Gas equipment for the car: the price and reviews. Gas equipment for the car: the pros and cons

Recently, more and more motorists began to think about re-equipping their "iron horses" from gasoline to gas. There are a number of reasons for this, the main of which is the constantly growing price tags at gas stations. In today's article, we will consider what gas-cylinder equipment is, whether it is dangerous to put it on a car, and how much this work will cost.

Device

Modern HBO includes the following series of mechanisms and elements:

1. Multivalve. This part is installed on the neck of the tank and includes a fuel level gauge, a sampling tube, and a supply and refueling valve.
2. Dispenser. Performs the function of dosing fuel. Sometimes, with improper adjustment, a lean mixture can be fed into the combustion chamber (with no air for normal ignition).
3. Petrol valve. It turns off the gasoline when the engine is running on gas.
4. The gas valve. This element cuts off the propane when the engine is off. Also, this valve is supplied with a special cleaning filter.
5. Reducer-evaporator. It serves for heating, evaporation and reducing the level of pressure of propane-butane and methane.
6. A refueling device. Through it is filling the car with gas at the gas station. On passenger cars it is installed in the rear right side of the bumper.
7. The gas reducer. It is installed on a car with an engine capacity of less than 1.6 liters and is mounted in the engine compartment under the car. The modern reducer has electronic control. Gradually, it wears out the rubber membrane, which makes it difficult to start the engine "on the cold."
8. Switch types of fuel. This mechanism is mounted in the car. Sometimes it can have a propane level sensor in the tank. Some STO offer installation of a gasoline pump switch. In this case, it does not "burn" when the engine is running on gas.
9. High pressure gas pipe. It supplies fuel to the combustion chamber at a certain pressure.
10. A mixer of gas and air (alternative to a gasoline carburetor).
11. Fuel tank (cylinder) . It can be either cylindrical or toroidal. In the latter case, the tank is mounted in place of the niche for the spare in the trunk. According to the safety rules it is recommended to fill the tank only by 80 percent of its capacity.

Features of functioning

As for the principle of operation, gas-cylinder equipment works much easier than the classic gasoline power system. The gas, which is in a metal container, falls under a certain pressure into the reducer. The latter is heated by the cooling liquid, after which the propane evaporates, and already in the so-called vapor phase enters the dispenser, and then into the mixer. When the gas is fully saturated with air, it enters the combustion chamber. Reviews of HBO on the car say that with such a primitive operation of the system, the car retains its previous dynamics, engine performance and fuel consumption. True, there are small deviations here, which we will discuss further.

We install gas equipment on the car. What are the pros and cons of HBO?

Like any other mechanism, the gas-cylinder unit has its positive and negative sides. When installing HBO, it is important to take into account all these nuances.

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of gas equipment? Let's start with obvious advantages. First, engine operation on gas reduces the level of CO emissions into the atmosphere by 2-2.5 times. Secondly, with HBO increases the life of the engine before major repairs. Typically, these engines are 2 times longer than those that run on regular 95-m gasoline.

The whole essence of the "miracle" is very simple: when burning propane (just like methane), it practically does not create soot and carbon deposits in the cylinders. This prevents premature coking of the compression rings, and consequently, of the entire cylinder-piston engine group. But not only because of this, it is necessary to install gas equipment on the car. The reviews also note a large power reserve, which is up to 1000 km for passenger cars (300-500 kilometers more). In fact, there are now two tanks in the car, and it's much less possible to refuel at the gas station.

By the way, oil in such engines is practically not contaminated. The reason for this, as we said earlier, is pure combustion of fuel. But this does not mean that you can not change it at all. The replacement of oil in gasoline-gas cars occurs almost at the same frequency as in conventional petrol (a deviation of three to five thousand kilometers in favor of gas engines is allowed).

Now let's move on to the shortcomings. The first disadvantage is the high cost of such an upgrade. Installation of gas equipment on the car will cost you 200-500 US dollars. Typically, this work takes 8-10 hours, depending on the professionalism of installers. The price depends on the region, as well as on which generation the gas equipment is installed on the car. Reviews of car owners also note that with the transition to propane / methane, the car loses up to 5-8 percent of its capacity. To fix this can only chip-tuning, which will open all the potentials of the engine. By the way, this shortage of power on foreign cars is almost not noticed. Domestic VAZs often begin to take on rises and overtaking another vehicle.

More car owners emphasize the difficult starting of the engine in winter. As a result, experts recommend starting a car with gasoline. Only after warming up can be included gas installation. As for the specific temperature, starting the car with propane is possible at -10-15 degrees Celsius. Below this mark, the car simply will not start on gas. Therefore, before the cold, it is recommended to have up to 5-10 liters of gasoline for a normal start-up and warm-up of the car.

But the biggest problem is not at all in this, but in the registration of the HBO in the traffic police. To fit it into the technical passport, it is necessary to go through a very long and painful process. Registration of the HBO requires a special permit (certificate) from the gas operator. It is issued after the installation of equipment by the workshop workers. To ensure that the GAI have entered gas-cylinder equipment in the technical passport, you will have to pay from 100 to 300 US dollars. If the HBO is not registered in the vehicle's PTS within 10 days, you may be charged a fine of several thousand rubles.

The last drawback concerns the volume of the luggage compartment. In fact now instead of zapaski in a niche there is a steel cylinder. Spare wheel must be carried above the floor of the trunk. This, perhaps, is one of the main disadvantages for passenger cars, which conceals gas-cylinder equipment.

Should I put HBO? After considering all the pros and cons of this installation it is very difficult to determine whether it is really useful for the machine.

Despite all these shortcomings, the installation of gas equipment on the car has a great advantage in terms of fuel economy. If the 95th liter costs about 33-35 rubles, then the same volume of propane - only 14 (methane and even less - 7-8 rubles). If you rely on feedback, the gas equipment on the car is set intelligently from a financial point of view. HBO allows you to reduce the cost of travel more than twice. This makes it possible to "quickly" (in six to ten months) "repulse" the cost of installing and registering the system.

Is it dangerous to install HBO with your own hands?

Is it possible to install gas equipment on the car? The experts say that it is better to mount the HBO in specialized workshops that have passed state certification and have all the necessary permits. Yes, in practice, HBO can be really installed by oneself. However, after that, it will be very difficult to get a gas specialist's certificate for registering the equipment in the traffic police, and the slightest drawback during installation can lead to malfunctioning of the system.

Features of gas fuel

Previously, we found out what the gas equipment has pluses and minuses. But that is not all. Now we will consider the features of the fuel itself. A lot of drivers talk about the benefits of using propane on modern cars. Often they put monetary savings first, but that's not all.

Gas (in particular, propane-butane) has high anti-knock resistance properties. The octane number of this fuel is about 105, which completely eliminates the possibility of detonation of the ICE parts. In addition, propane does not have catalysts in its composition, which destroy the metal. And due to the absence of such harmful impurities as lead and sulfur, the resource of engine parts (including lambda probe and catalytic converter) is increased by 50-80 percent.

How good is HBO and its fuel other than the octane number? Another feature of the gas is its diffusion property. Propane is easily mixed with air and fills the combustion chamber with a homogeneous mixture. The motor becomes softer and less noisy. At the end of the stroke stroke on the pistons, candles and valves, black carbon is not formed. If you use HBO from the time you buy a car, it is realistic to keep the internal cleanliness of the motor even after five to eight years of its operation. By the way, candles on gas can be nursed to 200-300 thousand kilometers and remain as clean as before installation.

Due to the fact that the gas enters the chamber already in the vapor phase, it does not wash off the oil film from the cylinder walls, does not fill up the candles and does not dilute the oil in the internal combustion chamber. All this makes the car more reliable in operation.

And, of course, the rate of propane combustion. In cylinders, this mixture burns slower than gasoline. This reduces the load on the piston, connecting rod and crankshaft.

All these advantages were noticed by European manufacturers a few years ago. Now many companies (including "Volvo", "Opel" and "Fiat") already produce hybrid versions of the car, equipped with modern gas-cylinder equipment. In Russia, only the Gorky Automobile Plant has seriously approached this issue, which in 2012 launched the production of gas modifications of GAZel vehicles, equipped with a HBO type methane. True, the carrier companies more like the diesel engines "Cummins", which soon ruined the idea of producing gas GAZel.

Is the cylinder explosive?

If you think that if it is damaged, it poses a greater danger than a gasoline tank, then you are deeply mistaken. The fact is that modern propane and methane cylinders have a special high-speed valve, which, in case of emergency damage to the fuel line, cuts off the gas supply. In addition, the thickness of the metal from which this tank is made, allows you to compare its impact resistance with an armored safe. To make it explode, the car must at least fly to a 30-meter abyss or collide with a moving locomotive. In other cases, the balloon remains immune to deformations and damage, note the reviews. Gas equipment for a car has a lower explosion hazard than a conventional gasoline system. Therefore, all the myths about the high explosiveness of HBO remain only a delusion.

Power and efficiency

The main question that interests drivers when installing HBO, is how much will the car save, how will its dynamic performance deteriorate. Earlier we already said that the dynamics in overclocking is lost by about five percent. In fact, it does not say anything, but the measure of profitability can change by 10-20 percent. But here the real figure depends on the modernity of HBO. Gas second-generation equipment is one of the most primitive and cheap in service, but with it fuel consumption is increased by 20 percent. At the same time modern injection gas systems almost do not change the indicator of profitability. On passenger cars this indicator can grow only by 0.5-1 liters.

In general, the flow rate depends on the correct adjustment of the HBO. The propane-driven machine can be adjusted even so that it consumes 6 liters of propane instead of 7-8 gasoline. But such a car will save only at speeds up to 90 kilometers per hour. Above this indicator, it simply can not accelerate, since the system exhibits a minimum fuel supply.

We install gas on the car. Methane or propane?

In total, there are two types of gas-cylinder systems operating on methane or propane. When choosing this or that type of HBO, you need to consider all their features. What do the reviews say about gas-cylinder equipment for cars (HBO) such as methane? Its main difference lies in the technology of refueling. Methane is supplied to the tank at a pressure of 250 atmospheres. At the same time, the weight of one cylinder can reach 80-100 kilograms. Especially it is noticeable on low-tonnage GAZels. For their work, at least two or three such cylinders are necessary. As noted by the reviews, gas equipment for the GAZelle type methane should not be installed, as this reduces its total carrying capacity from 1.5 to 1.2 tons. And the higher the curb weight, the more fuel consumption and time spent on overclocking the car.

Propane systems are the most common type of HBOs, according to the reviews. Gas equipment for the car is mounted easier in comparison with methane analogues. The propane bottle weighs 1.5-2 times less. In addition, a lesser risk of explosion hazard is important (since the gas is contained in the car not under high pressure). In addition, both installations are equally simple and cheap to maintain. But the final argument in favor of propane HBOs will be the presence of toroidal cylinders and their absence in methane systems. These tanks are very compact and do not take up much space in the trunk.

What kind of gas to install on the car, it's up to you. But for cars, propane will be more preferable than methane. In addition, in Russia there are not so many methane refueling stations on which it would be possible to refuel.

How to properly operate the machine on gas?

In order not to harm your car, you need to remember a couple of simple operating rules:

• At temperatures below -10 (for injectors) and -5 (for carburetor internal combustion engines), the first engine start is made on gasoline. As soon as the gearbox becomes warm (after about 3-5 minutes), the machine is switched to gas.
• Switching to propane and methane should be done at a speed of 1.5 thousand or more. Otherwise, the engine stalls, and the entire procedure you have to repeat again. By the way, HBO 4 generation automatically switches to gas when the engine is warm enough. The transition is very problematic if the diaphragm of the reducer is very worn out. The resource of this part is about 8-10 years. After this period, it is recommended to replace the entire membrane or the whole reducer.
• At night in winter, put the fuel switch on the gasoline.
• Every month, drain the condensate from the reducer. The procedure is very simple. It is carried out by unscrewing the screw and further twisting it after removing the accumulated condensate. Depending on the generation of HBO, the location of the screw may vary.

Conclusion

So, we found out all the pluses and minuses of the gas installation on the car. As you can see, HBO is a very effective way to save fuel. Moreover, when the car works on propane and methane, the resource of a number of ICE mechanisms increases, which makes it more reliable and cheaper to maintain. Finally, we note that all gas myths (HBO, gas - supposedly dangerous things, etc.) are just guesses of inexperienced motorists and "misconceptions" of petrol station owners. The whole of Europe has long since mastered this practice, so the future is clearly behind gas installations (especially since the cost of propane in Russia is much less than, for example, in Germany).