VRO or premix

[Bennett]

What are the disadvantages of premix vs a VRO

 

[DJ]

Re: VRO or premix

Bennett,<br /><br />Premix is a giant hassle and you never get the mixtures exactly right.<br /><br />And you always have that; "did I put oil in it????"

 

[7-up]

Re: VRO or premix

I agree with djohns.<br /><br />I've had both and prefer vro by far. Plus vro will adjust oil mix based on rpm's so you theoretically use less oil. No oil going through your water seperator<br /> No worries, No hassle, No messy unexact science mixing.

 

[ob]

Re: VRO or premix

Premixing and doing it accurately is as easy as pumping the gas into your tank.The math on different gallon amounts of fuel isn't rocket science.If one doesn't premix because of difficulty reasons,I'll pass as a passenger on his vessel.I would also venture to say that i am quite sure that I could mix fuel and oil as exact if not more so than a VRO designed to mix 50:1.

 

[CharlesW]

Re: VRO or premix

OB:<br />Not to argue your ability to acurately mix oil and gas, but to argue the "easy as pumping the gas" comment. Ever since the mid 1960's I have been premixing fuel/oil for motorcycles, snowmobiles, weedeaters, lawnmowers, outboards, whatever. While it is not really difficult, it is definitely not as easy as just pumping gas. It is messy, dirty, a nuisance in having to carry oil to mix, a nuisance in having to have a measuring container, a nuisance in having to find a place to dispose of the empty oil container after mixing it with the fuel, a nuisance in having to store the remaining oil when you don't use all that is in a container.<br />Compared to squeezing a handle at the gas pump, it's a nuisance. <br /><br />Charles

 

[ob]

Re: VRO or premix

Messy?Dirty oil containers?I've been premixing lots of different machines too and have a handy container with graduation marks that is no frill no spill.To each his own,but difficult or giant hastle doesn't come to mind.<br /><br />On the other hand,washing and scrubbing the dead shrimp carcasses and fish blood from the deck of my Whaler from my brother-in-law.....Now that's a hastle.

 

[The Marine Doctor]

Re: VRO or premix

If you premix yourself...then you know the engine is getting oil.<br /><br />VRO's fail all the time.<br /><br />I have replaced 9 of them this year alone. Fortunately they were caught before any engine damage was done.<br /><br />You will never know how vulnerable you are with VRO..until it fails.<br /><br />TMD

 

[Bennett]

Re: VRO or premix

Is there a performance difference between VRO and premix ? The reason I ask is that my VRO is down and will cost 266.00 to replace. A little to much to pay on military pay.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: VRO or premix

You can get a rebuilt unit from www.dfitechnologies.com. They call it a carb oiler and it is about 1/2 price.<br /><br />Premixing is an option, but many engines are damaged severely by folks forgetting to add oil or someone using the boat doesn't know to premix. VRO's failing to deliver oil and ruining a motor are super rare; there is an alarm should oil not get delivered. The misinformation and urban myths are perpetuated by untrained mechanics and by folks who know someone whose brother-in-law's neighbor's cousin's best friend had a problem about 10 years ago.

 

[hookemncookem]

Re: VRO or premix

Its nice to know that when your oiler alarm sounds you have enough anchor line to hold bottom while you wait for seatow,or not and drift until they salvage you..It seems that before the vro was deleted on my boat (1999 200hp)I was pouring that messy oil into a hole on the back of the boat into a tank that took up space and had to be vacume tight, had a filter, required general inspecting and maintenance, and could possibly leave me dead in the water if its system failed..Now I pour the same oil into a hole in the side of my boat,and I have a new place to store my fishing wieghts and have one less system that can turn a good day bad and potentialy long and expensive...My oiler will ALLWAYS work as long as my engine recieves fuel.... period!

 

[tiredat41]

Re: VRO or premix

I've got a 94 40hp johnson that used to have a vro, untill the fuel pump side quit. Bought the manual did both tests for oil side and fuel side, fuel pump was bad.I asked 2 large local dealers about a vro rebuild kit, both said we'll get back to ya twice. I got tired of waiting and figured I'll just pre-mix instead of paying $250 for a new vro, so I called and asked about a regular old style fuel pump, they said can't do that(yeh right) so I went to a small repair shop in PA by pymatuning lake. told my story and had a new fuel pump p/n 438556 for $45 in 10 minutes, runs great now. BTW the small shop said they had about 10 vro's they can't give away.

 

[OBJ]

Re: VRO or premix

Hi bennett....<br /><br />There has been numerous threads like yours asking about the pros and cons of VRO pumps. Use the search function at the top of the page and do a search for VRO pumps. You'll see a lot of pros and a lot of cons.<br /><br />My opinion....I like them. I make sure the alarms are working and I do have the newest pump available. If the oil pump goes out, I have a tank of oil to use in the gas can. Just my opinion.

 

[Dockton]

Re: VRO or premix

Premix is the way to go. At least you know there is oil in the gas.

 

[NEECAPRS]

Re: VRO or premix

Premix vs VRO: Not much more could be said without repeating. Sounds like VRO proponents tend to understate the needs of keeping the VRO system delivering correctly. I can't imagine why anyone would think that premixing to 2% is a hassle. One new thought, a downside to what 7- UP points out, VRO minimizes oil use, but, the inflow is the least at idle-- like when you're approaching the slip or ramp at the end of day. So, for you coastal folks, you've idled back through the no-wake zones and the salt air with nearly straight gasoline washing the innards clean, then you'll shut it down for a week or two and let the salt residue do its thing. Thought many of you might like to know, this brings us a lot of good business, which is crankshaft/bearing repair.

 

[walleyehed]

Re: VRO or premix

For those of you that don't understand VRO, for quite some time now, the VROII pumps are 50:1 ALL THE TIME.......exactly the same amount of oil whether you mix or inject-there is NO cylinder washing with these pumps...the first series, yes, but they didn't last very long.

 

[BillP]

Re: VRO or premix

You asked for disadvantages:<br />Premix:<br />You have to manually measure the oil. With vro you just pour it into a tank without having to measure.<br /><br />Another disadvantage: Don't burn as clean and smoke more (trolling downwind can be a bummer). The oil ratio is mixed for max engine loads instead of variable oil for low speed operation. More oil can lead to faster crud buildup on the piston crowns. This is easily maintained by decarbonizing every couple hundred hours. Don't even think it happens in 50 or 100 hrs. Not a hassle to me because vro engines need it too but at longer frequencies. Some of this can be offset by using synthetic oil. <br /><br />Disadvantage: It uses more oil than a vro so cost of oil could be a factor. This has to be weighed by the maintenance cost of a vro system. <br /><br />Another disadvantage: Additional oil in the carbs will get cruded up faster during storage. In my experience this is way over a year. I normally have 3-5 motors that sit inside a shop for a year between use and my only storage precaution is double oiling the last run. I don't run the carbs dry (since I learned many times the hard way)and they don't have problems on start up day either.<br /><br />VRO is just another system to maintain. It breaks from elec/mechanical issues or from lack of "preventive" maintenance by the human element. Either way you have a system that needs more attention and maintenance than premixing. <br /><br />The bottom line is I have the vros removed when the warranty is over. I never forget to put oil in the gas and never have one worry about systems breakdowns. Nothing bothers me enough to use vro.