PREVENTS OIL DILUTION

NZ Truth, Issue 1173, 24 May 1928, Page 17

PREVENTS OIL DILUTION

I Falcon's Lubrication System Is I Ingenious and Efficient 1 • • I THE oil rectifier fitted to the Falcon Knight engine is a unique | piece of apparatus which plays an important part m the correct | functioning 1 of the lubricating system.

i TTS action, however, is not generallj m 1 understood, and a • mere outside R§ . inspection of the rectifier gives nc 1 indication of the work it performs. i| The rectifier system undertakes twc & functions — the prevention of dilutlor I of the oil by petrol, and of the undue a admission of oil to the combustior i chamber. id > The manner m which these functions are accomplished is most ingenious. The upper chamber of the rectifier, which consists of two parts, works under vacuum induced m the intake manifold. From this vacuum chamber a large sectioned copper pipe leads to a small manifold connected to holes drilled through the cylinders, which, m turn, connect with a groove cut m the pistons from the lower groove of the bottom ring down to the skirt. Each piston has a small extension piece on the grooved side, so that the pull of the vacuum is exerted throughout the whole movement of the piston. The action of the rectifier thus is to destroy the pull of the vacuum which occurs during the intake stroke of the piston, and which induces an undue flow of oil behind the back of the piston rings, and so up into the combustion chamber. As the oil is sucked into the .rectifier, it is robbed of its petrol contents- by the vacuum, and the purified oil passes

r into the lower chamber, and back -into j the sump. j The passage of the oil through the bottom section of the rectifier also has 3 the action of cooling it, which is a 1 very desirable feature. 2 The cooler the lubricating oil can 1 be maintained within limits, the less carbon is formed, and the longer the oil will retain its normal lubricating capacity. To assist m the removal of the petrol which finds its way into the oil, the heat of the exhaust gases is utilized Dy means of an outside jacket round 5 the upper chamber of the rectifier. I As stated previously, the action of I the rectifier is not generally understood, but this non-technical explana- '. tion should make its operation clear to , the many motorists who are interested m the Knight engine.