How do Camshafts or Custom Cams Affect Engine Performance?

custom camshafts for a ferrari

 

I was recently on vacation in Hawaii and while sitting in my resort Hotel room I noticed a car with custom cams rev their engine.  Even though this blog is dedicated to travel and hotel news I also love cars and how they work, so I am going to do one blog post about camshafts.

If you are thinking about enhancing the performance of your vehicle, some people will encourage you to make it lighter. Others will push you to tinker with the air filter and intake system. A few might even advise you to upgrade the exhaust system. But few of them will remember to mention the impact custom cams can have on your vehicle’s performance.

A camshaft is an important tool that has a significant role to play in the operations of your car. This is what you should know:

1). First of all, if you know anything about cars, then you know that an engine works by blending fuel and air, using the resulting explosion to drive the car, and expelling the waste through the exhaust. The air/fuel mixture enters the engine through valves.

2). Where does the camshaft fit in? The device has lobes called cams. When the camshaft rotates, the cams open and close the intake and exhaust valves. They coordinate their actions to match the movements of the piston.

camshafts and engine performance

3). The camshaft’s ability to open and close the valves in tandem with the strokes of the piston matters. If the engine is running at a high RPM, the piston will move just as quickly which means that the valves must open and close with the same expediency to keep up with the speed at which the air/fuel mixture is rushing into the cylinder.

The valves cannot close too early. If they do, the mixture won’t enter the cylinder. If you are running the engine at a high RPM and high energy, the intake valves must remain open a little longer than normal to permit the mixture to reach its destination.

This is the work a camshaft does. It must keep the valve open for longer periods at high speeds. It must also open the valves wider. This is the only way to accommodate the demands of the engine.

4). If the camshaft does its work appropriately (opening the valves wider and keeping them open for longer), it will enhance the horsepower, giving your vehicle greater acceleration. This is why custom cams are so popular. They are expensive but they are capable of accommodating the demands of more powerful engines, allowing the vehicles in question to achieve their true potential on the road.

camshafts enhance muscle cars

5). You have to take the shape of the lobe into account. It will determine how quickly the valves open, the duration they remain open, and when they open and close. Mechanical experts can manipulate the shape and measurements of the lobe to squeeze the best performance out of your engine.

6). The lobes will eventually wear out. Once this happens, your engine’s performance will deteriorate because the valves do not open as wide or stay open as long as you need them to. You have to keep this in mind. Some people struggle to identify the source of the poor performance of their vehicles because they do not realize that the lobes can wear out. The camshaft, as a whole, can also break. Once this happens, your engine will stop working.

 

Why Hotels Should Use Concrete Shower Panels

concrete shower wall for hotels

 

Concrete walls and floors have an undeserved bad reputation because they’re common in hospitals and prisons. The very mention of concrete panels conjures a mental image of drab grey walls, though that is far from the only option. Let’s learn why hotels should use concrete shower panels.

It Is Affordable

Concrete shower panels are much cheaper than the custom installation of a tile wall. Yet you can take advantage of design options that make it look like tile. For example, you can have patterns stenciled into the wall to make it resemble tile for a fraction of the cost. Or have the concrete panel stained to create a pattern similar to wall paper or marble. You can have dye added so it resembles granite or porcelain but at a fraction of the cost.

If you already have tile walls and floors in your hotel, you can arrange for a concrete wall and floor overlay. It will seal these surfaces and costs far less than what it would take to replace broken, molding tiles. Have everything from concrete shower panels to floors to sinks in the bathroom, and you can create a uniform style in the bathroom for a reasonable price. Or simply pay for concrete panels to serve as two or more walls for a shower stall. Concrete panels are a logical choice for hotels buying a number of shower kits to install in new or renovated bathrooms.

hotel concrete shower panels

It Is Hygienic

Concrete shower panels are commonly used in institutions. Why? There are no grout joints you need to scrub if you want to prevent black mold from growing in the walls. There is nowhere soap scum can accumulate, either. That means they’re very easy to clean, whether you have sick patients or a steady stream of visitors. Some people may worry about the concrete absorbing moisture, but that’s not a problem if you apply a waterproof sealer. Choose concrete panels that are one piece to minimize the installation time and the number of joints.

It Will Last for Years

With the right sealants, concrete will resist chemicals and abrasion as well as mold and soap scum. This means you won’t just have less need to scrub it, but it won’t get scratched by hard scrubbing or fade on exposure to industrial cleaning chemicals. It will retain its color and texture for years despite harsh cleanings and regular use.

concrete shower walls for a hotel bathroom

It Can Be the Safer Choice

Concrete shower walls and floors are not just more hygienic. Concrete is easily shaped to fit whatever infrastructure you have. Create gently sloping floors to eliminate a curb around the shower pan, so that no one can trip on it. Create a gentle slope down to the shower drain to encourage drainage without having a potential trip-hazard there, too. This is why concrete floors are a logical choice for accessible walk-in showers. You can also add ledges to the shower that serve as both a storage shelf and de facto support bar. If you choose the right concrete panel manufacturer, you can get one that doesn’t weigh as much as standard concrete, so there’s no need for additional structural supports. You won’t have screws or bolts sticking out of the shower assembly. No one can get scratched or cut on contact with that shower hardware.

 

Why Would a Bourbonnais, IL Hotel Need Waterproofing?

waterproofing Bourbonnais hotel

 

They actually have more reasons to maintain their waterproofing and weatherproofing than the average business.

The Importance of Public Health

A Bourbonnais hotel has a moral obligation to provide a safe, healthy premise. Hotels are frequented by a steady stream of guests, and reports of anything from leaking pipes in the ceiling to a lack of hot water will get back to the local health department. This means that leaking pipes, toilets that won’t flush and water flooding in from the nearby downspout will get your business shut down.

Water accumulation can cause other problems, as well. If your basement is full of water, there will be mold in the air. If multiple people get sick, you’ll get in trouble. Hire a commercial waterproofing Bourbonnais IL firm before your business goes out of business.

hotel basement waterproofing

The Impact on Your Reputation

Hotels in Illinois tend to maintain their plumbing, since a failure to provide adequate clean water and wastewater disposal threatens their ability to remain open. However, hotels are compared against the average visitor’s home as well as the competition. If you turn the basement into a cheap workout room, you’re already behind the competition. If it has water dripping down the walls or water pooled in the corner, your visitors are going to give you bad online reviews. That in turn will hurt your ability to attract new customers.

Consult with a commercial waterproofing Bourbonnais IL expert to determine the best way to dry out your basement and keep it dry. Then you can safely turn it into a storage area, workout room or spare meeting room. And it won’t hurt your firm’s reputation if your customers happen to see it.

waterproofing for a Illinois Hotel

The Need to Protect Your Investment

Water in the basement will create one hundred percent humidity in that area. You’ll get mold growing in the air. That will affect the walls of the basement, but it can eventually cause mold to grow in the floors and walls above the basement. If the water isn’t drained and the mold killed, you could end up with a literally toxic hotel. Not only will no one want to stay there due to the smell or the health problems it will cause, but you’ll be on the hook for expensive mold remediation.

Suppose the water is pumped out via a sump pump or the humidity managed with multiple dehumidifiers. Running this equipment is expensive, and you can run into problems when the water seepage rate is greater than what the units can remove. Furthermore, running this equipment generates noise and may add to your ongoing maintenance requirements. It is easier and cheaper to pay for waterproofing, assuming the issue isn’t due to drainage around the building.

And you want to prevent the water from seeping through the walls and sitting on the floor. The water seeping in is eroding the grout between the bricks. This weakens the wall, increasing the odds it shifts or collapses. Water sitting on the floor can seep through cracks in the floor, contributing to a shifting foundation. All of this adds up to an increased risk of structural damage to your hotel. And you can avoid all of it by investing in preventative efforts like hiring a commercial waterproofing Bourbonnais IL company.

4 signs a Leesburg, FL Hotel Needs their Septic Tank Pumped

plumber leesburg fl

 

Small towns and rural communities have long relied on septic tanks, because they didn’t have access to municipal sewer systems. This forces businesses and home owners to engage in regular maintenance like having septic tanks emptied, if they want to be able to take showers and wash their hands. Here are 4 signs a Leesburg, FL hotel needs their septic tank pumped.

Drainage Is Bad Across the Board

A single shower or toilet slow to drain may be clogged. This may be caused by someone flushing feminine hygiene products or diapers down the drain. You’ll probably figure it out when you clear the pipes.

When all toilets, showers and sinks are slow to drain, the problem is downstream. It may be a clogged wastewater pipe, or it may be a sign your septic tank needs to be pumped. Have the septic tank pumped out to prevent the horror stories of sewage backing up into hotel rooms. If you find that the clogs in the drains are solid biomass, have a septic tank pumping service out that day so that you don’t encounter the worst case scenario – raw sewage flooding into hotel rooms through sinks and drains.

septic tank pumping

You Can’t Figure Out Where the Smell Comes From

One bathroom may smell bad because a visitor didn’t flush it. If multiple bathrooms stink, you may be dealing with mold or poor housekeeping. If most bathrooms or sinks smell like sewage, you need to have the septic tank and/or plumbing system inspected as soon as possible. Sewer gas coming up through the drains means that there is sewage trapped in the pipes or the septic tank is so clogged it is about to overflow.

A related sign is that the drainage field smells like sewage. This may occur because of a massive influx of wastewater. If it smells bad all the time, the septic tank is at or beyond capacity and needs to be cleaned.

The Drainage Field Is a Mess

The septic tank drainage field should look like the rest of your lawn. In a dry season, the grass may be a little greener due to the water seeping into the ground. If the grass or bushes are far lusher than you’d expect, they’re getting too many nutrients from the septic system. If the drainage field is always soggy, the septic tank needs to be pumped. Don’t wait until the next rain floods the field and prevents your guests from being able to flush the toilet or take a shower. Pooling water around the septic tank is an equally bad sign. You can’t go wrong pumping the septic tank early, if the real issue is roots blocking a pipe in the drainage field. A septic tank pumping Leesburg Florida service has no problems finding out why your drains aren’t draining properly, no matter what the reason may be.

sewer-repair

Your Alert System Is Going Off

Some septic tank systems have alert systems intended to warn you when it is reaching capacity. That’s why they are installed. If you don’t remember the last time your septic tank was pumped, it needs to be done. They typically need to be pumped every three years, though high volume businesses like hotels may need a septic tank pumping Leesburg FL service to drop by more often than that. This is why you must know the signs of an overloaded septic tank regardless of the date it was last emptied.