Smoke puff limiter dissapointment

[vegas39]

Oh boy where to start. First off let me say how great the folks are at Hypermax, always a pleasure to talk to Ron over the phone.
I installed a smoke puff limiter Monday evening and am not too happy with the results. The biggest downfall with it is, I thought I would be able to adjust the boost pressure on the unit and you cant, 5 pounds is when it opens. Dont know about you wastegated crowd but my Hypermax turbo doesnt even hit 5 pounds when cruising around town. If I get on the throttle, I can hit 5 pounds and when cruising up grades on the freeway, I can hit 10.
I had to turn the fuel way up to compensate for the pure gutless response of this thing and now am getting lots of smoke on takeoff. If I adjust the device to keep the smoke limited, I crawl with my foot to the floor until it hits 5 pounds and then shoots off like a rocket.

I just got back from a trip to Utah this afternoon and from my observations, this thing would work great if it opened around 2 pounds boost.

Guess I'll just have to keep it adjusted full open and turn it down for my yearly emmisions test. I really was looking foward to being able to take advantage of having the fuel up higher and not irritate the tree huggers but this thing just doesnt work like that.

I was running a little on the conservative side with my timing and even bumped that up a few degrees before leaving town in hopes that it would boost a little quicker but nope.

This little device is very finicky and I spent a good two hours the other night getting it dialed in as close as I could to not be a complete pig on takeoff but the only way to not get run over and hit 5 pounds of boost within 10 minutes, is to have thing thing blow smoke on takeoff.

I may see if Hypermax will take it back, or if anyone knows how I could change the internals to open sooner, that would be even better.

 

[BDCarrillo]

If it runs off a boost reference line, a manual boost controller ought to allow you to dial in the actuating pressure. (WRONG!!!)

Wait... Crap...got that backwards... Isn't there an adjustable spring on the aneroid where the boost reference line comes in?

There should be an adjstable nut on a screw behind the diaphragm that changes the onset pressure of the aneroid. You'll want to loosen spring tension until it opens (fuels) at 1-2 psi of boost.

 

[TahoeTom]

Is the diaphragm that the boost hose goes to fully inserted? I had the set screw come loose and the diaphragm started backing out and the truck ran as you describe. It was worse than NA and then came on like a jet. Unfortunately in my case I didn't diagnose what was going on until the diaphragm backed out so far the truck shut down (while on a grade of course). Now I check the set screw to be sure it isn't loose. I should probably loctite it. Rotating the diaphragm is the adjustment in the SPL. Mine is a smooth transition, no on/off feeling at all when working correctly.

 

[vegas39]

If it runs off a boost reference line, a manual boost controller ought to allow you to dial in the actuating pressure. (WRONG!!!)

Wait... Crap...got that backwards... Isn't there an adjustable spring on the aneroid where the boost reference line comes in?

There should be an adjstable nut on a screw behind the diaphragm that changes the onset pressure of the aneroid. You'll want to loosen spring tension until it opens (fuels) at 1-2 psi of boost.

No adjustment for boost but I wish. The only adjustment is by rotating the whole unit to adjust internally inside the pump.

 

[vegas39]

Is the diaphragm that the boost hose goes to fully inserted? I had the set screw come loose and the diaphragm started backing out and the truck ran as you describe. It was worse than NA and then came on like a jet. Unfortunately in my case I didn't diagnose what was going on until the diaphragm backed out so far the truck shut down (while on a grade of course). Now I check the set screw to be sure it isn't loose. I should probably loctite it. Rotating the diaphragm is the adjustment in the SPL. Mine is a smooth transition, no on/off feeling at all when working correctly.

Yeah, its in all the way.

 

[david85]

Have you tried contacting hypermax about the issue?

 

[vegas39]

Have you tried contacting hypermax about the issue?

No, just got back from Utah this afternoon. I'm gonna call them in the morning and see if they can modify it for me to kick in at a lower boost.

 

[towcat]

find someone with a smoke machine to check your entire system for leaks. that is the core reason for low boost.

 

[Robt.Webster]

When Mel installed my Moose Junior pump and injectors, I had him install a Hypermax SPL at the same time. He indicated to me when the work was complete that he had to adjust the SPL to work with my turbo so as not to act like yours seems to be doing. Mine is a non-wastegated turbo as well, and the SPL works exactly as advertised, so there seems be some degree of adjustability there.

 

[vegas39]

So I noticed this morning while it is cool outside that my power is really good and smoke is minimal, because I'm not having to put my foot in it to get going.
Where the problem comes in is when its hot in the afternoon and the a/c is on, I have to get my foot in it to get going, hence the huge cloud of black smoke. Adjusting the SPL down a hair to decrease the smoke makes for some sluggish takeoff and like mentioned before, the outdoor ambient temp makes a huge difference in power. Dont know if it makes a difference for torque curves and all that other jazz but this is a stock non turbo pump that I have on this truck.

I feel that being able to hit 10 pounds of boost on freeway grades on a hot afternoon, that I dont have any leaks anywhere. I just came back from California the other morning when it was cold out and was hitting 12 pounds on Baker grade.

 

[cpdenton]

Time for an intercooler?

 

[vegas39]

Time for an intercooler?

Yes, Frozenboost air/water kit is on the way.

 

[cpdenton]

Nice! You know we will expect pictures!

 

[vegas39]

Nice! You know we will expect pictures!

Lol. Only if it turns out looking nice.

 

[vegas39]

I went down and bought a new spring today for the SPL and it made all the difference. I'm only trying to clear up that initial quick cloud of smoke on takeoff and waiting for 5 pounds of boost was way more than I needed. I've dialed it in where I get just a small puff on takeoff and the boost cuts in at 2 pounds.

As soon as the air/water unit gets here, I'll be relocating both batteries to the tool box and installing the air/water unit on the passenger side and I'll have my sheet metal guy build an air filter box to mount in place of the driver side battery.