Carbtune vacuum gauge - Cost and Shipping Time to Canada

[Tryster]

Another acquisition update for fellow Canadian riders considering a Morgan 4-Col Carbtune Pro (for balancing our triple throttle bodies/injectors) 

Ordered Sept 7/20 from the UK and arrived today, Sept. 22/20 (on the West Coast).  So that's 2 weeks

No duty or taxes/handling fees levied by CBSA so the cost was whatever the conversion was from 86GB to $CAN

[colorider]

Tempting!  About $30 more on Amazon, the last I checked.  

[Torbeach]

Ordered mine on July 26th and it arrived exactly 2 weeks later at my door in Toronto. 

[Tripletrouble]

Hey guys, just my experience. You ‘ Do not need to’ calibrate a Carbtune. I linked all hoses via Y connectors to one TB outlet to check, and it differed on two rods. So don’t need to becomes can’t. It’s going back and being replaced with something I can calibrate. 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Tripletrouble

[BBB]

I’ve just re-read the carbtune website @Tripletrouble and they insist that they are set up at the factory and don’t need calibration, so I’m interested in your findings. Did you check yours doing something like this?

 

[Tripletrouble]

Hi BBB. Yes, just like that. I may just have had a bad one so not knocking Morgan. When you look at how they’re made, (very cheaply -  a rod, brass bush and spring ) I can’t see any way to calibrate if they are out. Which begs the question of how they can be set up at the factory ?  Plenty of people recommend these, but it would be interesting how many have set them up to check as your picture above, as they have taken the ‘ no need to calibrate’ for granted. On my one, the right side read lower at low revs, and higher at high revs than the middle. I swapped tubes round, and voila, same other way round. I then set up as your pic and it confirmed it was the gauge. . If it was same through Rev range I would have compensated by deducting the difference, but as it was lower and then higher I couldn’t. In theory the Carbtune is much neater and easier than dials, but not if the readings are out...Again, not knocking these, I may have just been unlucky. 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Tripletrouble

[Tryster]

Good info BBB and Triple. I would not have taken possible imbalances between the columns into account when I went to use my Carbtune.  I will definitely connect all four columns into one as BBB shows above and take a reading off one throttle body and see how the columns compare - both at idle and at a steady higher rev - BEFORE I start twistin' adjustment screws that may not need twistin'.

[Tripletrouble]

21 hours ago, Tryster said:

Good info BBB and Triple. I would not have taken possible imbalances between the columns into account when I went to use my Carbtune.  I will definitely connect all four columns into one as BBB shows above and take a reading off one throttle body and see how the columns compare - both at idle and at a steady higher rev - BEFORE I start twistin' adjustment screws that may not need twistin'.

Exactly...I absolutely don’t want to put anyone off buying one, just a heads up to check.

[Tryster]

My Carbtune was spot on.  Checked the TB's on the weekend and no adjustments needed.  I'd hope not at 1870km.  Wouldn't have bothered checking but the 1000km service interval calls for it and I was hoping that a TB imbalance correction may have removed a bit of high-frequency bar end vibration.

[Wintersdark]

On 9/23/2020 at 2:34 PM, BBB said:

I’ve just re-read the carbtune website @Tripletrouble and they insist that they are set up at the factory and don’t need calibration, so I’m interested in your findings. Did you check yours doing something like this?

 

I'd really like to test my Carbtune like this, but have no idea where you'd get the fittings and hoses.  Anyone able to provide links?  Or if you've got piles of stuff kicking around, maybe throw the bits into an envelope for a few bucks?  

I've always recommended these because they work so well, and so simply.  I've always had good results with mine, but it's entirely possible that it may not be calibrated properly and I'm just not aware of how it could be better.  Would like to give it a test and be sure  

[dazzler24]

The seed of doubt has been sown!  I'm going to have to check mine now... just in case!

Not a bad idea mind you and quite simple to do.  Just wish I'd thought of it earlier myself. 🤔

4 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

I'd really like to test my Carbtune like this, but have no idea where you'd get the fittings and hoses.  Anyone able to provide links?

Think I'll be visiting my local aquarium store to source those 'Y' adaptors.  They are often used on aeration pumps for distribution in fish tanks.  There may be other sources of course.

[Tryster]

I had some "T" connectors (not as pretty as "Y" connectors, but just as functional) from a Rain Drip automatic watering system [Home Depot, etc]  Was going to sacrifice one of the four hoses that came with the unit but thought better of it and just got 3 feet of 1/8" ID vacuum hose; [sold by the foot at just about any car parts store]

You could also keep switching hose positions (at the gauge) and see if you consistently have one rod higher/lower then you know you have an imbalanced gauge also.

BTW - I marked rings around the ends of each of the Carbtune hoses with a silver felt pen; 1 ring to 4 rings so I never got them confused between the TB's and the gauge.

[Tryster]

And just a heads-up for new buyers...

The 4 Carbtune hoses need to be cut and a piece of plastic pin-hole restrictor tube slipped in... which also needs to be cut.  This was an un-anticipated job that, quite frankly, was a PITA.  Mine didn't slip into the hoses easily and by the end my fingers were sore. (Waaa! I know) Your intuition is to lube them to make it easier but you don't want them to pull apart at with a slight pull on the hose either [maybe the old hand grip install using hair-spray or rubbing alcohol trick to get them on would have worked?]  Not sure why Carbtune doesn't install them because they have to go in the tubes to damp the rod fluctuations. 

Sooo,  before you get the bike apart... might wanna do this first.

[Wintersdark]

On 10/12/2020 at 10:16 AM, Tryster said:

And just a heads-up for new buyers...

The 4 Carbtune hoses need to be cut and a piece of plastic pin-hole restrictor tube slipped in... which also needs to be cut.  This was an un-anticipated job that, quite frankly, was a PITA.  Mine didn't slip into the hoses easily and by the end my fingers were sore. (Waaa! I know) Your intuition is to lube them to make it easier but you don't want them to pull apart at with a slight pull on the hose either [maybe the old hand grip install using hair-spray or rubbing alcohol trick to get them on would have worked?]  Not sure why Carbtune doesn't install them because they have to go in the tubes to damp the rod fluctuations. 

Sooo,  before you get the bike apart... might wanna do this first.

I didn't need the inserts on my older '80's carbureted bikes, but definitely do on my newer EFI bikes.  YMMV, but that's probably why they aren't built in.  Having to cut the two included inserts to get four, however, does seem really janky given it's a 4-channel tool; why not just include 4?  It wasn't a big deal, but yeah, it was surprisingly hard to cram the inserts into the vacuum hose.  I thought of all sorts of ways to make it easier, but got "lazy" (it really would have been less work to bevel the edges of the inserts, maybe lube them a bit) and just fell back on the old stand by: Brute Force And Ignorance.