Alternator Delete

[Duffman]

Great insight Diesel John, I wouldn't have thought of that.

[Duffman]

Originally Posted by OldGuy

I rigged up a 3 way switch on the dash, and a bit of circuitry, such that in one position the alternator never charges, in another position it charges normally all of the time, and in the final position it charges only when the fuel injectors are cut off during deceleration for regenerative braking.

With my present set-up and my normal driving around Tucson, regenerative braking only does not keep the battery from becoming more and more discharged.

Are you shutting the ignition off when stopped at lights?

[OldGuy]

First Question:
how did you wire the alternator, espesially the regen braking.

Answer:I broke the connection between the voltage regulator and the rear brush within the alternator, then soldered a wire on each side of the break and brought those wires out of the alternator. Connect them togather, it charges, disconnect them it dosen't.
Regenerative braking occurs when you turn the alternator on.

Darin wrote:
Hi OldGuy, welcome to the forum. Sounds like you've set up a nice system.

Actually it is all experimental at present, made from stuff in my junk box, and taped in place. I haven't had it on for very long, so i don't have any results on gas saving. Also I have been recharging the battery by just turning the switch back on to normal charge, and burning any gas I might have saved up to recharge the battery. I don't even own a battery charger.

I have decided just today to order a solar charger and mount it on the hood permanently.
The panel that I am now looking at is 30 watt, 24.64 x 17.44 by only 0.3 thick, so I doubt that it will hurt the aerodynamics much. Here is a link to the panel:
http://www.nationalsolarsupply.com/i...ROD&ProdID=900

I think Solar is a real option here in Tucson, so we will see.

Good thinking on the guess about the heated sensor Diesel John, but my metro has a two wire oxygen sensor so i don' think that is it.

In answer to Duffman's question, no, I was not shutting down the engine at stop lights.

It will be awhile before I get the panel, and I will keep you guys up to date as this experiment continues.

This a great place to exchange and share ideas & results. Take care all.
Gordon.

[Duffman]

Since you are idling at lights I have a suggestion for you:
Add a microswitch to your accelerator pedal that closes when the pedal has not moved from its rest position. You can put that in line with your #3 option to charge the battery. This way you get charging every time that you are off the pedal, both decelerating and while idling at lights. It might give your battery that extra charge that will help it keep up to your draw and while your engine is idling its doing nothing towards productivity for the fuel used, at least now it could charge the battery and the load will be pretty negligible.

[slopemeno]

Actually, all these mods are old hotrodding tips- underdrive pullys, alternator cutout, driveshaft alternator (saw it in Hotrod magazine back in the early 80's- essentially youre spending less energy turning since youre using the drive ratio of your tranny to your advantage.

I think the "less-is-more" move here would be to go with a lighter battery (Get a BCI book...what percentage of your laden weight is that group 24?), turn the alternator slower since it would extract less power off the line in traffic, which is a reality in the big city, and use the alternator cutout.