Lambda sensors in karting?

Is that question for me or for @The_Karting_Channel?
I’m not using lambda at the moment, but I’m investigating how/why/is it worth it.

I can use Lambda but don’t use it all the time, and I use a standalone gauge.

That’s what I was thinking based on the price you mentioned.

Can we combine a lambda senor with one of these :smiley:

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I use lambda almost every weekend right now - it is a fixture on karts within my program during test days. However, I think another reason that it isn’t super popular is that it isn’t very effective for shooting for a target number on modern engines. The more complicated electronics package of modern motors don’t have a linear timing curve anymore - most feature some sort of decay as the RPMs increase and some digital ignition motors have curves that vary all over the place. The issue that this causes is that your mixture isn’t the same everywhere since your timing isn’t consistent - so you have to make sure that you aren’t tuning your carb for the peak value given but you’re trying to make sure that the band is doing what it needs to do. In my opinion, you’re better off properly reading EGT curves 9 times out of 10 than chasing a lambda value on a two stroke. Different limits also show different shapes. For motors that are air restricted (almost all motors right now) you’ll notice a sharp spike after the air box hits choke flow and the motor goes rich. You can’t do anything to compensate for this - there is no more air entering the system despite more RPM- so you’re going to be chasing an imaginary value at that point. The EGT curves, however,will still show an increase as the dwell on the flame of the sensor increases thus getting it closer to the true temp of the flame. If you travel a lot, you’ll notice the value where you hit choke flow changes a lot based on where you are since available oxygen is what matters. If you’re somewhere really humid, a larger percentage than usual of the air will be moisture so you’ll hit choke flow earlier. If you pair choke flow with horsepower calcs it can help with gearing on motors without rev limiters.

That said, lambda and EGT have an awesome effect in concert if you keep strong notes on the weather and on air quality.

A tl;dr would be If you’re not really working on mid range tuning for a specific value or don’t have a strong baseline on what your ignition system does, lambda probably isn’t worth it because of how the timing and available air change with RPM. What it can help with varies based on the motor package you run too so there is no “definite guide”. But it is a cool sensor and phenomenal for diagnostics. Just not a straightforward tool for Karting.

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Hi, are you still using the Supa-tuna? Does it work well? Any problems? Some people are talking about the sensor cracking the exhaust pipe? I’m thinking about buying a Lambda Device.

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Hi, so what you are saying is that a Lambda sensor doesn’t really work on a two-stroke kart engine? If that’s the case, why Mychron and Alfano sell the Lambda sensor?