MurrayZA

Hi all, can anyone enlighten me or point me towards a post or web site that clearly explains what a duty cycle is when talking about turbos. Some EBC require you to set a duty cycle - what the hell does it mean? Is it a percentage of something ? Please somebody, enlighten me. 8-)

AndrewC

Your almost there, it is a percentage.

In the case of a solenoid, it is the percentage of time which the solenoid is activated. The solenoid is digital device, it can only be on or off, like a switch, but if it is switched on and off repeatedly it starts to behave like an analogue device like say a tap. By changing the ratio of time the solenoid is active compared to inactive the control system can vary the amount of air which passes through it just like turning the tap, but it is still in fact just switching on and off.

Do a search on PWM - Pulse Width Modulation, and PID - Proportional Integral Derivative, both are used together in closed loop control systems.

Andrew...

MurrayZA

Thanks Andrew, I'll take a look at those. Would it be true to say the higher the duty cycle ratio of open to closed, the lower a car will boost ?