Hi everyone, new guy here. Was wondering if anyone’s had good success with being able to control the throttle on charcoal/wood gasified vehicle?? I haven’t had very good success due to it pulling too much from one side over the other at lower throttle positions.
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Welcome to the DOW Robert! What kind of system are you running? Lots of folks here with well performing throttle systems many of which drive them daily
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Right now I’m playing around with a little rocketa scooter I got for $60, and it doesn’t seem to like idling so far. Mostly just did the five gallon bucket reactor with a ball valve air control, so I’m just thinking it’s a more about it being a 150cc engine more than anything else!? 
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Welcome to the DOW Robert .
Picture and videos if possible
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Sorry, it’s been almost six months since I played around with it due to idling issues, so I don’t have everything right now. Been trying to think of how to deal with it since than, and found this forum a few days ago.
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The more information you can gives us (picture and video) the better. Everyone here will jump in and help you out, lots of knowledge and exsperience bouncing around here 
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Hey Robert.
If you will click on the ( DOW Driving Habits ) thread you can kinda see what we do. We can idle or throttle up when ever needed .
I think most of us have bigger motors for running on wood. I think charcoal might be best for a very small motor .
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Awesome, thanks guys! I’ll try to get everything put back together this weekend and take some pics and videos.
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Did you try adjusting your idle to be higher?
In my Mazda truck I have to adjust my idle all the way up to get it to maintain healthily.
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I didn’t really think of that when I was working on it because it’s got a centrifugal clutch, but once I get the energy to go out in this 110 degree heat, I’ll check to see how that’ll help!! 
thank you!!
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I just finished putting my gasifier together and have yet to test it. It is a 4" x 18" tube in a 50 gallon barrel which (according to the FEMA document) should be able to power a 15 horsepower engine. I’m mounting an old 8 horsepower generator to the frame after I clean it and make it pretty again.
Anyway, I don’t know how to start and adjust the gas/air ratio for proper performance… is there a standard mix ratio or is it all trial and error? What should the valves be set at when first starting the generator?
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I always start my charcoal reactor with my air at all the way closed, then tickle my way open until she starts.
Be ready to take that engine apart, FEMAs make a lot of tar.
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Thanks Cody, I’m hoping that the three column filter system will minimize the contaminants but only time will tell I suppose. I appreciate the starting instructions, I’ll be giving it a try later this week if the sun decides to shine again… too much rain to play outdoors lately!
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I’d say still try it out with flaring, your unit can still be converted to an imbert style system or a GEK style perhaps. If you haven’t yet i would suggest check out the library on site and get Wayne’s book, it’s a wealth of knowledge.
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As cody said, femas are known for making tar. Having said that, I ran a fema about that size firetube on a lawn tractor. It worked pretty good. I found that fuel had a hard time flowing down in that small of firetube. Pellets worked well. You only need one valve to adjust the mixture. Pipe going straight through from the gasifier, it will draw what it needs. Then a valve to allow air in to adjust mixture. Ball valve is pretty hard to do. A gate valve will give more precise control.
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For your consideration, my simple, cheap, and effective mixer for small engines.
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Hi Robert , and welcome , i read through what you said and what others have replied back and because i am Down under nothing said seems to make sense to my blood filled head so if i can just confirm a few things.
Is this rocketa scooter a 4 stroke ? i had a quick google and its not a model i am familiar with and to be honest most i have ever come across years ago were all 2 stroke anyway .
I am also guessing that by you saying mostly did it in a 5 gallon bucket means that this is a charcoal unit ?
That then leads me onto the other thing you stated that seems strange to me
“I haven’t had very good success due to it pulling too much from one side over the other at lower throttle positions.”
Are you talking about the inside of your reactor once you stop it and open up the lid ?
No matter the size engine you want to run on charcoal from 50cc upwards it will tick over as well as standard petrol . from the little i read about those scooters just now they have a range of 87 mpg and a top speed of around 50mph , sounds to me you just want to play rather than save money , so if there is any thing i can help you with give me a yell as long as it is a charcoal gasifier of course , and if it is then let me know the size nozzle and make 100% and i do mean 100% that there are no air leaks at all on your system because then that might explain the lack of a decent slow tick over .
Dave
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I have found that the best tar filter is the venturi in a carburator or some serious chilling of the gas. Never had much luck using normal filters.
If you get the flow rate through the tube right the gas will be low in tar but only for an extremely narrow range.
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Thanks guys, I love your air mixer valve Andrew… couldn’t get any simpler! Where the generator is governor controlled, the speed will remain relatively constant with only loading changes so perhaps the tar can be minimized by careful tuning into that range.
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For a FEMA one could consider an insulated casting riser-sleeve.
http://mgstevens.com/riser-sleeves.html
No idea what they cost.
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