alky vs. propain

[wistleofdeath]

hey guy I was just wondering what the pros and cons of propain are and the advantages/disadvantages of propain vs alky i pretty famillar with how it works and how to set it up and what not but all i have heard about propain is that people use it.


Thanks

Andy

 

[1badTTA]

It's CHEAP!!!!!!

Really, it costs me $1.39 to fill my tank and I haven't even used a whole tank yet (been about a month)

No pump to ever wear out.
Something new to try.
It's different.


I just like being able to try something new, thats all.

 

[turbot2112]

propain seemed like a good idea for me, but i wasnt comfortable having a bottle warmer wrapped around the tank in my trunk. if i lived in a warm climate all year around i would have kept it.

 

[36IndexGN]

I am really interesting in putting propain on my saab actually. I have been keeping track of it since they tested it on a few TRs back last year.

Im wondering how easy the install is, and anything else you can tell me about it.

 

[Captain Mark]

Hey 1BadTTA where did you mount your propane bottle? I was thinking about propain, but couldn't figure out where to put the bottle.

 

[Razor]

I'm glad you guys like trying new stuff out..me i'm just a traditionalist..I take the cheap way out everytime I can..Alcohol is very proven...And cheap in the scheme of things. My overflow holds 1 1/2 gallons on the TTA. I fill it about once every two-three weeks. I bought 2 1/2 gallons of methanol July 9th, I just refilled yesterday. So thats 6 bucks for two months of torture and abuse. And those that cut it down with water..double the time.

I guess everyone is waiting to see a fast Buick on propain.. I know there is a Supra that went 11.0's.. but not a Buick..it will only be a short time before that occurrs..

Like alcohol, there are numerous 11 second cars..too many to mention. In the 10's..thats another story.

Both are flammable and dangerous. What scares me about propane is in the event of a leaky selenoid. But should be rare. Dunno what happens if it leaks..hissss...into the motor then you hit the key. I know what my gas grill does when it finally ignites.

On the OGS it has a really nice selenoid, dunno bout the other kits out in the market.

My .02

 

[1badTTA]

Originally posted by Captain Mark
Hey 1BadTTA where did you mount your propane bottle? I was thinking about propain, but couldn't figure out where to put the bottle.

I mounted the tank in the spare tire well, turned the bracket upside down on the unibody frame and bolted it down. The line needs to be about 3 feet longer for the TTA install though if you want to run it along the fuel lines up to the engine. Controller fits inside the center console.

If I can get ahold of a digital camera I will take some pics of it and post them somewhere.

 

[TurboBuickSix]

Originally posted by Razor
. Dunno what happens if it leaks..hissss...into the motor then you hit the key. I know what my gas grill does when it finally ignites.

On the OGS it has a really nice selenoid, dunno bout the other kits out in the market.

My .02

I have flooded the intake tract with propane accidentally,I started it too and it.....ran.No explosion! One thing about propane..Say you have not hit enough boost in a month to trip it or even better you have it set for 20# but your boost is at a conservative 15-18 psi.Your wastegate hose pops off and sends the boost sky high without you noticing right away.The propane even after not being activated for a month is right there ready to go as soon as the demand is there to protect your engine.

I am starting to think it would really be the best used in conjunction with alchy.If one fails it might not be such a problem.I was going thru alot but I realized I was injecting 3-4 times than I needed.I had it on full output and it would not bog the motor even if activated below 12 psi.My car has alot more in it with this stuff but my times suck because I need to hone my racing skills(nube!).

 

[Razor]

Also my car sits in the garaje with its nose 2 feet away from my gas water heater..leaky selenoid would not be a good thing.

Best way would probably be have a remote bottle opener to prevent anything rom happening.

Good info on a tract full of propane not causing harm.. any others??

As fasr as blowing hoses off..I got that covered

 

[1badTTA]

Razor,
I have injected the intake with propane also when I was getting the solenoid to cycle, didn't cause a problem. I did wait an hour before I fired it up, but no boom. Basically propane needs enough air to mix with to cause an explosion. If it isn't near stioch, it will be so rich it won't burn fast enough to cause an explosion. And since it is a gas, it will displace the air causing a nonexplosive mixture. Your barbeque has plenty of air available for the poof you experience, the inside of an engine doesn't.

 

[TurboBuickSix]

Not to much different than flooding a intake tract on an NA car with ether during the winter then turning the key.Just gets sucked in and burns.Razor,I hear ya on the water heater!! would'nt take long for that to get out of hand.

 

[tracer]

propain seemed like a good idea for me, but i wasnt comfortable having a bottle warmer wrapped around the tank in my trunk

JC said they were in the process of building a bottle warmer that's better than the NOS bottle units. Haven't heard if it's available yet.

 

[WakkoSS]

I like the propane. I didnt want the mess under the hood with alky. You gotta see people's faces when I pop the trunk and they're a propane tank in there.

I can't figure out how to tune this thing and I'm still running 22psi with no knock and about 750-800 o2 counts. If I could figure it out, I could probably run more boost.

Some people don't like the idea of having a tank of propane in the back of the car. Those tanks are TOUGH...if someone hits you hard enough to smush your car all the way to above the rear axle AND still hard enough to burst your propane, I dont think you'll be around to worry about the propane.

 

[36IndexGN]

I hope to have mine activate at 10 psi, I can set this up like this right? Im going to be running 15 psi for a while untill I get a new ECU in the thing. I just want to be able to spool and pull like I do in the middle of winter, all summer long.

 

[WakkoSS]

Mine goes on at 14psi...you can set it however you want.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

I will say from following both alky and propane for the past few months, going progressive on the alky seems the best way to go for many reasons.

Propane is losing some steam here every week with complaints about keeping the pressure and is not lasting as long ect. Not sure if its worth around $750 with the bottle warmer anymore.

 

[The Hog]

What type or solenoids are being used on the propane setups for actiavtion? I would think a standard teflon plunger type nitrous solenoid would work but perhaps something else may work better? Just curious...

 

[TurboBuickSix]

DR Booster,the tanks last plenty long enough,depends how its jetted,DC and regulated pressure all effects consumption of the gas.You may be drawing your conclusion too soon as there has not been any good info coming thru yet.Most of us guys using it have little experience the TR's themselves let alone the propane.The best part is like what IAN said about having the boost on 20 psi untuned with no knock.If you are greedy with the boost on the street,propane keeps you out of trouble to a point.I have run 25 psi with no knock a few times but my stock IC is getting hot fast at that boost level and I really need to upgrade.

 

[Dubwho]

Sorry to bring this one back, but has anyone run propane into the compressor housing and used it as a pre-spooler? It looks like many people have drowned their motors in propane under low boost with no ill consequences. I've been looking for a slick way to make a pre-spooler but everything I have seen has some pretty poor side effects. You could keep the propane flowing as boost increases and if its possible, inject a dry shot of nos once the rpms are high enough. You're motor is already rich and the charge is cool, so a small shot of nos might make a small turbo feel bigger.

 

[Dubwho]

BTW, if it wasn't clear what I meant with pre-spooler, I was refering to shooting the turbo compressor blades with propane to accelerate them when the turbine has little pressure to spool the turbo up from low rpms. I've heard of people shooting the turbine blades with all sorts of gases, but injecting freezing temp gases at seering hot turbine blades is probably riskier than shooting a warm compressor wheel. Maybe?