Moletech (M-Tech) Fuel Saver

[AndyD]

Our local TV station showed a story last night on the M-Tech (aka Moletech) fuel saver. The report had all the hallmarks of similar reports on magnetic therapies, faith healing and the like, except that it included comments from a doctor from one of our own universities, Murdoch, a very real university.

Possibly the most ridiculous part of the report was a "test" by a local council that involved two cars, one with and one without the device. The cars were driven "roughly" similar kilometres by different people. It was a blind test though :)

There seem to be plenty of skeptical blogs about the product but I've found nothing from any authoritative source.

The story is here. (http://7perth.com.au/view/today-tonight-articles/20080521174715/)
One skeptical blogger makes his views clear here. (http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/01/27/moletech-fuel-saver-the-plot-thickens/)
And the Moletech website is here. (http://www.moletech.com/)

The manufacturer makes the following claim:
" the ceramics absorb the thermal energy from their surrounding environment then release it in a specific wavelength, breaking the intermolecular van der Waals force (the force that binds molecules) between the gasoline molecules. This results in the change of aggregation of gasoline molecules from 'cluster' to 'single molecule'."

I'm not a scientist but that sounds like it magically creates energy from nothing. :rolleyes:

[Soapy Sam]

Sounds like it gets warm and preheats the fuel. Since most heat in it's environment is likely to be coming from the engine anyway, it sounds like an insulating jacket. Anyone able to say if there is an infra red wavelength which would specifically affect weak intermolecular forces in fuel? Sounds very suspicious to me. General question- Has anyone seen an attempt to "explain" a woo energy saving device using the Casimir Effect yet? This is worth a read-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070806091137.htm Here's a link to the Moletech website. http://www.moletech.com/

[fagin]

20% decrease in consumption. 93%! reduction in emissions.
Convinces me.

[Soapy Sam]

Improved "atomisation " certainly can offer efficiency improvements- a cleaner burn is the holy grail of any fuel / engine interaction. Question is very simple- do the presumably extensive road tests show consistent results in identical vehicles? Are the authorities mentioned in the website actually authoritative? If yes, what changes in timing / ignition etc are needed to make use of it in older engines? I notice the claimed improvement is lower for diesels than gasoline...which actually would make some sense if it did what they claim. Anyone seen any independnt data? Here- http://7perth.com.au/view/today-tonight-articles/20080521174715/ is a link to the Murdoch university "study". It does not appear the university tested the device itself. The report seems to be simply a rewrite of Moletech's own claims.

[AndyD]

What intrigues me is that one "device" goes in the fuel tank, one in the air filter and one get strapped to the water hose. And somehow they communicate with each other.

Since only one is in contact with the fuel, and it is in the tank, it would seem the surrounding heat must come from the fuel itself, which then suggests it is using the heat already in the fuel to breakdown the molecular forces in the fuel - and that just seems like it goes against the laws of physics.

The other weird thing is the need to "run the device in" and that the method differs depending on the age of the car. If the devices are acting on fuel, air and coolant (water coolant as they call it), then how does vehicle age matter? Surely all cars breath the same air, use much the same coolants and largely the same basic fuels so if the device operates at the molecular level and doesn't interact with vehicle circuitry or change carburettor or timing settings or anything at all for that matter, then I'm at a loss to see how the age of the vehicle would have any bearing.

I've since found out that Dr Dingle (Murdoch Uni) also runs a child wellness centre that promotes, among other things, detox, naturopathy and Brain Gym, so I'm beginning to doubt his usefulness as an authority. His approach to other issues is questioned here (http://thesecondsight.blogspot.com/2007/03/bad-depression-treatments.html). I don't know what qualifications he has to assess fuel consumption. On the other hand, I'm in no position to dispute his assessment either since I have no scientific qualifications whatsoever.

On the levitation/Casimir issue, that seems like cutting-edge research while this product has apparently been around since 2006. I expect if they were exploiting the Casimir effect, they'd be certain to mention is alongside the Van der Waal forces reference.

[rjh01]

We have discussed this or similar things in the past. Here are three threads

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=56727
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=84637
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=43100

Found them via the tags.

[AndyD]

Bumped thread due to an update:

Today Tonight, the same show that blatantly promoted Moletech in May ran a different story tonight - The Perth Consumer Affairs department has effectively banned Moletech in Western Australia and advises customers to demand a refund on the product since it does not perform as claimed.

Skeptics win again. Media loses again. People who trust media find themselves out of pocket - again.

More at: Today Tonight Moletech (http://thinkingisreal.blogspot.com/2008/10/today-tonight-moletech.html)

[bobrayner]

Bumped thread due to an update:

Today Tonight, the same show that blatantly promoted Moletech in May ran a different story tonight - The Perth Consumer Affairs department has effectively banned Moletech in Western Australia and advises customers to demand a refund on the product since it does not perform as claimed.

Skeptics win again. Media loses again. People who trust media find themselves out of pocket - again.

More at: Today Tonight Moletech (http://thinkingisreal.blogspot.com/2008/10/today-tonight-moletech.html)
Good news :)

[dudalb]

So it is just another Energy Scam?