Alternator v. no alternator - 10% gain @ 70 km/h

[tradosaurus]

I wonder if you could rig an alternator to run like a windmill since there is plenty of windpower at driving speed?

[GasSavers_Howard]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I wonder about backpressure and how much it would affect FE to generate the equivalent energy of a belt-driven alternator. There's no free lunch!

Consider this........ At low power output.... cruise, your engine is sucking a strong vacuum to hold the amount of air it is taking in down, thus holding power and fuel consumption down, etc......... That is a given load that is doing absolutely nothing useful. A suction turbine could drive an alternator, and a bypass throttle would allow full power by bypassing the alternator when you needed everything you had. Vacuum is ABSOLUTELY FREE ENERGY.... You gotta produce it and it's parasitic.

The vacuum you MUST produce at cruise, does not know weather it's doing work or not. You have to have intake resistance to control engine output



Howard

[GasSavers_Howard]

Originally Posted by Compaq888

ok I found out that the belt that is on the alternator also shares the power steering pump and the water pump pulley. So I can't take the alternator out. So what can I do to increase my mpg without pulling out the alternator???

Maybe get a solar panel that will make the car use less my alternator or how does it work?

Pull the fan off the alternator and unplug it.......... The fan is the only load on the alternator when it isn't charging.

[slogfilet]

What about HID bulbs? They do have significant energy savings... legality and practicality may vary. But you could cut the elEctricity usage of your headlights by around 50%.

[theholycow]

HIDs require a significant investment, unless you're willing to endanger yourself and others by blinding other drivers.

[the_wanderer]

Originally Posted by DRW

If your lights are significantly dim, what is the battery volts at that time?
.

why don't you bolt on a small solar panel to the roof? or embed it? structurally they're rated at hurricane force wind loading.

[shatto]

Ahem. I know everything is different in Canada......
Modern vehicles run off the alternator.
How do you get around that?

[mikehallbackhoe]

since my 84 crx doesn't have all the electrical requirements of newer cars, and the water pump is driven off the timing belt, I am considering removing the belt , and adding a deep cycle battery. but here's another thought, put a larger pulley on the alternator. would this lessen the load of the alternator, while keeping the battery charged? if not would it at least lengthen the time it takes to drain the battery, and run a deep cycle battery?

[theholycow]

That's a popular modification among the more common high-speed folks, called an "underdrive pulley". I'm not sure how well it would work for us low-RPM gas savers.

[mikehallbackhoe]

if it would give any charge at all, it would be better than nothing, and help to extend the range of the battery. the question is, how much gas would we save ?