Carb Icing

[RandyO]

what can be done?

Mick?

Degs?

anybody?

[oreo_n2]

i have heard stoneman say he pissed on em as a kid to thaw em out.

[R7]

We had a old generator at work and the carb would always ice up when it was cold out. We used to spray de-icer on it and it seemed to work for a half day or so. Not sure if that's the same condition you're talking about, ours used to frost up (on the outside) and the throttle linkage would no longer work

[RandyO]

No, many bikes are notorious for this problem, the increase in air velocity in the carb intake causes a temperature drop, I dunno how many, but at least 12-13° any moisture in the air (bands of fog on these cool fall mornings) that contacts the surface immediatly freeze and in a short order enuf ice has built up you are sputtering and spitting frome the rich fuel mixture.

in Europe,carb heaters are stock in some countries, but the chat I read on SV650.org is that they are ineffective.

[scootertrash]

Not sure if there is a kit for your SV, but the European ZX9R had a carb heater (standard/option?) that is shown in the shop manual. It's a small hose that pumps warm engine coolant through part of the carb. I've been thinking of trying to get the kit...I have an icing problem with my bike when it's below 40 degrees. (caused by the air injection setup on the bike according to some opinions I have read on the internet)

[RandyO]

it only happens in above freezing situations, once you are below freezing, any moisture is frozen already and will not stick to the carb intake. the reason I say that the Sv drops the temp 12-13° is cause I start experiencing carb icing below 45 if the humidity is right.

the best thing I have found to do is pull over for 4-5 minutes, shutr the bike off so the carbs aren't fosting more, and let the engine heat warm the carbs, sometimes that works for 2 miles, sometimes for the rest of the ride.

[ancosta]

Could you rig up something where the the air is routed into the airbox via a metal snorkel that is pressed against the exhaust header, heating up the intake air temp?

Similar to the snorkel setup they used on old domestic cars so that the manifold would put heated into the air filter snorkel so the car would warm up faster.

Or could you use coolant hose using a T fitting so that you could run a redundant coil of coolant hose through the airbox, raising temp? Or maybe a small heater core/oil cooler setup mounted in the airbox?

These are ridiculous ideas but maybe they could work?

More ridiculous would be to try and use some type of 12VDC 'heat tape' around the carbs, similar to what is used to heat water pipes in a residence, except you want DC obviously not AC. (I installed this on our trailer/cabin in N. Woodstock the other day...fun fun fun - not!)

[TLRMan]

Get another SV with FUEL INJECTION.....he he he....

[Stoneman]

Pull over, piss on 'em. Badda-BING!

Ba-KAWK!

[Degsy]

Randy, you don't have a carb heater because this isn't a uk-spec bike. I don't know about the SV but you ight be able to retro-fit the lines from the radiator if you had the UK part numbers.

The carb icing you are getting can ONLY occur at 2 times per year in North America. The points at the end of fall and the beginning of spring when the air temp is about 5c or below and the air is humid. If you lived about 50 miles south of where you live you probably wouldn't get carb icing.

Some people in the uk use petrol additives which supposedly coat the fuel/airways of the carb so the ice cannot form but I can't remember the names of any, even if they are available here. You might try 89 or 93 octane just for shits and giggles.

The other thing is trying to lessen the velocity of the air entering the carbs. Are you using an aftermarket air filter? If so, try a stock one, it will flow less air. The other thing (strange as it may sound) is maybe put in an old, partially blocked filter to get you through carb-ice season.


Sorry I can't help more.

degs