Govenor

[johnny williams]

Hasanyone cameup with a better idea for a govenor yet? Mine works very good for small load changes butfor thelarger load changes itis not the best answer. It has WAY too much droop.

thanks for your input
Johnny Williams

[Jim Mc]

You really ought to use the forum search for that.  MUCH has been posted about this...

[cujet]

Take a look at my coppermine pics. I have one pic that shows a better linkage. Much smoother.

Also, the trick is to have a spring with a nearly linear rate, not a rising rate. The problem is that a true linear rate (think a weight on a string and pulley) does not have enough control over the gov to achieve safe operation. So, the best bet is a spring with a nearly linear rate. Problem with this theory is that the engine will surge from low to high RPM.

So, the end result is to find a spring with a rate of increase that matches the gov requirements and does not droop too much under heavy loads. It can be done. But all bets are off if your linkage binds.

Now, some folks have had success using 2 different strength springs together, side by side. This provides a bit of damping, and a different rate curve than a single spring is likely to produce.

As a mental experiment, think about a very, very long spring. Your gov only moves about 1 inch. That very long spring has a linear rate and it would be absurd to attach such a spring to your engine as the engine RPM would not be stable. I hope you see my point. The rate of the spring provides the control. The OEM spring is a high rising rate for safety.

http://listerengine.com/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10048&pos=-398

[Rod]

Johnny:
I took the hook off the linkage & made up a mount for it at the stud where the other end of the spring was mounted. the new mount located the hook futher away so I could use a longer spring. After trying a few different springs, what worked best was large diameter one (longer and softer than stock) with a skinny and even longer one inside  that. The skinny one was a little stiffer than the large diam. one. The large diam. one had long ends on it that were not tempered which made it easy to adjust for tension. This was I could adjust either one, or both. I also found that it would hunt until it reached 100F temp.  , after a few (2 or 3) hours use, I would say the engine broke in somewhat and now there is no hunting form stone cold 40F. temp. All the springs were hardware store in stock items, but it took 2 stores to fine them, wish I got brand names and numbers. MAKE SURE anything you do in thes area is of sound design, if something were to brake, fall apart, or in any way fail you could end up with over-speed - way over-speed can lead to things I don't wish to talk about. Make sure you mounts are better than need be.
  Rod

[Jim Mc]

MAKE SURE anything you do in thes area is of sound design, if something were to brake, fall apart, or in any way fail you could end up with over-speed - way over-speed can lead to things I don't wish to talk about. Make sure you mounts are better than need be.

If the spring or  mount break,  the engine will decrease in speed, not overspeed.

[Rod]

          Jim, generally speaking you are absolutely right, what I was thinking was if it broke, there was a remote possibilty of part of the thing getting tangled in the flywheel and yanking the rack wide open. If there's any possibility of it happening someone will have bad luck sooner or later. Therefore, the best design possible would be the way to go.  Rod

[Joe]

Can’t beat this with a stick….

http://utterpower.com/gov_mod.htm


Joe

[johnny williams]

Thanks for all the input guys. Let me give ya'll some history of what all I have done. I have replaced the stock linkage with a homemade version of Mike M's design. Works well taking out all of the slop in the stock linkage. I have tried SEVERALdifferent spring combonations with some working better than others. What is left of the outside linkage is clean of paint and connected to the shaft going int the engine. Is my next step going into the engine and checking for any binding?

Johnny