Posted on 10/13/2007 6:46:55 PM PDT by Libloather
Port Charlotte man claims device can boost car mileage to 500 mpg
GREG MARTIN, Charlotte Sun
Updated — 10:35 p.m., October 9, 2007
If John Weston of Port Charlotte can get investors to take his gas-saving invention to the global automotive market, it just might solve the problems of smog, global warming and the high cost of foreign oil.
John Weston stands next to his 1992 Geo Storm, which is equipped with his invention dubbed the Air Vapor Flow System. He claims the car can run 14 miles on 4 ounces of fuel, which would equate to more than 400 miles per gallon. Greg Martin/Sun-Herald
It also might prove that human potential is not limited by education or socioeconomic status.
Weston, 48, who dropped out of high school as a 10th-grader but later achieved a GED in prison, claims to have invented a device that can turn virtually any car into a gas-miser that can run as far as 500 miles on a single gallon.
Called the Air Vapor Flow System, or AVFS, the device functions by vaporizing gasoline before it gets inducted into the engine.
That saves fuel and reduces pollution because it allows the engine to burn more of the fuel that gets sucked into the combustion chamber, he contends.
The device works on small, industrial engines or larger automobile engines regardless of whether they have carburetors or fuel injection systems, according to Weston.
Weston has been working to bring a prototype of the invention into more advanced development since the late 1990s.
After encountering some financial difficulties in recent months, Weston is now renewing efforts to find investors.
Some of the financial problems stem from an incident in which Weston was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. The incident occurred July 8 at his house at 917 Dupin Ave. when, according to a sheriff's report, police were involved in a 10-hour standoff with an armed Weston.
"My setback has always been financial," Weston said. "That's why I'm totally open to sponsors, investors or purchasers."
The device consists of a small, plastic tank that gets mounted under the hood of a car. Some hoses from the engine's air intake housing are run to the top of the tank so that the engine draws in vapors from above the level of the liquid gasoline.
The device also has some additional features that affect its efficiency and safety that Weston is not disclosing.
In an impromptu demonstration conducted for this reporter last week, Weston installed one of the devices into his battered 1992 Geo Storm. Scientifically, the results can be described as intriguing but inconclusive.
Weston's car ran well on the vapors from the device when the level of the liquid in the tank was within a certain margin. The engine ran either too rich or too lean when the level was above or below that margin.
Weston is convinced that the car traveled 14.8 miles on about 4 ounces of gasoline during the test. If accurate, that would amount to some 473 miles per gallon.
However, an exact measurement was not obtained due to the testing method.
That's because, to operate the engine, once the fuel level dropped below its optimal margin, Weston briefly triggered a homemade switch 15 times. That pumped in additional fuel from his car's regular fuel tank.
The switch was made from a lamp cord. It was triggered by pushing the two prongs of the plug together for a split second.
After the test, Weston estimated the amount of gasoline consumed by measuring the amount of gasoline that was added from his car's regular fuel tank. To do that, he again triggered the homemade switch 15 times, this time pumping fuel into a measuring cup. The fuel measured 4 ounces.
"Right now, it's looking like a Mickey-Mouse backyard setup, but regardless of the way it looks, it functions," he said.
Also yet to be perfected are ways to maintain the level of liquid fuel in the vapor tank, and a way to adjust the mix of air and vapor while driving.
With those developments, the vehicle would likely get even better mileage, Weston said.
Weston recently tested one of his AVFS tanks on a gasoline-powered utility generator. Without the device, the generator ran for 3.5 hours. With the device, it ran for 14 hours on the same amount of fuel, he said.
Weston's neighbor, retired construction contractor William "Pops" Gavel, said he witnessed an even more dramatic experiment conducted by Weston.
Gavel said he rode as passenger in Weston's car for 28.7 miles -- from Weston's house to a location in Englewood -- on just 4 ounces of Coleman camping fuel, or white gas. If accurate, that rate would be equivalent to 918 miles per gallon.
Gavel said he watched Weston pour the 4 ounces into the tank and checked the mileage on the odometer himself.
"I couldn't believe it," said Gavel. "I said, 'Wire me up!' I've got a Ford V-8 whacking down a gallon every 17 miles and I thought, gee, I could drive all day with that kind of mileage."
School of hard knocks
Hailing from Connersville, Ind., Weston attended 23 schools in 10 grades before dropping out. He explained his father, a construction worker, moved the family often, in both Indiana and Florida.
Weston said he developed a knack for auto mechanics out of necessity.
"I could not afford to take vehicles in to get repaired," he recalled. "I could afford only to buy a Chilton's manual and repair them myself."
After working as a welder on oil rigs off Louisiana, he returned to Indiana to care for his ailing mother. That's where his legal troubles began.
Weston recalled his grandfather offered to give him a delivery route in his wholesale meat business if Weston could drum up customers in several outlying counties.
On Jan. 5, 1981, Weston said he was looking for customers in a small town when he was assaulted by two brothers looking for trouble. One of them was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and the other with a handgun, he said.
A struggle erupted and Weston grabbed the shotgun and shot both brothers. He was convicted of one count of attempted murder after his attorney could find no evidence that the second brother had a handgun, he says.
Some 14 years later, in response to a public records request, a police captain located a card that indicated a gun was recovered from the crime scene and was returned to the victims' family, Weston said. The card had been located in a "dusty courthouse attic," he said.
As a result of that evidence, a state prosecutor offered to reduce the charge against Weston and he was released in 1996.
While incarcerated, Weston had enrolled in several vocational training programs. He completed courses in auto mechanics, small engine mechanics, electrical contracting and paralegal services.
In one textbook, Weston said he read about how the inventor of the combustion engine was trying to develop a way to vaporize the fuel before it got inducted into the engine. Although the carburetor was developed to accomplish that process, automotive engineers have been working ever since to improve the vaporization, Weston said.
"I thought, there has got to be a better way," he said.
The breakthrough came after Weston, who routinely smokes cigarettes while working on his engines, needed to peer into the gas tank of a lawn mower engine. It was dark in the tank.
"I didn't have a flashlight at the time, so I used a lighter," he recalled.
Suddenly, a blast of flame blew out of the tank. Weston immediately realized the potential.
"I said, 'Wow, let me try this,'" he said.
Weston grabbed a piece of tailpipe and stuck one into a carburetor and the other into a five-gallon gas can. The engine ran for a few moments on the vapors from the can, he said.
In 1996, a school teacher in his hometown invested $12,000 to help Weston fashion a working prototype.
The teacher, Edward Slaybaugh of Connserville, Ind., said he considered the invention "the greatest boon this century."
"I hope some good comes of it," Slaybaugh said Friday.
In 1997, Weston sold the rights to his invention to Reg Tech Inc. and its subsidiary, Regi U.S., of British Columbia, Canada.
Slaybaugh said he was compensated for his investment with Reg Tech stock, which he still holds. The company is currently working to develop a lightweight rotary engine.
Weston's deal called for the two Canadian firms to pay him $100,000 cash, $400,000 in stock, plus royalties. If the companies never turned the device into a commercial product, the company would still have to pay Weston $24,000 per year for 21 years under the contract.
The company had the AVFS tested on a small engine by the firm Adiabatics Inc. in Columbus, Ind. The results showed it reduced hydrocarbons 71 percent and carbon monoxide 25 percent. The rate of fuel consumption was reduced by 15 percent to 30 percent.
But the device increased emissions of carbon dioxide 12 percent and nitrogen oxides 296 percent. Those are greenhouse and smog pollutants.
Weston said those emissions increased because Reg Tech's engineer failed to properly adjust the vapor/air mixture.
"Not all engineers are mechanics," Weston said.
In 2002, Reg Tech relinquished the rights to the invention back to him.
John Robertson, Reg Tech president, said in a phone interview last month the company's patent attorney had advised the firm that Weston's invention was "unpatentable" because it was "not unique." Apparently, a similar system may have been used in race cars in years past, Robertson said.
The company dropped the invention because it would have been unwise to invest in it without the protection of a patent, Robertson said.
"It runs, but somebody's got to have a sophisticated testing apparatus to develop it," he added.
Experts skeptical
The automotive industry has made strides in the past 10 years to make cars that produce less of such smog gases as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, said Jim Kliesch, senior analyst for clean vehicles at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
If a vaporization device such as Weston's improved mileage to the levels that Weston claims, that would reduce gases contributing to global warming, said Kliesch.
"In a theoretical sense, that would reduce greenhouse gas," he said. "However, anytime you have a claim of a substantial improvement in mileage, I think a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted."
"It sounds intriguing," added John Cabaniss, director of environment and energy issues for the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers. "It would be nice if it did work. I would suggest he try to get somebody to test it in a lab situation."
However, Cabaniss said he doesn't see how the invention could work, considering the efficiency of modern cars. He said more than 99 percent of the fuel going into a modern engine gets vaporized and burned in the combustion chamber.
He cited the fact that cars now are equipped with computers to adjust oxygen levels and ignition timing.
"There's only a certain amount of energy that's in a gallon of gasoline," he pointed out.
Gas-saving tips
While waiting for the automotive industry to produce more effective gas-saving technology, motorists can reduce gasoline consumption by practicing more economical driving. Here are some tips excerpted from an article on the Edmund.com automotive innovation Web site:
-- Swear off drag racing. Gas is consumed more quickly during hard acceleration.
-- Look farther down the road. Do you really need to accelerate right up to a stoplight? Glide until you get the green and then accelerate moderately. This not only saves gas but also your brake pads.
-- Pick your lane and stick with it. Traffic studies have shown that changing lanes doesn’t result in a significantly reduced travel time.
-- Don’t leave your car idling while you talk to your neighbor or jump out to run an errand. Shut ‘er down.
-- Carpool.
-- Don’t drive. Most people could stand to walk or ride a bike a lot more.
-- Drive on off-peak hours. Sitting in traffic isn’t much fun for you or your car.
-- Look for telecommuting opportunities. With rising gas prices and congested freeways, working from home one day a week might be an option.
-- Release the emergency brake. This tip saves a bundle.
LOL!!!
LOL, and he'll still find suckers to give him money.
Will it keep the spark plug?
"I didn't have a flashlight at the time, so I used a lighter," he recalled.
He's lucky he can recall...
He’s a moron, but at least he’s an entertaining moron.
I just wish that he was more original.
ROTFLMAO
The Law will not be denied - gas engines are a type of heat pump after all, and until the laws of thermodynamics are repealed.....
400 mpg (snort)
Mike
It occurs to me that that’s way more than 100 percent efficient. The biggest problem is having to stop from time to time to dump all that excess gasoline that keeps filling up the tank...
That's what used to be called a carburetor. They used to use those before fuel injection became technically feasible.
So, it would be just a little tricky to increase the mileage by a factor of 10.
Sounds like he worked on his con-man routine in prison.
it doesn’t matter if you are GED ex con or a tenured professor with 5 PhD’s. Real science is what is tested and proven in the real world.
LOL indeed. Not the sharpest arrow in the quiver. That does not mean the device isn't real, but I do wish him luck.
Weston is convinced that the car traveled 14.8 miles on about 4 ounces of gasoline during the test. If accurate, that would amount to some 473 miles per gallon.
This is the most important thing you can get from the article:
-- Release the emergency brake. This tip saves a bundle.
I thought that was what fuel injection did.
If his idea works, why doesn’t he just fill the tank, wax seal the gas door and prove it by driving to Seattle?
What you don’t get is that this unsung hero is vaporizing the air before it gets to the combustion chamber
I read down to the part about his prison GED and quit. Is this the same guy who invented the 200 MPG carb and the pills that turn water into gas? I thought GM had him killed.
He must have driven it to the top of Pike's Peak and coasted down with the engine idling to get those results. I guess he would claim a comparable "conventional" gasoline engine is running at about 5% of the efficiency it could with his system. Why isn't liquid gasoling pouring out of the exhaust of "conventional" powered cars or produce horrible unburned hydrocarbon (soot) pollution?
ROTFLMAO! (gasp)
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