wrcamaro
Senior Member
Posts: 257
Loc: san diego, ca
Reg: 04-27-04
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02-04-05 07:03 AM - Post#617736
Hi, I have and edelbrock a/f monitor. The O2 sensor is of course not wide band. As I understand this means it will only read accurately at 14.7:1.
My question is a little hard to put in words so bear with me.
Example: a/f is at 15:1. Is the actual a/f going to be between 14.7:1 and 15:1, or is it leaner than 15:1?
Example: a/f is at 12:1. Is actual a/f between 12:1 and 14.7:1, or is it richer than 12:1?
Thanks for your time.
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zwede
Senior Member
Posts: 1499
Reg: 01-10-03
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Re: O2 sensor margin of error
02-04-05 07:18 AM - Post#617737
In response to wrcamaro
Unfortunately you can't think of it that way. Well, I guess you could, but it would be wrong.
The sensor outputs a voltage between 0 (lean) and 1 (rich) volts. It will be 0.45V at 14.7:1 AFR. However, the voltage it outputs at, say, 15:1 will not be consistant. Exhaust temperature, ambinet temperature, humidity and the phase of the moon all impact the actual reading. Realistically the sensor can only tell you three things: Richer than stoich, at stoich, leaner than stoich. It pisses me off that edelbrock and others put gauges on these sensors that make you believe it can actually read anything besides stoich. It's fraud as far as I'm concerned.
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 Doug_F
Chevytalk Moderator
Posts: 4702
Loc: Bowling Green, KY
Reg: 08-20-01
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Re: O2 sensor margin of error
02-04-05 04:37 PM - Post#617738
In response to zwede
VERY simply overstated, if you see all the lights lit up at WOT, you are probably "OK" for a mild engine. If they are all lit up at cruise, you are probably on the rich side. A voltmeter, or 9 light LED piece would make even a std. O2 sensor much more accurate than that Ebrock piece.
When the lights cycle back and forth you are right around 14.7:1.
With the cost of a piece like the Innovate, pieces like the Ebrock are really a waste of money these days.
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wrcamaro
Senior Member
Posts: 257
Loc: san diego, ca
Reg: 04-27-04
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Re: O2 sensor margin of error
02-05-05 09:41 PM - Post#617739
In response to Doug_F
Quote:
With the cost of a piece like the Innovate, pieces like the Ebrock are really a waste of money these days.
Wish I had known that when I bought it! 
If the meter goes leaner than 15:1 a/f that doesn't necessarily mean the actual a/f is past 15:1 or too lean?
The way the meter fluctuates back and forth had me thinking something was wrong when it was actually where I wanted it to be. 
Thanks for all the info.
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