Carburetor Emulsion Tube Explained - How it works - What they do

**Understanding the Emulsification Tube: How It Works in Carburetors**

When cleaning carburetors, you might have noticed small tubes or components made of brass or plastic with numerous tiny holes. These are often referred to as emulsification tubes, and their purpose is a mystery to many. This article will delve into what exactly the emulsification tube does, how it works, and its importance in the functioning of a carburetor.

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### What Is an Emulsification Tube?

The emulsification tube is a critical component within the main jet of a carburetor. Its primary function is to mix air with liquid fuel, creating a more combustible mixture known as emulsified fuel. This process ensures that the fuel is in the correct air-to-fuel ratio for efficient combustion in the engine.

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### How Does the Emulsification Process Work?

When air is drawn through the carburetor due to the suction created by the engine, it passes through the air filter and into the induction tube. Simultaneously, liquid fuel travels up the main jet of the carburetor. The emulsification process begins when pressurized air enters through small holes in the side of the main jet. This air mixes with the liquid fuel, breaking it down into smaller particles and creating a mixture of air and fuel.

The cover over these holes allows air to flow down the outside of the main jet and into the tiny openings. As the engine runs, this pressurized air forces its way into the liquid fuel, mixing with it and emulsifying it. This process ensures that the fuel is less concentrated and more "lean," which is essential for complete combustion.

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### Why Is Emulsification Important?

The emulsification process is vital because it prepares the fuel for efficient combustion in the engine. Without proper emulsification, the liquid fuel would not mix with air effectively, leading to incomplete combustion, reduced efficiency, and potential damage to the engine.

In four-stroke engines, where there are no manual adjustments like fuel-air mixture screws (commonly found in two-stroke engines), the emulsification tube ensures that the fuel is already in a lean state. This allows for proper combustion without manual intervention. However, it's important to note that the mixture should not be too lean, as this could lead to incomplete combustion and other issues.

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### The Role of Atomization

After the emulsification process is complete, the emulsified fuel enters the inlet of the carburetor, where it undergoes atomization. This step involves exposing the emulsified fuel to high-velocity air, which breaks it down into even smaller particles, creating a mist-like mixture. This mist is highly combustible and ready for use in the engine.

Atomization ensures that the fuel is properly dispersed, allowing for efficient combustion. Without this process, the fuel would not burn evenly, leading to wasted fuel and reduced performance.

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### Conclusion

The emulsification tube plays a crucial role in the functioning of a carburetor by ensuring that liquid fuel is mixed with air at the right ratio before it enters the engine. This process not only prepares the fuel for efficient combustion but also ensures that engines run smoothly and efficiently.

Understanding the importance of components like the emulsification tube can help you maintain your carbureted equipment, such as chainsaws or small engines, more effectively. Proper cleaning and maintenance of these components are essential to ensure optimal performance and longevity.

If you want to learn more about carburetors and their inner workings, consider exploring additional resources or videos that delve deeper into this topic. By doing so, you can gain a better appreciation for the complexity and precision required in engine design and operation.

Thank you for reading! If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share it with others who might benefit from this information. Stay tuned for more informative videos and articles soon!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enokay so what is the emulsification tube and what's its function when we clean carburetors we generally remove them and clean them and see that some are made of brass and some plastic with all holes in them and we wonder what exactly they do and how they work well this video is going to show you how so keep watching so in order for me to explain what the emulsification tube is for what i want to emphasize is that when air is drawn through the carburetor on its way into the engine bringing with it gasoline fuel it's not actually the gasoline fuel that we know it and see it as a liquid that can be used in the engine for combustion so instead it comes out partially separated by air so the fuel goes through what's called an emulsification process within the main jet even before it comes out into the induction tube and the way it does this is about how air enters the carburetor as the suction pressure caused by the engine draws it through the air filter and into the induction tube it also sends it down a separate channel way connected to the main jet looking at the main jet a little closer we can see that there's a series of penetrating holes in the side in this main jet from a briggs and stratton carburetor those holes can be seen clearly and a company in this main jet is a cover which fits over these holes like this and now to see how this system works let's imagine we can see through the cover and what we'd usually see is a seal up at the top here stopping any pressure going upwards and what pressure exactly am i referring to well it's the air pressure from that specialized pipe we looked at a few minutes ago and so as the air flows in the cover allows it to flow down the outside of the main jet and in through the holes and so as the engine runs and it's drawing liquid fuel as we know it up the main jet the air that enters through these holes is at a pressure that allows it to force its way into that liquid fuel thus mixing with it and it's this mix of air and fuel here that's referred to as the fuel being emulsified and it's this area of the main jet that's known as the emulsification tube and even though the general well-known definition of emulsification is the dispersion of one liquid into another this is still known as emulsification even though it's not two liquids it's air and a liquid so air and fuel and so after this process has taken place the emulsified fuel is drawn out of the main jet into the inlet of the carburetor ready for the final part of the fuel processing before it can be used by the engine and it's vital by the way that the fuel is mixed with air at this point because with four stroke engines that don't have fuel air mixture screws like on small type chainsaws and two-stroke engines where we can manually lean up the fuel making a better air-to-fuel ratio it's important that the fuel is already lean in order for there to be a decent complete combustion of the fuel in the engine not too lean of course but just leaning off for things to run correctly and so that's what the emulsification tube is all about taking a liquefied form of fuel and emulsifying it making it less concentrated and more lean by separating those gasoline molecules as we've looked at and to begin the next part of the fuel separation process which is atomization and for that we need high velocity air this high velocity air hits the emulsified fuel so hard this is what's known as atomizing it it spread the fuel out even further into small particles between all of that air now the fuel is separated enough with enough air between it looking more like a mist at this point than a fluid that when it enters the engine it can combust efficiently so the fuel now being in this combustible form is thanks to both the emulsification process within the main jet and the atomization process okay so there's far more to carburetors than what i've explained and of course i've only explained the emulsion tube side of things here and at that i've only covered this very basically just to give that very basic knowledge here are some more videos that might help you further please like and subscribe if you haven't done so already and i'll be back soon thank you for watchingokay so what is the emulsification tube and what's its function when we clean carburetors we generally remove them and clean them and see that some are made of brass and some plastic with all holes in them and we wonder what exactly they do and how they work well this video is going to show you how so keep watching so in order for me to explain what the emulsification tube is for what i want to emphasize is that when air is drawn through the carburetor on its way into the engine bringing with it gasoline fuel it's not actually the gasoline fuel that we know it and see it as a liquid that can be used in the engine for combustion so instead it comes out partially separated by air so the fuel goes through what's called an emulsification process within the main jet even before it comes out into the induction tube and the way it does this is about how air enters the carburetor as the suction pressure caused by the engine draws it through the air filter and into the induction tube it also sends it down a separate channel way connected to the main jet looking at the main jet a little closer we can see that there's a series of penetrating holes in the side in this main jet from a briggs and stratton carburetor those holes can be seen clearly and a company in this main jet is a cover which fits over these holes like this and now to see how this system works let's imagine we can see through the cover and what we'd usually see is a seal up at the top here stopping any pressure going upwards and what pressure exactly am i referring to well it's the air pressure from that specialized pipe we looked at a few minutes ago and so as the air flows in the cover allows it to flow down the outside of the main jet and in through the holes and so as the engine runs and it's drawing liquid fuel as we know it up the main jet the air that enters through these holes is at a pressure that allows it to force its way into that liquid fuel thus mixing with it and it's this mix of air and fuel here that's referred to as the fuel being emulsified and it's this area of the main jet that's known as the emulsification tube and even though the general well-known definition of emulsification is the dispersion of one liquid into another this is still known as emulsification even though it's not two liquids it's air and a liquid so air and fuel and so after this process has taken place the emulsified fuel is drawn out of the main jet into the inlet of the carburetor ready for the final part of the fuel processing before it can be used by the engine and it's vital by the way that the fuel is mixed with air at this point because with four stroke engines that don't have fuel air mixture screws like on small type chainsaws and two-stroke engines where we can manually lean up the fuel making a better air-to-fuel ratio it's important that the fuel is already lean in order for there to be a decent complete combustion of the fuel in the engine not too lean of course but just leaning off for things to run correctly and so that's what the emulsification tube is all about taking a liquefied form of fuel and emulsifying it making it less concentrated and more lean by separating those gasoline molecules as we've looked at and to begin the next part of the fuel separation process which is atomization and for that we need high velocity air this high velocity air hits the emulsified fuel so hard this is what's known as atomizing it it spread the fuel out even further into small particles between all of that air now the fuel is separated enough with enough air between it looking more like a mist at this point than a fluid that when it enters the engine it can combust efficiently so the fuel now being in this combustible form is thanks to both the emulsification process within the main jet and the atomization process okay so there's far more to carburetors than what i've explained and of course i've only explained the emulsion tube side of things here and at that i've only covered this very basically just to give that very basic knowledge here are some more videos that might help you further please like and subscribe if you haven't done so already and i'll be back soon thank you for watching\n"