Induction heaters as used on British fuel systems do just as the name
implies, they heat the induction charge of fuel and air, just inboard
of the throttle plate. These were used to prevent carburetter icing
at low temperatures.
You can tell if you have one by looking at the phenolic insulator
spacer between the carb and the manifold. If the spacer has a little
thimble shaped housing with a wire attached, you have an induction
heater. The heater is actually a spiral wire buried in the spacer
around the edge of the bore, whereas the thimble houses a thermostat
that energises the heater below about 36 degrees F.
Late cars with single Strombergs generally had these, but some twin
SU installations sold in cold climates also had them. The SU
installations also had heating bands around the carburetter piston
domes, I guess they thought the domes would shrink and bind the
pistons if they got too cold!
Good try with the hysteresis reply, but no cigar!
Cheers, PK
Paul D. Kile
kile_paul@aphub.aerojetpd.com
(916) 355-5162
GenCorp Aerojet
POB 13222
Dept 5784 Building 20019
Sacramento, California 95813-6000
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