HOH Go kart?

HOH Go Kart? What's That?

Thats what I thought too, until I started doing some investigation, some experiments, and some reasoning about this subject.

HOH is Hydrogen and Oxygen in the same proximity, but not mixed as H20 which is water.

If you look at a gas engine it runs obviously on Gasoline, or in the case of a Diesel, Diesel fuel. A thermodynamic way of talking about engines is to call them Heat Engines.

What that means is that the Kinetic Heat Energy from a fuel burning event is captured and used as energy. The problem with Heat Engines is that they use primarily the PV=MRT formula (which is the gas equation. It relates Pressure, Volume, Temperature and Mass. R is Aviogodros gas constant)

More specifically, engines use the Temperature side of the equation.

Let me demonstrate. I will readjust the formula abit.

T = PV/MR

Now for some further adjustment...because M and R are not changing (in other words I am not adding more air than is actually getting into the engine, and the R is a Chemistry Constant too) I can reduce the equation to basically say this:

T = PV*K

(K lumps all the constants together as one big ugly number)

What does that mean? It means that Temperature is related to Pressure and Volume.

What occurs in a Fuel Burning event is that Pressure and the Volume of the gas suddenly increase. This sudden increase is equivalent to firing a gun, a firework going off.

In a firework you see a sudden flash of light (which is photon energy) and a loud boom (kinetic heat PV energy.)

In an engine the PV is suddenly increasing and causes the piston to shoot down the barrel (if you will) and cause the crank to turn and so on. I assume you know engines well enough so I won't belate you with those details....

But as you have seen the T rises because of the PV increasing. Heat energy is released and transfers into the surrounding metal. And typically what we do is just let the heat energy dissappate as waste energy.

This waste energy is then used to do nothing, other than (in a car) put heat into the passenger compartment.

Additionally, on a car engine, we waste energy by socking an electrical system to the engine. This electrical energy is very much of the time wasted too.

So what does this have to do with HOH?

Well to make HOH you primarily have two predominate methods for extraction. Coke-Steam Extraction and Electrolisis.

Coke Steam Extraction is the most efficient method however it is not as friendly to the environment, ie smoke fumes...ect.

The electrolisis method uses electricity. HOH is extracted from water by basically electocuting it.

At one electrode comes off Oxygen (the positive electrode) and on the other Hydrogen (negative). (I think...uh don't quote me on that just yet...)

You will know sure enough though when you put the juice to it, because one gives off double bubbles than the other...

So where am I going with this? Use electrical energy that is being wasted and use the HOH to burn as a fuel. This will in effect recoup (not pull out of thin air or magically make more energy) lost energy and make the engine more fuel efficient.

Next time... The experiments and what I am doing to run a Go Kart on water...

The Go Kart Guru is a Go Kart Specialist who happens to love to tinker, weld, brake things and just have plain ole fun with God's Creation...visit Go Kart Guru.com for more details!

How To Build a Go Kart

by the Go Kart Guru
Go Kart Design and Fabrication Specialist

How To Build A Go Kart: A Crash Course In One Day...

What a bright day it was! The sun was shining, the air was fresh crisp and clean. We had the unfinished subdivision to ourselves. Miles of open road, and we loved every minute of it.

I was riding my modified go kart with high-flow-induction system and my friend was riding his Sears special.

It was a flat, no frills go-kart with a 5 horsepower engine. The go kart flew.

We were safe drivers and frequently checked over our shoulders for anything that was suspicious, bunny rabbits, cats, cougars, bears whatever. You never know in the middle of the Chicago Suburbs...

I Never Was So Scared And Shaking...

My friend looked over his shoulder to see where I was and that is when it happened. I never saw anything so surreal in my life, and I never was so scared and shaking than at that moment...

I was resolved after that day to do something about what happened.

My go kart underwent transformation after transformation until I got it right.

I went to engineering school (Milwaukee School Of Engineering) and used my skills to design go karts that would never let what I saw happen again.

Just what did I see?

What could possibly ruin such a fun day as that?

Not knowing How to Build A Go Kart is what.

The Go Kart I was following was fast and quick that is for sure, but it was not stable.

The question should be:

"Why?"

The answer lies in the resolutions, the discoveries that the How To Build A Go Kart series reveal.

Step by step instructions on How To Build A Go Kart.

I was resolved to help people design, and build go karts that looked cool, were safe, and did everything a go kart was supposed to do: put a smile on your face and corner like a Porche!

Building a Go Kart really involves around 10 different things.

So I put together 10 different courses.

-Saving Yourself Headaches (Big ones that cost you years)
-Building a Go Kart For $200 (Don't spend an arm and a leg on a cart!)
-Drive Train Layout (Rock solid drive systems that endure abuse)
-From LawnMower to Go Kart (Vertical engine systems)
-Frame Design: (That horrid day, I never want to see again!)
-Control Systems (Throttles, Brakes, Shut Offs, Instrumentation)
-Go Kart Fabrication (Major low cost time savers and techniques)
-Steering Design (Proper design for stability, and control)
-Safety Equipment (It was an awful day, but ended well)
-Seat Design (Comfort, control, cost is what it is cracked up to be)
-The Hot Set Ups (The cool items that make a gokart a looker)
-Always More Power (The $50 secret to more power)

So what happened that day?

My friend looked over his shoulder to see where I was, and inadvertantly turned the wheel too.

The turn was so sudden, the center of gravity too high, the speed too great to stop what happened next.

The front wheel grabbed, and the go kart did an end over end flip.

It looked like a Nascar or Indy car wipe out.

The go kart flinging high into the air, dust and debree being thrown, my friend being caught helpless in the tangling, flipping, rotating motion of the go kart.

It was surreal. Had it not been for his helmet, he would have been majorly hurting. But the helmet saved him.

He never rode the gokart again, he was scared of it. I would be too.

I knew why, and I know why today.

My resolve from that day forward was to never let that ever happen again.

A miss-designed go kart can scare you into that mindset.

The How To Build A Go Kart series is not some hodge-podge put together.

It is a series of courses (that will someday become a book) that review all the things you need to know about building a go kart.

From welding, fabricating and frame design. To safety and all the info you need to know about building, riding and fabricating a go kart.

GoKartGuru.com

Why I Like Go Karts and My Mother Doesn't

How To Bridge The Gap Between Hysteria And The Innovative Thinker And Inventive Minds.

When the go-kart first showed up at our door step my mom was not very thrilled. You may think :‘’Why? Why would your mom not be thrilled that you had a go-kart?”

Well you got to think like a mother. A go-kart has a lot of smoke, tire squealing, darting in and out of vehicle, that in a mother’s eyes is danger spelled g-o-k-a-r-t or death spelled g-o-c-a-r-t.

Go Karts Are Dangerous

Gokarts are dangerous. Let’s be real, go-karts are very dangerous. Just like bikes can be dangerous if you ram them in to a tree, or a child running out in front of a car can be very dangerous, as well.

There are danger are in our world, and bridging the gap between hysteria and invention is very important is for our society. We can isolate ourselves from the dangers and never actually step out and risk anything and never actually invent anything.

Why is Mom Hysterical?

So I don’t blame my mother for being what I call in the title “Hysterical”, because that’s how I viewed it as a kid. But let’s be real again. Was she being hysterical? No, she wasn’t.

In order for invention to proceed forward the ideas need to flow out from situations of creation. For instance, you need to be able to get in to the problem and work on it. You need to be able to get in and pull the engine apart, and put it back together again. Test it again.

The question in your mothers mind or any adult’s for that matter is “What dangers are there associated with this exercise that he is going through?”

What are the Dangers?

Well the dangers are manifold when things are on and spinning.

So the general rule to bridge the gap, to start is safety. Safety obviously is the first step. Safety in all things.

The second step is to have good organizational capabilities especially in the shop. Make sure the shop is clean. Make sure that having the shop clean and in good order is the top priority. Because then it shows that you are serious about being clean, therefore you are serious about being safe.

Well how do safety and cleanliness have any thing to do with each other? Well, if you take attention to be clean then you are going to take the attention to look out for spinning things, that is the theory.

Additionally, when you are working in a shop make sure there is always an adult nearby. It is a good idea to have a father or at least an older sibling around to help. If something is running, always make sure that there is somebody else around.

Adult Supervision is Required!

As a general rule if some thing is running an adult is always to be present and is supervising anything that has to do with the running system. For instance a saw or a lawnmower. A go-kart is the same way. If the go kart is running an adult needs to be around and make sure that hands get into the mechanism or a kid is going to get run over.

Also if there is a go-kart by itself, the general rules need to be taken into place. Safety is really what we’re talking about here, you want to approach the gap between hysteria and invention.

How Do I Cover Myself?

The other issues to think about (I was 16 year old when I brought my first go-kart home, and my mom wasn’t really thrilled) is insurance. What do you do from an insurance standpoint?
In other words if you get into an accident and you do get hurt what happens then? How does it get covered?

Those are questions that come in your mothers mind. I mean, the next thing she knows you flipped the go-kart and manked up your arm and you have to go to the hospital, and you have to get it set because you broke it . Now the questions come to mind “How in the world do we pay for all this?”

And the complications can come in: The insurance says you are not covered. Now all of sudden a $4,000 bill that your mother has to pay, that she didn’t have to pay before. So she is not really thrilled about that. There is a lot of risk involved now, that you introduced this new device to the household.

How Do I Get My Mom To Not Be Hysterical?

Thirdly, make sure that everybody is on board and understands the risks and that if something should go wrong that there is a backup plan.

The other issue is just plain commonsense. Children don’t really think. They don’t think about what’s going to happen next. The go-cart can make help you be a little sharp and make you think about what is going to happen next. The key to understand that you do not want a go-kart to go any were near a hundred million miles per hour right at the out set, because the child is not going to be able to handle that.

Calibrate and Regulate The Go Kart

So you need to understand that a go-kart is to be detuned if, you will, and the risks again made lower. Use safety equipment. Wear a helmet. Use safety glasses if needed. If need be put a seat belt on the go-kart. Put a roll cage on it. All spinning shafts should be covered so no one gets sucked in. Or hair or clothing gets sucked in.

We don’t want to stifle creativity here. But the creative process really involves problem solving. So problems should be showing up on the go-kart especially when you are designing or making it. That is the idea.

Creativity, Inventiveness Is Essential!

Encourage new things to put on the go-kart. Encourage new ideas to enhance the go-kart. For instance adding a mirror, adding a generator for lights, adding a new brake system, adding new tires, making the seat different or more comfortable.

Just think of all the variables you could put on a go- kart or change. Those are the inventive areas. If you want to start a new go-kart, do that. Start a whole new go-kart and have them be involved in that. Encouraging the inventive process the problem solving process.

So three things to keep in mind are safety, safety, and safety. You are basically trying to minimize all risks and make sure that they are covered.

For more information on common sense and things to look for, refer to the Go Kart Building 101 course which gives you ten things to chew on and think about before even buying, making or designing a go kart.

Vertical Engine Month

I get questions all the time:

"I have this lawn mower engine and I want to make a go kart. Can you help me?"

I certainly can help you!

First off, there is good news.

The lawnmower you were thinking of throwing out, well that is just a bad idea. In our How To Build Go Kart Series we go into greater details on just how good an idea it is to keep this rider lawnmower, and just how easy it can be to make a go kart with this lawn mower, engine and all!

Many web pages tell you it is impossible to use a vertical engine on a go kart. I can tell you it is not impossible, and very nearly do-able. It does take some guidance and some thinking, but we take care of that.

Don't Waste Your Time Putting The Engine On Its Side (Pretending it is Horizontal!)

Don't waste your time flipping the engine on its side! Don't use a weird carburetor manifold, over even some bazaar carburetor to get the job done. Again, don't play the roulette game with the internals and hope you got it right. You may end up blowing the engine, or seizing it up because the lubrication is not the same or quite right after your modifications.

The engine is designed to run vertical, let it be happy and run it as a vertical engine in your go kart.

Run The Engine Vertically On A Go Kart

In the Go Kart Building Series 202 we show how to build a go kart using a vertical engine. Actually there are several ways to use this vertical engine, vertically, however there is an optimum method that is discussed in great detail all the way down to what gear selections, sprocket layouts etc... to use to get his go kart working optimally.

We have numerous other courses you can take as well that make putting the go kart together a great experience.

For more information log onto GoKartGuru.com

Is My Engine Too Powerful? Or Does It Even Have Enough Power?

How do I tell if my engine is too powerful or just right?

Many times I have been chided by my friends, because I have a Briggs Vanguard engine that they think I should put on my gokart. It is a 16 horsepower that someone gave me for fixing their go-kart, and it sits. You are probably thinking that I should use it. Well the time has not come to use it yet, but the question in people’s minds


“Well why do you not throw it on your go-kart? “

Well I have run the calculations and a 16 horsepower motor is way too powerful for what I want to do right now. What will happen is the wheels spin out of control and I really will only be able to go that one speed which is about 35 mph because if I actually ride my go-kart at top speed I have to crank it up to 6,000 rpm to get top speed!

A better use for that motor would be in a heavier go-kart.

So your question may be:

" Where did you come up with that?"

Well obviously from my experience, but also because I am able to run a calculation. Now, on in our How to Build A Go-Kart series there are calculations with an outlines that show you how to do calculations by hand.

One nice thing is that I have laid out for you in the go-kart guru website a calculations page. Basically what you do is you throw in your weight that your go-kart is, how much you weigh, how much weight your rear wheels are going to hold, the gearing that goes in the calculation, then finally your horsepower your engine is putting out and how much rpm.


Calculate a 16 HP Engine On A Go Kart

So the 16 horsepower motor had 3,600 rpm. If you just go over to the calculation page program and plug in the 16 horsepower. You will see that the tires will spin too fast.

“Okay the tire is spinning but so what? Maybe I want it to spin too fast!”

Okay that is a good question. Maybe I have got a motorcycle engine and I want to put it on my go-kart.

“Well I have seen it done many times people are doing it. But how do I know that is out of control? Maybe I have a snowmobile engine and I want to put it on my go-kart.”


Effects of Too Much Horsepower

Well let me give you some word of advice. Go-kart engines, once you get up to 20 horsepower or higher are just can be too much power so much power that you cannot really handle it. It is really not fun. The idea is to be able to max the horsepower reasonably so that you are not squealing the tires out of control. What will happen is when you get up about 20 horsepower you stomp on the gas you cannot help but squeal the tires and it gets to be almost frightening.

So the calculation will help aide you in figuring out how much power is too much or too little power. So the first thing to do is to put in your best guess of what you’re design lines are going to be and then how much your go-kart is going to weigh, the horse power of the engine that you are going to put in there, and then press calculate.


Nitty Gritty of the Calculation Step 1: Time

Now the first thing you are going to be looking for is a time. Now the time that I have put in there is for a 2 foot section. It may get to be really fast like 3 seconds or something and it will give you a theoretical 0 to 60 mph. That will give you an idea of how crazy this go-kart would be.

I believe if you have a 16 horsepower motor in there it would give you 4 seconds in acceleration from 0-60. Well, the go-kart is not going to 60 mph but that would be the linear acceleration that the go-kart would be putting out.

I will just give you some perspective that most Corvettes do not even go that fast. Most motorcycles cannot even accelerate that fast. So what that really means is that your tires are just lighting up.


Drive Train Problems and High Horsepower

Now lighting up also can translate back into drive train problems where you need to match up your chain and make sure it is going to be able to handle it. Your axel may twist or bend if you are not careful because once a load gets slammed into the chain then through the axel. It may get twisted and bend the axel forward if you do not have enough support on your axel.


Stress Calculations and Horsepower

You need to refer to the stress calculations section which will give you various types of bendings that you would refer to, and help you tell whether or not your axel is going to bend. If you are not careful because once the load gets slammed into the chain then through the axel you may twist it and actually bend it forward if you do not have enough support on your axel.

You need to refer to the stress calculation section, which will give you various types of bendings that you would refer to and help you to determine whether your axel is going to bend on you or not.

These are considerations you need to put in to place if you are going to throw on a high horsepower engine on a go-kart.


How Much Horsepower Does My Engine Have?

Now let us say you have somebody that tells you well “I have got this weed whacker motor and I am not really sure how much horsepower it is, but I know that it has so many CC’s.”

Well the better thing to do is to try to figure out how much horsepower there is. If you got a weed whacker motor more than likely it is 1 horsepower maybe 2 and just so that you and I are on the same page here, 1 or 2 horsepower is not going to do a whole lot for a go-kart. You can get it to move but you are not going to get it to move much faster than 5 mph because the motor just will not be able to push it.

Now you could put multiple 2 cycle motors on there that is up to you, or you could put multiple little 3 ½ horsepowers on there that is up to you as well, but the typical range to have a decent go-kart performance is around 4-10 horsepower. Any higher than that and you are starting to get into the areas were it is almost too much power.


Too Much Horsepower Is Not A Good Thing

You can find someone on the Internet and he puts this V8 engine in his go-kart and he cannot but help burn his tires up. Or you will see plenty of these 4 wheel suspension dirt go-karts that have motorcycle motors on them. You have got to understand they have some weight to them. They have more weight than what we are taking about. We are talking about 175 lb. frame and you are trying to throw on 50-60 horsepower motor on there, you are going to twist something and you are going to smoke some tires, and it might be out of control.

So having a lot of horsepower is fun. It can be, but it can also be dangerous. You need to keep aware of that. The first thing you need to do is determine how much effect this horsepower is going to have on this go-kart. So you need to run that calculation first.


You have determined that the engine has just too much power what are you going to do?

You still want to build a go-kart. You got this motorcycle engine that you want to drive it with.
Well, I would not dissuade you from building it, but keep in mind that the thing needs to be built to be able to handle it. So you probably if you are using a motorcycle engine, you are going to need something bigger for a go-kart. The size of a grand prix car. Then you will be safer, and you will want to build yourself a roll cage in case you wipe out because now you are dealing with more horsepower.

The likelihood of loosing control, is a lot greater. If you hit something that something is not going to give. It is going to be the go-kart. So the go kart is going to go spinning or flying because it has energy and energy needs to be dissipated and the only way energy can get dissipated is ether by crunching the gokart or by keeping on moving and rolling and spinning. So you need to keep that in mind when you are dealing with high horsepower and high speed.