Topic: Seafoam and running rich

[gmonkey]

I've read on the web that adding seafoam to gas makes your bike "act like it's running rich."  I dump some in my FZR and, sure enough, I'm getting a bit of that burble in the exhaust.  Of course, it's possible that was always there and or that the seafoam cleared up the carb letting more fuel into the mixture.  Does it actually make your engine run rich or just emulate it somehow?  How does it do that?  Seafoam fumes prevent some of the oxygen from getting used up?

[MCRider]

My guess is, being not nearly as flammable as what's supposed to be in the combustion chamber, you get incomplete burning of the charge, which will indicate running rich.

[gmonkey]

I thought the carbs would atomize the same amount of fuel.  Except with the seafoam in there, some of that fuel is not as combustible so you end up with some spare oxygen which would lead to a lean condition with some unburnt seafoam in the exhaust.  Or does having the seafoam left over in the exhaust what makes it act rich?  Or is it that the seafoam takes more oxygen per unit mass to combust so there's less oxygen left over which leads to a rich condition?

[gmonkey]

I really expected this to get more interest.  Air flow got a huge discussion and everyone jumps on octane topics so I thought changing fuel composition would get a bunch of responses.  Or does this thread belong in a different section?

What if you mix the gas with some water: assuming it actually mixed evenly, would it run richer or leaner?

[TwoTired]

Seafoam does not list it's chemical composition.  But, as a fuel stabilizer, it would have anti-oxidants.  Meaning less fuel is oxidized or could be oxidized.
Just a working theory.

[grumpy]

It's basically very light oil, naphtha, and india pale ale.

Seafoam MSDS sheet:

1 PALE OIL 4229 40-60%
2 NAPHTHA 20 25-35%
3 IPA 125 10-20%


(Pale Oil MSDS: http://www.lyondellbasell.com/techli...E_BASE_OIL.pdf )

Component Name(s)
1) Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated heavy naphthenic 64742-52-5 70 - 100
2) Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light naphthenic 64742-53-6 0 - 30
CAS Registry No. Concentration (%)

http://www.montanajacks.com/msds/seafoam-msds.pdf

[TwoTired]

So, what is IPA 125?

[grumpy]

It's not india pale ale?

 

Google says it's Isopropanol