White Smoke on Startup

[jviss]

Actually, my question was genuine, and now I'm thinking it was misconstrued as sarcasm. I suppose that's an easy enough assumption, bearing in mind who said it. But I don't think I've ever heard it called anything else but throttle, and in the definition it seems like the term may be slang. Interesting.
And an old dog DOES learn a thing now and then..

And one more thought, I've dealt with countless numbers of diesels in my life, and any kind of smoke at start up has never alarmed me. I'm not saying it should, but I've seen a thousand of them that did. It's what they do when it gets warm that I'm making a life decision on. Its life..

I didn't take your comment as sarcasm, and i hope I didn't offend you with my response, it was not my intention to do so.

I like the idea that we have a speed control. My control on the pedestal says "FAST/SLOW," and that's exactly what I'm doing, speeding up or slowing down the prop, via the engine speed control.

I think it would be useful to know when the governor is out of regulation at the high end, i.e., that the governor can't get the engine up to the speed demanded, but that' just because I'm a bit of a nerd.

 

[Ross]

On the floor of the front seat of your car on the driver's side the pedal to the right of the brake pedal is called a........................? In an electric car? in a diesel powered car? The handle that is used to engage the linkage from the engine to the wheels is called a.........................................? in a car with a three speed manual transmission? in a car with an automatic transmission? I always considered an engine control on machines that ran at mostly constant speed to be throttles. They don't automatically return to idle when released.

 

[jviss]

On the floor of the front seat of your car on the driver's side the pedal to the right of the brake pedal is called a........................?

Accelerator

In an electric car? in a diesel powered car?

Accelerator

The handle that is used to engage the linkage from the engine to the wheels is called a.........................................?

Gear selector

in a car with a three speed manual transmission?

Gear shift

in a car with an automatic transmission?

Gear selector

I always considered an engine control on machines that ran at mostly constant speed to be throttles. They don't automatically return to idle when released.

How'd I do?

An engine control on engines that run at constant speed is a speed control, no?

It may be that in many contexts, and in many cultures "throttle" has fallen into common usage as the name for the primary engine control, but it is nonetheless technically incorrect. On a gas engine with a carb and a throttle in a vehicle where the vehicle speed is directly proportional to the engine speed you are controlling the fuel/air supplied to the engine by choking off the air from wide-open to something less; indeed, you are controlling the air, which in turn regulates the fuel flow, which results in higher engine speed or more power, or some combination depending on the load. On a diesel as are found in boats, you are adjusting the governor set-point, and the governor in turn admits more or less fuel depending on the load to keep the engine speed constant.

Even gas engines in lawn mowers and such have governors and the lever on the handle is a speed control. That lever is not connected to the throttle, the governor is controlling the throttle.

 

[Chris Patterson]

Oh no, offended not, not at all. I thought maybe I was being rude in retrospect, as I'm trying very hard to tone down my "attitude" of late..

-I think it would be useful to know when the governor is out of regulation at the high end, i.e., that the governor can't get the engine up to the speed demanded, but that' just because I'm a bit of a nerd.-quote.

Now that would be another instrument/gauge that would intrigue me, maybe "efficiency monitor" or whatever. Being sorta geeky myself about mechanical entities, I like that. Thus far, these have been mental notes while motoring at certain speed control settings while watching the tach, and deciding which rev number suits it. Governor position indicator? Hmm, interesting thought.

I hate it when my brain starts working, involuntary bodily functions start slipping..