The HAFC system is no longer being marketed in the United States, and I can't see that there are any successful installation examples available to act as proof of it's effectiveness and authenticity as a real mileage improvement technology. The manufacturer has relocated operations to Europe, as I understand. The dealers that invested significant resources and cash into the technology are no longer selling it. I'm sure they're suffering, since for some the monetary commitment was very significant.
From my perspective, the now defunct Dutchman, Inc., the organization responsible for the manufacturing and marketing, failed it's constituents miserably. As far as I can tell, the reasons for the failure include the following:
Business practices utilized were tragically flawed.
The actual effectiveness of the HAFC system was over-stated.
The HAFC was aggressively marketed when it wasn't a perfected product. (That's simply a crime!)
Dutchman failed to submit their product to scientific testing on a Dyno. Had they done that early on, there would have been real data to point to proving the system had an affect on mileage and performance, and would have provided a base of data upon which improvements could have been made. This is a ridiculous omission on their part. It should have been integral to the development of the product. But perhaps they new that such a test would prove it didn't work and would have killed the whole campaign.
I think there was a lot of lying on the part of Dutchman. They were very good at the sales pitch and even bought advertising in legitimate publications such as Popular Science. This was all done even though it was known installation results of the system were clearly showing inconsistent statistics across various vehicles. Thousands of kits were sold, and thousands never worked, even when installed and tuned by the supposed top mechanics trained by Dutchman.
The bottom line is either Dutchman pulled a fast one on its own dealers and customers, or they simply failed horribly in every aspect of product development, support, and managing their business. Either way, they've left a lot of upset and disappointed in their path. The interesting thing is they're extremely talented at deflecting responsibility. It's always the car manufacturers' faults or the government that is frustrating efforts to overcome the inefficiencies of the combustion engine. Or, it's the skeptics taking them to court to shut them down.
The one area in which they demonstrate unequaled talent is in generating excitement and belief. Even I have left an open door to the possibility that at some point a new development will bring the HAFC into operation. Will I leave it in my vehicle? No. I'm going to remove it. Maybe I'll connect it to a car battery and use it to inflate balloons for entertainment. They float!
This will be my last entry, but for now I'll leave this blog up so that others can follow the progression and history of the product through my experience with it. I leave this documentary angry and disappointed.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
HAFC Successful in Many Vehicles... But Not Mine Yet
It has been a very long time since my last post. I have a lot of really good excuses for the lapse and failure to keep all of you who are interested informed as to the results of the installation of the HAFC kit in my 2001 Oldsmobile Silhouette.
Excuses aside, I will report to you that while there have been many vehicles with reported results in mileage improvements with the HAFC installed, mine is not one of them. In fact, my father's vehicle which has the same engine as mine has also defied the efforts of our very skilled mechanic. While many will dismiss the effectiveness or authenticity of the HAFC system based on my failure to obtain real results, I'm not giving up, as there are many vehicles that have shown real gains.
The fact is this is new technology that is really very much in the research and development stage. There is no universal application of this kit as far as I can tell. Every make and model has its own unique characteristics that require each installation to include unique application and tuning approaches. The challenge is that car manufacturers build systems into each vehicle that differ from one model to the next and even from one year to the next. The HAFC has to find a fit into each system. The answer would be for the manufacturers to embrace the hydrogen assist approach and build their systems around this, but that doesn't appear likely at least in the here and now.
Presently, I'm driving my vehicle with the kit installed but turned off as I wait for results from recent research conducted by some master mechanics. There is an effort under way to develop a stand-alone computer system that can better control the emission parameters with the HAFC. There has been some promising data, and I'm holding out hope that this will push the HAFC system closer to qualifying as a kit that proves to be universally applicable across any vehicle type without requiring difficult tuning techniques.
One thing I have discovered is that most installations and tuning require far more than 4 to 5 hours as touted by the manufacturer. The reason for this is probably due to the fact there is very little sharing of information among the mechanics scattered across the country. While there are weekly calls held for the sharing of experiences and questions, there is not a centralized repository of information the mechanics can use to disseminate successful approaches to installation and tuning. Therefore, even if there is a successful implementation of the HAFC in a vehicle identical to mine somewhere in the country, another mechanic has no access to the tuning details that would make it easy to complete a successful install in my vehicle. It's as if the mechanics are on their own to a certain degree and must discover the right combination of parameters and added electronic components independently.
From a customer's perspective this is frustrating, especially when one can hear of successful installations, but there's no sharing of the information among the pool of certified installer/tuners. Until there's a tool in place such as a centralized database accessible to all mechanics, the research and development will be slow-going for sure.
Excuses aside, I will report to you that while there have been many vehicles with reported results in mileage improvements with the HAFC installed, mine is not one of them. In fact, my father's vehicle which has the same engine as mine has also defied the efforts of our very skilled mechanic. While many will dismiss the effectiveness or authenticity of the HAFC system based on my failure to obtain real results, I'm not giving up, as there are many vehicles that have shown real gains.
The fact is this is new technology that is really very much in the research and development stage. There is no universal application of this kit as far as I can tell. Every make and model has its own unique characteristics that require each installation to include unique application and tuning approaches. The challenge is that car manufacturers build systems into each vehicle that differ from one model to the next and even from one year to the next. The HAFC has to find a fit into each system. The answer would be for the manufacturers to embrace the hydrogen assist approach and build their systems around this, but that doesn't appear likely at least in the here and now.
Presently, I'm driving my vehicle with the kit installed but turned off as I wait for results from recent research conducted by some master mechanics. There is an effort under way to develop a stand-alone computer system that can better control the emission parameters with the HAFC. There has been some promising data, and I'm holding out hope that this will push the HAFC system closer to qualifying as a kit that proves to be universally applicable across any vehicle type without requiring difficult tuning techniques.
One thing I have discovered is that most installations and tuning require far more than 4 to 5 hours as touted by the manufacturer. The reason for this is probably due to the fact there is very little sharing of information among the mechanics scattered across the country. While there are weekly calls held for the sharing of experiences and questions, there is not a centralized repository of information the mechanics can use to disseminate successful approaches to installation and tuning. Therefore, even if there is a successful implementation of the HAFC in a vehicle identical to mine somewhere in the country, another mechanic has no access to the tuning details that would make it easy to complete a successful install in my vehicle. It's as if the mechanics are on their own to a certain degree and must discover the right combination of parameters and added electronic components independently.
From a customer's perspective this is frustrating, especially when one can hear of successful installations, but there's no sharing of the information among the pool of certified installer/tuners. Until there's a tool in place such as a centralized database accessible to all mechanics, the research and development will be slow-going for sure.
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