D.I.Y. nitrous

[bandet01]

yeah nitrous can be safe if you know what you are doing but if you dont your going to hurt the bike and yourself in the process i mean there are so many ways to make nitrous safe it aint funny

[81xsproject]

I currently know very little about NO2 use. I after reading this, though, I feel as though I didn't know as much as I thought. I was under the impression that the NO2 itself was inflammable and only acted as a catalyst for the gasoline combustion reaction. So, with this possisbly false impression, I don't understand how a drop in fuel supply would lead to blowing up an engine.

Would appreciate a good straightening out by the experts

[pggg]

Far from being an expert, Chev and Turbopete are the clued up ones - but nitrous(N2O) is just air. Normal air we breathe is about 80%N 20%O. Nitrous is about 70%N 30%O. Nitrox divers breathe it to get longer bottom times.(less nitrogen build up in your blood) It's the extra oxygen that gives combustion the extra kick. You still need the inert nitrogen to 'absorb' the extra heat generated.

[xs650mike]

Not an expert either but I think you're wrong pggg. Nitrous oxide is "laughing gas" commonly used as an anesthetic. If you breath pure nitrous oxide you'll pass out and if it's not mixed with oxygen you'll die. Diver Ray can probably give you the scoop on the diving gas which I believe is oxygen mixed with helium to prevent "nitrogen narcosis". Nitrous oxide works in engines by giving up it's oxygen when the mixture is ignited thereby "supercharging" the combustion process similarly to nitro methane additives. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[mro]

Taken from the web

At room temperature, N2O is quite unreactive with most substances, including alkali metals, halogens, and even ozone. It is therefore widely used as a propellant in aerosol cans in place of the CFCs which can damage the ozone layer. When heated sufficiently, however, N2O decomposes exothermically to N2 and O2.



If this reaction occurs in the combustion chamber of an automobile, 3 moles of gas would be produced from 2 moles, providing an extra boost to the piston, as well as liberating more heat. It also has a number of other benefits. The increased oxygen provides more efficient combustion of fuel, the nitrogen buffers the increased cylinder pressure controlling the combustion, and the latent heat of vaporisation of the N2O reduces the intake temperature. Therefore N2O is occasionally injected into the fuel lines of racing cars to give more power to the engine and to give the car exceptional acceleration



mro

[turbopete]

I don't know about diving gas but I was talking to my cousin today and he said they do indeed mix it in different ratios to reduce/avoid decompression tmes as you said.

Racing nitrous and medical nitrous are just about the same stuff but racing nitrous has 1 part per 1000 sulphur dioxide added to give it an awful smell and stop people killing themselves by sniffing it. Two full breaths of pure nitrous and you are dead, apparently it floods the lungs and removes their ability to absorb oxygen.

[chevy45412001]

?

trust me i'm no XSpert but been around the drags long enough to see many a granaded motors.like the guys are saying about oxygene.,that XScellerates burning doesn't it? so if you have a little gas going into the chamber and hit NOS you are putting tons of O into the fire.Many raseres heat thier bottles between rounds to keep the NOS pressure up so they get a more consistAnt use of there prcious speed additive. Thats all iknow if your fuel goes away the nitrous can and WILL toast motors,i have even seen melted spark plugs . One of the reasons why you use a seperate fuel supply for the gas(nos) and a saftey switch to disarm the nos in the event of a fuel press drop,

[xs650mike]

Laughing gas

Originally posted by turbopete
Two full breaths of pure nitrous and you are dead, apparently it floods the lungs and removes their ability to absorb oxygen.

Nitrous oxide will deprive the body of oxygen and make one lose consciousness, as an anesthetic it is mixed with oxygen and the %age is varied to produce the desired effect from mild sedation to unconciousness. Two breaths of pure nitrous oxide won't kill you but several will make you lose conciousness but you will recover very quickly as soon as you are breathing air again and you will also feel very refreshed and renewed, as anyone who has inhaled pure nitrous from a balloon at a party can tell you. It is not for nothing that it is known as laughing gas. Don't ask me how I know. If one doesn't get air it will kill by asphyxiation just like that other well known inert gas, CO2.

[Pat Kelly]

i'm no expert either BUT.........

From talking with my father (Dad know's everything), nitros oxide was first used (mechaniclly speaking) in aircraft. It added air (nitrogen and oxygen) to facilitate combustion at higher altitudes where there is not enough air to allow the fuel to burn.
Somewhere along the line someone thought of this "chemical supercharging" and added NOS to their car for a boost of power (additional air). They found that additional fuel was needed to prevent the sudden lean mixture that caused engines to self-destruct.
Like with any device that is pushed beyond the original design, durability and/or reliability are shortened unless compensating measures are implemented.
My sister (dentist) once had a co-worker that strapped on the NOS and sat back in the chair to catch a buzz. Fortunately she was found before she died but she did suffer brain damage.
I should shut-up, I sound like a bonehead.

[trbig]

Not saying I am an expert either, but as a former medic, and a certified diver, I can assure you that there is no nitrous oxide in diving tanks to make up nitrox. As stated before, breathing air is 21% oxygen, 79% nitrogen, 1% "other" (Take your pick)lol. Nitrox is simply first puting pure oxygen into a tank, then normal air, like always, to mix them. This gives a higher percentage of Oxygen to Nitrogen mix.. giving a pre figured mix rate to match the dive. Too much oxygen can actually become toxic under pressures of diving. Helium is used sometimes for deeper dives due to it's inert properties... it helps replace some of the nitrogen.. which causes the "Bends"
Just a word of caution. There is nitrous for vehicles, and there is MEDICAL nitrous. Nitrous for vehicles can contain deadly toxins that can kill. Just like... medical oxygen and industrial oxygen like you'd use in torches and such. Same thing applies to the industrial... don't breathe it.
Just because you have nitrogen and oxygen together, it isn't nitrous (N2O) The oxygen is missing one of it's molecules. On the flip side, 1 Nitrogen molecule and 2 Oxygen make NO2, nitrogen dioxide... a DEADLY poison! Go figure??
OK Class... science lessons done.. lol

[xs650mike]

That clears that up!

Thanks trbig!

[bandet01]

thansk for that lession and nitrous in the bottle deadly kind will also frezze your skin if you get it to close to your skin

[xs650mike]

Originally posted by bandet01
thansk for that lession and nitrous in the bottle deadly kind will also frezze your skin if you get it to close to your skin

This is true of any compressed gas. Rock Scully, former tour manager for the Grateful Dead tells a story in his book, "Living With The Dead", about the time he foolishly inhaled nitrous oxide directly from a hose attached to a tank while he was home alone. He passed out and though the hose fell partly out of his mouth allowing him enough air not to die he remained unconscious until the tank ran out of gas. He eventually woke up with a rather severe frostbite on his neck and face.

[John]

A little correction

Compressed gasses aren't the kind that will 'burn' you. It is the liquified gasses. Like propane, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. They have such low boiling points, (-44 for propane, I used to work in a propane plant 23 years ago). It is really like a severe frost bite, but it is treated like a burn. Liquid oxygen and nitrogen have ridiclously low boiling points, like -300 or so. I don't have the numbers in front of me, and I ain't gonna look em' up.

[pggg]

Ah yes, had an inkling nitrous and nitrox may have been a tiny wee bit different I've been diving 20 years but never used nitrox. Just air. Nitrox is good for relatively shallow dives to around 100 ft or so. Depending on the mix, nitrox is around 33% oxygen 66% nitrogen. As nitrogen has a narcotic effect on the human brain beyond a certain concentration, at around the 100 ft depth, breathing normal air, you'll start getting 'narced'. It's nitrogen narcosis. Everything turns slow and dreamy. Gets stronger the deeper ya go. The increasing pressure is concentrating your air hugely.

As trbg says, oxygen is actually toxic to a human over a certain level. If you get really really deep, diving on normal air, you'll likely suffer an 'oxygen toxicity seizure'. Sounds fun huh? It'll hit hard without warning too. Good luck on getting back to the surface. As nitrox has more oxygen, the toxicity effect will happen at a shallower depth than with normal air. As it also has less nitrogen, you'll need to go deeper to get narced. For deep dives, helium/nitrogen/ oxygen mixes reduce the narcs and with only a tiny oxygen content the toxic effect won't happen. I think you can still get bent on helium though trbg.