Ignition Systems Explained

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05c50
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#16

Post by 05c50 »

FutureBoy wrote:Kettering Ignition
"Charles Kettering was responsible for the developement of tetra ethyl lead and freon (both of which ironically cast him in an ignoble light today"

Not at my house..... Boss Ket is the MAN!

Future Boy
.............you may want to explain ;)

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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#17

Post by mikenixon »

He was an amazingly visionary man and an effective leader. Thomas Midgely (if memory serves, I am not bothering to look it up) was his lab tech, and together they tried some 30+ chemical compounds before hitting on TEL. Kettering is villified today of course, because of all the harm that lead has done to society, but at the time it was needed as a stopgap to better engineering. A man named Harry Ricardo would come along later and start to make engines not detonate so easily. Kettering also perfected the electric starter, which another man invented but car makers at the time (1905 or so, again, from memory) thought batteries would need to be too big to make them work. So he proved them wrong, kind of, by improving the starter motor's efficiency to the point that the batteries at the time would work. He was responsible for a the Cadillac of 1910 or something like that boasting the world's first properly working starter. He is said to have put his attention to perfecting the starter after a friend broke his arm starting his car, an occurance that was all too common and kept women from driving. Hmm, maybe the starter should never have been invented...just kidding! Kettering later went on to found Dayton Electrical Laboratories Co., i.e. Delco, which later of course become part of GM. Kettering and Midgley also experimented with alcohol fueling, and either Midgely or another tech drove a car across country on straight alochol. This was in the 1920s, remember, long before alcohol would be popularized as either a fuel or a fuel additive.
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#18

Post by rcmatt007 »

good ole tetra ethyl lead.... or "ethyl".... four ethyl groups (two carbons - a little "OH" and you have ethanol) attached to a lead molecule..... the carbon chains burn off and you have this nice soft lead coating for exhaust valves...... and unfortunately lower IQ's if you breathe it in
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#19

Post by mikenixon »

Yeah, supposed to have been made famous by the situation in Mexico City. Brain retardation in children.
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#20

Post by rcmatt007 »

heavy metals are nasty things..... one of our residents got to admit a paient who takes "silver".... unfortunately she had a blue tint to her skin.... when he called me, I suggested he call "poison control" (to make sure we did the right thing).... the doc on the other edn said..... "so you have a smurf..."

mercury in Japanese fish.... nasty stuff!
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#21

Post by mikenixon »

Whoa...
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#22

Post by Toehead »

[quote="rcmatt007"]heavy metals are nasty things..... one of our residents got to admit a paient who takes "silver".... unfortunately she had a blue tint to her skin.... when he called me, I suggested he call "poison control" (to make sure we did the right thing).... the doc on the other edn said..... "so you have a smurf..."

mercury in Japanese fish.... nasty stuff![/quote]



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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#23

Post by rcmatt007 »

still gotta wonder what it does to your liver.... kidneys..... brain
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Re: Ignition Systems Explained

#24

Post by Ruffrider »

I used to work with a guy named Ralph who took collodial silver like it was the cure all for every ailment. We started calling him papa smurf. He literally turned a silver/gray/blue color. He thought if a little was good than more must be better. Well, he's dead now and the silver didn't save him but probably screwed him up royally.
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