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Oil Accumulator valve


mgoblue06

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Those of you running accumulators, what are you sing for a valve? Cable or electric?

 

we can’t install the accumulator in the cab due to rules and use the ball value so the driver can turn on and off before starting or after shutting down. 
 

Just mount it so the valve is accessible before or after starting for the race session and use it manually? 

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8 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said:

Isn't the valve just used to lubricate and fill the accumulator during startup?

 

Also, you CAN use a ball valve and a cable to actuate it (like a choke cable).

I think it’s to hold pressure built up to be used at next startup. Close it after shutting down. 
 

I think I found a electric valve and pressure switch on Facebook marketplace for about half the price as new. 20-25 psi pressure switch, so when pressure goes low it dumps the 3 quarts of oil. 

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I only have a ball valve on mine for changing the oil to make sure it is at the right level. I put in the oil with the valve open, all of it is in the engine pan, the accumulator fills up, I rev engine to like 5K to fully charge the accumulator and turn the ball valve to hold it in there. Then turn off the engine and make sure the oil level is where it should be. I then open up the ball valve and know it is good. I now have put a notch on my dip stick up to the full level to make it easier to see the oil level.

 

During the race it is open all the time. When we pit it is open and drains into the pan. When we start it will charge. It only takes 10-15 seconds to charge fully so not worries there. We do not turn it off or on, just leave it alone and good to go.

 

With the electronic valve I have seen someone still starve due to it. If my understanding is correct, it will fully charge and the valve gets closed. When a threshold pressure is below X it will open the valve and then dump it in. What I saw is that someone set this pressure to 35psi, which you would think would be good enough as that is where idle is around, but the valve and pressure was not fast enough. When the pressure was set to 35psi it actually went down to 25psi and then spiked up to like 60-70psi. There were lots of these spikes during his race and to me it really took away the benefit of the accusump.

 

When I compared that to mine, that is open all the time, I saw mine have a nice smooth flow up and down and kept the pressure much more consistent, which is really what you want anyway. My advise is to not run an electric valve at all in racing. For a street car or if you are really worried about cold start hurting a rod bearing then ok, but I do not think we should be worried about that with how we use our engines.

 

Just my 2 cents, enjoy the money.

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2 hours ago, MR2 Biohazard said:

I only have a ball valve on mine for changing the oil to make sure it is at the right level. I put in the oil with the valve open, all of it is in the engine pan, the accumulator fills up, I rev engine to like 5K to fully charge the accumulator and turn the ball valve to hold it in there. Then turn off the engine and make sure the oil level is where it should be. I then open up the ball valve and know it is good. I now have put a notch on my dip stick up to the full level to make it easier to see the oil level.

 

During the race it is open all the time. When we pit it is open and drains into the pan. When we start it will charge. It only takes 10-15 seconds to charge fully so not worries there. We do not turn it off or on, just leave it alone and good to go.

 

With the electronic valve I have seen someone still starve due to it. If my understanding is correct, it will fully charge and the valve gets closed. When a threshold pressure is below X it will open the valve and then dump it in. What I saw is that someone set this pressure to 35psi, which you would think would be good enough as that is where idle is around, but the valve and pressure was not fast enough. When the pressure was set to 35psi it actually went down to 25psi and then spiked up to like 60-70psi. There were lots of these spikes during his race and to me it really took away the benefit of the accusump.

 

When I compared that to mine, that is open all the time, I saw mine have a nice smooth flow up and down and kept the pressure much more consistent, which is really what you want anyway. My advise is to not run an electric valve at all in racing. For a street car or if you are really worried about cold start hurting a rod bearing then ok, but I do not think we should be worried about that with how we use our engines.

 

Just my 2 cents, enjoy the money.

Thanks!

 

I had this process in my mind on how things would go.

 

We have a one way valve before the T in flow that forces the flow into the pan from the accusump. 
 

This method seems simpler and cost effective as the Oil accumulator we bought already has a ball valve on it. 

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41 minutes ago, MR2 Biohazard said:

What? I am confused on how it would dump into the pan?

Prevents flow back into the cooler and forces it into the pan. Here is flow direction 

 

Out of pan

Remote filter

Into cooler

out of cooler

backflow valve 

tee in connection of accusump

back into pan 

 

our S10 has a factory oil cooler built into radiator 

 

 

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15 hours ago, mgoblue06 said:

Those of you running accumulators, what are you sing for a valve? Cable or electric?

 

we can’t install the accumulator in the cab due to rules and use the ball value so the driver can turn on and off before starting or after shutting down. 
 

Just mount it so the valve is accessible before or after starting for the race session and use it manually? 

Where in the rules is this stated?  I'm installing ours in the cabin with solid alum/copper lines so should be legal per what I read unless I missed something??

 

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2 minutes ago, Todd K said:

Where in the rules is this stated?  I'm installing ours in the cabin with solid alum/copper lines so should be legal per what I read unless I missed something??

 

As I recall from a discussion on this a while back it needs to be completely enclosed with shielding if in the drivers compartment.

 

You don't want hot oil spraying around and on the driver if there is a failure.

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I'm not sure how this would be sourced and discharged from the pan to provide any benefit.  The accumulator is under pressure oil which purpose is to make up for volume / pressure when you have times if the pump is uncovered (while racing) or for pre-oiling an engine before start up.  Therefore it should be plumbed into the pressure circuit with best points that keep the main / rod / cam galleries supplied.

 

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1 minute ago, Bandit said:

As I recall from a discussion on this a while back it needs to be completely enclosed with shielding if in the drivers compartment.

 

You don't want hot oil spraying around and on the driver if there is a failure.

I get that scenario but I cannot find it in the rules.  Unless there was a tech decision that was not widely published or something.  

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1 hour ago, Todd K said:

Where in the rules is this stated?  I'm installing ours in the cabin with solid alum/copper lines so should be legal per what I read unless I missed something??

 

the accusump can be in the cabin, just the oil an lines all need to be covered. Who wants 300F hot oil under pressure spraying on the driver. I put mine in the trunk. That bad boy gets hot and I do not need anything extra getting hot in the car.

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1 hour ago, Todd K said:

I'm not sure how this would be sourced and discharged from the pan to provide any benefit.  The accumulator is under pressure oil which purpose is to make up for volume / pressure when you have times if the pump is uncovered (while racing) or for pre-oiling an engine before start up.  Therefore it should be plumbed into the pressure circuit with best points that keep the main / rod / cam galleries supplied.

 

It has to be plumbed from the oil feed line.  Mine goes from the oil filter location on the block out, remote oil filter, oil cooler, T fitting to accusump and back into the engine. So it is after the oil filer. I thought oil filters had drain back check valves in them? Even if not, the oil would need to be pressurized past a spinning oil pump to go back into the pan.  Plus, there is a bunch of oil dumping into the engine so even if some slips past the filer and the oil pump there is still pressure in the line to get to the bearings and cams for 10-15 seconds, depending on size and clearances. You really only need 3-5 seconds in most cases in most turns.

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1 hour ago, ross2004 said:

Thanks - I have seen that and - yes they do / can get hot.  Per the rules the lines have to be metal OR enclosed in metal so we can do that not a problem.  Nothing about the ball valve is mentioned and the schrader valve on the back end is for adjusting the pressure - not a relief valve of any sort.  So we should be good.  Probably will go with moving the accumulator to the rear with everything else I have in the back since we are FWD and can use a little extra to balance out the driver weight. 

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3 hours ago, ross2004 said:

There is a pressure relief valve though, it's on the cap beside the valve/hose fitting. 

I have a Moroso - it has a ball valve on one end and the other end has a pressure gage and a schrader valve to precharge.  No relief valve in sight.

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