Pitot Tubes

[Todd H]

I'm new to the board. I have a Superflow 110 and I want to do some carburator testing. I would like to check signal strength on various circuts. I read an article somewhere that you could add a pitot tube to your flow bench to do this testing. Anyone know what is needed to do this? Thanks Todd H

[bruce]

You need some vertical "U" manometers and a way to connect one side of the manometer to what ever you would like to test. I use a couple of manometers to test the main, transition and idle circuit strength at various throttle shaft openings.

The manometers can be as simple as homebuilt from clear tubing you can probably pickup at your local Lowes, Home Depot or hardware store. Make a scale and you are all set.

Look in the past posts and you will find alot of info on manometer building and pics of what others on here have made. Should get you started.

[Todd H]

Bruce, thanks for the reply. I found a website detailing how to build one of these, pretty simple. My question about the manometer is how do you keep from sucking the liquid out of the tube when testing? Todd

[bruce]

A real simple answer would be don't exceed the amount of pressure you build it for.

I'm sure everyone on here has sucked the fluid out of one their manometers sometime along the way (some more than once, put me on that list), you'll be in good company trust me on this . . .

Make it long enough to handle anything you would need to test, how long would that be you ask? One of the ones I use for carb testing is 32". No harm in going bigger if you are making it yourself. I made mine own over the years but have since purchased manometers off eBay to replace my DIY ones. I also have a digital handheld manometer that goes to 19.99" that I can use.



Edited By bruce on 1121288506

[B. Elliott]

I'm a newbie myself. Been lurking around for a while and I absolutely love the site!

As long as the lenghts of the tubing to the test locations are the same, does the height location of the meter relative to the test locations matter that much?

i apologise if the wording isn't clear.

[bruce]

The height of the manometer in relation to your test location has no effect.

[84-1074663779]

You can also fit a fluid storage tank to the top of the manometer. If you overpressure the manometer, the fluid can then just drain back all by itself.

[Mouse]

Yes, you can buy some pvc pipe, caps, and some small pvc tubing for hose nipples from the hobby store. Glue the small tubing into holes in the caps, and glue caps onto short section of pipe. It all glues together with the pvc glue from the hardware store. Or you can buy some small brass or nylon hose nipples and screw them into the caps.