The increase in gas prices does not leave indifferent any motorist. The price of oil rises — gasoline rises, the price of a barrel of oil falls — the price of fuel rises anyway.
An excellent alternative to using automotive fuel is the installation of gas equipment. Use gas or gasoline? This question is asked by many. Despite the obvious advantages of “blue” fuel, car owners are in no hurry with the installation of HBO.
Gas or gasoline, which is better?
The system of gas stations in the world is mainly focused on refueling cars with oil products: gasoline, diesel fuel. Does this mean that the transfer of the automotive power system to work from gas equipment carries disadvantages? To get started, let's get acquainted with the advantages of installing a HBO:
- Economic benefit. No matter how the price of gasoline rises, the cost of gas is at least 2 times lower.
- No carbon deposits form in the combustion chamber of the engine. This means that engine oil remains clean throughout its use. Replace less frequently. In addition, soot does not coke compression rings, which means that the motor loses compression much more slowly, which positively affects its resource.
- There is no detonation combustion. Knocking is a blow. First of all, by the cylinder-piston group, then by the crank mechanism. And further down the chain. This greatly reduces the engine resource, leading to premature failure. Unlike gasoline, gas burns smoothly and calmly.
- Better fuel mixture.
- The total mileage from a joint refueling increases from 1.5 to 2.5 times.
In addition to the listed advantages, environmental safety can be attributed here. It consists in the absence of harmful carbon monoxide emissions.
Disadvantages of using gas
Converting a car from gasoline to gas brings with it some disadvantages:
- Reduced usable boot space. Many cars, despite the impressive external dimensions (Renault Duster, Nissan Beetle), have a small amount of luggage. Installing a gas bottle will reduce it even further.
- A small amount of propane-butane gas stations, and methane gas stations even less. They are only in large cities, on the highway they are almost never found.
- It is not possible to accurately determine the amount of gas charged.
- The complication of the design. Some components, such as the injector, have to make small changes. Also drilled a lot of additional holes in the body.
- An additional control element appears - a switch from gas to gasoline.
- A complicated registration procedure, since you need to make marks in the passport of a technical tool about a design change.
- Candles for gas. Gasoline has a lower combustion temperature, so after installing gas equipment, candles also need to be changed.
- The financial costs of installing HBO.
- Possible problems with warranty service.
Can gas cause engine repairs?
In those recent days, when the bulk of the population drove domestic cars, there was talk among motorists that switching the car from gas to gasoline leads to burnout of valves and subsequent repair of the cylinder head. This was explained by a higher combustion temperature of the gas. However, the car managed to get about 250 thousand km on gas. The economic benefits over this period far exceeded the cost of a possible repair.
Installation of gas equipment
Installing HBO takes much less time than registering it. Within one working day, the car will be switched to gas and set up its electronics to work.
After that, a new control element will appear in the cabin - an automatic switch next to the ignition switch. The engine will switch from gas to gas with its help. New equipment without the participation of the driver switches the modes as the engine warms up.
Registration under the new law
Since 2015, the registration procedure for HBO has become much more complicated, which has also reduced interest in gas installations for cars. According to the rules of the new legislation, HBO must be registered in the MREO, just like a car. To do this, pay:
- registration fee for equipment;
- examination before installation, which will determine that the machine has no design changes;
- Inspection field installation.
The price of these procedures is in the range of 10 thousand rubles. In addition, cylinders are subject to mandatory certification every 2-3 years. For failure to comply with all these requirements, a fine of 500 rubles is imposed on the car owner. The driver is also required to bring the registration in accordance with the law within 10 days. Otherwise, he will be taken into custody for 15 days, and the car will be put in a parking lot.
Warranty service for a new car with HBO
Installation of gas equipment almost always ends with a loss of warranty. Official dealers refuse to service, despite the fact that during the installation of HBO the relevant certificates were issued. This is one of the reasons why owners do not want to convert from gas to gas. Either you lose your guarantee, or you have to prove through the court that the malfunction did not arise due to the transfer of the machine to gas. You will have to pay for the examination.
The exception is the rare case when an authorized dealer provides a HBO installation among its services.
But if the owner refuses to be serviced by the “officials” in advance, then he can safely put gas.
Liquefied gas or compressed, what to choose?
When the question arises: gas or gasoline, you still need to think about what kind of gas is it. Gas equipment is of two types. One variety works on a liquefied propane-butane mixture, the second uses compressed gas - methane.
The difference between the two installations is significant. The equipment for methane is bulky. It requires more expensive cylinders, the walls of which are much thicker. This is due to security requirements. Compressed gas is under a pressure of 200 atm. Therefore, the walls of the cylinders are made from 0.6 cm and above, which significantly increases their weight. For the same reason, methane cylinders cannot be made in the form of a spare wheel: they must be strictly cylindrical.
The amount of compressed gas is measured in cubic meters. One liter of gasoline is equivalent to one cubic meter of gas. Whereas the cylinder holds 11-15 m 3 . Therefore, on one cylinder, the car will pass approximately the same amount of gasoline. To make the mileage more, you have to put a few cylinders, which increases both the cost and the weight of the car.
However, the price of methane covers all the design flaws of HBO. It is 3 times cheaper than gasoline.
Economic benefit
Before choosing which is better gas or gasoline, you need to calculate the possible profit from the use of gas. For each machine, the calculation will be different. It is associated with fuel consumption per hundred kilometers. It will also depend on the total mileage for the period of operation of the car.
For example, take a middle-class car, which consumes in a mixed cycle (arithmetic average between city mode and highway traffic) 8-10 liters per 100 km.
The cost of gas equipment for such a machine ranges from 25-30 thousand rubles. Also here you need to include the costs associated with the registration of HBO - 6 thousand rubles.
Gas consumption is about 15-20% higher than gasoline. Therefore, in order to drive 100 km on gas, the same machine will need about 12 liters of gas. The price of gas is about 2 times lower.
If we take the cost of gasoline equal to 42 rubles / liter, the gas equipment will pay for itself in about 20 thousand km. On average, a city resident who travels regularly to work travels about 25-30 thousand km per year. In this case, HBO will pay off in 9-10 months.
If you look in the future, then the life of the machine is 7-15 years. During this period, gas will save more than 300 thousand rubles. Which is half the cost of a new car.
Security
It doesn't matter if the car’s engine is running on gas or gasoline. Any fuel will be a source of increased danger.
Gas equipment manufacturers are making efforts to reduce the risk of ignition in the event of a road accident. To prevent a large outburst of gas during a fire and an explosion, the cylinders are equipped with special valves that release pressure when the temperature rises. During the test, such cylinders were heated to 900 ° C, which is higher than the fire temperature. In this case, the gas was vented in small portions, but the balloon did not explode.
The valve system also works when refueling. If the capacity is filled in excess of 80%, then the valve blocks the flow of gas inside, leaving a volume for expansion.
Now HBO 4 and 5 generations are installed on cars. This equipment is safe and does not ignite in an accident.