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#11
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The early FICHT years question
K Smith wrote:
You really have no clue do you?? Since you are totally devoid of any recognized credentials in the area of engine design, rebuilding, repair or maintenance, and most likely have never even seen a FICHT or even an OptiMax engine's innards, it more easily may be concluded that *you* are the clueless one on this matter. Moreover, you obviously have a hidden agenda here. Got a college degree in anything? Got an engineering degree in anything? Ever worked as a senior level mechanic? Ever been to a high-level training school for mechanics? Ever been published in a professional magazine? I didn't think so. The best guess is that you once worked as a receptionist, phone answerer and coffee go-fer for a little boatyard in Australia. -- * * * email sent to will *never* get to me. |
#12
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The early FICHT years question
Harry Krause wrote:
K Smith wrote: You really have no clue do you?? Since you are totally devoid of any recognized credentials in the area of engine design, rebuilding, repair or maintenance, and most likely have never even seen a FICHT or even an OptiMax engine's innards, it more easily may be concluded that *you* are the clueless one on this matter. Moreover, you obviously have a hidden agenda here. Got a college degree in anything? Got an engineering degree in anything? Ever worked as a senior level mechanic? Ever been to a high-level training school for mechanics? Ever been published in a professional magazine? I didn't think so. The best guess is that you once worked as a receptionist, phone answerer and coffee go-fer for a little boatyard in Australia. Here's another of your lies for you Harry, it's a measure of your lack of anything that you don't realise just how stupid your stories are. Your education lies?? you are the master of cut & paste never ever any5thing original let alone anything that might take some understanding, then there's your complete lack of boating knowledge, when compared to your lies. Here's another of your obvious lies for you, seeing a pattern?? yes mental illness. As far as your other complaints, well, almost every president in my memory, and I *remember* Truman, Eisenhower (who cheated on his wife), Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush, lied and participated in deceit to one degree or another, and on issues far more important than who was giving them blow jobs. Good lord. I met *every* president in the damned group except Bush, and I worked once for his father. paste of Harry the king of BS from 97; Have you ever sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii? I have. Have you ever rounded Cape Horn? I have, twice. Have you ever transited the Panama Canal? I have. Have you owned more than 20 boats in your lifetime? I have. Have you ever sailed large boats competitively? I have. Have you ever been hundreds of miles from land in a powerboat under your command? I have. |
#13
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The early FICHT years question
Bill,
Great post...fact as opposed to "Ka Ka". My 2000 115 Ficht still runs great. I wouldn't have any other motor. Nick in Spartanburg, SC "Billgran" wrote in message ... "Jim and Becky" wrote in message . .. So, has the Ficht issue been resolved on brand new models? If so what would be considered the most recent year that they are considered reliable? What was the first year of Ficht? FICHT history The first production FICHT came out as a 20" shaft 150hp Johnson or Evinrude in late 1996 and was targeted for the bass boat and sport boat models. It worked as designed and had won the Popular Science innovation award. In '98, the came out with the V4 90-115hp and the 175, along with extra long shaft lengths for the offshore boats. In some applications, usually larger boats that were over-propped, problems developed in the 150-175 series. The then president of OMC David Jones said that about 20% had problems and had a crash program to find out why and what to do about fixing it. According to findings from consultants all over the world, hired by OMC, the abrasiveness of soot buildup due to poor mid-range combustion scored the internal parts of the motor. All the boating magazines had articles about it and what the company was doing about it. This was published also in the Australian and European press. The factory then spent big bucks sending special teams around the country installing cylinder head and software fixes to the thousands of engines that were being used and made an upgrade kit available for dealer installation. By then the 2000 models were ready for production and contained not only the fixes, but a second generation design called FICHT Ram. The computers were more powerful and now were complete engine management modules, including charging system operation. The new motors worked well and ran even smoother and more powerful than their predecessors. Boat tests and consumer tests showed they were OK for all applications. For 2001 the big block V-6's were redesigned to a larger 3.3L block for the 200-225-250hp models. The first 20-225 models came out in '99 with a 3.0L block and worked OK, they did not have the application problems of the 150-175 series of that year, either did the V4 90-115"s. The 2001 Evinrude FICHTS finished a close 2nd to Yamaha in the J.D. Power's survey that year and got an honorable mention (along with the Honda 130 4-stroke) the previous year. OMC had money problems for quite a few years, had bad management decisions, then had a corporate raider as an owner, then when the corporate raider was indicted in a French banking scandal, he declared bankruptcy for the company after raiding the pension fund, according to stories in the papers. Bombardier bought the assets in the bankruptcy auction and re-introduced the motors after building and up-to-date plant and improving quality control of the vendors and manufacturers. The 2002 models and later are next to bulletproof and are more economical to run than the equivalent 4-stroke models. The total emissions are even less than the 4-strokes. The motors do not run lean at power as someone posts over and over again. They use a stratified charge at settings below 15% throttle opening, which on a 2-stroke is way less than 15% power output. Some aircraft engines are leaned out up to 75% power output without problems, according to their operating handbooks. My old IO-360 Continental 6 cylinder aircraft motor allowed, if I remember correctly, 50 degrees lean of peak at cruise settings. Since Bombardier took over, you do not hear about problems with the motors on this or any other newsgroup. The bass boat crowd loves the HO series 200-225 models made specifically for those boats. Like many things, the early problems in some situations were overblown and rumors were spread mostly by those who were not familiar with the product and what was being done. A lot of what you read and will read in this newsgroup is from a small contingent of individuals who do not work on or operate the motors, yet post lines and lines of hear-say, and even made up stuff. Some even rant and rave and go off on a tangent since they do not have the knowledge of what is happening. FICHT and now its new generation called E-TECH are working well. The more stringent future emission laws on the books and proposed, are easily met today, where 4-strokes may need expensive catalytic converters, etc. to comply. In the small motor categories, the carbureted 4-strokes cannot meet 2008 and later specs, but future E-TECH motors will. I watched a 3hp single cylinder ETECH outboard rope start and run smoothly, and that was over a year ago. Bottom line is the 2000 and later 150-175hp FICHTS do not have problems with the design, but like some things, the reputation from 6 years ago still gets regurgitated. Bill Grannis service manager |
#14
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The early FICHT years question
"Billgran" wrote in message ... "Jim and Becky" wrote in message . .. So, has the Ficht issue been resolved on brand new models? If so what would be considered the most recent year that they are considered reliable? What was the first year of Ficht? FICHT history The first production FICHT came out as a 20" shaft 150hp Johnson or Evinrude in late 1996 and was targeted for the bass boat and sport boat models. It worked as designed and had won the Popular Science innovation award. In '98, the came out with the V4 90-115hp and the 175, along with extra long shaft lengths for the offshore boats. In some applications, usually larger boats that were over-propped, problems developed in the 150-175 series. The then president of OMC David Jones said that about 20% had problems and had a crash program to find out why and what to do about fixing it. According to findings from consultants all over the world, hired by OMC, the abrasiveness of soot buildup due to poor mid-range combustion scored the internal parts of the motor. All the boating magazines had articles about it and what the company was doing about it. This was published also in the Australian and European press. The factory then spent big bucks sending special teams around the country installing cylinder head and software fixes to the thousands of engines that were being used and made an upgrade kit available for dealer installation. By then the 2000 models were ready for production and contained not only the fixes, but a second generation design called FICHT Ram. The computers were more powerful and now were complete engine management modules, including charging system operation. The new motors worked well and ran even smoother and more powerful than their predecessors. Boat tests and consumer tests showed they were OK for all applications. For 2001 the big block V-6's were redesigned to a larger 3.3L block for the 200-225-250hp models. The first 20-225 models came out in '99 with a 3.0L block and worked OK, they did not have the application problems of the 150-175 series of that year, either did the V4 90-115"s. The 2001 Evinrude FICHTS finished a close 2nd to Yamaha in the J.D. Power's survey that year and got an honorable mention (along with the Honda 130 4-stroke) the previous year. snip Bottom line is the 2000 and later 150-175hp FICHTS do not have problems with the design, but like some things, the reputation from 6 years ago still gets regurgitated. Bill Grannis service manager So to net it out, you would say that only the 150-175 models from 1997-1999 had reliability problems and those were related to applications on heavy boats that were overpropped? If the fixes to the earlier models did the job, why did they have to come out with the ram stuff? I am perfectly willing to admit I have no access to the statistics and failure rates, so am asking these questions honestly in a spirit of inquiry and interest in new technology. I am also still trying to figure out how an Etec injector works. The Ficht used a metal rod driven by an external solenoid. What is the difference in Etec? Got a patent number or two? del cecchi |
#15
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The early FICHT years question
I am also still trying to figure out how an Etec injector works. The Ficht used a metal rod driven by an external solenoid. What is the difference in Etec? Got a patent number or two? del cecchi Hi Del, It's been a long time. Check out Patent No.6398511 B1. It works like an audio speaker where a pulse of current makes the "armature" move forward, then an opposite pulse stops it and returns the "armature" to its home position. Unlike the FICHT injector, it does not depend on springs to return it to start its cycle all over again. It still is a "linear motor" attached to a pump, but according to the factory folks, it is not only more precise in delivery and supposidly operational up to 10,000 rpm, but it can "pump" more fuel in a shorter time frame so higher horsepower motors are possible. That is why Yamaha has to use such high pressures, now up to 1000 psi, is to flow enough fuel in the short amount of time it has between exhaust port closing and igntion. They still have to start fuel injection before the exhaust is closed and that is why they cannot meet 2008 emission specs, but only the 2006 ones.. From what I understand, OMC was working on this years back and now Bombardier has the resources to get it into production. It is a Bombardier patent and is not infringing on any Ficht family patents so they do not have to use the FICHT name. I haven't gotten to see or play with one yet but reports from the field testers say the E-TECH idles very slow and doesn't even ripple the water because it is so smooth. Time will tell when the production models roll off the line next month. According to Bombardier, by next year's model introduction, they will be the first company to have all their motors meet 2008 emission limits. I did watch a 3hp rope start E-TECH run 2 years ago. Carbureted small hp 4-strokes can't meet the more stringent emission levels, but E-TECH can. Bill Grannis service manager |
#16
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The early FICHT years question
del cecchi wrote:
"Billgran" wrote in message om... I am also still trying to figure out how an Etec injector works. The Ficht used a metal rod driven by an external solenoid. What is the difference in Etec? Got a patent number or two? del cecchi Hi Del, It's been a long time. Check out Patent No.6398511 B1. It works like an audio speaker where a pulse of current makes the "armature" move forward, then an opposite pulse stops it and returns the "armature" to its home position. Unlike the FICHT injector, it does not depend on springs to return it to start its cycle all over again. It still is a "linear motor" attached to a pump, but according to the factory folks, it is not only more precise in delivery and supposidly operational up to 10,000 rpm, but it can "pump" more fuel in a shorter time frame so higher horsepower motors are possible. That is why Yamaha has to use such high pressures, now up to 1000 psi, is to flow enough fuel in the short amount of time it has between exhaust port closing and igntion. They still have to start fuel injection before the exhaust is closed and that is why they cannot meet 2008 emission specs, but only the 2006 ones.. From what I understand, OMC was working on this years back and now Bombardier has the resources to get it into production. It is a Bombardier patent and is not infringing on any Ficht family patents so they do not have to use the FICHT name. I haven't gotten to see or play with one yet but reports from the field testers say the E-TECH idles very slow and doesn't even ripple the water because it is so smooth. Time will tell when the production models roll off the line next month. According to Bombardier, by next year's model introduction, they will be the first company to have all their motors meet 2008 emission limits. I did watch a 3hp rope start E-TECH run 2 years ago. Carbureted small hp 4-strokes can't meet the more stringent emission levels, but E-TECH can. Bill Grannis service manager Thanks for the patent pointer. The voice coil in a speaker or in a disk drive is in a magnetic field from a perm. magnet, and is attached to the cone or arm. I'm having trouble figuring out how the voice coil creates the fuel pressure. Push on a rod or diaphram maybe? I'll take a look at the patent when I am on wideband. del cecchi I mentioned at least a year ago that Ficht were mucking around with capacitors, trying yet again to get something for nothing (NB patent date 4 June 2002). In short this is Ficht sans the name & if you read the patent look at the effort they've put into making sure there's no mention of what happens inside the "pump" part i.e. it's still the same old impact pump with the same original defects from 98 not enough pressure, not enough flow, not enough atomisation & still trying to meet regs with lean mixtures, all = detonation failures in too high a percentage to be a commercial proposition. As I suggested when I first mentioned the capacitor thing, they are well aware of the problem but have no solution, this is just more of the same old OMC experimentation with consumers' money!! They've increased the size of the electrical system so much that now they're trying to milk as much energy out of it vs times available, as possible, trouble is it's literally re-arranging deck chairs on the S(unken) S(hi.) Ficht. It can't work any more than the original Ficht did & as then, the same NG dealer lackies will deceive, spruik & BS. K |
#17
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The early FICHT years question
"K Smith" wrote in message ... del cecchi wrote: snip Thanks for the patent pointer. The voice coil in a speaker or in a disk drive is in a magnetic field from a perm. magnet, and is attached to the cone or arm. I'm having trouble figuring out how the voice coil creates the fuel pressure. Push on a rod or diaphram maybe? I'll take a look at the patent when I am on wideband. del cecchi I mentioned at least a year ago that Ficht were mucking around with capacitors, trying yet again to get something for nothing (NB patent date 4 June 2002). Recovering energy from the magnetic field and storing it in a capacitor to be reused isn't something for nothing. In short this is Ficht sans the name & if you read the patent look at the effort they've put into making sure there's no mention of what happens inside the "pump" part i.e. it's still the same old impact pump with the same original defects from 98 not enough pressure, not enough flow, not enough atomisation & still trying to meet regs with lean mixtures, all = detonation failures in too high a percentage to be a commercial proposition. Actually there is a patent under Bombardier for a spiffy new nozzle also. :-) And one on cold starting. Hard to imagine the workings of an injector for an idling 3hp engine, isn't it? snip It can't work any more than the original Ficht did & as then, the same NG dealer lackies will deceive, spruik & BS. K It's their job. :-) If they didn't believe the mfg, then they couldn't be dealers of that brand for long. I haven't had time to read the patents well enough to see if there is momentum involved or if it is a straightforward hydraulic pump deal. del |
#18
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The early FICHT years question
del cecchi wrote:
"K Smith" wrote in message ... del cecchi wrote: snip Thanks for the patent pointer. The voice coil in a speaker or in a disk drive is in a magnetic field from a perm. magnet, and is attached to the cone or arm. I'm having trouble figuring out how the voice coil creates the fuel pressure. Push on a rod or diaphram maybe? I'll take a look at the patent when I am on wideband. del cecchi I mentioned at least a year ago that Ficht were mucking around with capacitors, trying yet again to get something for nothing (NB patent date 4 June 2002). Recovering energy from the magnetic field and storing it in a capacitor to be reused isn't something for nothing. Exactly!! & this encapsulates their problem, to take pressures from circulation to anything worthwhile in DFI terms (remember Yam are now up at 1000psi of petrol) then back down to circulation again to recharge the chamber in the time available per stroke for a high revving 2 stroke, takes energy & lots of it?? How much?? don't know, but you & Marcus were starting to work it out years ago but ...... The impact injectors don't really increase the fuel pressure they just impact velocity. The ups & downs cancel each other save some small spillage, which isn't even a pump as such. i.e. there is no actual displacement of the fluid. In short this is Ficht sans the name & if you read the patent look at the effort they've put into making sure there's no mention of what happens inside the "pump" part i.e. it's still the same old impact pump with the same original defects from 98 not enough pressure, not enough flow, not enough atomisation & still trying to meet regs with lean mixtures, all = detonation failures in too high a percentage to be a commercial proposition. Actually there is a patent under Bombardier for a spiffy new nozzle also. :-) And one on cold starting. They're prolific as OMC were. I think we've discussed before it's a tactic. Hard to imagine the workings of an injector for an idling 3hp engine, isn't it? Well it's a spruiking story I'm sure we'll hear oft enough as they try to sell these things again, we heard some doozies the first time around & as then some will believe & some won't, however I'm hoping this time people will be at least a bit wary of the dealers BS. snip It can't work any more than the original Ficht did & as then, the same NG dealer lackies will deceive, spruik & BS. K It's their job. :-) If they didn't believe the mfg, then they couldn't be dealers of that brand for long. I guess that's fair enough but this NG is different, if they want to advertise with deceptions there are plenty of forums etc for that, this is supposed to be open discussion without spam. I accept I overreact but don't apologise, I've had a flogging from these individuals over the years & will not be silenced by bullies this time anymore than I was the first time. I haven't had time to read the patents well enough to see if there is momentum involved or if it is a straightforward hydraulic pump deal. They don't say; the patent concentrates on the drive system. I suspect they have a license problem with Ficht if they use any of Ficht's material & clearly they're desperate to dump the Ficht name (don't blame them:-)) but to persist with the consumer funded experiments is outright sad, if not illegal. This time I'm betting the good ol' boys will sue on mass, as they should have the first time. K del |
#19
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The early FICHT years question
Harry Krause wrote:
K Smith wrote: Here's another of your obvious lies for you, seeing a pattern?? yes mental illness. Add the stalking of a NG member in real life & a dangerous liar to boot. Hows the Lobster boat & Parker lies going Harry???, you are full of crap. As far as your other complaints, well, almost every president in my memory, and I *remember* Truman, Eisenhower (who cheated on his wife), Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush, lied and participated in deceit to one degree or another, and on issues far more important than who was giving them blow jobs. Good lord. I met *every* president in the damned group except Bush, and I worked once for his father. paste of Harry the king of BS from 97; Have you ever sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii? I have. Have you ever rounded Cape Horn? I have, twice. Have you ever transited the Panama Canal? I have. Have you owned more than 20 boats in your lifetime? I have. Have you ever sailed large boats competitively? I have. Have you ever been hundreds of miles from land in a powerboat under your command? I have. |
#20
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The early FICHT years question
K Smith wrote:
Harry Krause wrote: K Smith wrote: Here's another of your obvious lies for you, seeing a pattern?? yes mental illness. Add the stalking of a NG member in real life & a dangerous liar to boot. Hows the Lobster boat & Parker lies going Harry???, you are full of crap. The boats are fine, Karen. Still no credentials, eh? -- * * * email sent to will *never* get to me. |
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