
1. Extra air Valve – This is a spring loaded valve arranged to open by the engine
suction and the stiffness of the spring.
2. Air bleed compensation – Consider A- fuel level in the nozzle under no load. B-
jet tube with air bleed holes around its periphery. C- Holes communicating the air
bleed holes to the atmosphere when nozzle is partly empty. As the throttle opens
gradually, due to depression at the venturi, the fuel in the tube and the nozzle
around it is consumed, providing gradually richer mixture. The level of fuel in the
jet tube and nozzle drops, exposing the uppermost holes in the jet tube to direct
contact with atmosphere through holes C. This destroys the depression to some
extent and fuel flow is thus decreased. At high speeds the fuel level in jet tube and
around drops further, so as to expose the next row of air bleed holes, increasing
the amount of air bleed to compensate the increased fuel flow from jet. This
results in a stable supply. The size and location of the air bleed holes decides the
degree of compensation.
3. Multiple Jet Compensation – In this method 3-5 Jets are provided in carburetor.
A single cap is used to open different jet passages. At low speeds only one nozzle
is open to engine suction. As the speed increases the different nozzles will be
engaged. But for compensation the consecutive nozzles will have less supply of
fuel.
4. Suction Controlled Devices – They are operated by means of engine suction ,
which is applied to a sliding piston. The suction effect increases with speed. It can
be used to actuate the needle used to decrease effective nozzle area.
Compensating jet – It includes an additional fuel supply nozzle. This nozzle is attached
to a well which is vented to the atmosphere, so that when the engine is not running the
fuel level in the c is same as the float chamber and hence no fuel is allowed to flow
through the compensating jet. The main nozzle is connected directly to float chamber and
will supply the richer mix at high speeds. But the case is different for the compensating
jet. When the engine starts the throttle valve is open a bit, small engine suction is applied,
which draws the fuel from the well through delivery nozzle, till well is empty. At this
point the flow through main nozzle is maximum. Further opening of throttle doesn’t
affect the fuel flow however, the air flow increases. This results in a uniform mixture of
nearly constant strength at different operating speeds.
 Difficulty at high speeds – Weak air fuel mixtures supplied by the single jet
carburetors will not give enough power at high speeds. Therefore we use a metering
rod with stepped diameter end in main jet. At lower speeds the larger diameter part of
the radius in the jet which gives less fuel flow. At higher speeds the metering rod is
pulled up so the small diameter part is in the jet.

 Acceleration Difficulty – At sudden acceleration there is tremendous flow of air

instantly but the fuel supply lags, causing engine stumble due to weak mixture. To
reduce the lag-
1. Accelerator Pump – A separate pump is attached to provide with the fuel
supply momentarily. The pump is linked with the accelerator pedal. As the pedal is
pressed the outlet valve opens and fuel is forced out of the acceleration jet, When
the pedal is released the pump sucks the fuel from float chamber for next
discharge.

 Influence of Weather – The viscosity of fuel is affected by the temperatures. To

control the strength of the mixtures special devices are used to vary either the fuel jet
area or air intake.
 Influence of Altitude – The density of air is affected with altitude due to fall in
atmospheric pressure. The method used to rectify this defect in some Carburetors is –
1. Zenith Carburetors – Two pipes connect air horn to the top of the float
chamber. A pipe 1 is fitted with valve which is used to use the engine suction to
decrease the pressure in the float chamber which results in decreased fuel supply
and hence weaker mix at high altitudes.
 Icing Troubles – Atomization and evaporation of fuel in the carburetor causes cooling
of surrounding areas, in cold areas there is always a probability of ice formation and
choking of the venturi tube. To prevent it –
1. Exhaust heat – The parts of carburetor like throttle valve and idle ports are
heated using the exhaust gasses.
2. Water Passes – By providing the water passes in the carburetor body. The
engine cooling system provides hot water for heating the carburetor thus avoiding
the formation of ice.