<VV> Re: Harmonic Balancer Y or N?

[BobHelt at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/18/2006 9:20:14 PM US Mountain Standard Time,  
lechevrier at earthlink.net writes:

If the  purpose of the unit is to provide external balancing to a cheaply  
assembled mass production engine that inherently is balanced by its  
opposed piston design, wouldn't this be compensated for by custom  
assembling a carefully balanced engine like most of us  have?



Bill,
You apparently don't understand the function of a harmonic balancer. It  
isn't a balancer at all. It is a vibration damper. And the vibrations come, not  
from the rotational forces, but from the torque impulses as the mixture 
combusts  in the cylinder. Each firing pulses the crank, and the increased cylinder  
pressure actually forces the crank pin ahead slightly. it is the firing 
impulses  that synchronize with the natural vibration frequency of the crank to 
allow a  buildup of forces. The HB dampens these forces at the crank's natural 
vibration  frequency.
I hope that this helps.
Regards,
Bob Helt