Virtual alternator delete.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by teoman

If those are the numbers it is not really worth doing for me.
Then again your converion ratio is close to optimal.

The numbers are zero, within margin of error.

Mind you the Insight's brushless 3 phase motor is probably a heck of a lot more efficient than an alternator, is mechanically connected to the crankshaft, and the engine is ~40% thermally efficient.

[teoman]

Just trying to establish what kind of savings can be expected.

We pay 1.18 usd per liter of gasoline over here.

Your car seems to be the exception from what i guesstimate. Probably everythin is more efficiency oriented.

I also guesstimate i am using 400-500W on the car. And use about 1kwh on a day of car commute. So i would be more or less saving 1 usd/day if My previous calc of 0.85l/kwh was correct.

[redpoint5]

I intend to measure idle consumption with my UG before and after the virtual alt delete, but I'm wondering if it will be accurate enough. Does the increased voltage affect the accuracy of the gauge to estimate fuel use? There was talk about injector pulse widths perhaps being shorter due to higher fuel pressure.

I'll also make note of what voltage the alternator kicks on, and estimate the usable battery capacity of the Li-po based on this. From this I should be able to estimate how many minutes of normal driving I can expect before the alt kicks on. Finally, I'll take more accurate measurements of various accessory power consumption and update my spreadsheet.

I suppose if I'm going to run the battery into my glovebox or near the footwell, I better wire in a safety fuse close to the battery pack.

[teoman]

Ug may not be accurate, as you say the fuel pump is drawing more amps due to the higher voltage and increasing the pressure. Also the injectors are opening up faster due to the same reason.

Not sure If it has an effect on the maf sensor.

[teoman]

Also your alternator may be semi smart. Switching off at certain times.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by teoman

Ug may not be accurate, as you say the fuel pump is drawing more amps due to the higher voltage and increasing the pressure. Also the injectors are opening up faster due to the same reason.

Not sure If it has an effect on the maf sensor.

My Acura uses a MAP sensor rather than MAF. Not sure if that changes anything.

The alt is certainly variable. How exactly it behaves I don't know.

I do know the lead acid battery in my Acura is very weak and probably would barely start my car right now. Perfect time to experiment!

At any rate, I can at least measure the electrical load of my car and estimate the fuel consumption based on something like 50% alternator efficiency, or some other more accurate estimate.

Better yet, I can probably just run the standard battery but disconnect the alternator control harness so it freewheels and measure fuel consumption before and after with the UG.

Ultimately the fuel savings would begin to appear in my fuel logs, which haven't been kept up to date since my parents had been driving it the last year or so.

EDIT:
I found the 4 circuit SPST switch and a 4 pin wire harness I was going to use to switch on/off the control wires to my alternator- an alternator kill switch. Maybe I'll have to think about implementing this again in the TSX, though it defeats the purpose of the virtual alternator delete.

[teoman]

You could use a mini fuel tank, like a half liter clear plastic bottle. The you can see exactly how much the car uses

Preferrably taped to the front screen.

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by Luno

I should introduce myself better as a new member, but I have been a mental subscriber to Ecomodder for a decade, trying out most advise only short of a full belly pan and a Kammback, never caring about giving anything back to the community, sorry! However I've "invented" a new mod, not mentioned here I would like to share: I do a lot of city driving and noticed than when my alternator kicks in, my steady 35mph consumption goes up from 98mpg (2.4L/100km) to 70mpg (3L/100km) and my idle goes from 0.6L/h to 0.9L/h (I'm European, trying to mix empirical units with ISO units for this international audience), so an alternator delete is a logical next step, but I don't wan't to carry additional AH to make up for the missing charging, as the weight penalty will cost dearly in stop and go traffic, so here is my Hi-tech solution: Loosing the 40AH battery saves 16 pounds, replacing it with a 4S5P Li-ion pack, the size of a grown man's fist. The observant reader have noticed that this gives me a 16V car electrical system, but in reality it is a 15V system as I only charge each cell to 3.9V for a long cyclic life and safety as only float charging at 70% charged is safe with Li-ion. My car works perfectly on this, no fried coil or bulbs or any error codes. I did check with my workshop manual and 16V is within specs. Such a pack does not start my car so I added a super capacitor bank in parallel over a shunt resistor to take care of this. However, all this does not save me anything besides weight, so I've added a 50W solar panel and a 15V charger to keep my battery and capacitor above the 14.45 my alternator would like to push, so it shuts down. 50W solar on the dashboard is too puny for low beams, but they are only on at night where the sun doesn't shine anyway, so I got plenty for systems and DRL and my power windows are really fast!! This saves me guestimated 0.8L /tank idling and around 25% in city driving in the daytime, which both are substantial savings, that avoids the extra bettery weight and plug-in charging and does not require unbelting the alternator so quite unintrusive. It could even be build into a battery sized box with two wires going to the solar panel, and be a simple battery swap procedure to install and un-install.

they make HVDC to DC step down that can be used in place of an alternator... you will have to tap into the DCHV system to use a step down.. you need to use the correct gear to do this it's a real shocking hazard

[teoman]

Where would the high voltage dc come from?

And by gear you mean equipment right?

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by teoman

Where would the high voltage dc come from?

And by gear you mean equipment right?

how about a hand crank generator...at traffic lights?
maybe a bicycle generator?


have your passenger peddle to make power...