18% increase! (Fuel Doctor FD-47 busted by Consumer Reports)
 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hpxN6ZUy6C8/S7...2/IMG_1132.JPG
Is this for real?
It's in the new Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue.18% increase is substantial if the claim is valid.

Phil

Load of bs.

I have one, I paid 30,000 shillings for it back in the 1920s when the Iraq war was just starting , I bought it to improve my llama's efficiency.

How is that supposed to do anything purely plugged into the cig lighter.....

They sure failed on this one.

I can only imagine where you are plugging it in :D

Imagine plugging two or THREE of these babies in! That'll convert other cars' emissions into fuel and fill up your tank!

Can we say "fraudulent"? How in the world can you even say such a thing in the ad? That is simply ludicrous!

Here it is for sale..Current Regulating Fuel Efficiency Booster Coolest Gadgets

Amazing, amazing I say!

Brian

I just like to run up and down the hall screaming "Hammacher Schlemmer!" "Hammacher Schlemmer!" "Hammacher Schlemmer!" ... with scissors, too.

kitchenware
 

Lorena Bobbitt has acquired the home addresses for the respectable owners of this fine manufacturer and is on the way with her best kitchenware.
She's been improving her throwing arm,and promises that no one will ever recover the objects of her consumer protection act.
On an up note,the Vienna Boy's choir is excited about the new sopranos in the making.

Anyone who gets this is defiantly a sucker

The only MPG you would get from this is you having a lighter foot trying to save gas... You can buy a 50 cent sticker and put it over the lighter hole and possibly get the same effect haha

There's always people who put stuff down when they have never tried it. I've purchased one and followed the instruction guide and was able to acheive 75% over EPA.

As always YMMV :p

LOLOLOLOL, how true, how true!

Brian

Damn that's like impossible, yet clearly not!:eek:

It has three LEDs on it, doesn't it? Well, LEDs are energy saving, aren't they?

This is true, the first generation current regulator had fluoresent and only saved about 5%.

Brian

http://www.chinatraderonline.com/Fil...2135148051.jpg

He doesn't like it very much.

Better, because there is less alternator draw.

Now that we're done joking about this piece of crap, Would properly isolating the ecu from the rest of the electrical system have any benefits? I realize that few of us have the ability to do this and I am not one of them.

Don

It might. A cleaner signal from various sensors could make for more accurate air/fuel adjustments. 18%? I doubt it.

As for what this does, perhaps it works like noise canceling headphones and maybe a large capacitor to try to even out current spikes & variations. Or something. 18% still seems incredibly ..uh.. optimistic. I wonder why they specify "at least 2 years old"?

Here it is online...
The Current Regulating Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Booster - Hammacher Schlemmer

Hmmm... they have a lifetime satisfaction guarantee...

Epa
 

Not to be disrespectful but,EPA mileage numbers account for very little in the real world.
A recent example would be my friend John Gilkison's new non-hybrid Civic which is getting 11-mpg better than EPA rating,and he's done nothing at all to the car.That's about a 34% 'improvement.'

*Sigh*

Stock ECUs have very good noise filtering from the factory. I have worked with electronics and eletrical systems for many years, I am not convinced any more noise filtering throughout the car system would yield a measureable difference.

Yeah what would be inside one of these things? A capacitor possibly?

And I am curious what those 3 LEDs might indicate - The gadget is only connected to battery and GND through the adapter plug. And what kind of filtering can it provide, when the wires go round and round the car (the adapter is fed through the ignition switch) before getting connected to the ECU? (I doubt whether it is directly or through a distribution panel)

In lighter vein, they should include a vibrator and a rechargeable battery set inside.

Two things are happening when you use the "Probe" that help efficiency. One, your wallet is lighter so the car is easier to accelerate and two, you are driving slower because you are watching the blinky lights on the shaft and wondering why you don't go out more often with the guys for daiquiris.

I sent an email to Hammacher Schlemmer asking if they provided Snake Oil with the fuel economy booster and they replied with a link to the site below which boast of a 25% increase!!!!Which proves that computers won't reject ones and zeros no matter how silly the claims are.

Fuel Doctor FD-47 Fuel Efficiency Booster - Improves Firing, Increases Power, Reduces Emissions


Phil

Their site makes it sound like a big capacitor. I love that they call the ECU the "Electrical Control Unit" ... Engine Control Unit. Brilliant. But they sponsor a race, car, so it must work. :rolleyes:

Good find, Phil. Enjoyed reading the group's feedback. :)

Here's the link to the lab results.

I gotta ask.........

where do you plug it in on the Llama????!!!!!????

technical
 

I searched my soul and re-visited my AC/DC Circuits text from college.Here's my opinion.
* The device is a 'load'.
* The current flows one-way to the device,as a DC circuit is not 'interactive' back to any source or other load.
* By replacing a cigarette lighter, operating continuously( you've got to think like an attorney ),you reduce the alternator load by up to 18% of it's maximum current output.
* 18% of the fuel which would otherwise be consumed operating the alternator to feed the cigarette lighter load is 'saved.'
* So in 'lawyer-speak',you've increased your fuel economy by 18% of the fine-print.
* The power consumption of the device is that of three LEDs,which is next to zero,so the net load of the device is essentially zero,so you may claim you're saving the entire 18%.
* Only the Ameriscam Bar Association can fully appreciate the full creative use of the English language within print advertising.

Hello -

This is another one of these gizmos :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ons-12720.html
Yours for $135. But, at least they don't claim an 18% increase in MPG.

CarloSW2

What the?

How We Measure Emissions and Fuel Economy
 

How_We_Measure_Emissions_and_Fuel_Economy_AAA_%20A utomobile_Research_Center.pdf

So I guess that's a thumbs down, eh? Except for the Lorena Bobbit bit.

Ok,
The damn thing was at the checkout counter at best buy....It jumped in my cart.....

the 30day money back sold me.....

I ran the exact same trip tonight that i ran last night. about 8 miles down hwy 80 from Roseville to Watt ave. Wide freeway gentle 'hills' maybe 50 feet.
Temp was 10 degrees warmer tonight at 9pm.
ran 60 mph w/cruise set. ran a// on auto at 72.
fia was 100 tonight 89 last night
already driving 25 miles befor the test strip
tonight I had my dog and a couple xtra boxes of paperwork.
got 30.7mpg last night w/o the fuel doc
got 32.2mpg tonight with the fuel doc

I also drove to dublin today and ran ther fuel doc on and off on variuos flat stretches.
agian not a true test, but, again using the cruise control at 60mph the fuel doc was about 2mpgs better.

Maybe it's shorting something out in the trip computer LOL

And I always considered you a smart chap for having an Infiniti.......

I'd have done the same thing, most likely.

Of course, for the money, I'd have bought a Cap. For 50 bucks you'd have 2 farads of capacitance (which is a s&*load) and it's the real deal. And it most certainly would have ironed out spikes; all the way up to 1000 watts! If it can handle spikes from mosfet amps pushing 4 12s without dimming the lights, yeah, it's good.

As others have said it sounds like 12v capacitor filtering system , and seems small if it is .
The thing the ECU have self regulated voltage for critical sensors (5v ref voltage in most systems) and the battery does good job of filtering the 12v . Only way I can believe these types of filters work if either battery was very small or bad condition for vehicles load or vehicle wiring had bad grounds or something preventing properly working charging/12v systems .

If you look at this PDF in one of links provided above .
They show how pulse width of injector is smaller with the unit installed. Ok I not going to dispute that but the O2 sensor is in closed loop and IMO would of kept A/F the same (within some % of error)during cruising .


http://www.fueldoctorusa.com/pdf/BOS..._3_results.pdf

I was going to say roughly the same thing about the battery. If the battery is in good shape and charging normally, that's pretty much all the stabilization the electrical system needs.

Not only that, but if you have a Scan Gauge or an aftermarket volt meter (that doesn't have built-in suppression), heck, even a simple digital multimeter, you can see how steady the voltage is while the car is running, especially at speed and after the alternator is up to full working temp.

The only component that would need any kind of filtration would be the ECU, but the ECU already has sufficient filtration built in, hence no need for such nonsense as the "anal probe" that the Fuel Doc is ripping people off with.