MotorSilk?
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 177
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From: San Antonio, TX
MotorSilk? I just came across a product that has apparently been around for a while and wanted to know if any of you had heard anything about it or have personally used it. I did a search and only saw one thread from a year ago. Its called motorsilk and is some sort of additive for the crankcase. Its boron based and the manufacturer claims a significant reduction in friction and up to a 20% increase in fuel economy.
I have never been one to use oil additives besides seafoam and wanted to see what you all thought. This does bring back memories of slick50 but that was teflon wasn't it?
So question...gimmick, placebo, miracle, or dangerous for the LT1?
-Whats your opinion?
(just google motorsilk and its made by a company called evergreen america I believe).
I have never been one to use oil additives besides seafoam and wanted to see what you all thought. This does bring back memories of slick50 but that was teflon wasn't it?
So question...gimmick, placebo, miracle, or dangerous for the LT1?
-Whats your opinion?
(just google motorsilk and its made by a company called evergreen america I believe).
TECH Senior Member
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Joined: Oct 2006
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From: Decatur, TN (N-W of Athens)
Generally I find these sorts of things to just be a way to get money from the general consumer. Googling only resulted in many, what I would think are biased, fuel economy related sites praising the product. Not something I'd say is a good thing, simply because, nothing is that perfect for me to not find (with out deep digging) any saying it's not as good as they say (IE they think it's a farce).
I managed to dig up a patent doc on it, but I haven't cross checked the patent number with an online patent site to see if it's real or not. Either way, I skimmed the article and copied some of the things I found interesting (bad grammar and all). Mainly the fact that all it is is Boric Acid Powder, mixed into oil, both which apparently are available to us consumers (but I haven't checked into the former's availability), or the same Boric Acid Powder mixed into a polymer additive for "greater lubricating properties. Anyways, the bits:
Link:
https://www.savemefuelnow.org/resour...tentLink1A.pdf
So basically it would seem, if you were able to get that same fine grain powder, and mix it yourself @ a 20-30% by Weight (I don't know the math for that, someone else would have to tell us what it would be), then you could probably save quite a bit by buying the powder in bulk heh The magnetic mixing apperatus is just your average chemistry setup. I'm sure you've seen the glass containers sitting on top of a stand with a little 'pill' in the bottom spinning really fast? All it is, is a magnetic pill and the base is a magnet on a motor that spins, and the magnetic force then drives that pill to spin
You'd probably have to heat up the oil during mixing though, since I'd think that it would be a bit too thick to get that pill spinning fast enough.
And I apparently didn't copy this part, but if I did, oh well. What happens is the Boric Acid bonds to the metal surfaces and then the boric acid particles glide over each other with relative easy. That's where the mixture comes in, since you need to have enough to properly coat the surfaces. In laymen terms (from my understanding), you need to have enough marbles on the floor so you'll slip around, too little and you will make contact with the floor and friction takes place, too many and the marbles won't have room to slide around and you basically are walking on another solid surface :\ (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)
I managed to dig up a patent doc on it, but I haven't cross checked the patent number with an online patent site to see if it's real or not. Either way, I skimmed the article and copied some of the things I found interesting (bad grammar and all). Mainly the fact that all it is is Boric Acid Powder, mixed into oil, both which apparently are available to us consumers (but I haven't checked into the former's availability), or the same Boric Acid Powder mixed into a polymer additive for "greater lubricating properties. Anyways, the bits:
In one of the preferred forms of the invention, an additive to a base lubricant takes the form of the dispersion of boric acid or boric acid-forming boron oxide. The boric acid additive of this embodiment is available in the form of solid particles with a particle sizes in the range of about .5 to 100 microns in diameter. The preferred form of this additive is essentially boric acid powders and is available from the US Borax Co. of Los Angles, Ca.
<snip>
In the most preferred embodiment the particle size for boric acid is from about .2 to 40 microns to facilitate the formation of a stable suspension with the boric acid being present in a amount of at least 0.1 to 0.2% by weight. The amount of solid particles that can be mixed and/or dispersed in the oil will be dependent on the size of the particle. The smaller the size of the particle, the greater the amount of particles that can be suspended in oil. In general, the preferred range for oils is about 0.5 to 50% by weight and for greases is about 1-50% by weight with the most preferred range being 1-15% for oils and 1-20% for greases.
<snip>
Example 1
Mixture of boric acid and lubricant oil or grease.
This example illustrates the extend of performance improvement with the use of a mixture of boric acid and oil or grease. In this example, a commercially available miner and motor oil or grease are mixed with boric acid powder having particle sizes from about 0.2-40 microns in amounts randing from 1-50% by weight. The mixture was put in a glass container and stirred vigorously be means of a magnetic stirring device for a period of at least 2 hours.
<snip>
15w40 Motor Oil: 2kg Load, Friction Co-efficient of 0.11
1% by weight Boric Acid and 15w40 Oil: 2kg Load, Friction Co-efficient of 0.09
<snip>
In the most preferred embodiment the particle size for boric acid is from about .2 to 40 microns to facilitate the formation of a stable suspension with the boric acid being present in a amount of at least 0.1 to 0.2% by weight. The amount of solid particles that can be mixed and/or dispersed in the oil will be dependent on the size of the particle. The smaller the size of the particle, the greater the amount of particles that can be suspended in oil. In general, the preferred range for oils is about 0.5 to 50% by weight and for greases is about 1-50% by weight with the most preferred range being 1-15% for oils and 1-20% for greases.
<snip>
Example 1
Mixture of boric acid and lubricant oil or grease.
This example illustrates the extend of performance improvement with the use of a mixture of boric acid and oil or grease. In this example, a commercially available miner and motor oil or grease are mixed with boric acid powder having particle sizes from about 0.2-40 microns in amounts randing from 1-50% by weight. The mixture was put in a glass container and stirred vigorously be means of a magnetic stirring device for a period of at least 2 hours.
<snip>
15w40 Motor Oil: 2kg Load, Friction Co-efficient of 0.11
1% by weight Boric Acid and 15w40 Oil: 2kg Load, Friction Co-efficient of 0.09
Link:
https://www.savemefuelnow.org/resour...tentLink1A.pdf
So basically it would seem, if you were able to get that same fine grain powder, and mix it yourself @ a 20-30% by Weight (I don't know the math for that, someone else would have to tell us what it would be), then you could probably save quite a bit by buying the powder in bulk heh The magnetic mixing apperatus is just your average chemistry setup. I'm sure you've seen the glass containers sitting on top of a stand with a little 'pill' in the bottom spinning really fast? All it is, is a magnetic pill and the base is a magnet on a motor that spins, and the magnetic force then drives that pill to spin
You'd probably have to heat up the oil during mixing though, since I'd think that it would be a bit too thick to get that pill spinning fast enough.And I apparently didn't copy this part, but if I did, oh well. What happens is the Boric Acid bonds to the metal surfaces and then the boric acid particles glide over each other with relative easy. That's where the mixture comes in, since you need to have enough to properly coat the surfaces. In laymen terms (from my understanding), you need to have enough marbles on the floor so you'll slip around, too little and you will make contact with the floor and friction takes place, too many and the marbles won't have room to slide around and you basically are walking on another solid surface :\ (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)
