Quote:
Originally Posted by DragBean
Fellow Ecos,
Recently Ive put an alternator kill switch into my car and a fresh deep cycle. I'm not seeing any noticeable improvements.
I've been trying to figure out a solution to the downside of turning off your alternator - your sparks aren't as powerful and you're losing power due to a slower frame front.
Most alternators put out 13.7 Volts on the battery and when you turn this off you have 12.6V on a new freshly charged battery. That drops the longer you use the batterry without charging.
One solution is to incorporate some type of battery circuit in series with the main battery and ignition coil.
Another I'm considering is an HHO generator. Hydroxy - O2 and H2 mixed is one of the most combustible fuel air mixes and gives a more complete burn and faster flame front for more power earlier in the power stroke.
There's not a whole lot of seasoned ecomodders endorsing HHO and I know the double your mpg claims are myths in 99% of cases.
I've read SAE articles and Canadian Auto Institute research papers on the matter which prove 4-10% gains with TUNED systems (a big factor is that only a 1% HHO mix to fuel/air is required).
So to the post title. An HHO mod could solve the issue of a weaker spark. HHO is so combustible that this will increase your flame front.
I've made hydrogen balloons before and have the perfect car to test this concept. So I'm doing this relatively simple mod for the benefit of you all.
I hoping to get a 10% gain factoring in the kill switch weaker spark losses.
Any advice or comments is greatly appreciated.
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The biggest thing that you are missing is that fuel injection systems compensate really well for variations in battery voltage. The ECU has tables that adjust injection time for battery voltage, and the spark intensity is primarily controlled by dwell time, which is also controlled by the ECU. I can tell you that from personal experience with a failed alternator on my Lexus RX350 that the engine ran perfectly until the battery was down around 9 volts and the fuel pressure dropped massively to the extent that the engine lost power. Even then it never misfired.
If you are trying to eke out every horsepower from a highly boosted engine, then spark intensity will make large differences, but at the BMEP levels encountered in an engine being driven for economy it is unlikely to make a difference.
All the hype surrounding HHO is totally unsubstantiated by any credible scientific evidence if my research is accurate.
Simon.