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Old 10-02-2022, 12:29 AM   #30
Sheepdip
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Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Waterford California
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Re: 1968 C2500 engine dying

A bit more on the context of "Icing". A cut and paste from an old Hemmings article.

The conditions required for carburetor icing to occur are moist air with a temperature as low as 13 degrees Fahrenheit and as warm as 55 degrees F. In most instances, once the ambient air temperature gets down in the low teens, the propensity for ice to form is greatly reduced so as to be almost nonexistent. At lower temperatures and humidity levels, there is just not enough water in the air for the problem to manifest itself. The confusing part for many is that a carburetor will suffer the most dramatic icing when the ambient temperature is between 45 and 50 degrees F--well above freezing.

If an engine at idle begins to slow down and run rich, it is likely due to ice forming on the throttle plate(s), effectively making them larger and choking off the air. Once the ice buildup gets large enough, the opening of the throttle plate created by the idle speed screw is negated, and the engine stalls. In very short order (30 seconds to a minute), the ice melts from the underhood heat, and the engine starts and runs fine, as if nothing happened. Usually by then, it's warm enough under the hood for the condition to not recur. The motorist drives off not giving it much consideration, chalking it up to an anomaly--that is until the weather conditions are right again. This event is known in the industry as "idle icing."

Another cut and paste article:

Carb ice can form over a wide range of outside air temperatures and relative humidities. While the word “icing”
typically brings to mind blustery winds and frigid conditions, carb ice can form when outside temperatures are
as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 50 percent relative humidity. At the other end of the spectrum, the risk
doesn’t go away until the humidity falls below roughly 25
percent and/or the outside air temperature drops well
below freezing.
In other words, carb ice can form at pretty much any
time.

Here's a chart I also downloaded to share:

As you can see by the chart here Icing can occur as high as 100 degrees as long as all the humidity conditions are met, this is exactly why carbureted airplanes take off and land with carburetor heat on/applied. Yes I know it's an Aviation Chart but a carburetor is a carburetor and air/humidity is air/humidity.
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