Nitrous longevity - How long does it last?

[SixGracing]

So I have a 10lb bottle in my car, running a 150 shot. It seems that it doesn't last as long as I thought it would. Does 4 to 5 passes on the drag strip sound about right? I know that when the bottle is full, the first few passes are incredible. Pulls hard and crazy fast. Towards the end of the bottle even with the pressure in the 950 range it doesn't seem to pull hard all the way down the track. I'm hoping a Nano system will fix this.

Anyone else have experience on the bottle? I'm thinking too about going to a 15 lb bottle instead or buy an additional 10lb bottle. I'm leary about going to the 200 shot jetting in fear that the bottle will only last a few pulls.

Any ideas? Thanks.

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by SixGracing

So I have a 10lb bottle in my car, running a 150 shot. It seems that it doesn't last as long as I thought it would. Does 4 to 5 passes on the drag strip sound about right? I know that when the bottle is full, the first few passes are incredible. Pulls hard and crazy fast. Towards the end of the bottle even with the pressure in the 950 range it doesn't seem to pull hard all the way down the track. I'm hoping a Nano system will fix this.

Anyone else have experience on the bottle? I'm thinking too about going to a 15 lb bottle instead or buy an additional 10lb bottle. I'm leary about going to the 200 shot jetting in fear that the bottle will only last a few pulls.

Any ideas? Thanks.

4 - 5 passes sounds right.

Just get another 10 lb bottle. The 15 lb one is huge.

[Trackman]

Sounds about right. That is a big shot.
I get a few more runs on a smaller shot and it does seem to lose its punch on the bottom half. Keeping the bottle up to temp seems to help a bit.
On a 200 shot I would fear more then just the bottle lasting a few runs.

[cybergrayls3]

I don't have nitrous on my fifth gen but I did have it on my fourth gen...I would get about 7 passes on a 100 shot. So that seems about right for a 150 shot...I kept my bottle pressure around 1050-1100...if I let it fall to 900-950 there was a noticeable difference in how hard it would pull

[SixGracing]

Originally Posted by Supercharged SS

4 - 5 passes sounds right.

Just get another 10 lb bottle. The 15 lb one is huge.

Ok good. Was going to go through and check for leaks too. But I'm pretty sure everything is solid. Definitely no audible hissing anywhere. Was going to use soapy water just to be sure. But if those numbers sound right then I think I'm good. I do keep the bottle off when I'm not running the system too just to safe.

Sounds like a second 10 lb bottle is in order.

Thanks.

[SixGracing]

Originally Posted by cybergrayls3

I don't have nitrous on my fifth gen but I did have it on my fourth gen...I would get about 7 passes on a 100 shot. So that seems about right for a 150 shot...I kept my bottle pressure around 1050-1100...if I let it fall to 900-950 there was a noticeable difference in how hard it would pull

Yeah I noticed that too. Sometimes the temperature creeps up and I go over the 950 range and it does seem to pull harder, which makes sense since there is more pressure and it's spraying harder. The jets should control that but pressure would change the spray no matter what jetting. 950 is the number my tuner said to stay at. I know the Nano systems keep the pressure in the range you noted. So I'm going to try that next time I run the car with the nitrous on.

Thanks for the info.

[SixGracing]

Originally Posted by Trackman

Sounds about right. That is a big shot.
I get a few more runs on a smaller shot and it does seem to lose its punch on the bottom half. Keeping the bottle up to temp seems to help a bit.
On a 200 shot I would fear more then just the bottle lasting a few runs.

I haven't heard of any issues on 200, although I don't think I would go beyond that without beefing up some more components. My car isn't stock though and has had some engine work done. Axles would be a concern next if I start getting traction on slicks.

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by SixGracing

Yeah I noticed that too. Sometimes the temperature creeps up and I go over the 950 range and it does seem to pull harder, which makes sense since there is more pressure and it's spraying harder. The jets should control that but pressure would change the spray no matter what jetting. 950 is the number my tuner said to stay at. I know the Nano systems keep the pressure in the range you noted. So I'm going to try that next time I run the car with the nitrous on.

Thanks for the info.

Very true. I over heat the bottle before I put it in. It goes to about 1000-1050 psi and pulls like a mofo. It's fun. When it's at 950 I can barely feel it and gets kinda boring. I wonder if I can make the heater stay on longer?

[SixGracing]

Originally Posted by Supercharged SS

Very true. I over heat the bottle before I put it in. It goes to about 1000-1050 psi and pulls like a mofo. It's fun. When it's at 950 I can barely feel it and gets kinda boring. I wonder if I can make the heater stay on longer?

Heater stay on longer? What do you mean? Is your heater timed? I just have a heater switch. Mine can get too hot to the touch. When I first got my system I was turning the arm switch off but forgot to turn the heater switch off and when I pulled into my garage and looked at me guage I was at 1200 and the needle was pegged. Oops. I didn't pop the pressure disc so I think it was ok. But it can heat up pretty good. I just hate that the temps swing so much and so does the pressure. Hence, the Nano being such a good remedy.

[Trackman]

Originally Posted by Supercharged SS

Very true. I over heat the bottle before I put it in. It goes to about 1000-1050 psi and pulls like a mofo. It's fun. When it's at 950 I can barely feel it and gets kinda boring. I wonder if I can make the heater stay on longer?

My heater is tied to a pressure switch. Once it reaches the set pressure it shuts off.
I can feel the difference when pressure is at 1000+ as well.

[SixGracing]

Originally Posted by Trackman

My heater is tied to a pressure switch. Once it reaches the set pressure it shuts off.
I can feel the difference when pressure is at 1000+ as well.

You know i completely forgot about that. I had a pressure switch on mine but when we were tuning the car we must have reached whatever pressure the switch is set for because it shut off the heater. We took the switch out connected the wires together to keep it on. I believe the safety switch can be adjusted. I think mine was set too low and it was killing the heater at around 900 psi. So I need to turn it up and re-install it for safety. So if I do a bonehead again and forget to turn it off, I'm not going to experience that pressure disk rupturing. I'd probably have to have my seat cleaned if that happened!

[cybergrayls3]

Originally Posted by Supercharged SS

Very true. I over heat the bottle before I put it in. It goes to about 1000-1050 psi and pulls like a mofo. It's fun. When it's at 950 I can barely feel it and gets kinda boring. I wonder if I can make the heater stay on longer?

Not sure what kind of heater your using..i had a Harris Speed works bottle blanket...it had a pressure sensor that was connected to the valve on the bottle so it could regulate pressure based on temperature. There was a set screw on the heater,if i remember right every 1/4 turn of the screw=approx 50psi increase in bottle pressure. I adjusted it so it wouldnt turn off until my bottle reached 1100..when it dropped to 950 it would turn back on until 1100 was reached. I also had a wideband and would monitor my air/fuel ratio..I found that running the 900 recommended pressure with there recommended jetting i was running rich..when i upped the bottle pressure to 1100 it slightly leaned out and would pull much much harder. I dont think changing bottle pressure is a recommended way of tuning nitrous, but if my pressure dropped below 950 the car would run pig rich..so 1100 worked great for me...i cant even keep track of how many bottles of nitrous i put thru that poor ls1...i know i was going thru 50 pounds a week at one point...the car made it to 147k miles before i got rid of it...still running strong.

[Supercharged SS]

Originally Posted by cybergrayls3

Not sure what kind of heater your using..i had a Harris Speed works bottle blanket...it had a pressure sensor that was connected to the valve on the bottle so it could regulate pressure based on temperature. There was a set screw on the heater,if i remember right every 1/4 turn of the screw=approx 50psi increase in bottle pressure. I adjusted it so it wouldnt turn off until my bottle reached 1100..when it dropped to 950 it would turn back on until 1100 was reached. I also had a wideband and would monitor my air/fuel ratio..I found that running the 900 recommended pressure with there recommended jetting i was running rich..when i upped the bottle pressure to 1100 it slightly leaned out and would pull much much harder. I dont think changing bottle pressure is a recommended way of tuning nitrous, but if my pressure dropped below 950 the car would run pig rich..so 1100 worked great for me...i cant even keep track of how many bottles of nitrous i put thru that poor ls1...i know i was going thru 50 pounds a week at one point...the car made it to 147k miles before i got rid of it...still running strong.

Zex heater. I think it has a pressure switch as well. Maybe I can hold a torch on while I make a pass.

[Badbubba]

Pressure switch should be adjustable. I have an led on my pillar pod tied into the heating circuit. Then I know when the bottle is heating and when the led goes off, I should be at my pressure.
I remotely shut the tank off when I'm done spraying with the run. If I'm shutting the engine off, I'll purge the line to remove any n2o. I don't want to have a leaky n2o solenoid fill the intake manifold while the engine isn't running, even if it's only from the line.